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“So this is simply a delay until I give in?”
“You see it as giving in, but even Dave agrees the inlet probably could have sold already. Did you talk to him about it?”
“Yes, I did,” I said, my tone clipped.
“And you’re still not convinced?”
“Jax, did you hear anything I said yesterday?”
He was starting to get annoyed, but honestly, I was too. “I heard you loud and clear, Nat. Did you hear me?”
“Of course I did.”
“Good.”
“Exactly.”
I wasn’t even sure what we were talking about anymore. Other than the fact that yesterday solved nothing, today would solve nothing, and tomorrow would probably be the same.
“So what, then? I cancel the meeting, abandon the bid, and leave town? Is that what you want?”
I gasped. Was he serious? “What makes you think I want you to leave town?”
“I don’t know, maybe because you refuse to discuss us.”
“Well it’s hard,” I said, “with the land thing looming over our heads. Don’t you think it’s all tied together?”
“What are you two lovebirds whispering about over there?” Nate asked from behind the bar. “I’m sure your friend Mason is getting bored with my war stories by now.”
The Greek god looked my way. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but no doubt Jax had brought him up to speed.
“I was just leaving,” I said.
“Nat, don’t.” And then more quietly, he added, “Don’t run away again.”
For some reason, his words only annoyed me more. “I’m not running away,” I whispered back. “Just giving you and your friend some space.”
Louder, to Nate, Mason, and Zoe, I said, “The jet lag is still killing me. I’m heading out. Will talk to you guys later. Nice to meet you,” I said, the Greek god responding that it was nice to meet me too.
His voice was smooth and sexy. Like, he could probably make a girl come over the phone sexy. But even so, my heart didn’t race at the thought of being in his arms, as gorgeous as he was. His companion, however? I was a heartbeat away from losing the bet and telling Jax to just hold me tight and never let go.
Before Zoe could stop me—she looked very much like she was going to try—I fled. Despite the fact that I told Jax I wasn’t running away, I basically did just that. And never looked back.
TWENTY-EIGHT
jax
Pride kept me from texting her.
I did that once, went chasing her to KC’s, only to end up right back where we started. Yesterday I’d taken Mace to the police station where he had an appointment with the chief. Nothing was definite yet, but the chief verified there was an opening and that, while Mace would be able to keep his years of service with NYPD on the back end of his retirement, and they wouldn’t make him go through training again courtesy of his Ranger’s background, he would start at the bottom of the pay scale.
But it was clear the chief was very interested in having a former Ranger and NYPD cop on his payroll. Mace left saying he’d get back to him by the end of the week. In the meantime, I showed him around town, as if I were selling it.
A dumbass thing to do since I didn’t know if I was staying myself.
The idea had more and more appeal each day, but without Natalie, it was an empty promise of a life I’d had a brief glimpse of in Sicily. If there was any doubt that what I wanted most was Natalie, seeing her walk out of the bar had obliterated it. It felt, somehow, like a final goodbye. Ridiculous, since if I wanted to talk to her right now, I could drive over to her apartment and tell her I wouldn’t leave until we talked. But I wouldn’t do that, despite the fact that I still had a meeting with Dave in the morning.
“What are you gonna do?” Mace asked now as we sat on the front deck, like Natalie and I had. I was getting used to this deck. To this view.
