Stare Me Down (Stare Down) (11 page)

“Good. Now don’t scowl. It’s not as if I’m going to ask you to do something that will be too taxing on you. All you need to do is dinner. One evening at a nice restaurant. A meal. That’s it.”

Like hell. There had to be more. Didn’t she want him to apologize? That was the first thing he should do. “I don’t get it.”

She let out a relieved breath and clapped her hands. “Finally, that fabulous mind is not so fabulous.”

He blinked.

“And not so fabulous? That’s the objective. Just be yourself for two hours, and she’ll get over you.”

He was going to laugh, but then he realized the woman was serious, so he stuck to glaring at her.

“Oh, don’t take it personally.” She plucked an imaginary bit of lint off her sleeve and pretended to study it. “It’s a curse being smarter than average. As such Jaxx needs to be stimulated and if she’s not, she’s easily bored.”

That got his antenna extending upward.
Not good
.

“No run-of-the-mill for her.”

His antenna tinged, fully extended.
Pretend she didn’t just say that
.

“She needs a man who can compete with her on a deeper level.”

He could do that.
Not gonna happen
.

“One who has new and interesting ideas to share with her.”

He had a whole dungeon full.
Get the fuck out with those kinds of thoughts.

She looked at him. “Quite frankly, Mr. Taylor, the one thing she needs above all these others, you can’t give her.”

“And that is?”

“Loyalty.”

If she were trying to drive him away from Jaxx, she was failing. “Why? Did she have a bad experience in a relationship? A boyfriend cheat on her or something?”

“God, no. Jaxx has only had one, what most would call a ‘real relationship’ with a man and that ended badly.”

That got his adrenaline jacked, even as he decided the woman wasn’t just failing. She was miserably failing. If he were going to make things right with Jaxx, Carmichael needed some help in the driving-him-away department. Because right now? He was raring to go forward. He needed a stumbling block fast. “Then why is loyalty an issue with her?”

“That’s not for me to say. But…” He’d call the look she gave him calculating. “Let’s just say her parents weren’t the best role models for a successful marriage or proper behavior. Jaxx doesn’t want to be like them.”

Couldn’t he catch a fucking break here? This was one more aspect of Jaxx he could totally relate to. Family issues. “I don’t think you want me to be myself as that—” He was throwing her a bone here. Ready to come clean about how he’d already been an asshole which hadn’t deflated the attraction between them, when Carmichael made a mistake. A big, no, huge mistake.

“For your part? There’s no thinking to be done. That should be easy enough for a guy like you.”

He tried not to glare. “Let me get my feeble head around this. You want me to take Jaxx out for dinner and be myself, correct?”

She sniffed and curtly nodded.

“You’re sure about this?”

“Absolutely.”

“Fine. Will Friday night work?”

He stood and reached behind her to grab up the trunk. Adjusting it in his hands he said, “I heard you the other day. You know, if you eased up on her occasionally she wouldn’t be so quick to doubt herself in the workplace. She’s a very talented therapist.”

“Talented? She’s brilliant. And doubting herself in the workplace? Who said anything about that?”

Aries halted at the door and then spun around. If this wasn’t about him righting Jaxx’s angst over what they’d done in her office, what the hell was it about? “This‌—‌you wanting me to spend time with her so she can get me out of her system isn’t about Jaxx’s feeling bad about her career?”

Carmichael shook her head.

Genuine relief flooded him, and with the fear that he’d shaken Jaxx’s confidence in her job off the table, there was virtually nothing the Doctor could say to stop him from cancelling the forced-upon-him date. There was nothing—

“I was talking about her being frigid.”

Except that. “Frigid?” An image of Jaxx on that door and then off it when she dove on him came to mind. “She’s not frigid.” He shifted the trunk and tucked it under the other arm, ready to defend his statement, but the doctor spoke first.

“She is, or was. Or thought she was, actually. But now she’s questioning that. Who’s to say? All I know is that until you came into her life, she was on-point and focused. On track with her career and the perfect wife material for Dr. Gunther Kreizeger.”

“She’s engaged?” He nearly dropped the trunk. He was totally stunned because the answer mattered to him for some reason.

“Not yet, but when my illustrious doctor friend comes from Germany at the end of the month, I’m hoping that will change. I know it will. Combining their genes would be magical.”

Now this was irony at its finest, because this therapist was nuts. “Tell me, Doctor FrankenMicheal. Is Jaxx aware of your plans for her?”

“Of course…‌to a certain extent. She wants a family and since she hasn’t had any success in the relationship area of her life, she has to be practical about it. I think she was prepared to be until you showed up. Didn’t you pick her off the list because she was the youngest doctor in our group and you figured you could get around her?”

Actually, it was just the opposite. Not that he’d share that with her, but he’d chosen Jaxx off the list his attorney presented to him because he’d recognized her name from the byline of the monthly column she wrote. He’d read it for years so he assumed Jaxx was far older than she was. “No.”

The doctor sighed, “Oh, come now, Mr. Taylor. I know what you were doing even if she didn’t.”

“You think I was doing something?”

“I know it. You were overly wonderful just so you’d get the paperwork you needed from her.”

“You think so? I assure you—”

“I know you were. Yes.” She seemed to be talking to herself here. Maybe she was nuts. “Before you, she was perfectly happy with the Gunther idea. Now she’s confused and with all the fantasizing she does about you, we have to deal with this little hiccup before it gets out of hand.”

She shouldn’t have said it. “She’s fantasizing about me?”

“She is, but only because she thinks you’re smart and clever.” Now she looked at him with a scowl. “And a good kisser. Well, she also thinks you’re gorgeous, but that’s obvious, and it doesn’t hurt that you’re built like—” she gave him the once over, “—a Calvin Klein underwear model, either.”

Was she for real? “Never wear the things.”

“Mr. Taylor.”

Oh, she was for real, all right. So it was kind of hard to justify a smart woman like her‌—‌he’d seen all the letters after name or her door‌—‌stupidly giving him the means to take advantage of the situation.

“I wanted to put all my cards on the table Mr. Taylor. I’m on to you. You may have pulled the wool over Jaxx’s eyes but not mine. And just so you don’t have it in mind to take advantage of the situation with all that I’ve shared, I’ll be going with you.”

She should add “mind reader” to her titles. “To dinner?”

She nodded.

If she had any idea how much she’d misread the situation between Jaxx and him she’d be begging him to stay away. “Why, so you can help me play dumb?”

She walked to the stairs and then turned back. “Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t need my help for that. Good day, Mr. Taylor. Oh, and,” she called over her shoulder as she descended the stairs, “we’ll both be ready at seven. Don’t be late, and wear a tie…‌and underwear.”

A few minutes later, Aries leaned into his car and dropped the trunk on the passenger seat before he got behind the wheel. Frigid? He snorted. With the way Jaxx had purred and climbed all over him on the desk? No fucking way. An image of her drawing her knees up and digging her nails into his chest surfaced, and he ignored his body’s instant reaction to it. But then he recalled her saying, “Yeah, like that” when he’d tugged on her hair harder that day, and damn‌—‌he looked down and shifted to make the much-needed readjustment‌—‌he was the one hooked. Again. Then. Now. Shit.

She was fantasizing about him? His dream came to mind, her naked, tied, collared, tattooed and hot for him. Did she have the same kind of thoughts about him?

“Christ.” His head fell back and he banged his skull against the rest a few times as he ignored the heavy ache in his cock. Think. Plan. This is what you’re good at. Forget about the shitty timing of things, and do Jaxx a favor. Do yourself a favor.

Sitting up straight, he ran a hand through his hair and pondered. A dinner date where the esteemed Doctor Carmichael was going to tag along and chaperone?

Not going to happen.

Oh, he’d take Jaxx for dinner, because now that her mentor had shared those interesting tidbits about her protégée, how could he not? The situation needed to be corrected. Things put into proper prospective. He’d told himself he wasn’t going to be the shoulder for Jaxx to lean on, but clearly she needed someone other than the dragon for support. Perfect wife material? How about husband material? If this guy was “so right” for Jaxx why was Carmichael so worried?

Frigid? He shook his head and chuckled as he whipped out his phone to dial. Jaxx was far from it, so he’d do her a favor and save her from making a huge mistake. But first he needed Carmichael suitably entertained during his impending play-date.

“Hey, Q.” The older Dom’s name was Quentin, but he went by Q. “It’s Aries. I need a favor. What are you doing on Friday night?”

*****

“This is beautiful,” Jaxx whispered. When Ramsey had picked them up, he’d been very hush-hush about where they’d be dining. She’d asked him if it was a popular place, and he’d assured that it was. So when she spied the home he pulled up to, her curiosity outweighed all the nerves she’d been dealing with, because this…‌this mansion was something else.

The sprawling Spanish colonial had wheat-colored plaster walls drenched in burnished gold tones cast from numerous gas lanterns. The red barrel tile roof and repeating arched windows really gave the large property a Mediterranean feel. It was open, with tons of fragrant plants, trees and shrubs. An oasis. No wonder Ramsey had chosen to have dinner at his friend’s house rather than at a restaurant.

“Don’t get too attached,” he said, stalking on ahead of them, up the interlocking walkway to the door.

Jaxx’s stomach clenched as she shot a look at Maggie out of the corner of her eye. Had she heard that comment? It could only mean one thing. They weren’t here to stay. Were they here to pick up a date for her friend so they could double? In all the years she’d known the doctor, she’d never seen her romantically involved. They reached the curved stairs that lead up to the doors. “After you.” Jaxx swept an arm. She was going to hang back out of firing range when Maggie cut Ramsey off at the knees. Who knew? A dinner and a show.

“Hi, Q. This is Doctor Margaret Carmichael.”

The man who opened the door was tall. Almost as tall as Ramsey, and he was built for an older gentleman. If not for the thick white hair and naturally tanned and weathered skin on his face, he could pass for someone twenty years younger.

“Q?” Maggie slapped her clutch impatiently against her elegant silk pants. “That’s your name?”

“It’s Quentin.” He smiled, and Jaxx imagined she could see a flashing gleam, like from an actor in a toothpaste commercial, bounce off his eye-tooth. “You may call me that if you like.” He leaned forward and took hold of her arm, bringing her inside before anyone had a chance to say another word.

Her friend was the first to recover. “Quentin Reed? The Quentin Reed from that seventies soap opera?”

“I am.”

Even though Jaxx had no idea who the guy was, Maggie did. She seemed momentarily star-struck. She had to be, because she wasn’t yelling. Ah, but then the shock disappeared as she twisted and called over her shoulder, “Mr. Taylor?”

Curiosity got the best of her, and Jaxx leaned around Ramsey, craning her neck to see the stunning interior.

“You two kids have fun. Thanks for babysitting, Q.”

“Mr. Taylor!”

“You’re in good hands, Doctor Carmichael. The best. Q taught me everything I know.”

Jaxx heard Maggie’s gasp. But it wasn’t until she saw her yank her arm out of Quentin’s grip that she held her breath. Maggie was going flip out on the poor guy. Famous actor or not.

“Quentin, I’m not staying.”

“Oh, don’t say that, darlin’.” He took her arm. “I have champagne chilling. You can tell me all you know about the show episodes you watched. You did watch Realms Of Reality?”

“Yes. And I…‌I appreciate the trouble you’ve—”

“No trouble.” He leaned down and added, “For a beautiful woman like you.”

“It’s tempting but, I don’t want Jaxx—”

“Jaxx is a big girl, and Aries is the finest man I know. Let them have their dinner, and we’ll have ours.”

“Jaxx?”

“It’s okay, Maggie. We won’t be long.” Jaxx had no idea about the plans, but she did know one thing. She was feeling relieved that she wouldn’t have the dragon breathing down her neck tonight.

“If you’re sure?” When she let Q lead her up the hall, Jaxx knew her friend had conceded. Q was quite the charmer. Speaking of charmers…

She straightened and tugged on the back of Ramsey’s shirt. “Ambushing Maggie like that wasn’t very nice. How did you know she’d have a thing for an actor?”

“Every woman does. And as for not being very nice, neither was she trying to crash our party.”

“I’m going out on a limb here and making the assumption that Quentin’s a trusted friend of yours, yes?”

He turned so quickly, she stepped back and was treated to his scowl. “Of course he’s a good man. The best. The doctor is probably going to get a better dinner than we will. Q’s a class-A chef.” He took her arm and led her down the stairs. “Not one of those French-tidbit kind of chefs either. She’ll probably be eating grilled steaks—”

“Maggie’s a vegetarian.”

He whistled, as if to say “oh, brother,” then asked, “Is she a pescatarian?”

“Yes, but a picky one.”

“Never mind. They’ll work it out. Working it out is Q’s specialty.”