Chapter 13
JAX
Iwatch Kat leave and run a hand through my hair, tugging it slightly.
Fuck, this is not what I anticipated when I agreed to Caleb’s harebrained scheme to get the answers I needed. Answers she actually provided.
What an idiot!
Not only have I invaded her break, but we’re quite literally stuck, living together for the next forty-eight hours. The only person she has an actual physical aversion to.
I sink down onto the sofa.
Caleb says he’s worried about her, and I’m beginning to see what he means.
Kat’s mask is slipping. The Kathryn Frazer I know has always been reserved.
Was never overly keen on outward, public shows of emotion.
When we were together, our relationship was a secret, so all emotions were kept behind locked doors.
After that, she just became short and direct, letting me know my presence was unwelcome.
Her animosity towards me was initially seen as a joke by her brothers.
They thought she disliked me because I slept with one of Darra’s friends, someone she didn’t approve of.
It all happened as Elijah’s life descended into turmoil, with Darra announcing she was pregnant.
No one questioned Kat’s emotional switch.
Typical siblings, they laughed it off, blaming me for being a babe magnet.
Kat never corrected them. Instead, she allowed my friendship with her brothers to flourish, despite her own misgivings about me.
Now we are here… I stand up and begin to pace.
When Kat picked up that bloody chicken salad and ate it in the lounge, I’d felt an unexpected lightness.
I’d all but flopped back into my chair as I’d pretended to be engrossed in my computer.
When she thanked me, I thought we might be getting somewhere.
Instead, she has run, like her dress is on fire, when I know she’s exhausted.
Shit!
I run a hand down my face.
Maybe we can come up with a rota? I’ll speak to Bethany, find out if there’s somewhere I can work with internet access. Somewhere far, far away from this villa. Give Kat the space I’ve promised her.
My eyes move to the bed, and the single bed that’s been erected. It’s a child’s bed and certainly not designed for an adult male or female. I groan. There I was, hoping to get some sleep. The main bed is vast. Not that I think Kat will be keen on the idea of sharing.
My phone pings.
ELIJAH:
What the hell? Do you have a death wish?
ME:
Ha Ha. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
ELIJAH:
In what universe?
ME:
I needed answers for the project. Kat was not cooperating.
ELIJAH:
So you stowed away? You’re a braver man than me.
If only you knew. You’d have hung me out to dry years ago.
ME:
I’m a big boy. Kat has agreed to work with me. Plus, I didn’t stow away. Cal got me on the plane manifesto.
ELIJAH:
Cal clearly has a death wish too.
I can sense the incredulity of Elijah’s message.
My phone rings, and I answer immediately.
“How did she take it?”
“About as well as you’d expect. I take it she messaged you all?”
“I’d say my sister is royally pissed. I’m surprised you’re still breathing.”
I am too, if I’m honest, and that’s what concerns me most.
There’s a pregnant pause.
“Try not to piss her off any more than necessary. From what Cal told me, the board are happy. Kat needs you on this project, don’t force her to do anything she’ll regret.”
I bite my tongue. Kat’s brothers are treating her like she’s a child, not a grown arse woman who runs one of the world’s largest hotel groups. A CEO who is both revered and feared in equal measures by her competitors.
“Don’t worry, I want to keep all appendages intact. I’m not going to mess with Kat.”
I decide not to tell him about our living arrangements for the next forty-eight hours, or the fact that his sister had sent me the information before I left. It will fuel the fire, and not something Kat or I need to deal with.
“We’ve already discussed keeping our relationship purely professional,” I say.
Elijah chuckles, and I groan.
“You know what I mean. We’ve agreed to act like professionals around one another for the sake of the project.”
“Oh, for a moment… don’t mind me. It’s being with Pen. The thought of you and Kat—”
He begins to laugh even harder.
I force out my own laugh.
Elijah probably wouldn’t be my friend, and I certainly wouldn’t have spent years working with Cal if they knew my true history with their sister.
“Sorry,” he says, getting control of himself.
“On a serious note, we’re all worried about her.
She’s not been herself since Zach and Darra’s revelation.
She’s thrown herself even further into work.
Pen told me she was using this time as a working break.
Now you’re there. No offence, my friend, but you’re not my sister’s favourite person. ”
“Look, don’t worry. I’m a big boy, and your sister is more than capable of holding her own. Kat’s fine.”
I cross my fingers as I lie to my friend, but I’m going to do my utmost to ensure Kat gets what she needs this trip.
“Elijah, Kat’s not known as the queen of the hotel industry because she’s seen as a pushover. I’m here to do my job, she understands that, and appreciates it,” I say.
“I hear you,” Elijah replies with a sigh. “What you’re telling us is to back off and let Kat fight her own battles. That we are being overbearing brothers and should butt out.”
“If that’s how you want to phrase it.”
Elijah laughs, and it’s good to hear that sound. It reminds me of times long gone, when we both used to laugh a lot.
“Now we’ve sorted that, I’m going for a swim to clear my head before dinner.”
“Enjoy.”
Elijah ends the call, and I throw my phone down on the side.
Kat and I may not see eye to eye, but her siblings are the brothers I never had. If they are worried about her. I will look after her, even if it’s from a distance.
I open my case and hang up the few clothes I brought with me in the bathroom wardrobe.
When I’m done, I grab my swim shorts and pull them on, heading out onto the terrace and down the steps leading onto the reef and into the sea.
The fish dart away from me as I move towards the edge of the reef.
I launch myself off, diving beneath the surface, using my arms to propel myself forward, cutting a path through the crystal water.
The sea is at a beautiful temperature, and the sun is still hot despite the time of day.
I swim out but keep track of the shoreline.
I reach some of the larger buildings and start to slow my stroke. I spot Kat sitting in the bar alone, and my chest tightens.
I give myself a mental shake and press on, my arms cutting through the water at speed again, as I try to push all thoughts of Kat Frazer from my mind and the first time I saw her.
Eighteen Years Ago
The rich and luminous tone of the piano drifts down the hallway.
I recognise the piece. Whoever is playing is effortlessly navigating the most challenging passage.
Captivated, I find myself standing behind the door of what must be a music room.
The pianist is out of sight. I wonder if it’s Elijah’s mum, whoever it is, is masterful, the passage they’re playing appearing effortless.
Dad plays, he has since boyhood. He tried to teach me, but I was much more interested in drawing. I close my eyes and listen. Dad has the technical skill, but this is heartfelt, soulful. I’m drawn in.
“Are you just going to lurk, or are you going to come in?” a female voice says from inside the room.
I step around the door. My eyes instantly lock on the young woman sitting at a grand piano.
“Oh, sorry. I thought you were Caleb or Gabriel.”
I know I’m staring. The woman in front of me is definitely related to Elijah.
She is the feminine version of my best friend, only her features are more petite, softer.
Where my friend is handsome, she’s breathtaking.
Her long, almost black hair trails midway down her back, and her enormous dark brown eyes stare back at me.
I drag my gaze away, knowing I must look like a creep.
I use the time to centre myself and look around the room.
This is a library, not just a music room.
Thousands of books line the wall. My gaze returns to the beautiful woman in front of me.
She inclines her head, a furrow appearing between her dark eyebrows.
“Do you speak?”
“Sorry,” I say, rubbing my hand awkwardly down my trouser leg before stepping forward and holding it out to her. “Jaxson Lockwood.”
She looks at the outstretched hand and draws her lips between her teeth, smothering her grin. Eventually she places a smaller, more delicate hand in mine.
“I’m a friend of Elijah. I just arrived. I’m here for the summer to train with him.”
The words spill out of me like verbal diarrhoea, and I wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole.
Why the hell did I stop outside this room?
I’m making a complete tit of myself.
Way to go, Mr Cool!
I hold her gaze, more because I can’t drag my eyes away from hers.
“Pleased to meet you, Jaxson Lockwood, friend of Elijah,” she says, her dark eyes twinkling. “I’m Kathryn Frazer, Kat to my friends. Welcome to our home.”
“Thank you,” I say. “Your playing is amazing. I’m sorry I disturbed you.”
“You didn’t, I—”
“There you are. I know the house is big, but bloody hell, Jax, only you’d get lost!” Elijah says, bursting through the doorway. “Hey, Kitty Kat.”
I spin to face my friend with a grin, but I don’t miss the hiss from the woman behind me.
“I see you’ve met my little sister.”
This time, Kat growls, and Elijah laughs.
So, this is what it’s like to have siblings.
As an only child with no cousins, my friends have always been important to me.
“Come on,” Elijah says. “Zach is out by the pool. If we don’t hurry up, he’ll have fallen asleep in one of the inflatables.”
He turns and heads for the door. “Are you ready to train?”
“Always,” I say.
Since I started training with Elijah at the beginning of the year, I have continued to beat every personal best. The guy is a machine. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as driven.
I follow Elijah to the door, turning back, mouth open. I close it quickly when I find Kat has already turned her back to us and is rearranging her music on the piano.
Elijah claps me on the back, and I stumble forward. I’m not small at six foot two, but he has at least four inches on me.
“Come on,” he says. “Let’s go and leave Kat to her music.”