Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
KINSLEY
Jax’s mouth takes mine, his hand cupping the back of my neck, holding me in place as his mouth moves against mine.
When his tongue traces the seam of my lips, I let out a small gasp, allowing him to deepen the kiss.
His hold on my neck is growing firmer but is still tender in a way I don’t understand, but I find I’m loving every single second of it.
I kiss him back, my tongue tangling with his. A predator's growl rumbles from him. Warning bells should be going off in my head. This man is dangerous, and I don’t mean physically.
Wherever Jax is, he consumes everything around him without trying. You can feel him inside of a room, all your instincts rising to be alert to the predator in the room. I should be running, but I find that’s the last thing my mind or body wants to do.
He’s too alluring to pull away from. This spark of power lights up inside of me that I have Jax in front of me, kissing me as though I’m the air he needs to breathe. He tastes of mint and something that is all him. I can’t place it, but I could almost swear it’s control.
“Oh.”
I gasp, making Jax and me jerk away from each other. I brace my hands on the desk behind me, feeling dazed. My heart is pounding in my chest.
“I guess I should have knocked.” In the doorway is a mini Cosima, smirking. I know I've seen her before. I believe her name is Nix.
"Do you need something?" Jax asks, turning to partially face her, keeping one hand on the desk, my shoulder pressed to his chest.
"Mom said you had a girl up here. I had to see for myself."
"You're not dating. I'm years older than you."
"What! That's not fair. You have a girl in your room with the door closed going at it." She throws her hands up. Yeah, she is a mini Cosima. Only this version is all fired up.
“It’s still a no on you dating,” Jax tells her.
“You can’t control what I do or stop boys from asking me out.” I almost let out a laugh, but I somehow manage to hold it in. I want to tell her that Jax actually can do exactly that. I’m living proof. But I don’t say a word because this is brother-sister stuff.
Silence stretches in the room as the two of them stare each other down.
“I’m Kinsley.” I peek around Jax to formally introduce myself. I’m sure Cosima already filled in most of the details for Nix.
“Hi.” She gives me a quick smile. “Wait, what age did you start dating?” Oh no. I’m not being pulled into this. Thankfully, Jax steps in.
“All right, you’re done. It was the first day at school.” He pushes off the desk, walking toward her. “There isn’t anyone worth your time in there.”
“You don’t know that,” she huffs. Nix has to drop her head back to stare up at her brother. She’s not scared of him in the slightest. “You probably scared them all away.”
She is not wrong, but I keep my mouth firmly shut, which is no easy feat for me. Plus, I’m enjoying this exchange, getting a deeper glimpse into the dynamics of this family.
“I will scare off every douche that tries to get close to you.”
“This isn’t fair.”
“You know—” I chime in. Yeah, I lasted two seconds being quiet. “If your brothers can scare them off, then they aren’t worth having.”
“Exactly.” Jax smirks, his eyes locking with mine. Well, shit. That backfired to a degree, but that doesn’t make what I said wrong. If they won’t fight to be with you, then they’re not worth your time. "Now if you don't mind…"
"I do mind, actually." She folds her arms over her chest.
"Are you done?"
"When I'm ready to be." Nix stands there for another couple of seconds. "Okay, I'm done for now, and I'm leaving because I want to leave and not because you're nudging me out the door."
"Right." Jax's sarcasm can't be missed.
"It was nice meeting you." Nix gives me a little wave, wiggling her fingers. "My rudeness is purely for him."
"I get it." I don't. I grew up alone except for the hired staff, but I want to get it.
"And—" Nix lets out a loud, dramatic sigh. "While he can be annoying, as I'm sure you're aware—"
"I am." Jax only shakes his head again.
"He's a good one. But he's a little crazy. That's just girl to girl."
"Thanks for the heads-up."
"Anytime," she chirps.
"All right, out you go." Jax ushers her out the door, shutting it and flipping the lock. Not sure what that does with a house of Marinos, but okay.
“She’s the crazy one,” Jax says with a smile.
“It’s probably just in the blood.”
“Got us there.” Jax is already clearing the space between us. “Now, where were we?”
“Nope.” I put my hands out, but that doesn’t stop him from coming closer. In fact, he doesn't stop until my hands are pressed to his chest. “Where we need to be is on this story—case. Whatever you call it.” I try to refocus.
“I have one of my cousins checking the footage from the warehouse.”
“I only saw one camera, and it was facing the wrong direction.”
“I know. We don’t have any footage of that timeframe, but we can go back to see who has been driving up and down or walking the road that runs along it. They have to have been lingering before.” That’s not a bad idea at all.
“You have cameras on the streets?”
“Nope, but the city does.”
“Wait, so are you going to reach out to them?” I thought he didn’t want to call the police.
“No, Mac can get the footage.” I know of Mac. She didn’t go to the same prep school as the rest of us, but I have seen her at games there. I heard she's brilliant and was in college by the age of fourteen.
“Like illegally?” I don’t know why I whisper my question, but I do.
“You won’t tell, will you?” Jax whispers back, that dimple appearing in his cheek.
How am I supposed to truly concentrate with him so close?
Not to mention the fact that he had his mouth on mine not too long ago, and it’s taking everything in me not to keep reliving that moment.
Get it together, Kinsley. You have a case to solve. I remind myself for the hundredth time.
“No, I’m not giving up a source.”
“Oh,” he barks a laugh. “Now I’m a source.” When he gets playful this way, it softens me more toward him. All of this really is making him more human to me.
"Is that a problem?" I lift a brow.
"Use me all you want, Bunny."
"Good, I plan to." I give his chest a small push. "Now, I need space so I can think."
"You're saying you can’t think when I'm this close."
"Yeah, you smell," I lie, making him chuckle. I am not stroking his ego.
"I'll give you space." He steps back a foot.
"Jax." I can't help but laugh.
"It really is going to be time. There isn't much we can do at this point." He's right. We have no clue who that girl was, and we'll have to wait and see who doesn't show up at school.
"Even if someone is absent tomorrow, it doesn't mean it's that person, but we'll have leads, I suppose."
"We will have to wait a few days to see how things develop." I nod in agreement. There are only a few days till the weekend. The first day of school always starts midweek, so tomorrow is Thursday, and then Friday.
"So your cousin is going to comb through all that footage?" I ask out of curiosity.
"I'm sure she'll set up a program to run over it first, and it will cut it down for her."
"That's really neat." No wonder they run this city.
"It's neat until she turns it on you, and she loves to play pranks. I blame my Uncle Ronan and Aunt Marks. If they had given her a sibling, she could drive them nuts and not us."
"Aw, does she pick on you?" This Mac is becoming more interesting by the second. I hope I get to meet her. It seems the women in this family tend to give the Marino boys a run for their money.
“I know how to pick my battles is all I’m saying.” That tells me all I need to know. “Like my next one.”
I get the sense that I’m that battle.