32. Candice #2
“Yeah, we do,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. I get annoyed when his gaze darts straight to my tits. I should lean across the table and rub them in his stupid face, so he can get a better look. “My eyes are up here, Albright.”
“Right.” He chuckles, slowly moving his attention back to my face. “What do you want me to say, Candice? That I avoid being around you because I still have feelings for you?”
A tiny piece of hope returns. “If that’s the truth, then yes.”
“I’m not a robot. You were my life. I can’t just turn my feelings off like a tap.”
“You still have feelings for me?” I ask, sitting up straighter in my seat.
“Can we change the subject? This is not why I brought you here.” I deflate the instant he says that. He’s going to fight this thing between us with everything he has. “I’m worried about Maddie.”
He has my undivided attention now. “Why?”
“Something Carter said got me thinking. About him being a bastard … you know, illegitimate—like our daughter. I don’t want her to ever feel burdened by a label like that.”
“She won’t,” I say, placing my hand on top of his.
“Has she said anything to you about mums and dads living together?”
“No, why? Has she said something to you?”
“Yes. She told me last week that you and I should get married, so we can live together.”
I clear my throat and do an inner fist pump. That’s my girl. I try hard to suppress my smile. “Wow.”
“She was deadly serious. I didn’t know what to tell her.”
Despite my racing heart, I lift one shoulder like it’s no big deal. “Maybe we should get married then.” I know I’m being brazen, but he just admitted—in a roundabout way—that he still has feelings for me. That was the green light I needed.
Hello, glimmer of hope. If he’s not going to fight for us, then I sure as hell am.
Game on, Mr Albright .
“Christ, not you too.”
“Why not?” It’s time to pull out the big guns. I should’ve told him years ago exactly how I felt. If this is the only chance I’m ever going to get, I’m taking it. “I think I’ve been in love with you from the moment you bombed your stupid brother and his idiot mates, and drenched me.”
His eyes widen at my confession, but he remains silent.
I reach for his hand, and when he tries to pull away, I hold tight.
“I was in love with you the night we made Maddie. I was in love with you when you came back into my life a few years later. And I’m still in love with you now …
I’ve never stopped … I’m not sure I ever will.
I know you’re still upset with me about the whole Maddie incident.
I get that. But please believe me when I say I thought I was doing the right thing at the time.
For her, for you, for all of us.” He opens his mouth to say something and then closes it again.
“Say something, Jax. Anything.” Please say you love me too .
I inwardly groan when the waitress approaches the table and places our food in front of us.
When she promptly leaves, Jax remains silent as he stares down at the food in front of him.
Ugh. I release his hand because I get the message loud and clear.
As if things between us aren’t already awkward enough.
I may be feeling slightly humiliated, but I have no regrets about finally telling him exactly how I feel. It’s been a long time coming.
Jax didn’t say another word to me over lunch. We ate, we left, and he dropped me back here. The silence was deafening. I was on the verge of tears when I stepped out of the car, but I sucked it up. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. Stupid jerk.
My crappy afternoon gets even crappier when creepy Joseph arrives for his waxing.
“Hey gorgeous,” he says when I walk into my cubical where he’s waiting. He removes his shirt and flexes his muscles before lying on the bed. He’s such a tool. Doesn’t he realise how pathetic he looks when he does that?
“Hi,” I reply dryly, turning my back on him to stir the wax in the pot. The faster I get this hairy beast waxed, the quicker he can leave.
Once I’ve laid out the fabric strips on my work tray, I turn to face him again. When I find his eyes firmly fixed on my arse, I get chills up my spine. I’d like nothing more than to pour the entire pot of hot wax over his face and pull those beady little eyes right out of their sockets.
“The usual?” I ask with disdain.
“Mmm,” he says as his eyes move down the length of my body. “I don’t know, I might require some extra pampering today. What’s on offer?”
He says shit like this all the time—his lame attempt at flirting. Dream on, buddy . I wouldn’t touch him if he was the last man on earth.
“Well, we have a special on castrations today. Interested?” I have to suppress my smile when he squirms on the table. Hopefully, now he’ll get the message and shut the hell up. I’m in no mood for his creepy shit.
“Someone’s wearing their bitch suit today.”
I bite my tongue and let him have that one. He’s a client, and I need to remember that. If he calls me a bitch again though, he’s going to have a lap full of hot wax.
His death grip on the side of the bed tightens with every strip I pull from his body.
I smirk to myself when I look up at his face and see his eyes clenched shut, and a tear running down the side of his face.
Pussy . Call me spiteful, but I’m savouring the thought of making him hurt.
Usually, I feel bad about causing my client’s pain.
“I’m not hurting you, am I?” I ask in the sweetest voice I can muster.
“Nope,” he replies in a voice that is so high-pitched, it’s almost a squeak.
I bite my lip in an attempt to hold back my amusement. Liar.
I stop what I’m doing and glance over my shoulder when Naomi pops her head around the privacy curtain. “I’m heading out, would you mind closing up when you’re done? Amanda has her first fitting for the wedding dress tonight and I’d love to be there.”
My first instinct is to scream, “No! Please don’t leave me alone with this twat-waffle,” but I can’t say that. This is her daughter; she should be there. I’d want to be there if it was Maddie.
“Sure,” I say, with a forced smile. I don’t feel comfortable being left alone with this douche.
“Thanks, sweetie.”
“Make sure you take a pic for me. I’d love to see the dress.”
“Of course. I can’t believe in a few short months my little girl will be getting married.” She blows me a kiss before disappearing behind the curtain.
“It’s just you and me now, babe,” Joseph says with a wink.
“Don’t get any ideas,” I grumble.
“You can deny it all you want, but you know you want me. I see you checking out this fine specimen of a body. Get in line, sweetheart.”
I can’t help but laugh at his comment. He’s so full of himself. “The line of women running away you mean?”
“Very funny,” he spits. “No. The line of women who want a piece of this.” He grabs hold of his crotch, and it not only has bile rising to the back of my throat, my entire body shudders. “See. You’re trembling with need.”
“Repulsion more like it.”
“I know what you bitches be like, if I got the python out, you’d be all over it.”
Python? I highly doubt it. Slug maybe … and a baby one at that.
“Yeah, with a razor if you call me a bitch again. Keep that thing in your pants.” I give him a look that tells him I’m not joking, but being the cocky shit he is, he slips his thumb into the waistband of his workout shorts, pulling them down slightly. “I’m warning you.”
“You’re sexy when you’re feisty. You turn me on.” He pulls his shorts down further until his teeny-tiny half-erect penis is fully on show.
I swear I throw up in my mouth as I quickly turn my head in the other direction. “You’ve got two seconds to put that thing away, or I won’t be held responsible for what I do.”
“Loosen up, babe,” he says, reaching out to grope one of my tits.
I jump back, slapping his hand away at the same time. “Get out!” I scream, pointing to the curtain.
“Stop playing hard to get … I know you want me,” he barks, sitting up. My eyes dart to his waist, where his now fully erect penis is still exposed. It turns my stomach.
“Take your stuff and get out. You’re no longer welcome here.” I pick up his T-shirt from the chair and toss it at him.
His hand comes out of nowhere, grabbing a chunk of my hair. I thrash around as he roughly drags me towards him, putting up a good fight. But no matter how hard I try, I’m no match for his strength.
“I should just fuck you. Show you what a real man feels like.”
“Try it and see what happens,” I challenge. He’s twice the size of me, but I refuse to back down.
“My cock is too good for you anyway. Stuck-up bitch.” His hand is still gripping my hair as he pushes my head down towards his waist. He doesn’t say another word, but I know exactly what he’s trying to do.
I clench my eyes shut when his pathetic excuse for a penis comes into my line of sight. “If you had a dick, this is where you’d tell me to suck it, right?”
The murderous look in his eyes makes my heart drop into the pit of my stomach as he tugs my head back so violently, I stagger.
My mind instantly goes into survival mode when he raises his arm and backhands me across the face.
This time when I stumble backwards my work tray digs hard into my lower back, causing me to groan from the pain.
I reach for the small cupboard by the wall to stop myself from falling.
When I regain my footing, I stand tall, wiping the back of my hand over my bottom lip. I already know it’s bleeding, because of the metallic taste in my mouth. I square my shoulders and take a step towards him. I may not be as strong as he is, but what he fails to realise is my hands are lethal.
He’s messed with the wrong chick .