“Quick mouth and responsive. We both know how much I like that,” Dax admits. Aiden laughs. I can’t help but catch the undertones of a hidden meaning.
“Funny arseholes.” I scowl at the pair of them, making a point of holding the expression so Aiden catches it in the rear-view.
“Hmm the temper might be an issue,” Aiden resumes as soon as he quits chuckling at my face.
“Nah…She’s feisty. It’s fierce,” Dax dismisses, staring right at me. Yeah, there’s something else going on here. Something that’s making me feel flushed.
“I’m a mess,” I whisper, more to remind myself of the fact.This isn’t what you hope it is, Jules.
“You’re a fucking oddity,” Dax fires back. I can see for myself that he means no malice in those words, but they hurt. I sit back, withdrawing from the energy and expectations they are building. Dax looks mortified. “Fuck. Wrong word?” he asks Aiden.
Aiden hums. “’fraid so.” There’s still a teasing element to his tone and expression that prevents me from throwing up my walls fully. Is this still part of their game?
“There are so many words that fit and yet don’t fit,” Dax complains.
“Give her your best ones,” Aiden advises, watching me carefully in the mirror.
There’s a long hum as Dax thinks, and then he just starts rattling words like bullets from a gun. “Amazing. Brave. Selfless. Luminescent. Mystifying. Intelligent. Inspirational.” Each word hits hard. I hear them but can’t connect them to me. He’s teasing. Being kind to cheer me. It’s not sincere…it can’t be. He doesn’t know me.
“Fearless. Resilient…” Aiden adds
“Capable. Kind…”
“Okay…okay I get what you’re trying to do…stop now, please,” I beg.
“Modest,” Aiden teases.
“Beautiful,” Dax states. The car falls silent for a long tense moment. “And utterly unaware of herself. Don’t discount yourself, Jules.”
“Do you guys do this often?” I ask, deflecting. Both men turn and wait expectantly for me to explain. “Tag team poor unsuspecting girls? You’ve got silver tongues, the pair of you.”
Aiden splutters a cough that might also be a laugh.
Dax, on the other hand, looks at me with an expression I’ve not yet seen from him…or anyone else for that matter. His pupils swell, rendering his green eyes almost black. A slow seductive smile snakes across his lips.
“Tag team with our tongues, little gem?” he asks, and I understand my mistake. Fuck though, the electricity in this car thrills my skin with delicious prickles. Dax is beautiful and sexy as sin when he’s not trying, but he’s utterly devastating when he is.
“Why do you ask? Would you like to find out?”
I’m not sure what to say to that. To any of that. My mouth opens and closes, but my brain is empty. Aiden saves me.
“We’re here.” He cuts Dax a warning glance that seems to shake him out of whatever the hell that was. Dax stays in the car while Aiden lets me out. The tricksy bodyguard holds out his hand to help and then takes me by the wrist to avoid hurting the reddened flesh of my palms. Aiden’s fingers linger overly long on my skin before pulling away.
Between the two of them, I can’t seem to find my head.
“And Jules,” Dax whispers in my ear. I hadn’t even noticed him get out of the car. “We’re going to revisit that question one day soon.”
He walks ahead, leaving me to catch my breath and wonder where that came from.
Dax has been generous, attentive, protective, and a little brash—my memories flash of his hands on Gresh, the malevolence with which he threatened him. Of the way he wanted to storm intomy home and confront my father. Of the glares and huffs he shot at my mum whenever she was harsh with me.
I stare up the steps toward the two men holding open glass doors. Each waiting for me to gather myself. I shake the notion—the fantasy that they might want me— from my mind. I’m wrong. I’ve misread their intentions. If I haven’t, I can’t even contemplate whatever Dax is suggesting. I need to remember that their pretty words and praise mean nothing.
In the end, they’ll realise I’m not worth keeping.
St. Mary’s is buzzing. We walk right past A&E and take the C-Block elevators up to the nineteenth floor. The car stops on every floor on the way up, sucking in and spitting out visitors, patients, and staff alike. However, the last two floors of the hospital are like dead zones. No one calls for the car and no one joins us. I suspect that is exactly what Dax wants—probably pays for.
On nineteen, two men stand guard outside the elevator doors. Another two hover over to the left, either side of a pair of swing doors. Further down, yet another pair wait outside a room. Thomas’s, I presume. Not a single man even looks my way. Each of them flicks a glance at Dax and then stare off into nothingness. I wonder if they are alert at all. They certainlyappearintimidating.
