The Way You Tempt Me, page 22
“Okay. It’s okay, Hill. Your lawyers are handling it.”
“You talked to them?”
On his way over, he’d talked to Hill’s parents about the case. According to the court documents, they booked him on aiding and abetting, but the lawyers thought they could have the case thrown out due to the fact that Hill is the one who called the cops on the shooter. Xavier was pretty sure the arrest was a political move. Arrest one of the top actors in the country, come off as hard on crime—no matter who the criminal is.
“I talked to your mom and dad,” X told him.
“Am I going to prison?”
He shook his head. “No. Not if I can help it.”
Hill nodded his head. “Maybe you can come to court with me?”
X clasped Hill’s shoulders. “I’ll be there.”
“Thank you, X. I appreciate it, man.”
“No problem. And Hill? I don’t care about the money. I’m here because I care about you. You said you don’t have any friends, but you have me. I’m going to make sure you get through this, and I’m not going to let you buckle under the pressure.”
“Thanks, man. Wanna play Madden?”
Xavier stood. “Not today, man. But let’s set something up for next week.” He walked to the front door. “Call me if you need anything. I’m going to L.A. for a few days, but I’ll make myself available if you need me.”
Hill gave him a quick hug. “You’re like my big brother. I’m glad you’re on my team.”
“And when you get to be my age, pay it forward.”
“I will.”
Xavier said his good-byes to Hill and his parents and headed to his next destination. If everything worked out, he’d be in Zara’s arms by dinner.
* * *
Zara entered Jax’s office after Megan gave her the go-ahead. The older man was sitting at his desk, scribbling something on a piece of paper.
“Hi, Jax.”
He glanced up and smiled. “Zara, give me a second.” Once he finished what he was doing, he set the pen down and stood, walking around the desk. He motioned to the empty seat. “Sit.”
She did as she was told, and he sat on the edge of his desk in front of her. “What can I do for you? How was Fiji?”
“It was good. Until it wasn’t.”
Jax tilted his head to the side, assessing her. “Care to elaborate?”
“Xavier found out about Ethan. He’s not happy.”
“Okay, I knew he wouldn’t be. I’ll deal with it.”
She shot him an incredulous glare before she could even think about it. “You’ll ‘deal with it’? I think it’s a little late for that.” She stood, trekked to the other side of the room. She needed to steel herself for what was coming next. “Over the years, I’ve watched you. I’ve modeled my career after yours. I made sure I put on my game face before I walked into meetings, negotiated with confidence, and I never let a client see me defeated or even unsure. All things you taught me.” Her voice cracked, and she paused.
Jax didn’t only teach her about work, he’d taught her that life was basically a game of basketball. He told her that in order to win the game, she needed to maintain self-control, keep her eyes on the ball, show initiative by setting up her play and not rushing a decision to shoot, and bounce back even after missing the shot. And he’d told her to remember the game couldn’t be played alone, she needed a squad.
“You’re like a father to me,” she admitted. “You’ve been there for me when my own father was too selfish to show up.” She blew out a deep breath. “But you were wrong.”
Jax’s eyes flashed to hers.
“You put me in a bad position when you asked me to represent Ethan.”
“Zara, you could have told me no. You don’t have to represent Ethan if you don’t agree with me. I’ve always told you that no one can make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
That was true. Another lesson he’d given to her after he found out a boy in the neighborhood had tricked her into playing hide-and–go-get-it. Of course, her father wasn’t around when she’d kicked Trevor Coleman in the nuts and ran for her life, straight to X’s house. Only X wasn’t there. Jax was. And he’d walked right to Trevor’s house and threatened both him and his parents with bodily harm if he ever put his hands on her again.
“Yeah, I know.” Her voice was a whisper. Shame rolled through her in waves. Because she knew better. She knew what taking Ethan on would do to X. But she’d done it, anyway. Partly because Jax had asked her, but mostly for X. “You knew I would, though. You knew I’d say yes when you presented the option as a way to make the lawsuit go away.”
“Zara, my son needs to know that sometimes in life you have to work with people you don’t want to work with, for the greater good.”
“Yes, that is important. But not Ethan. He shouldn’t have to work with a man who has made it a full-time job to make a fool of X. The man cheated with Naomi while she was with X, proposed to her, knowing they were still together. Ethan goaded him time and again. He delighted in it, gloated every time X lost his temper. When X hit him, it gave Ethan the leverage to manipulate him.”
“Perhaps, but maybe it’s time for Xavier to stop giving people ammunition against him.”
“With all due respect, X isn’t the same person he was in his teens. You know that. You even told me as much. Isn’t that why you’re grooming him to take over? He’s committed to being a better person, but he’s still human. I don’t know many people who would walk away in the same circumstance. I know I wouldn’t.”
Jax sighed, stared ahead as if in deep thought.
“There’s something else,” she continued, flattening a hand over her stomach. “By dangling the carrot of dropping the lawsuit in front of you, Ethan knew it would put a strain on my relationship with X. And you let him. He made it contingent on me representing him. Only me. And I let him.”
He raised a brow. “You have a relationship with Xavier?”
Her throat burned, her heart hammered in her chest. “Yes, there is a relationship. More than friendship, more than coworkers.”
“I’d say I’m surprised, but I’m more shocked that you admitted it.”
Her mouth fell open. Now it was her turn to be surprised. “You knew?”
“I suspected for a long time. Didn’t know for sure, until I heard a rumor about a kiss in the middle of a bar.”
Zara let out a slow breath. “Okay.” She nodded, readying herself for confession number two. “I love him.”
His eyes widened, and a slow smile crept across his lips.
“I’m in love with your son,” she continued. “It’s not a fling, it’s not an office romance. It’s real. And...”
This is harder than I thought. Not because she didn’t mean what she’d said, but because she’d never imagined baring her soul to Jax before. She took another cleansing breath. “And I love him more than I love this job. I love him more than I love being an agent. If I have to choose, I choose him.”
Shit, did I really just do this? Yes. Yes, I did.
The room descended into silence, so still she could hear faint sounds from the street below. She fidgeted a little, wondering if she should say anything else or just give him what she came to give him.
Unable to take the long pause, she pulled an envelope out of her suit pocket and handed it to him. “I took the liberty of calling in a favor. Larry Boston at Huntington Sports has agreed to represent Ethan.”
After Larry had begged her to come back, and even declared his love for her, she’d told him to go to hell and take his love with him. But not before she told him what she needed him to do for her. Initially he’d balked at her request, letting her know that it wasn’t illegal to steal someone’s ideas.
His entire tone changed, however, when she threatened to tell everyone that he’d fathered a secret child with one of his client’s wives—if he didn’t agree to her terms, which included telling Ethan he’d represent him under the condition that he drop the frivolous lawsuit against Xavier and Pure Talent.
Good thing basketball players like to gossip, too. One of her clients couldn’t wait to tell her about the rumors his wife had told him, especially after he’d heard what Larry did to her.
The conversation with Larry was pretty much over after that ultimatum. She wanted to end the call with a cheery “good luck, don’t ever call me again,” but had chosen to just hang up.
“You’ll probably hear from your lawyers today on the lawsuit.”
Jax opened the envelope and read the letter. When he met her gaze again, he asked, “You’re resigning?”
“Yes, effective immediately.”
Jax chuckled, which seemed odd.
“I’m sorry this didn’t work out, but if I want to have a lasting relationship with X, perhaps it’s better that we don’t work together.”
Jax stood. “You want to know what I think of this letter?” He tore it in half. “Sit down. Let’s talk.”
Chapter 20
“Mom, don’t cry.” Xavier handed his mother a Kleenex.
She sniffed, dabbed the tissue under her eyes. “Trust me, I don’t prefer ruining my makeup, son. But I’m just so full right now.”
They were seated at the café in the lobby, each of them nursing cups of coffee. He’d stopped by the office to grab some work, which he could take with him to L.A., when he ran into his mother. She’d promptly smacked him with the magazine she had in her hand and demanded he tell her what was going on with Zara.
Why his mom broke down in tears when he’d admitted he loved Zara, he’d never know. But apparently love made everyone emotional. Not just him.
“I’m so proud of you, babe.” Ana placed her hands on top of his. “You’ve become the man I’ve always known you could be.”
“I wish Dad would realize that.”
“He does, sweetheart.” She squeezed his hands. “He sees it. Trust me.”
“Why would he do that?”
X had told his mother everything, from the unexpected attraction to Zara at the holiday party to Donutgate to Detroit, and, finally, to Fiji. He’d left out the sex parts of the story, because she was still his mother.
I’m sure she’s grateful for that, too. Even though she always told me, I could talk to her about anything.
“Sometimes your father thinks ‘big picture’ so much, he tends to miss the smaller details that matter. I don’t think he thought of it as hurting you. In fact, I know he only wanted to help you.”
“He didn’t help, though.”
“But you didn’t have to react the way you did, son.”
Touché. One of the hardest parts about this entire situation was realizing that he’d been just as culpable as anyone, maybe more. He’d set everything in motion by beating Ethan to a pulp at the holiday party. And he was the one who’d lashed out like a crazed jerk. In the process, he’d hurt the one person he never wanted to hurt.
“You’re right, Ma. I’m the one who started all of this. Doesn’t mean Dad was right, though.”
“He was definitely wrong. And I plan to tell him next time I see him.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, before he asked, “If I lose her, I—”
She patted his hand softly. “You won’t.”
He hoped not. If he did, he would be done, because she would walk off with his heart in her palm.
“How do you know?”
“Because I just do. Do you want to know why I invited her to dinner?”
He frowned. “I thought it was because you just missed her and wanted to spend time with her.”
“That’s absolutely true. But I also invited her because I had a feeling things were different between you two. I read the blogs, you know. I wanted to see for myself.”
And he’d told Zara she was thinking about it too much! He chuckled. “Mom, you were scheming.”
“I wouldn’t put it so harshly. I just wanted to see for myself.”
“And?”
“It was exactly what I thought. I saw her face when your father told you to attend the wedding. I watched her calm you in the midst of your anger, in a way no one has ever done before. Not me, not even Skye. Then there was the fact that I listened to a tiny bit of your conversation outside. Just a tiny bit.” She held up her thumb and forefinger, indicating how tiny her eavesdropping was.
Xavier cracked up. “Mom, really?” He thought of their romp on the trampoline.
“Don’t worry. I left before you reached the trampoline.”
He cleared his throat, averting his gaze. “Yeah, let’s not talk about this again.”
She laughed. “It’ll be our little secret.”
“Like your ‘tiny’ snooping?”
Ana held her hands against her cheeks. “Oh, boy. Don’t make me laugh anymore. Anyway, I could see the love even then.” She cupped his chin in her hands, much like she used to do when he was a kid. “And the way you love her...” A tear fell from her eyes. “It makes me so happy to see it. One of the most important things in life is the gift of love—giving it freely without condition and then feeling it shining down on you. It is transformative, son. And that’s what I’ve always wished for you. Once you have it, you won’t be able to live without it.”
Zara once asked him how he knew Naomi wasn’t the one. They were interrupted before he could answer, but he doubted he would’ve known the answer then. But now, the answer was clear. Naomi wasn’t the one because she wasn’t Zara. She wasn’t the woman X couldn’t live without. Zara was.
X had been around the block many times, but no other woman had filled him up, emotionally and physically. She’d inspired him, made him want to be better. And he’d tell her as soon as he saw her.
“It will work out,” she said. “I’m done crying for the day. Now I have to fix my face. And don’t tell your father about the eavesdropping.”
“No worries on that front.”
She sighed. “You need to talk to him, babe. He needs to hear from you. Tell him how you feel.”
“What good will that do, Mom?”
“You’d be surprised.”
He doubted that. “I’ll think about it. Right now, I have to get ready to catch a flight.” His phone buzzed and he pulled it out. He showed it to his mom. It was his father.
* * *
Twenty minutes later, he stepped into Jax’s office. “You wanted to see me?”
It had taken a few tries for his mom to convince him to talk to his father, but when she demanded he “take his ass up to the office,” he knew she wasn’t playing around. Still, he wasn’t sure it was a good idea.
Jax stood. “I did. I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“I’m actually running late. I need to be at the airport soon.”
Jax gestured toward the couches near the window. “Drink?”
“No, thanks.” Confused, X followed his dad and took a seat, while his father veered off toward the minibar in the office.
“Where are you headed? Client business?”
“I’m going to Los Angeles,” X said slowly, still trying to understand what was going on, “to see Zara.”
“It’s a good thing you came here first, then.” His father poured a glass of cognac, which he kept in the office for clients. It was old-school, but, hey, it was his company.
“Why is that?”
“Because she just left my office not even”—he glanced at his watch—“an hour ago.” His father walked over to the couch and sat.
“She was here?”
“Yes. We had a good conversation.” Jax chuckled, shaking his head. “That girl. I’m so proud of her. Boy, she let me have it.”
X blinked. “What?”
“Zara,” Jax said, as if he’d missed something. “She came in here upset with me. Then she quit.”
Jax laughed then, muttering something about deal makers and negotiations and...
Wait a damn minute. “She quit?” X stood.
“Yep.” His father leaned back against the cushions and sipped his drink. “I didn’t accept her resignation, though.”
“Dad, what is this?” X asked, frustrated at the whole conversation.
“What do you mean? Zara came here, quit, and I gave her the sports division.”
The hell? “You gave her my job!”
Jax met his gaze, all hint of amusement gone. “No, son. I gave Zara her job.”
X sucked in a deep breath as everything clicked. “You were never going to give me the job, were you?”
Jax shook his head. “No. I wasn’t.”
All of his fight was gone. He couldn’t argue anymore. If his father couldn’t see that he deserved the promotion, then he didn’t know what else to do to convince him. Or if he even wanted to, at that point.
“Okay,” X said.
“Don’t you want to know why?”
“Not particularly. But I’m sure you’re going to tell me, anyway.”
“You’re right. I am. Son, leading Pure Talent Sports is not your job.”
“How many times—”
Jax cut him off. “Leading Pure Talent is your job.”
X’s eyes flashed to his dad’s. “Wait... what did you say?”
“For a while, I’ve been watching you. You think I don’t see you, but I do. I’ve seen you stay in the background and let others shine. I’ve seen you command a room, lead a team. I’ve seen you focused on Pure Talent, not on what Xavier wants or needs. Those are all qualities of someone that I want to succeed me when the time is right. So, no, I’m not giving you that job. I’m giving you my job.”
Unable to even begin to process this latest development, Xavier just sat there and stared. His father wanted him to run the company? Not just the sports division or audio, but the entire agency?
Stunned, X murmured, “You’re leaving.”
“I’m not going anywhere soon. But when I’m ready to leave, you’re it. And I know you’ll take this company in an exciting direction, to places I haven’t even thought of. You and Zara.”
“Me and Zara? What does that mean?”
Jax smiled. “You already know what it means.”
He shook his head. Because he didn’t know shit. He’d obviously misjudged... everything. “Can you please enlighten me?”
