Seek and Cherish: A small-town rockstar rom-com (Sanctuary Book 5)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Jaxon

The sun is warm on my skin, the drink in my hand is cold, and Barley is running around his enclosure and having so much fun I swear he’s smiling.

It’s a moment of peace I rarely find these days. Even in the middle-of-nowhere, I still feel the pull of responsibility. Lately, I’ve felt the pull of blue eyes and cobalt black hair.

But at this moment, I’m not thinking about any of that. It’s an easy sort of meditation after an early morning of fun.

As the sun rose, I wandered the woods in my Bigfoot costume and scared five different Bigfoot hunters. Word has gotten around that most sightings of me happen early in the morning and folks have been heading into the woods earlier and earlier.

I never thought I’d be an early riser, but with nothing much to do here at night, I’m up with the sun most days. Except for the mornings after my once-a-week midnight grocery run in Vance Vale. I sleep in on those days.

This morning I saw a man with a serious camera and a big bag that looked professional. He had a notebook and spoke into his phone, recording his observations like an actual scientist. If he is, it might be the end of my career as Bigfoot.

I can’t have scientists looking too close and blowing my cover.

The blast of a pop song breaks the quiet of the morning and startles Barley so much he lets out a bleat of dismay.

“It’s just my phone, buddy.” My mood sinks when I see the name on the screen.

Most men would probably block a woman who cheated on them, but nothing’s that simple in my world.

I breathe out, swipe to answer, and put the phone to my ear. “Hello, Lucia.”

“What the hell, Jax? Now, you’ve cheated on me with two women?”

Anger bubbles under my chest bone and I shove it down. Lucia doesn’t deserve anything from me, especially not my real emotions. “I’m confused. I thought you were the one who cheated on me.”

“You need to make a public statement, Jax. Tell everyone you didn’t cheat on me with both those skanks.”

“They’re not skanks. Don’t you always say women should support women?”

“They’re calling me an idiot, Jax. They’re saying I should have realized you were running around behind my back with two women. And the women...” She lets out a growl of frustration. “They’re not even as pretty as me.”

I run a hand through my hair. I could tell her my publicist thinks a statement from me would just stir up more drama and attention, but that’s not her business. “Maybe you should have thought about that before you cheated on me, Lucia, and then spread the story that I cheated on you.”

“You weren’t supposed to catch us, Jaxon. And if you’d just done what I asked and pretended everything was fine until we could break up amiably, my publicist never would have had to go public with the story about you cheating.”

“I wasn’t about to keep pretending I cared for you after I heard you tell Theo Landry you love him in your orgasm voice.”

She sighs heavily, like I’m the one being difficult. “I’m sorry if you were hurt by that, but this is my career at stake here. It would have been better for all of us if you’d just gone along with the plan. You can’t tell me you enjoy being known as a cheater.”

“I enjoy it more than seeing Theo balls deep inside of you. If you didn’t want this shit, you shouldn’t have cheated on me. You just couldn’t handle anyone thinking you might be the one who ended things. You can’t handle the idea of anyone seeing you as less than perfect.”

“Ugh, why can’t you be reasonable? I’m calling your publicist.”

Somewhere behind me I hear the maaa of a goat. Has Barley gotten out? “I’ve gotta go.” I hang up on Lucia and scan Barley’s enclosure.

The little guy is in the far corner, staring my way as though entranced.

At the sound of another maa-aa, this one closer, I turn and see Honey with a white goat in her arms. The goat is the same size as Barley and is straining toward the enclosure and my goat.

Honey pats the goat’s head.

“I rang the doorbell, but then I heard your voice back here. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

I walk over to her and any worry I might have about what she could have overheard vanishes when I notice the dark bruise on her cheekbone. It’s only been two days since I saw her. “What happened to your face?”

She gives me an easy, entirely fake smile and glances to the side. “It’s nothing. I—”

“Lie to me and I’m going to ask you to leave.”

She blanches, her mouth pressing into a flat line. “What if I don’t want to tell you?”

“Why don’t you want to tell me?” I’m already vibrating with rage, because there’s only one reason I can think of. “Are you embarrassed?”

She looks away again. “I brought a wife for Barley. She’s a sweet goat, but we haven’t been able to get her adopted. Her name’s Begonia.”

“The only other reason you might not want to tell me is because someone did this to you. Who hurt you?”

She narrows her eyes, and I don’t miss her wince of pain. The rage and the need to rip apart whoever did this to her surprises me with its intensity.

“I just came here to bring you a goat as a peace offering.” She lifts Begonia toward me, as though I’ll be so easily. “We don’t need to talk about anything else.”

“So you aren’t here to convince me to help you with your treasure hunt?”

She bites her lower lip and takes a step back. “This was a bad idea. I’m gonna go.”

I take the goat from her arms before Begonia leaps out of them and set her in Barley’s enclosure. Barley races right over to Begonia and sniffs her before prancing around joyfully.

Begonia is more reserved, but she follows Barley when he climbs up onto his play structure.

“It’s love at first sight.” Honey places a hand over her heart and sighs. “I had a good feeling about Begonia, but this is even better than I’d hoped.”

I turn to her. “What. Happened?”

She wraps her arms around her middle and tilts her head back to look at the blue, cloudless sky. When she lowers her chin, there’s a new determination in her eyes. Even the one that’s swollen and dark. “If I tell you, you’ll help me with the treasure hunt?”

“Yes.” I have no other choice. Seeing this woman hurt is ripping me apart. I won’t send her into the woods alone to get scared, or worse. “I also want to see the map and the rhyme—”

“Riddle.”

“Riddle. I want you to be honest with me about everything.”

She chews on her lip, and I can’t resist reaching out and pulling it from between her teeth with my thumb. I’m not prepared for how soft her lip is or how vulnerable she looks as she stares into my eyes.

Is she feeling it too? This jolt of connection between us? My thumb buzzes like a live wire and all I can think about is kissing her until neither of us can breathe. My cock strains against my shorts at the thought.

“Mac.” Her voice is breathy, and my false name on her lips is a reminder that I’m lying to her.

I don’t want to remember that. I want to get lost in this fantasy where I’m a regular guy and I can love a woman like Honey the way she deserves to be loved.

Maybe I should tell her the truth, but I can’t stand the idea of her looking at me differently.

I take a step back.

Distance.

I just need to keep distance between us. And Honey doesn’t need to know who I really am. She just needs me to help her find a treasure.

I’m the one taking all the risk here.

“Tell me who hurt you.”

She swallows hard. “An ex-boyfriend. He showed up in town last week. He wants money, and we butted heads, literally. It was an accident. If I can find this treasure, I can pay him off and he’ll leave. It’s not a problem.”

Except it is a problem. It’s a huge ass problem for me. “What’s his name?”

She rolls her eyes. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Honey. What’s his name?”

“Dell. Dell Rutherford.”

“And you’re just going to give him the money? You aren’t going to call the police?”

Her eyes go glassy. “I told you his name. I told you what he wants. The rest is my business.”

“He hurt you, so that makes it my business.” And I’m not going to think about why that is. “Why not call the police?”

“He and I dated a few years ago and I…” She sits in my chair and pulls her knees up to her chest. “I did some things I’m less than proud of. I don’t want him to tell my sisters or anyone else. It’s better if I just pay him and he goes away.”

“How much does he want?”

She swallows hard. “Two hundred grand.”

She looks so pained by that number, but it would take one phone call for me to pay the guy off. I’d do it if I thought he’d actually go away. Guys like him get a hint of money and they’re never going to leave.

“And you think we’ll find that much with this treasure of yours?”

She lifts her hands in a shrug. “I honestly have no idea. If I can put him off long enough, I’ll get my inheritance. That’ll be more than enough to get him what he wants.”

I’ve heard how big that inheritance will be from Clover. If Dell hears any rumors about it, there’s no way he’ll be happy with just two hundred grand.

That’s something to worry about later. If I have my way, the guy will be long gone well before she gets that inheritance. “And that’s the real reason you want to go on this treasure hunt.”

She looks up at me. “The real reason I want to go is for my sisters, like I told you. I’m the youngest and I just want…” She fists her hands together and squeezes. “I want to know them better.”

“And a treasure hunt is the only way to do it?”

Fire flares in her eyes. “It’s better than me begging them to hang out when I know they’d rather be with their boyfriends and husbands. It’ll be an adventure we won’t forget.”

I’m the oldest of three siblings, but I pretty much moved out of the house at eight. I can understand wanting to build a more solid relationship with family. “Okay. I’m in.”

She looks up at me, eyes wide. “Really?”

“Did you bring the map?”

She hops up, excitement coloring her features. “It’s in the car. I’ll get it.”

I watch her race to her car, her long legs graceful as she moves.

“This is a terrible idea,” I say to Barley. He’s not paying any attention to me. He and Begonia are on the highest platform of his climbing tower, sitting side-by-side and staring into each other’s eyes.

It doesn’t surprise me I have the kind of goat who falls in love at first sight.

I walk around the house, meet Honey at the front door, and let her inside. “Why don’t you get everything spread out? I need to make a call before we get into this.”

I take the stairs two at a time and shut myself into my bedroom and then in my bathroom. I turn on the faucet and the exhaust fan for good measure before I dial my assistant.

“Jaxon, it’s been a minute,” Heidi says cheerfully. “Please tell me you’re on your way back to LA.”

“Not until we get the Vivian mess straightened out.”

Heidi groans. “I told you she’d be trouble.”

“I know you did. I’m an idiot for not listening. I need you to do something for me.”

“Sure, of course.”

“You still have the number for that private investigator we used when I had that situation?”

“By situation you mean the woman who accused you of impregnating her and wanted a big payout?”

I sigh. “Thanks for the reminder. Think you can get in touch with her and set her up to do another job for us?”

“Sure. If she can’t do it, I’ll find someone else. Rafaella has a Rolodex of PIs.”

“Of course she does. I need whoever you find to get me everything she can on a man named Dell Rutherford from Roanoke or thereabouts. I also need someone who can sit on this guy here in Catalpa Creek and make sure he stays away from my girl.”

Heidi groans. “You’re just pulling yourself out of one mess caused by a woman. Please tell me you haven’t already fallen in love again.”

“I never loved Lucia.” Which has only become clearer since I met Honey.

She snorts. “I know that, but you thought you loved her, and I hate what it did to you when she cheated. I can’t handle you with a broken heart again.”

“I’ve got it under control. I just want to keep Honey safe.”

“Right.” Sarcasm drips from the word. “I’ll just do my job and keep my opinions to myself, then.”

“Pretty sure that’s what I pay you for.”