Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 68249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
He was in peak physical form. He couldn’t be that into food.
“Are you judging me?” Jax asked and diced up a garlic clove. Good, that would keep me from kissing him or him me. Bad thought, Riley. “Because, I gotta say that’s rich coming from someone who teaches pole dancing for a living.”
“A living,” I replied. “Is that what they’re calling it nowadays?”
He abandoned the garlic and fiddled with the burners, placed a pan on top, and heated it. After, he poured us each a glass of white wine, and we clinked on nothing but the smell of garlic and the potential for lasagna. We listened to music as he prepared it all, then put it in the oven. Finally, he came over and stood across from me, smiling. “Give it thirty minutes or so.”
“Great,” I said. “Thank you for doing this, Mr. King, I really appreciate it.”
“Mr. King? Am I your daddy?”
“What?”
“No, I’m not. I’m Jax, and you’ll call me that,” he said, and drained the last of his wine, set the glass aside. “Tell me, if the teaching thing isn’t working out to the point that you’ve got to sleep in the studio, why do it?”
“I love it,” I said, immediately. “Not just pole dancing, but all dancing. I love it all, and I’m not going to give it up.” I’d had this conversation with others too many times—the words came out bitter and defensive now.
“Easy,” he said. “I’m not suggesting you give it up, just that you need some help, and I happen to be in the position to offer it to you. You don’t have an apartment.”
“Nah, I just sleep in the studio for fun.” I flashed him a smile.
“What happened?”
I didn’t owe him an answer. I could walk out of the delicious-smelling kitchen, a mixture of lasagna, cheese bubbling, and his sharp yet smooth cologne, away from his gaze right now. I could. But something about the way he’d asked it gave me pause. I licked my lips. “I couldn’t pay my rent. I’ve got savings put away, but I can’t access them for another thirty days.” I cut off then.
Even when I could access them, I had a huge decision to make. One between two passions, two desires, and that made sleeping in the studio even more difficult. And being here just the worst.
“Right, so you need some time to recoup your losses,” he said and laid his hand next to mine.
Our skin didn’t touch, but the heat was there, and it streamed from that point up my arm and into my solar plexus, then lower, and lower.
I studied his features up close—a slight crook in his nose, a freckle right below his lip but above his chin. His cupid’s bow wasn’t too defined, and his lips weren’t too thick. They were just perfect. His jaw could’ve chopped down trees, for heaven’s sake. It was angular and cloaked in a blonde beard, neatly trimmed.
I didn’t have a type, but if I did, this guy could totally be it.
“It’s settled,” he said, and brushed a pinkie over an eyebrow. “You’ll stay here until you’re back on your feet.”
“Settled? That’s—not settled at all.”
“It makes perfect sense. I’m hardly ever here, traveling most days, and you need a place to sleep. I’ll give you a good deal. Only gotta pay me rent at the end of the month when you’ve got the cash for it. Give you a damn good rate.”
“That’s…” Generous? Troublesome? Super damn dangerous?
Jax made my insides shrivel up with desire. I couldn’t picture myself hanging around here without wanting to pounce him, and that would seriously distract me from everything I had on my plate.
“That’s—”
“A great idea, I know. Those are the only kind I have,” he said.
I managed a laugh.
“Listen, sleep on it. We’ll eat, we’ll drink, you’ll take a shower, and I’ll show you to the guest room. You don’t gotta make any decisions tonight, princess,” he said.
I wasn’t capable of it with him looking at me like that. In fact, if I didn’t excuse myself soon, I’d likely start babbling truth again, and he seriously didn’t need to know how hot he was. He knew that already.
“Whatsamatter, Riley?” He asked, licking his bottom lip. “You never heard of the generosity of strangers?”
I didn’t have an answer for that, so I drank my last gulp of wine instead. Decide tomorrow. Decide in thirty days. Whatever happens, you’ve got to do it. This is our future at stake. More than yours.
“More wine?” Jax asked, his tone a deep grumble, leaning far too close to get the wine bottle.
I fixated on his lips. “Please,” I said.
Chapter 3
Jax
I was a selfish, selfish man.
Yeah, I’d taken her from the dance studio to save her a night of sleeping on a cold, wooden floor with stripper poles for company, but the roommate thing? The invite? Fuck, that definitely hadn’t been part of the plan.