I Want You Back (Want You #1)(24)

“To my office.”

I felt his gaze burning into me and I bit the inside of my cheek.

“For Christ’s sake, Luce, just say it.”

“You have an office?” rushed out in the shocked tone he’d expected.

“Yes, I have an office. Where’d you think I spent my time?”

“No clue.”

Jax muttered something and I opted not to ask him to repeat it.

On the twenty-seventh floor, we turned right instead of left. Left led to the board of directors’ conference room and the on-site shredding room. Halfway down the hallway he stopped and pushed open a door. “After you.”

“I didn’t know there were offices on this floor.”

“There aren’t . . . except for mine.”

I tried not to be shocked by such a nondescript space for the man rumored to be the next CEO. The room had one small window, one small desk, one visitor’s chair, one filing cabinet. I managed to say, “The built-in bookcase is nice.”

He snorted. “It’s ironic that this room reflects my position in the company.”

A Keurig coffeemaker sat on the edge of the bookcase, and he hit the power button. Apparently he needed a moment to gather his thoughts as he brewed the coffee. And maybe it did give me a warmish feeling that he fixed my cup exactly as I liked it: two sugars and one creamer.

What other things does he remember about what you like? Does he remember how much you loved it when he came up behind you and used his teeth on the nape of your neck whenever you cooked dinner? Or the panting sounds you made when he—

“You deserve a fucking medal, Lucy.”

I wrapped my hands around my mug of coffee and refocused. “Mimi wasn’t on her best behavior because she was with Daddy?”

“No. I even warned her that she’d have to be up fifteen minutes earlier than normal since I live farther away from the school. She was all smiles, talking about what kind of cereal she planned to have. Then this morning I awakened the beast. I had to literally drag her out of bed. She locked herself in the bathroom, which I hadn’t prepared for, and that was a wasted twenty minutes.”

“Did she emerge on her own? Or did you have to pick the lock?”

Jax’s cheeks turned crimson. “I had to resort to pretending that Calder had come to the door.”

I laughed. “Ooh. High five for that trickery, Daddy-o.”

“She glared at me as I made her get dressed in her room with the door open. She hid behind her cereal box during breakfast. And she was really pissed when I . . .” He paused.

“What? Come on, don’t be dramatic.”

A sheepish look crossed his face. “Don’t get pissy with me, but I was so goddamned mad at the sheer amount of both of our time that she wasted by being a brat, that I refused to comb her hair.”

I choked on my sip of coffee.

“I told her we were out of time and had to leave.”

Mimi always thrashed in her sleep, turning her hair into a snarly mess in the morning. At age eight she hadn’t taken any interest in styling her own hair, and honestly it was just easier and faster for me to do it for her. But to say, “To hell with it, I’m not putting up with your attitude,” and making her go to school with bedhead? I grinned and lifted my mug to him. “Brilliant, Jax. Seriously. I’m a little jealous of your hard-ass parenting stance with her.”

He raked his hand over his scalp. “Don’t be too hasty in your praise. She refused to give me a kiss good-bye or to even say good-bye when I dropped her off.”

“And the next time you see her, she’ll be just fine,” I assured him.

“I figured you oughta know what went down so you’re not shocked by her appearance when you pick her up today.”

I shrugged. “Maybe you should pick her up and see how her day went.”

Jax narrowed his eyes at me. “Why the sudden change?”

“Hey, you pick her up sometimes. It’d stave off the blame game, Mimi complaining to me that you didn’t do her hair this morning. In the past I would’ve gotten pissy on her behalf.” I looked him dead in the eye. “She’s smart enough to play us against each other, and I’ve been bitter enough to let her do it. No more. We are partners in raising her. Even if we disagree behind closed doors we have to provide a united front or she will run roughshod over both of us.”

“Agreed.” Then he offered me that smile, the one I’d always considered mine; softer, smirkier, more secretive than his usual wide grin. “Can I say that I’m glad we’re able to talk about things like this now?”

“Me too.”

“Want me to keep her overnight tonight? See if a back-to-back dose of discipline dad can tame the morning beast?”

Automatically I started to say no. But I was working on a major project right now, and extra hours in the office tonight with no interruptions would get me caught up. “You’re sure it won’t interfere with your . . . ?”

Jax leaned forward. “With my what, Luce? My big, exciting life?” He laughed harshly. “I live by myself in a rental apartment. I’m not dating anyone”—his eyes turned hard—“and I’m not fucking anyone either. The only other thing I do at night besides sleep is work out if the insomnia is too bad.”