“Agent.”
“Oh, right. Wait, The Lion’s Head? What were you doing working in that shithole?”
She shrugged. “It was a job, that was all that mattered.”
“Where were you living?”
“The block of flats near the pub.”
He winced internally. The whole time he’d been living the life of Riley she’d been stuck there. He would have apologised if he hadn’t known she would get pissed off with him if she thought he pitied her. “I’m guessing Selfish Arse left you to be the bread winner.” If there was one person in the world he despised, it was that self-involved bitch who was single-handedly responsible for Jaxx’s low sense of self-worth. The only times Jaxx had ever closed her eyes to the truth were when it concerned Leah. She never wanted to see that Leah was actually a chronic liar and pathetic attention seeker who could always be counted on to hurt Jaxx in some way. And why would Leah do that? Because she could.
Jaxxon did her best not to tense at his words, but that one sentence told her something she had secretly wondered over. Connor couldn’t have seen Leah since she left care, whether it was because she hadn’t found him or he hadn’t responded to her attempts to contact him, if he assumed that she and Leah had gotten a flat together like they had once talked of doing. The sisters had even taken a blood oath when they first went into foster care that neither would ever leave the other. Snort.
Not wanting to talk about Leah, she changed the subject. “How did you get into F1 racing?”
“It was about three months after I’d left care. I was walking home from my late-night shift at McDonalds when a red Ferrari passed me and stopped at some posh restaurant just ahead.”
“Oh Connor tell me you never.”
“Of course I did. I’d always wanted to drive one and figured this was my only chance. What I didn’t know was that the bloke who owned it was a rally driver, and he had gone there to meet up with some mates of his who were rally drivers as well. So when I whizzed off in his Ferrari, him and his mate jumped into a Porsche and went after me. I managed to avoid them for ages but – for the first time in my life – I got caught. I was expecting to either get my head kicked in or get dragged before the Plod. Instead, the owner of the Ferrari offered me a placement in the Young Drivers Development Programme.”
“What did he say when he found out you didn’t have a license and were a self-taught driver?”
“Same thing you always said: that I could go far if I got my act together.”
Jaxxon closed her eyes, feeling contentedness wash over. Then her eyes snapped open as she suddenly became aware of two things. One, he was idly plucking at her curls the way he used to when they were younger. Two, this was becoming way too comfortable. A strong urge to bolt came over her. She moved to get up but he held her to him. “I need to pee.” She cocked her head. “That your phone ringing?”
It was. “Bathroom’s through that door.” He smiled as he pictured shagging her in his shower in about, what, five minutes? Digging his phone out of pants pocket he saw that it was Dane.
“I know it’s late,” said Dane, “but I figured you’d be up.”
Something in Dane’s voice had Connor tensing. Even though Jaxx was in the en-suite bathroom for the moment he went into the kitchen to take the rest of the call. “What is it?”
“I just got back from The Pool Hall about fifteen minutes ago. Guess who I found crying fake tears all over my couch. Anita Donovan.”
Great. “I thought she went back to L.A.”
“Well if she did, she’s back.”
“So sling her out on her arse.”
“I must admit that was my first instinct, but Niki stopped me. Something’s off about Anita. She’s up to something.”
Connor sniggered. “She’s always up to something.”
“Right, and we wouldn’t have known exactly what she was up to last time if she hadn’t told Niki first. Niki wants to let her stay with us, play the sympathetic mate, and see if she can get her to spill what her newest little plot is.”
“Mate, you don’t have to do that.”
“She’s pretty wound up about the rumours of you and Jaxxon Carter.”
Connor stiffened. His protective instincts come rushing to the surface and all he wanted to do was drive to Dane’s and throttle Anita.
“I’ve agreed to let her stay a week. Hopefully Niki can come through for us again. She knows what it’s like, we’ve been through this ourselves. And we don’t want another spoilt little princess starting some shit.”
When Connor went back into his bedroom, it wasn’t to find Jaxx naked on his bed as he’d pictured. Quite the opposite. It seemed that she was making another sharp exit. He grabbed the shoe she was reaching for, gaining her attention. He shot her a questioning look.
“I need a reason why I’m going home?”
“You need a reason why you’re rushing off. Again.”
“Oh,” she drawled as realisation dawned. “You’re one of those blokes.”
“What blokes?”
“The ones who like to do the leaving or the dictating when time’s up. You don’t like the reversal of roles. Well I’m sorry, Connor, but I didn’t come here to stroke your ego, I came here to stroke your cock, and I’ve done that.” She seized her shoe from his grip and slipped it on. “I’m shattered, and my bed is calling my name.”
“There’s a bed right there.” He double-blinked when he realised what he had just blurted out. Jaxx looked equally stunned.
“You want me to stay the night?”
No, he didn’t, he’d never spent the entire night with a woman. He actually had no idea why he was panicking – and he was being panicky – about the fact that she was going.
Jaxxon was fully expecting the ‘no’ in his eyes but it stung all the same. “If you’re still horny, I’m sure there are plenty of woman’s numbers in that Blackberry of yours.”
It wasn’t until she had walked passed him that the implications of what she had said settled in. “Are you shagging other blokes as well as me?”
She pivoted sharply. “Excuse me?”
“You seem to think I’d be up for shagging other people, so I’m asking if you’re doing the same.” Rage steamed from him as a thought formed. “Are you still shagging that ponce? He’s dead if you are.” A lesser man would have shrunk away from the anger blazing in her eyes.