Simply Irresistible

that I failed at yet something else?”

Her only defense at letting that last part slip was sugar overload. She read the label on the whipped cream, but nowhere did it say that mainlining this substance might cause low self-esteem and diarrhea of the mouth.

He took the can from her fingers. “What do you think you failed at?”

Life. She closed her burning eyes and swallowed past a thick throat. The beginning of a headache had turned into an entire percussion band sitting on her right lobe. “I need some chips,” she whispered. “Layered in greasy, salty goodness. It soothes being rejected.” Downing her hot chocolate, she went to stand, but Jax grabbed her wrist.

“Rejected?”

Rejected. Stomped on. Decimated… “You have a meeting.”

“I do,” he said, but didn’t let go. She tried to tug free, but he reeled her in, then lightly kissed the corner of her mouth.

“Whipped cream,” he explained.

She drew a shaky breath. She wanted him, bad, but even that wouldn’t soothe the ache from knowing her dream was in its death throes. “I think your client is waving at you,” she whispered.

He turned and eyed the man two booths over trying to get his attention. Jax nodded his head and held up a finger, and then turned back to Maddie. “Talk to me,” he repeated firmly.

“The bank turned us down for the refinancing.” Just saying it out loud made her want to be sick, but that might have been all the junk food she’d consumed. She shot a guilty look in the direction of the kitchen. “And I still have to tell Tara and Chloe, but we should cancel the new interior doors we ordered. Obviously, we need to put in the new windows when they come and fix the roof to sell, and I’ll finish the painting, but little else. And your client’s about to fall out of his chair trying to overhear us. You have to go.”

“Maddie.”

Oh, God, that low, husky voice filled with all that empathy was going to break her into a million little pieces. Not here, she told herself sternly. You will not fall apart in a public place again. Besides, this time there was no one to dump coffee on.

“Gotta go,” she choked out. She’d used up all the fake strength in her arsenal. She needed to reboot, that was all. Pulling free, she got up and walked out.

• • •

Back at the inn, Chloe’s Vespa was still gone, so Maddie headed directly into the marina office. If the ship was going down, the books were going to be balanced when it did.

Less than a minute later, she heard the marina building door open and shut, and then the slide of the lock, and she looked up into Jax’s caramel eyes. Her heart skipped a beat. “What happened to your meeting?” she asked.

“Suddenly cancelled.”

By him. God. She was costing him work left and right. “Jax-”

He came around the desk and leaned back against it, facing her, with his long legs stretched out in front of him. “You can try to get a revolving line of credit as a second mortgage. Or try another bank. Or your current lender, who’s far more likely to-”

“If we go to the current lender, they’ll know we’re in trouble.”

“Maddie, in this market, everyone’s in trouble, not just you. This doesn’t have to be over.” His voice was low and serious. “I can help-”

“No.” She swallowed hard and shook her head. “Thank you. It’s incredibly kind of you to even think it, but-”

“Jesus, would you stop trying to figure this out all on your own? You’re not on your own, not anymore, not unless you want to be.”

Suddenly uncomfortably aware that he’d never gotten frustrated with her before, she stared at him.

He stared right back, unwaveringly. “Maddie, remember when you listed all your faults for me?”

“Jax-”

“Do you?”

“Yes,” she said tightly, hating that her stomach had knotted at the first sign of his frustration. He wouldn’t hurt her, she told herself. He’d never hurt her.

“I’m going to guess you’re still using a nightlight for the closet monsters. And I know you still don’t like your food touching.” He cocked his head. “What else was there?”

“The Sound of Music,” she said, then rolled her eyes. “And the burping the alphabet.”

“You forgot one.”

She’d forgotten many. On purpose. But hey, if he wanted to think she had only one more fault, she wasn’t about to dispel that notion.

“You forgot that you’re the most mule-headed, stubborn-assed woman on the planet.” Crouching at her side, he put his hands on the arms of her chair and turned her to face him. She saw that his frustration was with the situation, not her, that he was indeed looking at her with warmth and affection.

“I can help,” he said. “By extending a second loan, or helping you apply to another bank.”

His offer tightened her throat so that she could barely breathe. “I don’t want to think about that right now.”

“What do you want to think about?”

“Maybe about inhaling some chips.”

He nodded, letting her lighten the mood. “Except that might clash with all the whipped cream.”

“True,” she said. “I could work on another crooked scarf.”

Holding tight to her chair, the very sexy, gorgeous man shook his head, and she worried that he was going to force this conversation that she didn’t want to have. But she shouldn’t have. “I have something better,” he said very quietly, his eyes heated.

Everything within her quivered at that. He was close enough to block out the sharp fluorescent light with his shoulders, shoulders that were broad enough to weather whatever burdens came his way.

And hers.

And he could make everything go away for a while, help her let go of all that was wrong, and embrace the one thing that was right.

Him. He was right, she thought, staring at his hard chest. It would be warm to the touch and strong enough to offer comfort and safety while making her feel desire.

He slid his hands up her legs and settled them on her waist, just beneath her sweater. His hands were big and callused and felt so damn good on her bare skin.

“You’re tense again.”

“Yes.” She bit her lower lip, but the words escaped anyway. “You fixed me last time. You’re good at fixing things.”

“Yes. Anything you need, Maddie.”

That. That right there was another thing that made him different from the men in her past. He was willing to put her first. They’d known each other two and a half weeks, and he’d do anything for her, and at the knowledge, a powerful emotion surged through her. Desperately afraid to trust it, she shoved it aside, forgetting it entirely when he slid his hands up, taking her sweater up, too, up and over her head.

This left her in just a plain white bra, but when she’d dressed this morning, she hadn’t exactly planned on being seduced.

Jax’s eyes dipped downward, darkening as he took in the soft curve of her breasts, not appearing at all bothered by the plainness of the bra. This was good. She sucked in her stomach, but he didn’t take his gaze any farther south.

In fact, he lifted his head and looked straight into her eyes. “You’re so beautiful, Maddie.” And then he kissed her.

Yes. Oh, yes, this was definitely going to go a long way toward making her feel better, and when he deepened the kiss, stroking her tongue with his, she slid her hands beneath his shirt to touch his warm skin. “Here?” she whispered.