Jax (Titan #9)(43)

A tension built in his shoulders and spread into his back. The dull ache slowed his thoughts and made him feel as if he weighed double his mass, just from a look at something—someone—he already had.

He was jealous.

It was absurd to admit, but still, it remained true. At that moment, he wanted to step into Johnny's boots and feel Seven cast her smile on him. The woman was magical.

"Jax." Jared Weston stepped next to him then followed his gaze as Jax reeled himself back to the real world. "What is it with you two?"

"No idea."

"Whatever it is, use it to our advantage. Parker picked up chatter."

If Titan's IT guy had learned anything, it was sure to be gold. "What'd he hear?"

"Hawke is having an informal meeting of the minds. Get invited."

"Sounds like my kind of fun." He smirked at the idea of finagling an invite to hang with Mayhem, but honestly, his blood pumped at the thought that he would be closer to Seven, closer to the smile that she put on his lips and the feeling of how she made the cloud hanging over him part for the sun, even if it was for a few minutes. "I'll be sure to turn a blind eye to everything I see."

###

The only thing that made Jax feel normal was the .40 caliber Glock at the small of his back and the snub-nose .38 revolver in his ankle holster. When they had attended the cartel meeting in Colombia, he'd been unarmed and might as well have been naked.

But now with Jared's orders to secure an invitation burning in the back of his brain, Jax tried to figure the best way to do that. Be up front? Or sweet-talk Seven into inviting him along? If it were that easy and Mayhem wanted Titan there, Hawke would've invited him or Jared. So this was on the informal side. Jax needed Seven to bring him, and he needed it to look as though he was there with Seven, not for work.

That was easy enough. The only question was whether to loop Seven in or not.

It would be a game-time decision, and now was his chance. Jax couldn't say he wasn't excited to see her. His blood ran hotter as he paced across the hotel lobby toward where he'd last seen the wild-haired beauty.

"Hey, you."

Seven's voice caught him by surprise. "How does anyone with neon hair blend in?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Blame Vegas?"

"Guess so." Jax fell into stride with her. "Where are you going?"

"Hotel bar. What about you? When'd you get in?"

"Little bit ago."

Her shoulder brushed his, and when she wasn't in high heels, it was noticeable how much smaller she was.

She laughed. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing. I never noticed you'd fit in my pocket."

"Ha!" She tilted her head back, and a tiny silver chain caught his eye. "Have you been drinking?"

"Not yet."

Did everything revolve around drinking with her? The last times he'd seen her had been a wedding reception, a bar, then another bar. Not his thing, but it sounded very MC-like. Drunk motorcycle motherfuckers.

They pushed their way through the crowd and into the bar, where there were day drinkers galore. Very Vegas. Some asshole bumped into him, and Jax ground his molars down in an effort not to bump the guy a few dozen feet away. Finally, he and Seven made it to the bar.

"What'd you want, babe?"

She searched over his head. "I don't know? Water?"

Jax grumbled but laughed. "You know there's a perfectly decent place where I don't have to fend fuckers off to get water, right?"

"Are you going to say your hotel room?"

He lifted his eyebrows. "No, I wasn't. But since you're suggesting…"

She laughed. "I wasn't."

"Sounded like a good idea to me."

Seven sidestepped closer as an asshole edged in behind her. "Sorry."

Jax put his arm around her waist. "You're fine." But he glared at the other guy, holding back a fierce you're fucking not. "You just want a water? Water and…? What?"

"How about a coke?"

"Okay. We'll do that." He faced the bar and gave himself a solid self-check for thinking all she wanted to do was drink.

Seven lurched away. "Hey—oh. Hey."

Jax spun to see Johnny. Jesus fucking Christ. This was not the dude he wanted to see now, and if there was any reason in the world that Seven had been leaning against him and abruptly wasn't anymore, he really didn't need that. Jax grated his teeth before he smiled. "What's up, man?"

"Jax," Johnny said as hello.

Seven stood between them, and there was a standoff that he didn't know if she was aware of, but that Jax was now acutely clued in to. If Johnny wanted her, that was going to be his own fucking problem. But at the same time, Jax didn't need to drag her good name through the mud when Mayhem all seemed to think of her as their little sister.

Jax wanted Parker to give him a background on Seven, but that would be awkward to ask for. A personal history on Johnny, maybe not so much.

Either way, he needed to know because his only job right now was securing an invite to the meeting tonight, and that was done one way—by praying upon the spark between him and her.

"When'd you get here?" Johnny inched forward, stepping too close to Jax for his liking.