“Why the hell not?” she demanded.
Jax spun around and for the first time since she’d come back, he saw something he didn’t think existed in Livie . . . guilt. That’s exactly what Paul didn’t want.
“He didn’t want you or your mother to stay out of pity.” Jax figured now that Paul was gone, revealing the truth wouldn’t much matter. Maybe if Livie saw exactly how things went, she wouldn’t be so bitter. “He loved you both. Yes, he had an odd way of showing it, but you have to know that everything he did was for you.”
Livie crossed her arms, pushing her breasts up in that scooped tank. Damn if she wasn’t one of the sexiest women he’d ever seen. That crush as a preteen and teenager had been mild compared to the ache and need he had flooding him now.
But he’d gotten tangled with a beautiful woman once before and Livie wasn’t sticking around. She wanted the hell out of Haven once and for all.
“Since you know so much about my father, please, enlighten me.”
Propping his hands on his hips, Jax pulled in a deep breath and willed himself to remain calm. “It’s a moot point now, Livie. He’s gone. We’re at a standstill until you can come to grips with the fact that I will never sell. Ever. There’s no money you can wave in my face, there’s no way you can mastermind your way into this sale. The airport, flying, and the people that need these services are the second most important things in my life.”
Her eyes never wavered from his and he wondered if he was actually making headway with her. Was she grasping exactly what he was saying? He was done playing games, he was done trying to be nice about the situation. She was wasting her time and she was wearing him out.
“What happens if I go back to Atlanta?” she asked. “We’re still legally partners in this business. I should have equal say.”
Jax laughed. He couldn’t help himself. “So now you want to be partners? As in, you want to decide what’s best for the airport so you can rake in half the money? I assure you, it’s not much.”
He’d been scraping every extra penny and dime for years to get a new Skyhawk. He’d managed to squander away a good amount so far, but planes were damn expensive, even used ones. But he knew this Cessna wouldn’t last forever. No matter how much he babied the beautiful piece, it was nearing time to retire. He wanted to invest in the future, in a plane that would hopefully be something he passed to Piper as she grew older. If she loved the sport as much as he did and opted to turn it into a career, he wanted to be able to give her something nice.
“You can keep the money, but this place needs some sprucing up in a major way.”
“There you go with the material things again,” he told her as he took a step toward her. “As long as my plane flies and my clients get to where they need to be, they don’t care if the building needs paint or if the weeds are out of control. It’s a small town, Livie. I work by reputation alone, not the beauty of my building.”
“Our building,” she corrected.
Jax stepped forward once again, towering over her. Her eyes flared as she stared up at him.
“Is that how you’re going to play this game?” he murmured, raking his eyes over each one of her striking features. “You think you’re going to keep up your half of this legal binding?”
Livie’s tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip and he couldn’t help but track the seductive movement.
“I don’t know how to play this game,” she admitted. “We both want different things and I’m used to getting what I want.”
Her floral scent hit him in just the right, or wrong, way. Arousal churned deep in his gut and he hated that he had this strong of a pull toward someone so hell-bent on stealing his life.
“Ironically, I’m used to getting what I want, too.”
That was all the warning he gave her before he crushed his lips to hers. He was done listening to her talk, he was finished with this conversation that was obviously going nowhere. He’d wanted to kiss her for years and now that she was right in his face, why the hell not?
When she opened to him and leaned into his body, that was all the green light he needed to wrap his arms around her and thrust his hands into all that silky hair. She clutched his shoulders, her fingers bruising him, but he didn’t care. There was a fine line between hate and desire. He’d obliterated that invisible barrier the second he touched her . . . maybe before. Maybe when he’d shown up at her house with this insane plan to take her up in the plane.
But he’d wanted her to get that smack in the face from her past and see exactly what she was doing.
Instead, his control had snapped and now he had his arms full of Livie. Jax slid one hand down to the small of her back and leaned over her. That grip she had on him tightened even more as she was only being held upright by him. Again, he wanted her to know exactly who was in control here.
When she moaned and arched against him, Jax wondered exactly who held the reins because he was drowning in this woman and that was a damn problem. This was the first kiss they’d shared . . . but he knew it wouldn’t be the last.
Livie tore away from the kiss and stumbled back, leaving him cold and aching for more. One shaky hand went to her lips—his ego liked to believe he’d made her shaky and just as
