Page 53 of Close to Heaven

“How do you know about that?”

“She told me.”

Hmm. So, Avery was confiding in Cody now. It made sense, but it still irked Jax. “So what? She still works for me.”

“I don’t think anyone cares about that except you.”

“What about Dakota?”

Cody paused.

“How many times has she warned us to stay away from her friends?”

“A few.”

“A few dozen, you mean.”

“That was when we were younger. We’re older and more mature now.”

“If anything goes wrong, Dakota will kill me, and I might lose Avery as an employee.”

“Or everything might work out swell, and you might actually be happy.”

Jax shook his head.

“Listen,” said Cody, “I would have gone after her myself if I thought she had any interest. But for some crazy reason, she’s more interested in my surly big brother.”

“Did she tell you that?”

“She didn’t have to. I just know.”

Jax shoved a hand through his hair. “I suck at this.”

“Women?”

“Yeah.”

“Not gonna argue. On the upside, you’re really good at stomping around and looking pissed off.”

Which was getting Jax nowhere. He looked down and toed the ground.

“Okay,” said Cody. “So, you don’t want to ask her out on an official date. Why don’t you invite her to Thanksgiving dinner instead?”

“She’s having dinner with her dad.”

“Invite her for dessert. We’ll all be there, so you won’t be alone with her.”

If Cody only knew how Jax longed to be alone with her… On second thought, maybe his brother was right. Inviting her to a family event was a lot less intimate than asking her on a date, and it might go a long way toward repairing their relationship. Yes, he was dying to kiss her again, but he also missed talking and hanging out with her. Still, he was torn. He’d been adamant that they maintain a professional relationship, and wouldn’t inviting her to dinner be tempting fate?

“I’ll think about it,” he said.

Cody’s phone rang and interrupted the conversation. He took it out of his pocket, glanced at the screen, and smiled. “I need to take this.”

He walked away with the phone pressed to his ear, and Jax could tell by his swagger he was talking to a woman. Jax pulled the wreath back out of the box and went to hang it on the front door.

The holidays hadn’t been the same since his parents had died, and no amount of decorating would change that. He and his siblings still got together to celebrate, but they were acutely aware of the two empty places at the table. As time went on, there’d be new additions to the family: spouses, children, and friends. However, it might be a while, since none of the Sawyers were currently involved in a serious relationship. He couldn’t speak for his siblings, but it was hard to think about loving someone when he knew how easy it was to lose them.

Maybe that was why he’d been so reluctant to get involved with Avery, not just because she was his employee and Dakota’s best friend, but because it made him feel vulnerable.

It was too late, though, because he was already falling for her.