Chapter 14
Jaxon held on to Sofie’s hand and towed her behind him. He was excited to show her the office and where he worked. They had spent the morning shopping. He normally hated it, but watching Sofie’s face light up while she’d tried everything made it worth it. The amount he spent didn’t matter. He ignored her protest, she needed clothes. As much as he loved seeing her naked body in his bed and home, he wasn’t willing to have anyone else see her that way.
“Do you own the building?” she asked.
They came to stand in front of the private elevator banks for the top floors.
“No. Our agency houses the top floor.” The door opened, and he escorted her in.
He kept her close to him, needing to feel her. The elevator ascended smoothly. He leaned against the back wall and brought her flush to him, facing him. Her breasts were crushed between them. Sofie’s lips parted as if she knew what he wanted. He cupped her cheek and lowered his head, unable to resist those plump lips.
The second their mouths met, he was a goner. Jaxon couldn’t explain any of this. He just knew that what he had spoken back in the car was the truth. He needed her.
Hell, it dawned on him.
He was in love with Sofie.
The AI voice of the elevator announced their arrival. He lifted his head and took in the most beautiful woman in the world. It explained everything. Why he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Why no other woman appealed to him. Why he compared other women to Sofie.
I’m in love with Sofie Carter.
He had to make her his.
“Looks like we arrived,” she murmured, her eyes fluttering open.
“It would appear so.” He swooped in and pressed another hard kiss to her lips before taking her by the hand and leading her out. He reached down with his other hand and adjusted himself. His cock was hard and demanding satisfaction. It was going to have to wait.
At least until he’d shown her around the office.
“I’ll give you a grand tour. Have you ever been to the offices in Cleveland?” he asked.
Their Cleveland office was smaller than the LA one. They had thoughts of expanding and opening one in Miami but hadn’t worked out all of the details yet. As the co-owner, he could work from anywhere. Cleveland, LA or, hell, Alaska if he wanted. Wherever Sofie wanted to be, he was willing to make his home.
“Once or twice with Alana,” Sofie replied.
The bustle of the office greeted them. He scanned the area, taking in the rows of cubicles surrounded by the higher-level agents.
“Sandi, did you miss me?” He arrived at the desk of the secretary he and London shared.
She lifted her gaze from her computer, a smile on her face. Sandi had been with them since the beginning. The older woman had a few threads of gray sprinkled through her dark hair. Her blue eyes twinkled when they met his. She glanced to his side, and her eyes went wide.
“Hey, Jaxon. Who do we have here?” She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand.
Her smile was infectious, and he couldn’t help but grin as he introduced Sofie to her.
“Sandi, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Sofie. Sofie, this is Sandi, the best damn secretary a man could ask for.”
Sofie smiled and offered a hand to Sandi.
“Girlfriend?” Sandi screeched. She flew from around her desk and rushed to Sofie. She swept her in a tight hug while laughing. “If you managed to tame this one, honey, you deserve a hug.”
She was just as bad as his mother. Sandi and his mother spoke quiet often, and Jaxon was pretty certain the two of them had been scheming, trying to come up with a way to get him and his brother hitched.
“What is that supposed to mean?” He snorted.
Sandi waved him off. She sat on the edge of her desk and held Sofie’s hands in hers. He shook his head and scanned the area and found a few curious looks thrown their way.
“So tell me, how did you two meet?” Sandi asked.
“I’ve known him for a minute. London is married to my best friend,” Sofie announced.
She glanced over at him, and Jaxon’s heart skipped a beat.
“Oh, sweet Alana. Aren’t she and London just so adorable together?” Sandi gushed.
“They are.”
“Okay, Sandi. Y’all can continue this chat later. I want to show her around a bit. Is there anything pressing that needs my attention?”
“Oh, okay, and no, there isn’t.” Sandi’s smile dropped. She gave Sofie another hug. “Now don’t be a stranger. I can tell you plenty of stories about this one here.”
“I look forward to hearing about Jaxon.” Sofie winked at her.
“Sofie knows me well enough,” he muttered. He guided Sofie away amidst their giggles. He held back a smile himself. Sandi would never speak ill of him or his brother. They were like the two nephews she’d never had. “Let me introduce you to the rest of the office.”
“ A re you serious? They are offering him how much money?” Sofie leaned forward in shock, staring at the computer screen. She was just blown away by what she was learning from Jaxon about his job. She knew that as a sports agent he dealt with a butt-load of money, but she didn’t know it was like this.
“One hundred and fifty million dollars for five years,” Jaxon replied. He kept his arm around her waist as she sat atop of his lap.
She had a hard time concentrating while he explained how the teams were able to offer up so much money, all the players had to pay, and what they would be left with afterwards.
She hadn’t realized how much went into the business of professional sports. She had heard of numbers before that were thrown out on the news when stories broke. But she didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes. There were a lot of people involved in these deals, and they all had to be paid.
“Now I see why they go and get endorsement deals to make extra money. I just thought they were being greedy.” She chuckled.
“There’s nothing wrong with getting paid for your talent.” He pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder.
She glanced down at him and took in his steamy gaze. Her core clenched at the desire burning in his eyes.
“Unfortunately,” he said, “being able to play for years can take a toll on one’s body. So pursuing endorsement deals are smart.”
“Do you ever miss it? Being on the other side?” she asked softly.
She couldn’t help it. She wanted to feel his hair between her fingers. She lifted a hand and raked them through his thick, dark hair. The strands were soft and parted easily for her. Jaxon blinked and for a moment grew eerily silent. She wasn’t sure if he was going to answer the question.
“Sometimes I do. I remember what it was like being on the road, staying in hotels, hearing my name called out from fans. The adrenaline of a win is like nothing I ever experience until…” His voice drifted off.
“Until what?”
“Until I met you,” he replied. “My heart races from the moment I know I’m about to see you until you are standing in my arms. There’s no better feeling than being able to kiss you and hold you.”
“Jaxon, are you trying to make me fall for you?” she whispered. Her heart was racing at the moment. She couldn’t believe it, but she felt in her heart that she was. It was too soon.
Wasn’t it?
She reached up and cupped his face in her hand. He leaned into her palm, his gray eyes holding hers.
“Please tell me it’s working,” he whispered.
Sofie had never seen him so vulnerable before. Cocky? Sure. A jokester? All the time.
All of his emotions laid out before her?
She never thought she would see the day.
“Oh, it’s working, Mr. Keith.” Why was she fighting this? Hadn’t she been ready to jump into online dating? Why not jump feet-first into whatever this was with Jaxon?
Sofie was done fighting.
She was head over heels in love with Jaxon Keith. Her stomach grew into knots just thinking of leaving him and going back to Cleveland. He was trying his best to prove that he was no longer the person she had thought he was.
Sofie leaned down and brushed his lips with hers.
“So I need to keep working on it?” he asked. His hands settled on her waist, and he lifted her off his lap and turned her to face him.
She straddled him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“This is a good start.” She chuckled. Her dress rode up, exposing her hips.
His warm hands rested on her thighs.
“I thought you would say that.” His lips curled up in the corner.
His hands were definitely a distraction. If his hands slid up higher about three inches, he’d be at the edge of her panties. If only he would slip them and dive underneath her small cotton—
“Well, I’ll be damned,” a familiar voice appeared behind her.
Sofie’s head whipped around to find London and Alana standing at the entrance of Jaxon’s office. The couple stood stunned.
London chuckled and wrapped an arm around Alana’s shoulders. “When Sandi said Jaxon was showing Sofie around, I didn’t think she meant your Sofie.”
Sofie froze. Alana stood unmoving next to her husband. The pain brimming in Alana’s eyes felt as if someone had taken a knife to Sofie’s heart. Alana spun around and dashed out of the room.
“Alana!” Sofie cried out. She pushed off Jaxon and raced after her friend. Guilt tormented her as she hurried behind Alana who stopped by the elevator banks. “Please. Let me explain.”
She paused a few feet away from Alana. Her friend kept her back to her. Sofie’s heart sank. She had never meant to lie to her or hide anything from her. They had been friends for too long, and this was something she had never done before.
“It was Jaxon back in Bora Bora, wasn’t it?” Alana asked. Her voice was low and husky.
Sofie winced internally. This wasn’t the spunky bestie she had known and loved. This was the voice of a woman who had been hurt.
“The one you were sneaking around with,” Alana added.
“Yes.” Sofie wasn’t going to lie anymore to her. It was time she came clean. She had planned to share with Alana, but she wanted to make sure what they had was real. Now she wished she would have had the balls to just tell her, no matter what would have happened between her and Jaxon. “I was going to tell you.”
“I thought we were friends?” Alana spun around and glared at Sofie. She pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. “When did we start lying and hiding things from each other? Did you think I couldn’t handle you dating my brother-in-law?”
“We weren’t dating,” Sofie said. She immediately regretted it.
Alana narrowed her gaze on her.
“Honestly, we didn’t think anything was going to come out of what happened in Bora Bora.”
“What about what we talked about the other day? Or was that a lie, too?”
“No, that wasn’t a lie. Jaxon and I—I mean I—ended what we had at Bora Bora. I didn’t want to be hurt by him, so I chickened out and broke it off. Then I regretted it but was too proud to tell him I’d changed my mind so I was going to try to get over him by dating other guys.”
“And you couldn’t say any of this before? I’m your best friend. You’ve been by my side when my parents died, my failed relationships, and stood by my side at my wedding. But something like this, I couldn’t know or be a part of?” Tears streamed down Alana’s face.
It broke Sofie’s heart.
“You couldn’t trust me?” Alana said.
Sofie gulped in air, trying to push down the wave of nausea that threatened to overtake her. She wiped away the tears that balanced on the edges of her eyelashes. She loved Alana like a sister, and to see how much she’d hurt her friend, it sent a shooting pain through her.
“Of course I trust you.” Sofie took a step toward Alana. She hesitated for a moment and hated that she had put them in this predicament. It all could have been avoided had she been honest from the get-go. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a lousy friend lately. I promise I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t want to burden you with my issues.”
She arrived in front of Alana and studied her. Alana reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“That’s what friends are for.” Alana sniffed.
“Say you’ll forgive me?” Sofie moved closer to Alana who grabbed her and wrapped her up in a strong hug. Sofie returned it hard, fighting back her tears.
“Of course I do. How could I stay mad at you?” Alana’s hold tightened. She pulled back and studied Sofie. “So what gives? Do you love Jaxon?”
“I do,” Sofie responded without hesitation.
“You do?” Jaxon’s voice was quite close to her.
It was then she felt him behind her. She released Alana and slowly turned around to face him. London brushed past them and went over to Alana, gathering her into his arms.
Sofie’s heart felt light with her admission. She nodded, unable to speak. Jaxon’s arms wrapped around her, bringing her into his warm embrace. She nuzzled her face into the middle of his chest and inhaled.
This was home.
This was where she was supposed to be.
Sofie glanced up and took in Jaxon’s killer-watt smile.
“I’m so glad to hear that, because I’m in love with you, too.” He caressed the side of her face with his knuckles. A look of wonder appeared in his eyes as he gazed down on her.
Sofie frowned.
She felt funny. She didn’t know why, but—
Sofie broke from Jaxon’s hold and spun around. She eyed a tall trash can positioned next to the elevator and rushed toward it. She made it just in time for the contents of her stomach to spill from her lips. Her stomach heaved, evicting everything she had eaten earlier that day. She squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment once her stomach decided to stop. She rested her hands on the edge of the can, and her knees shook.
“Are you okay?” Jaxon rested his hands on her shoulders.
Sofie inhaled sharply then immediately regretted it. The smell of vomit assaulted her. She lifted her head slightly and jerked it into a nod. “I think so.”
“What was that?” Alana asked. She stood nearby with a look of concern. “Did you eat something bad?”
“I don’t know,” Sofie said. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She blinked a few times and straightened to her full height. She breathed in the fresh air that didn’t reek of vomit. She wished there was something she could drink to battle the lingering taste in her mouth. “That was weird.”
“Let’s go back to my office.” Jaxon gave her a squeeze.
She took two steps away from the can, then she dashed toward it again. She leaned over it, expelling what was left in her stomach.