Chapter 12JaxI found myself thinking of Reine even after she had left. She was something. I knew that she was attracted to me, but I also knew that her walls were erected very high. Something was telling me to stick to the business side of our agreement, but that would be a little too easy. Plus I needed to work that fascination I had with h

The lunch went well. It was way better than the dinner we had had at his place. But what was surprising to me was that, not once did we bring up the engagement and its terms. I thought that was going to be the main discussion but Jax had other plans. It had felt so much like a real date, and I actually thanked the universe for the fact that I had not gotten the job, because I knew I would never have met Jax under any other circumstances. I was starting to appreciate the man. Starting? Maybe that was a lie. But I would rather lie to myself than accept whatever turmoil my heart was already facing. The day went by fast, and the first thing I heard when Sandra got back home was the door banging. I already knew she had something exciting she wanted to tell me and I sat up, placing my phone down. The texts I was sending to Jax could wait.

JaxFascination. I couldn’t explain it.I couldn’t explain how Reine occupied my thoughts, I couldn’t explain how much I wanted to strip her of all her defenses and know all of her thoughts. I knew it was impossible, given how long we had known each other. But it would happen eventually.I still didn’t even understand why I wanted to go beyond business with this girl. And I didn’t know if I was trying to console myself when I thought the fascination was nothing but novelty and that it would disappear with time. I was going to hang on to that hope anyways. The last thing I needed was an emotionally unavailable woman with lots of baggage.We were supposed to meet in the evening and it dawned on me that we

The next morning was terrible. Sandra had come to check on me and I had muttered something to get her to leave. I wanted to be alone. I had sent the money to my dad as soon as Jax had sent it and there hadn’t been as much as a thank you.I had called him and he had confirmed that he received it.Jax on the other hand, I had texted him and told him I had received the money, with a thank you attached to the text. I don’t know what I expected after his sudden change of attitude but it was not for him to ignore my message so blatantly. I felt so embarrassed.But I asked myself why exactly he had kissed me.I had to admit that my mind had gone to the kiss more times than I wanted to process. It had been very short, with minimal contact. Just his lips and the tip o

I almost couldn’t believe my ears. After I had spoken out for him, defended him, even though my heart had been racing, he was treating me so coldly. I was beginning to hate the fact that I had growing feelings for this man. I was a little numb. Rejection had never had me feeling this way. If anything, before I had been used to it so it was never something that I particularly dreaded. But with how Jax’s tone switched when we got into his office, I wondered just how much I had attached myself to him, how much importance I had given him. Because the way my heart had shattered in that moment was not healthy. I was definitely going to cry tonight. I had pushed the tears away enough. It wasn’t even healthy at this point. Honestly, I couldn’t explain why exactly I was so hurt by Jax’s rejection if anyone asked. It wasn’