Page 93

The knock on the front door interrupts Jess’s question. I glance at the clock on my bedside table and see that it’s almost ten o’clock. No one should be knocking at this time of night.

I should care, but I don’t. Jess is in flight mode, and all I care about is calming her enough to get her to stay.

Before I can even think of moving toward the living room, I hear a key going into the slot. Jess looks at me questioningly.

The door opens and in walks a familiar leggy blonde woman.

She sees me, and her eyes go wide. “Oh, hey, Dax. I wasn’t sure you were going to be coming back today.”

I feel Jess stiffen at my side as Camila’s eyes pivot in her direction.

Camila tilts her head and looks at Jess with curiosity.

“Hey Camila. Yeah, I should’ve called. Sorry about that. I’m kinda in the middle of something here. Can I call you tomorrow?”

Camila is busy looking Jess up and down, a question in her eyes. Eventually, she looks back at me and winks. “Sure thing. Call me whenever you’re free.”

Camila leaves, and the room is dead silent and filled with tension. I already know what Jess is thinking, and dread creeps through my body. There’s no way to avoid a fight, no matter what I say.

“Who’s that, Dax?” Her eerily quiet voice breaks the silence.

“That’s Camila. She’s a neighbor. She was looking after the place for me,” I tell her as an explanation.

Jess doesn’t say anything for a minute. Then she slowly shakes her head. She turns around and goes back to the bedroom to search for her shoes.

“I have no idea what’s gotten into me. I must’ve really lowered my standards to be sleeping with the biggest playboy in New York. How many girlfriends did you leave behind to come on this trip?” she asks. Then, she clamps her hand over her mouth, and a look of horror crosses her face. “Oh my God. There was a photo of you and a woman in the tabloids recently. That was Camila, wasn’t it? Please tell me she’s not your girlfriend. What the hell did I just do? I’m no better than Anthony. I’m going to be sick.”

I throw my hands up in the air. “Nice, Jess. Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt. She’s not my girlfriend. I’ve never dated her or slept with her or anything else. She’s a friend who occasionally goes to functions with me.”

“A friend, huh? With a key to your condo? And you expect me to believe that she was house-sitting for you? In your empty house that was being renovated? Sure, that makes complete sense.”

The sarcasm in her voice doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Yes, because that’s the truth. She volunteered to keep a look over things for me.”

She slams her shoes onto her feet. “Ha! I’ve been with a cheating asshole once. I’m not dumb enough to do it again. Look at you and look at her. You two belong together. I’m surprised you lowered yourself enough to sleep with me.”

Red-hot anger hits me smack in the chest. Here we go again. I’m so tired of the same shitty comments from everyone. She’s just like the rest after all, thinking I screw anything with tits. I’ve never cheated on a woman and never would.

So much for her being different.

“Well, you know me. You don’t expect me to go weeks without fucking a woman, do you?” I ask furiously.

“That’s true,” she fires back. “You do seem to have quite an appetite for it.”

“You seemed to like my appetite a few minutes ago.”

She gives a self-deprecating laugh. “A mistake I won’t be repeating. I can’t believe I fell for this.”

I take a calming breath. She’s understandably upset because of what her ex did to her, but I can’t allow her to take it out on me. She needs to understand that I’m not him.

“Jess, please sit down and let’s talk about this. Camila is seriously a friend. I’ll call her back in here, and she’ll tell you herself.”

I see her eyes pivoting around the room, probably searching for her bag. I have a feeling as soon as she finds it, she’s out of here. Luckily, it’s tucked away in my hall closet. That should buy me some time to calm her down.

I pick up my phone and scroll through the contacts until I find Camila’s number. As the phone starts ringing, I put it on speaker.

“Hello? Dax? Everything okay?” Camila’s voice comes out over the speaker.