Simply Irresistible

a pair of knee-high socks.

Maddie nudged Chloe’s foot.

“No more, Juan,” Chloe whispered. “My inhaler’s too low.”

The knock on the front door came again, and in unison Chloe and Tara sat straight up, conked their heads together, and moaned.

Maddie staggered toward the door, taking a second to stare in shock at their tree. Last night, it had been the most gorgeous tree she’d ever seen. This morning, it stood barely three feet tall and looked like… “A Charlie Brown Christmas tree,” she whispered. She stepped over her sisters’ legs, caught sight of herself in the small mirror over the little table in the foyer, and just about screamed.

Her hair had rioted. The little mascara she’d had on her lashes was now outlining her eyes, and she had a crease down one cheek from whatever she’d used as a pillow, which she suspected had been the yarn she was still wrapped in. “Never again,” she told her pathetic reflection and then pointed at it for emphasis.

Her reflection stuck her tongue out.

With a sigh, she opened the front door, then stood there in a stupor. Standing on the porch, wearing faded Levi’s, a black sweater over a black T-shirt, mirrored sunglasses, and a crooked smile was Jax Cullen.

Chapter 7

“Experience is something you get…

after you need it.”

PHOEBE TRAEGER

Maddie stared up at Jax, who was not hung over and didn’t have a crease on his face. He looked big, and bad, and so sexy it should be a crime, and she reacted without thinking.

She shut the door in his face.

Tara gasped.

Chloe laughed.

And Maddie covered her face. “Quick, somebody shoot me.”

“Honey.” Tara’s hand settled on her shoulder. “Maybe you don’t know this being from LA and all, but shutting the door on someone’s nose is considered rude in almost all fifty states.”

“You don’t understand. It’s him. Jax.” And maybe it was the fact that her brain was on low battery, but just looking at him made her hot and bothered. Her! The woman who’d decreed that the entire male race was scum. “What do I do?”

“Well, for starters,” Chloe said, “You stop slamming door on guys who look like that.”

“He has superpowers,” Maddie said, nibbling on her thumbnail.

“Yeah?” Clearly fascinated, Chloe took another peek. “Like being hot as hell?”

Tara lightly smacked Maddie’s hand from her mouth. “What does he want?”

“I’m going to guess SpongeBob Pants here,” Chloe murmured, still looking at him.

Maddie pushed her away from the window so she could take her own look. “Oh, my God,” she whispered.

On the porch, Jax turned his head and gave her a slow, mischievous wink, making her jump back as if he’d bitten her. “Oh, my God.”

“She’s starting to repeat herself,” Chloe said to Tara, who took her turn at the window.

“Oh, sugar.” Tara took her time looking him over. “You’re not ready for the likes of him.”

“I hate to agree with her on anything,” Chloe said to Maddie. “But she might be right on this one.”

Drawing in a sharp breath, Maddie put her hand on the door handle. With a sister crowding her on either side- she wasn’t sure whether it was for moral support or to make sure she didn’t jump his bones-she opened the door.

She had to give Jax credit. Certainly, the three of them looked like wild, grossly unpredictable creatures from Planet Estrogen. But much as he had at the bar in the face of that pissed-off Smarmy Suit, he stood his ground. He even smiled.

“Hey,” Maddie said, taking a step forward to give them some privacy, but she tripped over the yarn. It took her a few seconds and most of her dignity before she fought her legs free.

He pulled off his sunglasses to watch her, revealing those melted caramel eyes, which seemed to be both amused and heated. Amused, no doubt, because of the little yarn incident, not to mention the bedhead and SpongeBob pj’s. As for why his eyes were also heated, she could guess-he was thinking of last night.

Which made two of them, because the kisses-oh, good Lord, the kisses-were suddenly all her brain would upload. The memory of those delicious, hot, deep, amazing kisses had kept her up most of the night. And then there’d been how his hands had felt all over her. Just remembering had something tingling behind her belly button and heading south.

“You okay?” he asked.

Sure. She was peachy. Or she would be soon as she cleared a few things up. Because as much as just looking at him put a big, goofy smile on her face, she had to be honest with him. Or at least as honest as she could. “About last night. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, but I’m really not in a good place for this right now.”

He didn’t say anything to this, and the silence was worse than the hangover.

“It’s nothing personal, of course. But I can’t, I just can’t go there.” Why wasn’t he saying anything? “I’m… not interested.” Okay, so that was liar, liar, pants on fire, but his silence was unnerving. “I mean, I realize that I probably didn’t seem uninterested last night, but that was extenuating circumstances.” Those being that he was far too good-looking and he’d tasted like chocolate-lethal combination.

Fighting a smile, he reached out and started unwinding some of the yarn still around her shoulder. His fingers brushed her collarbone and sent yippee-kayee messages to her nipples.

She snatched the yarn from him. “And as for the pier and then needing a ride, well, I’m not usually so helpless. In fact, you should probably know…” She drew a deep breath. “I’ve given up men.”

At that, he arched a brow.

Be strong. Be confident. Be… Neytiri from Avatar. Okay, so Neytiri was a mythical creature, not to mention animated, but still. She was strong and confident, and that’s all that matters at the moment. “It’s true. At first, I was just going to give up attorneys, but that seemed immature-and far too exclusive, so I’m playing it safe and giving up all the penis-carrying humans.” Because that was so much more mature.

Tara peeked out from behind the door with an apologetic wince in Jax’s direction. “It’s possible she’s still tipsy,” she explained.

“I’m not still tipsy!” She didn’t think so, anyway. “So I’m sorry if you drove all the way out here looking for a repeat of last night, but it’s not going to happen. I’m not interested.” She held her breath in case karma was listening, ready to flatten her with a bolt of lightning for lying.

Nothing. Well, nothing but more silence, and this time she bit her tongue rather than try to fill it with more embarrassing chatter.

“Okay,” Jax finally said with a single nod. “That’s all… very interesting. But I’m not here for a ‘repeat.’ ”

A very bad feeling began to bounce around in her gut. “You’re not?”

“No. You called and asked me to come here.”

Maddie took a second, deeper look at him and his attire: the black sweater that upon closer inspection was really a North Face hoodie and had JC Builders embroidered on his pec. His jeans were baggy but still emphasized his long, hard body in a way that suggested they were old friends. He wore work boots, and, given the battered, beloved look to them, they were not for show. But most telling was the measuring tape sticking out of a pocket and the clipboard he held resting against his thigh.

In the yard behind him was his Jeep with a big, brown dog riding shotgun.