“Jaxx!” The voice was demanding an immediate response.
“Oh bloody brilliant.” There she was in her slinky robe with Bruno in her apartment with her. No prizes for guessing how this was going to play out. And, to be fair, why wouldn’t Connor think something dodgy was going on? It wasn’t going to occur to him to think through it logically, especially when he thought Bruno was her ex. He was just going to immediately assume the worst and react like a crazy person. “Don’t try to tell him nothing’s going on, it’ll only wind him up more if you speak and he’ll pounce on you like a rabid dog.”
“I’m not scared of him, Jaxxon,” he said, snickering.
She gave him a pointed look. “Then more fool you.” As she had anticipated, Connor barged right in. Then of course he turned to ice when his eyes settled on Bruno. “Connor -”
“What is he doing here?” It was only then that Connor got a proper look at her. And what she wasn’t wearing. A red mist seemed to fall over his vision. Rage was pumping through his veins and his lungs felt ready to implode. His stomach was twisting and knotting and his gut burned. His entire body ached with the need to lash out. He heard a voice behind him say ‘Oh bugger’ and realised Dane must have followed him instead of waiting in the car. Connor didn’t even bother looking, he only had eyes for the ponce…who he was about to kick the living shit out of. With. Pleasure.
“Connor, before you all Hulk on our arses, listen to me.” She put as much authority into her voice as possible, but it wasn’t enough. “Connor!” When he started toward his target she threw herself directly in front of this certifiably insane bloke and did the only thing she could think of to distract him. She whipped her robe open. It worked. His eyes dropped down the length of her body. She knew it would only distract him momentarily but that moment to insert some semblance of rationality into him was all she needed. “Now listen to me,” she insisted calmly as she re-tied the robe. “Yes, there’s a bloke in my apartment and, yes, I’m only in a robe but you and me made an agreement, Connor. You know me. Would I go against that? Would I have made it if I never intended to keep it?”
No, she wouldn’t. Not Jaxx. Another woman, maybe. But not Jaxx. A part of him knew that. A part of him knew that it wouldn’t make sense for her to let him in without hiding the bloke if she really had anything to hide. A part of him registered that although she was naked under that robe the ponce was fully dressed and didn’t have the look of a man who’d just had the best f**k ever – and he would have done if he’d had Jaxx. But his brain was spitting images at him of her and Bruno together and it was making him want to kill. His fists were clenching and unclenching and he was grinding his teeth.
“You best think through that haze, McKenzie, ’cause I’m not being held responsible for something that didn’t happen ’cause of what other people have made you think about human nature!”
That had his eyes snapping back to her face. Then he saw the strain there. Not just at how he was acting now. She was stressed and tired and he was just making it worse by insulting her like this. His distrust, how easily he found it to believe she’d do this, wasn’t just offending and annoying her, it was hurting her. He recognised something else too: however he acted now would determine whether he was welcome to ever walk through her door again.
CHAPTER TEN
Taking a long, deep breath Connor threw an arm tight around Jaxx and pulled her hard against him, aligning her body to his. The feel of her calmed him like nothing else could.
Bruno saw the question in McKenzie’s wild eyes and shrugged. He wouldn’t let him intimidate him. He didn’t want to look like a wimp to Jaxxon. She needed a bloke who was strong. “I haven’t got an innocent reason for being here if that’s what you’re hoping for. The truth is…I came here to tell Jaxxon that I cared about her.” He heard a groan come from the bloke by the door. It was a sound that said ‘you are one stupid sod’.
Connor snickered. “Oh you did, did you?” If Jaxx hadn’t been right there, he would most likely have charged at the silly little twat.
“You don’t have to worry,” he spat bitterly. “She hasn’t chosen me over you. But I didn’t expect that she would, and I didn’t ask her to. I just wanted her to know. By all means stand there looking smug, but let’s not forget that once this big passion you’ve got between you has fizzled out you’ll drop her like a bad habit. It’s what you do. Something I’d never do to her.”
Connor wanted to growl that it wasn’t like that, that he cared for her. But the ponce was right in a way, wasn’t he? Nothing changed the fact that when the out-of-control need had been satiated he would finish it between them. The situation was still the same whether he was doing it coldly or not. He understood that the ponce wanted him to feel like this, wanted to show Jaxx that Connor wasn’t going to deny it so she wouldn’t be fooled. One more push – that was all Connor needed and he’d be on the ponce no matter what Jaxx said.
“And who knows, maybe me and Jaxxon and will have that passion as well. It’s not always something you know at first glance.”
As the ponce’s words sank in, a frown surfaced on Connor’s face and he glanced at Jaxx. If the ponce wasn’t sure there would be any fire between them, they couldn’t have slept together, could they?
Jaxxon shrugged as he arched a brow enquiringly. “You’re the one who said it, not me.”
She was right, Connor recalled. And he understood exactly why she hadn’t corrected him. Jaxx didn’t explain herself to people, and she especially wouldn’t have to someone who had acted the way Connor had. Besides, he wouldn’t have believed her anyway, he’d have thought she was just trying to placate him or protect the ponce. He returned his eyes to the ponce and it was as though he was looking at him for the first time. He didn’t see a rival or a threat anymore. He saw a pretty boy who hadn’t even been able to bag Jaxx before Connor was in the picture. A deluded hopeful, he decided. “You could never handle Jaxx.”
Bruno ignored him and looked at Jaxxon instead. “You know where I’ll be when he does to you what he always does to women. Whether you want me as a mate or more, I’ll be there.”
A little touched by the sincerity in Bruno’s voice and full of a newfound respect for him for standing up to the red bull beside her, she smiled. “Thanks Bruno.”