Jax (Titan #9)(37)

"I have to go back to work tomorrow night, and don't read that the wrong way. I didn't fly in to fuck you."

She blinked, having no idea how to take that.

"But I had some time on my hands. Thought I'd stop by."

"Iowa."

Jax put his hand on her throat, tilting her head back with the strength of his fingers, and silenced her with his lips. Their firmness made her weak as her pulse pounded in her neck, and she moaned. His fingers flexed for a flash until Jax backed her to the wall and released his hold.

Seven gasped into his kiss, moaning for more when his hot tongue slid between her lips.

"I wanted to kiss you again," he whispered, letting his mouth feather against her cheek before he dropped to her neck and used his teeth.

"God, yes." Her nipples pricked as his words rumbled against her senses. She raked her nails up his back, and Jax left a searing trail of kisses to her collarbone. She pulled back. "Jax—wait."

"Yeah?"

She placed her hands on the carved muscles of his chest, flexing her fingers. He pulled her hands off, interlaced their fingers, and pinned them above her head. "I'm waiting."

"I have kids."

He ducked his head close. Him and her, away from the world, in a shadowed room of their faces, their warm breaths, heated from their kisses. "I should've called."

"All these real-life responsibilities. Kids. A business. A thing with my mom. Stuff like that."

He nodded. "You don't have to explain. I'll head out."

"No!" She didn't want him to go but didn't know what to do. "Is Ryder in town? Maybe…"

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

"I'd invite you over, but I get it. Kids. Those are scary little people to bachelor guys. Though it's not like I'd tell them who you are, not that you are something, or…" She cringed, not sure what that sounded like to him. "What I mean is that they are around a lot of my friends, many in Mayhem. They're used to friends who are male. Never mind." She laughed awkwardly, making the situation a thousand times more uncomfortable than it had to be.

Jax stepped back. "I didn't think this through. That's on me."

His words hit like a gut shot. Not that she wanted him to meet her kids, but damn, she didn't want him to run from who she really was, and he'd been told in no uncertain terms that she had kids. The guy had flown to Iowa and didn't think about it. He did just want to screw, and his other head had led him the entire way there. Why was she surprised—and hurt? "No worries."

But even as she tried to add sunshine into her fib, she heard it fall flat without her permission.

"What I'm trying to say is…" Jax walked back to the small couch in her office and took a seat. "Having an unknown—houseguest? Who's a guy. That's probably a big deal to throw at a woman with kids, and it was screwed up of me not to think it through." He pursed his lips together, having no idea what he was talking about. "That makes me a dick, and that wasn't what I was trying to do." He put his arm over the back of the couch. "I wanted to see you and say hey. I did, so I can bounce."

"Please don't." Seven crossed her office and joined him. "Hang out with us."

"I don't want to cause a problem."

She cackled. "Mayhem showing up at six in the morning and demanding I set a meeting with Titan Group is a problem. Though it's had its benefits," she teased. "If you're down for some serious mac and cheese and dino-chicken-nugget action and then crashing in the guest room, I'd love to hang."

A smile that she hadn't seen before lit his face. Maybe he hadn't expected to be served dino nuggets, or maybe he was amused to be relegated to the guest bedroom. She had no idea, but learning more about Jax was like unwrapping a present that had many complicated layers. When she least expected it, another gift showed up. There it was, and surprise! An unexpected bit of joy came her way.

"Do I get a good-night kiss and tucked in?" he joked.

"I can manage that." Seven stood up and held out her hand. "Hang with us for the night? At Casa de Kiddos?"

He grasped her hand, hoisting himself so their bodies touched. "Just know one thing."

"What's that?"

"Kids shouldn't scare a man away."

Wow… Even as every part of her flew into the air like a dusting of confectioner's sugar, she melted as he headed toward the door.

"Ready?"

How different his childhood had probably been, and for the millionth time, she recommitted to making sure Nolan and Bianca never had the experience she had in which her infamous father saw Seven as an imposition or an asset but never a kid.





CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE


Obstacles were a part of life. Jax trained for them. He planned courses of action then backup, prepared for them to fail. He was constantly ready to pivot and adjust so that the unexpected never found him waiting.

Right now, he was T-minus five seconds to out of his league and only had a car's drive worth of intelligence gathering.

Adelia hung on the apartment complex porch, waving goodbye to the kids but trying to catch a better eye of who was in Seven's car, and he was transfixed by the three-and almost five-year-old holding Seven's hands as they walked to the car.