Stare Me Down (Stare Down) (10 page)

“He’s not just a guy. He’s the perfect man for you. You’ll see.”

Jaxx did what she usually did when Maggie was pushing her in the wrong direction. She remained silent and just stared.

Maggie may have waved offhandedly, but Jaxx knew she was anything but over the topic. “All right. You’re getting your back up so we’ll talk about Gunther later. Instead, tell me more about Mr. Taylor.”

“I think I’ve said enough.”

“Nonsense. I can tell you’re worried about something and I know what it is. He gave you pleasure when no man ever has. So what?”

“So what? It happened, okay? And in the process, I made a huge fool of myself. I actually dove on him. What a desperate ass I am.”

“No, you’re not. You just overcompensated. You’re inexperienced when it comes to men. This kind of thing is bound to happen from time to time.”

Jaxx sagged forward and banged her head on the desk. “What was I thinking?”

“You weren’t. That’s the problem.”

She sat up, and tried not to grumble, “He’s a really good‌—‌he’s got a great mouth. What am I going to do if I can’t get him out of my head? You have no idea how hard it was to let him go and then not to go after him.”

For the first time in their conversation Maggie looked worried. “Out of your head? You’re that attracted to him?”

She nodded. “I can’t even think straight.”

Now Maggie scowled as reached out, only this time to pull a small piece of tape off Jaxx’s blouse. She brought it closer to examine, started rolling it up and then looked her right in the eyes. “Well, fortunately my thinking is crystal clear. I will be the one to make sure he gets his stuff back while I make the much needed arrangements.”

Jaxx knew what that meant. “No. No more plans, okay?”

“It’s a simple one to cure your inappropriate crush so you can put the dread away.”

Jaxx thought about why she’d responded to Ramsey, and that truth scared the hell out of her. If Maggie ever found out she’d be looking for Jaxx to do therapy which wasn’t going to happen. “I don’t think there’s an easy cure to what I have.”

“Then there’s nothing to lose trying. It’s nothing crazy. When I meet with Mr. Taylor and give him his things, I’ll arrange for a vanilla’s version of exposure therapy. It’s bound to solve the problem.”

Jaxx’s heart skipped a beat. Maggie had come close to nailing what really had her worried. “You know about vanilla?”

“I know a lot of things that might surprise you.” She dropped the tiny, balled-up piece of tape on the desk and sighed. “One thing I’m fairly positive about is that this attraction of yours has more to do with the stress over Gunther’s imminent arrival than Mr. Taylor being ‘the one’. And I’m going to prove it to you.”

“How?”

“You need to spend more time with him.”

“Oh, no.” She fell back in her chair and when she swiveled she immediately got a visual of him doing the same thing and stopped. Damn.

“Just a few hours. A time where you’re not in charge and he’s not charming you to get that certificate. Clarity is what you need. These other issues were in the way, clouding the experience. Trust me.”

Jaxx wasn’t sure about that, because he really wasn’t very charming. Especially when he was taping her up‌—‌but then, maybe there was a certain charm in a guy being that confident. “I don’t know. I’d be surprised if he’d agree.”

“He’ll agree. Don’t worry about that. Just leave it up to me.”

It was this that had Jaxx worried.

*****

Aries turned his phone on as he got into his Escalade. He had three missed calls. All from Shar. No doubt she wanted to discuss her ludicrous plans of setting him up with her married sister. That wasn’t going to happen. At the end of the month, if he had to go it alone to the company year-end and beg Gabe to agree he would. That is if his brother didn’t lock him out again.

Slowly he reversed out of the duplex drive, but when he saw a shadow pass behind the frosted double front doors, he put his foot on the break. Was that The Dragon Lady heading down to Jaxx’s office? What would Jaxx tell her about their extended session? What would she share?

Probably everything. Dr. Margaret Carmichael had some kind of hold over her. When Jaxx was herself and not kowtowing to her boss, she was a refreshingly unusual woman. But the fire-breather was into crushing‌—‌maybe crushing wasn’t the right word, controlling her, which was bad enough, but she was also attempting to turn her into ordinary. And that was a damn shame.

Recalling their banter, he found himself smiling. A smile that turned to a grin when he remembered how dramatic Jaxx was with the “ow’s”. But then he imagined the feel of her hand squeezing the length of him and slowly that length even now began to grow. He went with his lust-fueled thoughts until a visual of her savoring the tug he’d given her hair arrived and suddenly he wasn’t smiling anymore.

Jaxx wanted to explore and he wanted to let her.

Fuck. This wasn’t the time. He had things he had to do.

He hadn’t said anything to Shar, but he did want that warehouse space next to The Egyptian. In fact, he’d already conditionally purchased it. Not for the purpose of expanding the club, but to complete the ownership of the whole twelve-unit parcel that was zoned as flex-space. With this last piece in his portfolio, he’d be able to do what he wanted with the complex providing his brother signed off, and he had big plans. Huge plans that came with a price that even he couldn’t afford without leveraging most of his capital. So, although he hadn’t needed to tap that for the purchase itself, he’d definitely needed to draw on it for what he wanted to do with the conversion. These plans were what he needed to concentrate on now. Not a blonde-haired brainiac with purple eyes.

This decided, he mulled over various business ideas until he turned the corner on his cul-de-sac and saw his neighbor’s grandmother cutting through his yard toward the golf course.

“Shit.” Putting his foot on the gas, he hurried onto his drive, parked and cut the engine. There was a pond right behind his house, and as this wasn’t the first time she’d escaped her caregiver, Aries knew she couldn’t swim.

He shot out of his car and jogged around the side of the house. When he got close enough, he called, “Ms. Hannover? Betty?”

Finally she stopped and turned around. “Yes?”

“How are you? It’s a nice day today, isn’t it?”

“Do I know you?”

He bent his arm and offered it to her with a smile. “The important thing is that I know you.”

“You do?” She beamed.

“I do. I also know…” He bent down closer to her while he talked. He noticed last time that she responded better when he was more familiar-like. “There’s a big, fat, spoiled Siamese cat named Durante waiting for you to come home.”

“He is spoiled, isn’t he?”

He nodded.

“I fed him most of my tuna sandwich. I hate tuna.”

Okay, this was totally messed up, because he barely knew the neighbors and yet, he was so well acquainted with this neighbor’s grandmother that he knew this fact about her. Why the hell didn’t her caregiver know it? He wasn’t one to blame someone, given such a difficult job. He knew firsthand how trying it was looking after an Alzheimer’s patient all day, every day. But Jesus Christ, every time they tried to feed the woman the fish, she ran away. It wasn’t that hard to connect the dots. Surely.

“How about I make you a deal? I’ll tell them to stop making you tuna fish sandwiches if you promise me you won’t go near the pond.”

She tripped to a stop and looked up at him. “But I love to swim.”

Her earnest, almost contrite expression cut deep. Poor thing. God, he hated this disease. Patting her hand he knew there was no sense trying to convince her of the truth that she couldn’t swim; her family constantly tried to do that, and the most it accomplished was to stress her out. That was why he tried a different tactic. “Yes, I know you love to, but you see, the pond is dirty and they just sprayed it for bugs.”

“Oh, I hate bugs.”

He squeezed her hand. “I know. So I wouldn’t want you to go back there until it’s safe.” Or he got the homeowner’s association to put a wrought iron fence around it. He’d have to send them another email.

They got to the front door, and he rang the bell.

“This is nice. Is it your home?”

“No sweetheart, it’s your home. Yours and Durante’s.”

When her caregiver looked through the side panel window, her eyes widened and she whipped open the door. “Betty. Didn’t I tell you to stay in the family room while I was on the phone? I’m sorry, Mr. Taylor, I don’t know how—”

“You see, Betty,” he said as he pointed to the cat basking in the sunlight that streamed in through the living room window. “There’s your fat cat posing for you.”

He waited for the older woman to let go of his arm. After she picked up the cat and walked off, he gave her caregiver his undivided attention. “I don’t want this to sound like I’m accusing you.” But he was now that he knew she was on the phone. She was always on the damn thing. Even when she took Betty out for a walk, she was texting or talking. Whether she was with a dementia patient or not, the fact was, it was disrespectful and in this case dangerous. “I just want you to be aware that I’m going to have to tell Mel and Angela this time. Did you make Ms. Hannover tuna fish for lunch?”

“Y-yes.”

“I wouldn’t do that again if I were you. Betty doesn’t like it. That’s why she sneaks out. Who knows why these things get triggered this way. They just do.”

“I don’t think it was the sandwich. She’s not having a good day today. She’s been very stubborn. Not doing the things I wanted her to do. Including eating lunch.”

“Candy moments. Remember that.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“When my dad was going through a rough patch, I’d ask him if he wanted some chocolate. He never said no to that, and once I had him saying yes, his whole day got better. And so did mine.”

“I’ll, ah, give that a try next time. Thanks.”

By the time Ramsey got through his own door, shot off an email to the association, marinated his steak for dinner and got on his workout clothes, he was calmer. And after dealing with Ms. Hanover’s attempted escape, he was more convinced than ever that his future plans were valid, but to accomplish them he’d need to focus. And that meant free of all distractions. Especially the female kind. If he hoped to get Gabe’s support, he needed to make this court shit disappear as quickly as possible and find a way to convince his brother about said plans when he got the chance.

He thought he was well on his way to making all this happen until he went to call his attorney. That’s when he realized he’d forgotten the trunk. And inside it? Was his get-the-court-off-his-back paperwork. Damn. Now he’d have to do the one thing neither of them wanted. He’d have to complicate things and see Jaxx again.

Chapter Seven

Aries figured the minute he sat his ass down in the ladder-backed chair in their front entranceway, he’d lose his edge with Doctor Carmichael. Screw the dragon analogy, the woman was a cerebral shark who hunted using any means necessary to gain the advantage. And right now the only advantage he’d had over her, his intimidating height, was diminished when she’d ordered him to sit. Fuck.

“I think you knew exactly what you were doing, Mr. Taylor.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” He didn’t mean it, and they both knew it.

“I’m not. I’m relieved by the discovery.” She rested her arm on the top of the trunk she refused to give back until they “spoke” and added, “To hear Jaxx talk about you, you’re the perfect mix of brain meets brawn with a side order of sensual. We know that can’t be true. Man wasn’t created that way. If he were, I’d be out of a job because everyone would be happy.”

“I said I’d hear you out, but if you’re going to sling bitter insults aimed at my half of the population, I think I’ll pass.”

The older woman’s eyes roved over him before she said, “I can see why she’s so attracted to you. Maybe she was right about a fabulous mind.”

“She said that?” For some reason, he liked the idea.

“She said a lot of things, and now that I’ve met you I’m beginning to understand why. But let me be clear, Mr. Taylor. Doctor Gavin is on the fast track to becoming a very well-respected psychologist. She graduated top of her class. That’s top, not second or third out of two hundred and forty, but first.”

“I know. She’s a smart cookie.”

“Cookie? Cookies are for the Keebler Elves, Mr. Taylor. Doctor Gavin is an intelligent woman who needs an intelligent man. And if I have my way she’ll find one at which time they will have equally intelligent children. That’s her path, and you are not on it.”

He was getting hot under the collar here. And he didn’t know why. The truth was, that path she was talking about? He’d already decided a week and half ago he was going to stay the hell away from it. “I understand. Now if you let me have my stuff I’ll be on my way.”

She stretched to her full height and glared down her nose at him. “You don’t understand because you have the attention span the size of a gnat. I’m trying to tell you that she needs to get you out of her system before I can make those plans for her future happen. You came at her with all your playboy ways, and now she thinks she’s infatuated with you. You can’t just abandon her because then she’d never get over you. I’d be competing with a memory of who she made you out to be. I don’t know what you did during your last session, but I do know it has her questioning a number of things.”

Even though she’d just insulted him, that wasn’t why he felt like shit. Jaxx was doing exactly what he feared. She was second-guessing herself because he’d pulled a fast one on her with those test items.
You knew there was a risk she’d think she’d failed at her job.
“If I made her think she did some wrong—”

“Well, you did.”

“I never meant to.”

“No real man would do such a thing, I’m sure. Are you a real man, Mr. Taylor?”

Perfect. She had him by the short ones as there was only one answer to that. And once he gave it, he’d be obligated to do whatever she had in mind to make the situation right. “Yes.”