Rebel (19 page)

That made her laugh, which pleased him.

“And I know it’s going to be hard to believe”—he put his hands up in a stop gesture—“but I’m not this beautiful in the morning. This”—he gestured to the bruise around his eye—“takes a lot of work to maintain.”

Still laughing, she leaned into him and pressed her face to his pec with a kiss.

He ran a hand down her hair, closed his eyes, and kissed her head. “I’m loving what we’ve got going here, baby,” he said, softly, seriously. “I don’t want to push you too hard, too fast.”

“You’re right,” she said, muffled against his skin, nodding. Then she pulled away, crossed her arms, and pulled herself up. “Thanks for the triple orgasm.” She waved toward the kitchen. “Now get your sexy ass out of here.”

Wes burst out laughing and pulled her close again. Joy pumped his ego. He just needed to be patient, give her room, and let her believe falling for him was all her idea.

He took her hand and glanced at the storyboard. “How’s the app coming?”

“Good. I gave the crash app to Jax for some tests. I just started on the fight app, but I’m falling behind on that NSA project, so I might have to put a hold on that for a little while.”

Guilt tripped in as he reached for the rig on the sofa. “You know I’m going to pay you for your help with the rig, right? And if you don’t have time, then…you don’t. It’s okay.”

Her mouth quirked. “I can always squeeze in a little programming for a
friend
. I’ll charge you the same thing I charge Jax.”

Nice comparison to yank him right back to earth.
Friends
.

“Right.” He nodded and started toward the kitchen sliders. “And on that note…”

Wes unlocked the door and stepped into the night. The heat built up in his body made the cool wind feel heavenly. Rubi leaned down, grabbing Rodie’s collar to keep him from following Wes.

“Sorry, baby,” Rubi said, petting him. “I know he’s cool, but you’re all mine.”

The simple act of standing outside her house kicked up nerves in his belly. He forced them into the background. “See you at the set tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. I’ll try. I’m pretty backed up with work.”

His gut tightened. He felt her slipping away. Started to wonder if this was it. If she’d had her one time with him and he’d never get another chance. But he nodded.
Give her space, asshole.
She leaned her head against the edge of the door, planted the toes of one bare foot on the top of the other. Her lids were growing heavy.

God, he wanted to grab her, slide under the covers with her, and tangle his body with hers as she fell asleep. He had to fight himself not to ask her to come to the set for lunch. Not to ask her out for tomorrow night.

“Okay,” he said instead. “But Troy’s going to light me on fire. If you don’t come by, you’ll miss me acting like a human torch.”

She winced. “Now there’s incentive.” Lifting her head from the door, she stepped back. “Later, dude.”

Wes forced a chuckle at the purposeful get-lost-before-you-do-something-you’ll-regret message in those words and said, “Later.”

Within half a mile of her house, all his doubts crept in. All the excitement and connection they’d experienced faded. And his hopes for starting here and developing something more started a downward slide.

By the time he’d reached Jax’s house, the complex knot tightening his chest made him realize everyone else might just be right.

He might not be cut out for this kind of relationship.

Twelve

Rubi stepped into the grand house overlooking the canyons of the Hollywood Hills—the ninth house Jax and Lexi had looked at buying over the last two weeks. Jax and Lexi were either alone in the house or one of them had brought the Realtor because only Jax’s truck and Lexi’s BMW—the one Jax had recently bought for her—sat in the driveway. But the house was quiet, as if it were empty.

She glanced around the foyer and the open living room beyond. Jax sure knew how to pick ’em. This was a showplace with marble floors, soaring ceilings, thick cream carpet, and French doors lining the walls, leading out onto a deck looking out over all of Hollywood and Los Angeles beyond.

She slid her hand over an ornate iron railing. Instead of vertical bars, the railing was a series of scrolls and curls. Truly magnificent set against all the light—cream carpet, light marble, white walls. The iron circled a huge hole in the floor with a peaked skylight above, and guided a spiraling staircase down to…one, two, three…lower floors. And centered on the floor at the bottom of the stairway, a gorgeous terrazzo tile design.

Rubi whistled softly between her teeth. “Definitely makes a statement.”

The sheer beauty of the house smoothed some of Rubi’s rough edges this morning. She was having that dreaded buyer’s remorse over sex with Wes, even though, logically, she knew the emotions were ridiculous. Even though she knew if she could go back in time and make different decisions, she wouldn’t. She would do exactly what she’d done with him last night all over again.

Her mouth tipped up when she remembered the note on her windshield this morning:

I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW.

But mixed emotions tumbled through her head and heart.

She let the stunning home distract her from the irrational thoughts that would tear her in half if she allowed.

This place was so fabulous, it tempted her toward the idea of buying a home of her own. And a familiar frustration closed in when she thought of her current home. She wouldn’t give up that house even for something as spectacular as this one. She’d discovered she really needed to live near the water. It centered her. Grounded her. Calmed her. Soothed her in some intangible, indescribable way.

Rubi leaned over the railing and listened but heard nothing, so she started down a wide hallway. She passed an open library, a half bath, a huge guest suite…and heard Jax’s voice.

She wandered that way, admiring all the gorgeous detail in the house. The place felt like Lexi—elegant but simple. Extravagant but understated. Classy.

Following Jax’s voice, Rubi strolled through a truly magnificent office. Through the French doors at the end, she saw Lexi and Jax standing out on the terrace, Lexi in one of the sophisticated dresses she always wore at work—her own designs, of course—and pumps, her hair coiled into a sleek twist. Jax was in his worn jeans, biker boots, and leather jacket. The sight made Rubi grin. It also made her go a little gooey inside. As much as she missed Lexi, as much as not seeing her every day, not being her confidante anymore, left part of Rubi lonely, she wouldn’t want it any other way. Jax was so good to her. He loved her so much. They were so perfect together.

“I’m loving what we’ve got going here, baby.”

Wes’s words shot an extra jolt of emotion through her chest. That had been the most amazing sex she’d had in…a really,
really
long time. But it wasn’t just the sex that kept him on her mind constantly. It was
him
.

She shook her head, trying to push it out of her mind, and ran her hand along the decorative molding covering the edge of the floor-to-ceiling bookcases. She glanced at the huge wraparound desk, the plush desk chair similar to the chairs Lexi had in her studio for customers.

Outside, Lexi had her hands wrapped around the top of an iron railing remarkably similar to the stunner in the foyer and Jax stood behind her, his hands flanking hers as they looked out at the view.

“It’s only seven miles from your studio,” Jax said, his deep voice rising with hope. “Twenty minutes at the most, even in traffic.”

That was a huge improvement over the drive Lexi had been making to Malibu—forty-five minutes even with no traffic. And they did live in Los Angeles, after all. There was always traffic. Rubi knew the time Lexi wasted in the car had hurt her productivity at work, and it was really stressing her out. More stress on top of trying to manage a new line of lingerie and hiring new employees.

“You like this one the best out of everything we’ve seen,” Jax said, resting his chin on the top of her head. “I can tell. You can see the Los Angeles skyline from the deck off the main living room. And I’ve already gotten an estimate on what it would cost to make the pool into an infinite edge. We can look out over that view day or night from the water.”

“This is…” Lexi started, then paused. “Insane, Jax.
Six million dollars?
I can’t even fathom—” Anxiety bubbled in her voice. “I’ve been thinking about this, and I’m not sure it’s such a great time to buy. With what’s happening on the set, if Bolton falls through and they have to hire another actor, reshoot the first half of the movie—”

“Baby, that’s money for Renegades, not me personally, not us,” Jax reassured her. “This place is worth nearly twice what they’re asking. If it weren’t in foreclosure, it would go for ten million. In a few more years, it will be worth fifteen. We don’t have to stay here forever. Look at it as an investment I’d miss out on if it weren’t for you.”

Okay, seriously, Rubi couldn’t love that man for Lexi any more than she already did. Which was why she kept her distance and gave them room to grow.

Jax released the railing and slid his arms around Lexi’s waist. “I know this must feel overwhelming coming from a lunch bag…”

Lexi laughed and elbowed him at the same time, making Rubi smile. “My loft may be the size—”

“And shape,” he added.

“—of a lunch bag, but it’s an affordable lunch bag.”

“Affordability is relative. This house is very affordable for me. You’d feel better if you’d let me tell you about my finances.”

“No.” Lexi shook her head. “No, no, no. This is hard enough without knowing all the details of that filthy gold you’re hoarding in some vault.”

God that girl was as stubborn as Rubi when it came to their little psychoses or neuroses or whatever they were called.

Jax chuckled. “Bet the thought just makes your skin crawl, doesn’t it? Bet it just makes you want to shed those clothes and do me in front of all of Hollywood, right here on the balcony.” Lexi burst out laughing as Jax kissed her neck. “Don’t deny it.”

Okay…time to break this up.

Rubi walked to the open door. “No christening the new house until you own it.”

When Jax and Lexi turned toward Rubi’s voice, she cast a careless gesture with one finger toward the back of the house that looked out over the canyon. “Did I hear you’re going to make that pool an infinity edge, Chamberlin? Because as is, it
so
won’t do.”

“You’re such a diva,” he said, “and yes, we will… If we buy it.”

“Nice move, Jaxy-boy.” Rubi sauntered to their side with a soft click of her heels on stone. She stood next to Lexi and leaned on the railing. “I approve.”

A melodramatic whoosh of air exited his lungs, and he pressed a hand to his chest. “Oh, thank God. I can breathe now.”

“You might need to go back to acting if you keep collecting these multimillion-dollar mansions.”

“Don’t get Lexi all stirred up again.” He moved between them and draped his arms over their shoulders. “I was just telling her what a great investment this would be.”

She pulled her sunglasses back over her eyes. “That’s one way to look at it. And I have to say, this is the nicest place you’ve seen so far. Really the only one I could see Lexi being comfortable in—if that’s even possible.” She glanced at Lexi. “Though I still hate the idea of you not being down the beach from me anymore.”

Lexi sighed and squinted back toward the view. She exhaled heavily. “Baby, I just don’t know.”

“Christ, Rubi,” Jax muttered, “she was almost there.”

“I didn’t mean for you not to move, Lex,” Rubi said. “I just meant I’ll miss having you close more often. But I can still drag you out of the Malibu house for weekend runs, right?”

“Right,” Jax said for her.

Lexi turned toward him and pressed her hands to his chest. “Jax…” She cut herself off and bit her lip.

Rubi knew that sign. She was freaking out.

But Jax saw it and reacted before Rubi even had a chance. “Shh, it’s okay.” He cupped her face in his hands. “We’ll just keep looking. We’ll find one that says ‘home’ to you, baby. Don’t give up.”

Lexi closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. With a quick shake of her head, she said, “No. I like this one.”

He tilted her face up to his. “I don’t want to push you.”

Jax’s words echoed Wes’s the night before.
“I don’t want to push you too hard, too fast.”

Lexi smiled. When it faltered, she forced it high again. “Sometimes pushing is a good thing. And honestly…” She breathed in slow…breathed out slow… “I need you to push me past these fears, because I don’t want to lose you over them.”

“Oh, baby.” Jax pulled her hard against him, wrapped her tight. “You will
not
lose me, Lex. Sure as shit never over something like this.”

Rubi had to blink fast behind her sunglasses to clear the sting of tears from her eyes. God, this was just too much emotion from too many directions. She hadn’t believed anyone could love Lexi as much as she did. They were best friends, after all. Family to each other. But Jax really did. And that made Rubi both ridiculously happy and horribly lonely.

Lexi smiled as Jax lowered his head to kiss her.

Rubi cleared her throat. “Hello, you’re not alone out here. And if you two start shedding clothing, I might have to take some photos for the local rag.”

Jax pulled out of the kiss and shot Rubi one of his pathetically unmenacing looks, then gazed down into Lexi’s eyes. “I have to get back to the set. Take your time. The Realtor said he’d leave it open two hours for us and come back to lock up. We’ll talk tonight.” He pressed his lips to hers again, then murmured, “I love you, baby. No matter what you decide.”

He released her and started toward the house. But in Rubi’s mind, she still saw the way Jax looked at Lexi. Still heard the tone of his voice. And couldn’t help but remember the way Wes had looked at her last night. The tone of Wes’s voice when he’d spoken to her.

And Lexi’s words now—
“I need you to push me past these fears, because I don’t want to lose you over them”
—tightened a slow knot in Rubi’s chest.