Simply Irresistible (12 page)

She laughed. She’d done that a few times now, when up until yesterday, being amused at anything had seemed so far out of reach.
How it was possible that just one day and one tall, dark, and enigmatic man had changed things, she had no idea.

The marina office was small and held an ancient couch, a huge, beat-up, old desk piled with papers, and a filing cabinet.
Drawers were open, and files were in complete disarray.

Jax shook his head. “You’ve got your work cut out for you.”

Maddie shrugged. “I’ve organized worse.” And what was the alternative, going back to LA with her tail
between her legs? Hell, no. The thought brought her up a little. She’d been faking strength for so long now that it was starting
to stick. About time.

Jax pointed out the window beyond the marina to the thick, overgrown woods. “Shortcut to the bluffs is right past that isolated,
small rocky beach. Another good makeout spot, FYI. Especially when you’re sixteen and grounded from a car.”

She smiled. “Were you grounded a lot?”

“Pretty much 24/7 until I left for college.”

“And did you miss small-town living when you were gone?”

“Not even a little. I didn’t just walk out of Lucky Harbor; I ran like hell.”

There was that same something in his eyes that had been there when he’d mentioned his father. She wasn’t the only one keeping
her own counsel. “And yet you came back.”

His gaze met hers, clear now. Relaxed. “And yet I came back.”

“Why?”

“Funny what a couple of years’ perspective can do.”

Growing up on movie sets as she had, just about everything in her life had been an illusion. The illusion of friends, the
illusion of home. The question was—was Lucky Harbor just another set, or would it turn out to be the real thing?

Back at Jax’s Jeep, he opened the driver’s door, set his clipboard on the dash, then gestured for Izzy to jump in.

The dog leapt up, limbs akimbo, and sat. “Scoot over,” Jax told her.

Izzy grinned.

Jax shook his head, leaned back against the Jeep, and looked at Maddie. “I’ll work up a bid and email it to you.”

“Thanks.”

He looked behind her to the inn. “Phoebe left you the property because it meant something to her. If you really don’t want
to sell it, stand your ground.” He flashed her a smile. “Be Louise.”

The smile was devastating and contagious, damn him. “I’m trying. But there are problems.”

“Yeah. It’s called life.”

“The mortgage is in arrears. I think the property is actually upside down on its loan. Which is a mystery to me, because like
you said, I believe this place meant something to Phoebe, sentimentally anyway. But if she wanted us to keep it, why did she
leave every last penny in a trust for someone else?”

He paused, as if carefully picking his words. “There are things you can do. Talk to your original lender, for one. Get an
appraisal and refinance. And have you actually verified that there are no funds other than the trust? You’ve talked to the
probate attorney and have a list of Phoebe’s assets and accounts? Because that might lead you to… other avenues.”

“There you go,” she murmured, a little surprised to find that even more attractive than his butt were his brains. “Sounding
like more than a pretty tool belt again. Maybe even like a… lawyer.”

“And that’s bad?”

She didn’t answer, didn’t know how. It wasn’t exactly a rational fear she was carrying around.

“Let me guess,” he said. “It’s one of those things you don’t want to talk about.”

“Definitely.”

Their gazes collided.

Held.

Time seemed to stand still, which was not only odd, but silly. Time never stood still, not even for sexy superheroes. When
he pushed off the Jeep and stepped close, her pulse immediately kicked into high gear. “Thanks for coming,” she whispered.
“I—”

Slowly, purposefully, eyes still locked on hers, he invaded her personal space bubble.

She sucked in a breath as heat spiraled within her.

“You…” he said, trying to help her along.

“I can’t remember a single thought in my head.”

Gentle but firm hands settled on her hips, and he backed her into the Jeep.

“What are you doing?” she asked breathlessly.

“Giving you a new thought.” Leaning in, he covered her mouth with his and kissed her, his tongue teasing lightly, keeping
it soft until she moaned. Then he deepened the kiss into a hot, intense connection that had her head spinning and her blood
pumping as their bodies molded together. Unlike last night’s tender kisses, this was a little demanding, and a whole lot wild,
and when he slid a thigh between hers, she lost her ability to think.

Last night, he’d been seeking permission. Not this time. This time, he buried his fingers into her hair and claimed her mouth,
pulling her in even closer, a hand caressing down her back as if to soothe as well as incite, claiming another little piece
of her heart in the process.

Sneaky bastard.

She’d tell him so, but her tongue was a little busy. So were her fingers, first enjoying the play of the muscles
on his back, then holding on tight just in case he had any ideas about trying to get away. Because she wasn’t done, not even
when Izzy gave a little whine of unhappiness at sharing her man.

Maddie slid her hands over Jax’s shoulders, reminding herself that enough was enough, but she tugged a thrillingly rough groan
from deep in his chest so she tightened her grip instead. By the time they broke apart, she was completely out of breath.
If it wasn’t for the Jeep at her back and the thigh he still had wedged between hers, she’d have dropped to the ground in
a puddle of lust.

“Maddie.”

His voice was low and gravely and sexy as hell. “Yes?”

“I’m going to touch your face now.”

Remembering last night and her mortifying reaction, she should have been grateful for the heads-up, but she was still dizzy
from the kiss. “Oh. Well, I—”

He ran his hand up her arm, to her shoulder, over her throat, going slowly, achingly slowly, so that by the time he cupped
her jaw, she was quivering, all right, but not from fear. Lifting his other hand, he slid a curl from her temple, tucking
it behind her ear. With her pulse somewhere at stroke level, she closed her eyes to better absorb his touch. His fingers were
warm and callused. Strong, though not using that strength against her, but in a protective way. And in spite of her admittedly
irrational fear of men, her body and heart wanted him.

Bad.

“Maddie.”

“Huh?”

There was amusement in his voice. “Are you still giving up men?”

He was pressed against her, deliciously warm and hard.
Everywhere.
She wanted to give him a chance, but she’d meant it when she said she wasn’t ready. She needed a clear head first, and her
life straightened out. A relationship of any kind at this point would be ludicrous. “Yes,” she said, but it came out as more
of a croak. She cleared her throat and said it again. “Yes, I’m still giving up men.”

He studied her face, then gave her a very small smile before backing away, pulling his keys from his pocket. “I’ll be in touch.”

“Just the minimum,” she reminded him. “That’s all I need.”

With a nod, he got into the Jeep, nudging Izzy to the back seat. He rolled the window down for the dog, and Maddie reached
in to stroke her soft, silky coat.

“Just the minimum,” she repeated softly, taking a step back as two warm doggy eyes laughed into hers, silently calling her
out as a big liar.

T
wo days later, Jax was in his home office plowing through paperwork. He’d put together the bid for Lucky Harbor resort and
emailed it off to Maddie. He’d handled all his city council duties, but being Lucky Harbor’s mayor for his second term now
was a relatively easy position to manage and didn’t take much of his time. He was signing accounts-payable checks that his
part-time office worker Jeanne handed to him one at a time.

“Electric bill,” she said, standing over him like a mother hen, even though they were the same age. Her headband had reindeer
antlers with bells on them that jangled with every bossy statement she uttered. “Gas bill,” she said, bells jingling. “Visa
bill. And here’s my paycheck. Thanks for the raise.”

He slid her a look, and she laughed. “Kidding. You already pay me too much. Oh, and here’s the bill for those
supplies you sent over to the Patterson family. Nice of you to do that, since they lost everything in the fire. So… who’s
the woman?”

Jax pushed all the checks back at her. “What woman?”

“The one you were kissing on the pier the other night.”

He arched a brow, and she grinned. “Oh, come on. You can’t be surprised that I know.”

“Call me naive, but I’m surprised.”

She shook her head, like
You poor, stupid man.
She gave him that look a lot. He put up with it because she ran his office with a calm efficiency that was a relief to him.
He hated office work.

Jeanne was flipping through the checks, putting them in some mysterious order that worked for her. “Jake told his sister,
who told Carrie at the grocery store, and I happened to run into my sister today when I was loading up your refrigerator.
And by the way, you were down to an apple and a piece of leftover pizza. I also found what looked to be a science experiment
growing in a Tupperware container. I made an executive decision and tossed it. How do you live like that?”

“It’s called takeout. What did you put in my refrigerator?”

“Fruit, cheese, beer, and a loaded pizza.”

“I love you.”

She laughed. “If that was true, you’d tell me about the woman.”

He smiled but kept silent. Mostly because it would drive her crazy, but also because he didn’t feel like sharing. Truth was,
he’d been thinking about Maddie for two days now, and not as a future client. He thought about strangling whoever’d hurt her.
He thought about how in
spite of that hurt, she’d seemed so honest and artless—not like the women in his past. She was obviously afraid but doing
her damnedest to move forward. He admired that.

He’d also given a lot of thought—
a lot
—to how she’d looked after he’d kissed her: ruffled and baffled and turned on. It was a good look for her. So was how she’d
looked when she’d opened the door to him, sleepy and hung over, no bra, just a very thin T-shirt, the one that invited the
general public to bite her.

Christ, he’d wanted to do just that.

“Rumor has it,” Jeanne said, shoving another check under his nose. “She’s Phoebe’s middle daughter. She was at the hardware
store today, and Anderson rang her up. He said she was pretty and sweet, and even though she knocked over his entire display
of five-gallon paint cans, she got a big thumbs-up. Oh, and because she has a nice rack, he asked her out.”

Jax’s pen went still. “What?”

“Hey, I didn’t see the rack myself, I’m just passing on the information.” Her smile went sly. “Betcha you want to know if
she said yes.”

He said nothing, and she grinned. “You want to know.”

“I don’t gossip. I’m a guy.”

“You
so
want to know.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I—”
Fuck.
He pinched the bridge of his nose because yeah, he did. He wanted to know. “You used to be so sweet and meek.”

“That was back in the days when your badass scowl used to do it for me.” Delighted at whatever she saw in his face, she waggled
a brow. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but first
you have to tell me how you met her, and how it is that you were kissing her on her first night in town, and if you plan to
fight Anderson for the rights to her rack.”

“Jeanne,” he said in warning.

“Use that tough-guy voice all you want. I’m not married to you. I don’t have to cave so that you’ll keep my feet—and other
parts—warm at night.” With that, she scooped up all the signed checks and sashayed out of his office, humming “We Wish You
a Merry Christmas.”

“You know where I’ll be,” she called back. “Sitting at my desk working my fingers to the bone. Oh, and I’m decorating your
place for Christmas, so be afraid. Very afraid. Anytime you want to come up with some answers for me, I’ll be happy to do
the same.”

Shit. Shaking his head, he turned to something new, drawing up plans for a new client in Portland who wanted a handmade front
door with cherry overlay and stained glass. It would take weeks to construct and was the perfect job for when the weather
went bad, which it always did for about a month after Christmas. He needed work for when the weather went bad—not for his
bank account, which was plenty flush—but so that he wouldn’t be stuck with nothing to do but think.

Though all he could think at the moment was that Anderson had asked Maddie out.

He could hear Jeanne in the front room, talking to her computer. He’d gone to high school with her and had even briefly dated
her—if one could really call it dating when all you did was climb the bluffs and make out. When he’d gone off to USC, she’d
married Lucky Harbor’s high school quarterback and given him three kids. She was still happily married but bored beyond tears.
So
when Jax had come back to town five years ago, she’d shown up on his doorstep one day and announced that she was his new,
perfect, part-time office assistant. Perfect because she had no interest in his money or his bed.