Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jaxon's heart rate increased the closer he got to the high-end restaurant.
Pulling up in front of the imposing stone facade, he threw the truck in park and hopped out.
The kid at the valet stand passed him a ticket, which he shoved in his pocket, not breaking stride as he pushed through the front door.
He was already three steps into the room before common sense kicked in. What was he doing? He had no idea what her reception to him would be. Did she even know they were still married? He had to imagine she didn’t; otherwise, she would have hounded him for the annulment.
His gaze slid over the dim interior, searching for a familiar face. As if his eyes were drawn to her and her alone, he zeroed in on the elegant slope of her shoulder, made more prominent by her hair pulled severely away from her face. Though her back was mostly to him, it was undeniably her.
His breath caught at the sight of her. Suddenly, time slipped away, and he was back in that bar with her, throwing back shots of tequila.
He narrowed his eyes as he studied her. She sat ramrod straight in her chair, one hand placed in her lap as she ate, the perfect picture of grace and propriety.
Something else occurred to him in that moment. She looked… uncomfortable.
He waved off the hostess at the stand, and, ignoring the curious stares from the patrons around him, he cut right through the middle of the room.
As he neared the back of her chair, he heard the man across from her speak in his nasally tone.
He flicked a glance toward Jaxon as he neared the table, his brow puckering with a combination of concern and confusion.
Jaxon rested one hand on the back of Adalyn’s chair and speared the man with a glare.
“Do you need something?”
“Yeah.” Adalyn turned toward him, and he watched her expression as her eyes glided over him, starting at his midsection and working their way up.
She still hadn’t figured it out yet. What would she say?
His heart pounded against his ribcage as her gaze traveled over his chest and shoulders, then finally up to his face.
He felt a little surge of smug satisfaction as she met his stare, her eyes widening comically.
A clatter filled the air as the fork slipped from her fingers.
His smile probably spoke more of a wolf preparing to pounce on its prey than a friendly greeting, but he was there for one reason and one alone. “My wife.”
“What?” He dragged his gaze away from Adalyn and back to the man across the table. One perfectly plucked tawny eyebrow lifted, and his lips twisted into a sneer. “Who are you?”
Stretching his hand across the table, Jaxon offered it to him. “Nice to meet you. I’m Jaxon. Adalyn’s husband.”
The man’s mouth dropped open, but he ignored Jaxon’s outstretched hand. Jaxon couldn’t hold back a smile at the ridiculous sight of him gaping like a fish. Dropping his hand back to his side, he shot the man a sly wink. “Thanks for taking care of her for me. I’ve got it from here.”
He turned back to Adalyn, who had been strangely silent up to this point.
Wide gray eyes bored into his, and she blinked slowly, as if to make sure he wasn’t an apparition.
Pulling out the chair beside her, he sank down and crossed one ankle over his knee.
Angling himself toward Adalyn, he directed his next words to her. “How ya been, darlin’?”
His words seemed to snap her from her trance, and her pretty gray eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?” she hissed.
“Came to find you, of course,” he replied. “Heard you were here, and I had to come see for myself.”
The guy leaned across the table. “Who is this, Adalyn?”
She darted a quick glance at Jaxon, then back to him. “It’s… This is Jaxon. He’s…”
“Her husband,” he supplied helpfully.
She shot him a withering glare, and the man huffed. “What is he doing here?”
“He”—Jaxon stressed the word as he threw a look at the man—“is busy reuniting with his wife.”
“I’m not your wife,” she hissed at the same time the man spoke.
“I thought you said you were a widow?”
Jaxon turned a bewildered look on Adalyn, who at least had the good sense to look ashamed. “You told him I was dead?”
“I didn’t…” Her hands moved agitatedly in front of her face. “It wasn’t… Never mind.”
He couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t even own up to their marriage. And to tell people he’d died? “That’s a little cold, even for you, Addy.”
Her guilty flush deepened with anger. “First of all, my name is Adalyn. Not Addy. Don’t call me that. Second, I’m not your wife.” She turned to the man. “I’m so sorry. I have to go.”
She jumped up, grabbed her purse, and was gone in a whirl of black skirt before either of them could say another word.
“Hey!” the guy called to her back. “The check!”
Jaxon turned a disgusted look on him. “Seriously? What kind of man takes a woman out and makes her pay?”
The man had the nerve to prop his hands on his hips. “It’s expensive.”
“Whatever.” Jaxon pulled out his wallet and tossed a fifty on the table as he flicked a glance at her nearly untouched plate. “She eats like a bird. I’m sure that’ll cover it.”
He followed Adalyn, determined to catch her before she could ditch him again. Luck was on his side, and he spotted her by the valet stand just outside. She threw him an aggravated glare as he stepped up beside her.
He remained silent for a moment, allowing his gaze to skim down her body.
She’d filled out since he’d first met her, but it looked good on her.
Healthy. Her bust and hips had rounded a bit, but she was still as beautiful as ever.
Maybe even more so. He wanted to reach out and touch her, let his fingers trail over each dip and curve to see if they really were as addictive as he remembered or if his memory had played a trick on him.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he rocked back on his heels. “So.”
She redirected her gaze across the street, trying her best to tune out his presence.
“You drove separate.”
Her brows drew together. “I don’t see how that’s any of your concern.”
“The fact that you’re not leaving with that prick”—he hitched a thumb over his shoulder toward the restaurant—“means a lot. Believe me.”
“Your opinion means nothing to me.” She lifted one elegant shoulder. “Harvey is...”
She trailed off, either unwilling to finish or unable to come up with anything flattering.
From the little he’d seen, he was more than willing to bet it was the latter.
As if her words conjured the idiot, he came barreling through the door of the restaurant barely a second later.
Placing himself between them, he addressed Adalyn. “Can we reschedule?”
Jaxon snorted. “So you can split the tab for that meal, too?”
She glanced at him over the man’s shoulder, her face twisting into an expression of incredulity. “What? Never mind.” She held up a hand and met the guy’s gaze. “I’m flattered, but I don’t think so. Now excuse me while I go settle my check.”
He threw Jaxon an angry glare before stomping off, and Adalyn turned toward the restaurant, muttering under her breath, “Jerk.”
Jaxon caught her elbow and dragged her back to him. “I took care of it.”
Her pretty lips formed a small ‘O’ before she caught herself, and her face settled back into an expression of annoyance. “Well.” She cleared her throat. “Thank you.”
One foot tapped an impatient rhythm on the sidewalk as if it would magically conjure the valet so she could escape his presence.
The thought alone pissed him off. Shoving his hands back in his pockets, he studied her. “We need to talk, Adalyn. You’re still my wife and—”
Her chest rose on a sharp inhale, and she spun toward him. “I am not your wife.”
He let out a mirthless laugh. “Really? Because I have papers that say otherwise.”
“That’s impossible,” she scoffed.
“Really? You sure about that?”
Her shoulders tensed. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You ever read the documentation that the lawyers sent back?” Though she refused to look at him, he read the hesitation in every line of her body. “You didn’t, did you?”
The blood drained from her face, giving him the answer he’d been looking for. He sighed. “We apparently both forgot to sign one of the documents.”
Cold expression firmly back in place, she glared at him. “Fine. Let’s take care of it, then. I’ll sign it right now.” She began to dig around in her giant purse, probably looking for a pen.
He was tired of fighting. He set a hand on her arm to halt her frantic searching. “Come on, let’s go somewhere and talk.”
An alarmed expression moved over her face. “N-no. I can’t—”
“Adalyn.” She froze at his exasperated tone. Searching her eyes, he softened his voice. “I just moved in, so my place is a mess, otherwise I’d invite you there. Let’s just go back to your place and—”
“No!”
She said it much too quickly, and his eyes narrowed. “You don’t trust me to come home with you?”
“I-It’s not… I can’t…” She stammered over her words and fell back a step, her hand moving to the base of her throat. So she was fine speaking to him in public, but the second he mentioned going somewhere quiet, she freaked out. Why?
She whirled away, stumbling much too close to the curb. He caught her elbow and yanked her back just as the valet pulled up with a compact black car. “Jesus, Addy!”
Tearing herself from his grasp, she practically ran around the vehicle and threw her bag on the passenger seat as she clambered inside. The valet held the door for her and she ripped it from the poor guy’s hands, slamming it shut and throwing the car in gear.
What just happened?
The valet watched with a combination of surprise and dismay, jumping back as she peeled away from the curb. For some reason, Jaxon felt the need to apologize. “I’m sorry.” Digging a twenty from his wallet, he handed it over to him. “She’s a little… frazzled.”
That was an understatement if he’d ever heard one, and he was at a loss as to how to proceed.
The look on her face had spoken less of hate and more of…
fear? Was she so afraid of him that she’d nearly thrown herself in front of a moving vehicle?
Propping his hands on his hips, he stared after the red taillights disappearing into the distance.
He’d give her a couple of days to calm down. Then Jaxon and Adalyn were going to have a serious discussion.