Chapter 9

Every fiber of my being goes on red alert when I see this woman I have to share a house with standing in a barely-there string bikini chopping something on the island, and then when she speaks to Jaxon in a way that's nothing less than flirty, I'm definitely not happy. What kind of hired help hangs around looking like this? Shouldn't she be in one of those white chef's uniforms? Maybe not the big chef's hat but definitely more than the tiny triangles of fabric barely covering her bits and pieces.

The look on Jaxon's face tells me he's uncomfortable, but why? Immediately, my mind goes to a place I don't want to think about. Does he know her better than he tried to make it seem in the bedroom? Back there, he didn't mention anything about her having a smoking hot body. All he said was she had dark hair and a tattoo on her neck.

My eye is drawn to the black spider and spiderweb on the left side of her neck. It's an ugly tattoo that looks homemade. Why didn't he mention that? It's not like Jaxon doesn't know anything about tattoos. He has a ton of them.

He holds me close to him, resting his chin on my right shoulder as he says, "Hey, Ivy. I want you to meet my girlfriend, Tia."

The way she looks at me makes me think something is definitely off about this whole situation. It's not jealousy or anger I see in her expression, but I swear when she turned to look at me, she looked almost like she'd been waiting to see my face.

Why, though?

She wipes her hands on her bikini top and hurries over to where we're standing to shake my hand. "Hi, I'm Ivy! I'm here to cook you guys whatever you want, so your wish is my command. Just say the word."

The only words I want to say to this woman are go away, but I don't want to sound petty or jealous, so I plaster a smile on my face and say, "Hi, Ivy. It's nice to meet you. I hope you got something at the store because there wasn't a thing in the refrigerator when I looked before."

"I did. The fridge is stocked, and whatever you guys want to eat can be ready in no time. You name the dish, and I'll whip it up."

Jaxon hugs me tightly and in my ear says, "That sounds great, doesn't it? What would you like to eat? Feel like a big meal or just something to snack on?"

I look back at him and with my forced smile say, "Whatever you want, honey."

He's a smart man, so he picks up on my feelings quickly. He gives me a kiss and then turns toward Ivy. "What about French toast? That would be great."

The cook, who I thought just said she'd make whatever we want, gives him a strange look and laughs. "French toast? That seems like a weird thing to have in the middle of the day. What about a salad with some grilled chicken. I can have it ready in a few minutes."

I open my mouth to tell her I want the damn French toast, but Jaxon speaks before I can. "French toast is Tia's favorite, so just make the French toast. We'll be outside, so let us know when it's ready."

Without another word, he takes me by the hand and leads me out the glass doors to the patio in the backyard. When I look back, Ivy is busy getting things ready to make what we want.

Jaxon and I sit at the table with a big yellow umbrella to shield us from the sun, and for a few seconds, neither one of us says a thing. Finally, I touch his hand and smile when he looks over at me.

"Thank you for doing that."

"It was nothing. We told her what we wanted. I didn't want her opinion to go with our French toast. Just some syrup and butter will do."

He has no idea how much it means to me that he put his foot down and insisted on us having what I love. I want to tell him, but I'll leave that for later. Right now, I just want to enjoy this beautifully sunny day with him.

"I love you. Do you know that?"

That finally makes him smile. "I know. I still love hearing it every time you say those words, though."

"Good, because I plan on saying them a lot," I say with a giggle.

When we're like this—relaxed and sweet to one another—I'm happier than I ever imagined I could be. He makes me forget all the bad things in life, like the fact that someone is out to hurt me and my parents.

Curious about them, I ask, "Do you get updates about my parents while they're in Italy?"

He nods and takes out his phone. Sliding it across the table to me, he says, "Check the messages for the name Albert. From what he's said so far, they're having the time of their lives."

I read through the four messages this Albert person has sent Jaxon in the past two days. My parents do seem to be having fun. They're in Venice to start the trip and have taken a gondola ride and visited Piazza San Marco. They're scheduled to have dinner later tonight at the best restaurant in the city.

When I finish, I hand the phone back to him. "What did you tell them about me? I'm sure the first thought they had was they would like me to join them."

He wraps his fingers around my forefinger in that way he always loved to when we would sit and watch TV. "I told them exactly who I am and that I would make sure you're safe no matter what."

"Did you tell them I'm in danger?" I ask as my heart clenches at how scared my parents must be if they know that.

Jaxon shakes his head. "No. I didn't think that was necessary. I think they got the feeling something was happening, but I promised them I'd take care of you. I had the sense they knew my name when I told them who I was. Did you ever mention me?"

I see the uneasiness in his eyes as he waits for me to answer. He's afraid I told them what happened when we met. He doesn't have to worry about that. I've never told anyone, not because I'm ashamed of anything but because I don't know if they'd understand how I could fall in love with him after those first days.

Nodding, I smile. "I told them I was dating someone named Jaxon. Nothing else. I didn't care to say anything more."

"Because they wouldn't want you to be around me if they knew the circumstances of how we met?"

I lower my head to kiss his fingers still lovingly wrapped around my forefinger. "No. I don't care if people know, but I'm not interested in their opinions about it. I love you. That's all they needed to know."

"Did you tell them we broke up?"

"No. They probably guessed, though, since I was pretty down for a long time."

He leans back in his chair and closes his eyes as he turns his face to the sun. "I guess I should be happy your father didn't take a shot at me then."

That makes me laugh since I don't think my father has ever hit a single soul in his life. "My father's not like that. He might give you an angry look, but he's not a violent man, even when he's angry."

Jaxon turns his head and looks into my eyes. "What you mean is he isn't a bad man like me."

"My father is sweet and kind. Just the way my mother likes. Some women like sweet. Other women like bad. Good for you I have a thing for bad men."

His eyes get big, so I quickly add, "Well, just one bad man, if I'm being honest."

I guess I'm not the only one who can be jealous.

"I'm thirsty. Are you? I'm going to run in and get a drink. Do you want something?" I ask as I stand to walk back into the house.

"Orange juice for you?" Jaxon asks with a chuckle.

"Good to know you didn't forget my favorite drink with French toast. Want some?"

He thinks for a few moments and shakes his head. "No, not orange juice. See if there's any soda."

I lean down and kiss his cheek. "Dr. Pepper?"

Turning his head to look at me, he smiles. "Good to know you didn't forget."

That year apart didn't change how much we know about one another, it seems.

I find Ivy standing at the stove finishing up our French toast when I walk inside. The warm smell of vanilla and butter fills the air and smells heavenly. As I head toward the refrigerator, she looks over at me and says, "Anything I can help with?"

"No, thanks. I just need to grab a couple drinks."

She didn't lie about filling the fridge. It takes a bit to root through all the food and drink to find Jaxon's favorite soda, but I spy it on the back of the top shelf. I grab the bottle of orange juice from the door and then it's a matter of locating a couple glasses.

Ivy watches me instead of paying attention to our food she's cooking while I'm searching through cabinets, so she points at the one on the far side of the room. "Glasses are over near the sink there."

I follow where she's pointing and find them just as she said. "Thanks."

After pouring our drinks and returning the bottles to the fridge, I start back to the patio, but Ivy stops me. It takes everything inside me to not ask why she's cooking in a bikini, but I choose to be nice and decide not to.

"You're very lucky to have a man like Jaxon. I can tell he's crazy about you."

Something in the way she says that hits my ears as part jealousy and part kindness, and I don't know which to pay attention to more. Her expression appears to say she's flattering me, so I nod and smile.

"Oh, I know. The French toast smells incredible. I can't wait to taste it."

With that, I head back out to the patio where he's enjoying soaking in the rays on this gorgeous day. I set his glass of soda in front of him and sit down.

"You know, Ivy thinks I'm lucky to have a guy like you."

He doesn't react for a long moment, but then he sits up and turns his chair toward the table and me. As he grabs his glass to take a sip of soda, he gives me a strange look.

"Ooookaaay. Not that she's wrong, but she knows this how?" he asks, arching a single dark eyebrow.

"She said she can tell you're crazy about me."

He's quiet for a few seconds after taking a drink of his soda, but then a smile lifts the corners of his mouth and I know he's not upset. "I don't know how. Maybe we give off a lovey-dovey vibe? Well, me. You've been pretty grim around her the whole time."

For a bad man, he really can be quite sweet at times.

"I had my reasons, but I swear I was nice when we talked inside now."

Jaxon shrugs and lifts my hand from the table to press a kiss onto my fingers. "I don't care if you're terrible to her. She's no one to me. Not that I think you could be. You don't have bitch in you, Tia."

That makes me laugh, even though he's not really wrong. "I don't know if that's a compliment or not. I can be pretty snarky when I want to."

Leveling his disbelieving gaze on my face, he shakes his head. "Baby, what you think is snarky and bitchy is nothing compared to some people. It's okay, though. You're nice. Nothing wrong with that."

I squeeze his finger tightly. "You make nice sound like a disease."

"Not at all," he answers with a sexy grin. "I think nice is hot."

We sit enjoying the warmth of the sun for a few minutes, but Ivy never comes with our food. The French toast should have been done by now. What is she doing in there?

Probably dancing around the kitchen in her bikini like some adolescent girl.

"What's holding up the French toast?" I ask him after a while.

He looks toward the glass doors leading to the kitchen and shakes his head. "I don't know. How were things coming when you went in for the drinks?"

"It was almost done. I think your uncle may have been more impressed with her itty bitty bikini than her talent as a chef."

Jaxon throws his head back and laughs. "You don't know Ryker. Since he met Kaia, he doesn't even notice other women or their bikinis. I'll go in and check on our food. Maybe she's doing something special to the toast."

I watch him as he walks inside and I wonder what the hell kind of special things can be done to French toast. You throw some vanilla extract into the egg and milk mixture, dip the bread, and cook it. There really isn't more to it than that.

It's not exactly rocket science.

A strange noise inside the house makes my ears perk up, and I get up to walk inside. Something about that chef rubs me the wrong way. I'm not sure I'm crazy about her being alone with Jaxon, so I'll just head in and see what's up.