“More messages from my dead sister?” he asked, his tone taunting as he looked down at her. “Or are you just going to stare?”
Color bloomed across her cheeks as a lie built inside her head and almost made it out of her mouth, but she pulled it back. She had to understand that most people were not going to be so accepting of her gifts, especially if it was painful. As she looked into his golden eyes, she saw a glimpse of pain brought on by the words he spoke of his sister. “Listen, I’m sorry about that,” Caroline, who rarely apologized, apologized. “I shouldn’t have blurted out in front of everyone about your sister. I should have warned you first.”
“Yes, you should have,” Jax agreed. “Not that I believe in all that bullshit.”
Caroline glared at him before turning away from his door. “Whatever.” She headed down the hall. “I apologized and I couldn’t care less if you believe it or not.”
“Wait a minute,” Jax called out. “Is that the only reason you came up here?” There was suspicion in his tone.
Being a teacher who faced a room full of kids ready to call you out on anything and everything, nothing much fazed Caroline, but this man’s attitude did, and not in a good way. “You know what,” Caroline turned around and walked back toward him, “actually, that wasn’t the reason I came up here at all. I heard the guitar and thought it was beautiful.”
A small grin played at the corner of Jax’s full mouth. “So your apology meant…?”
“Absolutely nothing.” Caroline tilted her chin. “It’s what I do. It’s what my sister and I do. I fought it for a while and that got me into a world of trouble, changing my life. So yeah, I’m not sorry.”
Jax leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms. “School teachers shouldn’t lie.”
Now that surprised her. “How did you know I was a school teacher?”
“Not the fancy way you find out things about people like talking to the dead.” He cocked his eyebrow at her. “I asked Sid.”
“Actually, you did do exactly what I do,” Caroline replied in her best teacher tone. “Sid is technically dead.”
Jax’s laugh boomed through the hallway. “Not only beautiful and smart, but quick with humorous comebacks.”
Caroline felt herself blushing, and then cursed at herself. She couldn’t afford being attracted to anyone right now, especially a gorgeous jackass like Jax Wheeler. “Just stating a fact.”
Nodding, Jax stared at her with his intense golden gaze. “So was bringing my sister up just stating facts also?”
Not really knowing what he meant by that, Caroline frowned. “No, actually, it was because you were being so hard on Jill.” Caroline leaned up against the wall across from him. “Whether you like it or not, Jill is not going to stop. Lana has told me a lot about the girl and it takes a lot to impress my sister, but Jill has. I know what happened with your sister, Jax, and it wasn’t your fault, but if you continue your campaign against Jill, which I think even you know is bullshit, it will be your fault if something happens to her. She needs your support.”
Jax straightened away from the wall during her little speech and was leaning over her. He didn’t look happy. “First of all, teach, you don’t know shit about what happened in my past.” He slammed one hand on the wall next to her head, leaning in. “And Jill has plenty of support.”
Not one to be intimidated, Caroline slammed her hand on his chest and pushed. When he stepped back, she knew it was his decision to do so because he was nothing but solid muscle and her small push wouldn’t have budged him unless he wanted to be budged. “Your sister was killed during initiation into the VC Warriors over 200 years ago. You also had a younger brother, but he didn’t go through with the initiation.” Caroline didn’t stop at the shocked look on his face. “There was nothing you could do. She made her choice to follow her big brother into the program. You did everything you could to help her.”
“And it still wasn’t enough.” Jax frowned, and then glared at her. “Women do not belong in this program. They are liabilities.”
Caroline really looked at Jax, seeing the man behind the anger. His dark Native American looks and badass attitude almost had her fooled, but she saw a glimpse into his past through his sister and this was a good man, whether he wanted to admit it or not. “No.” She took a step toward him. “The person, whether male or female, who doesn’t believe in someone is the liability, because that small feeling of doubt a person gets in themselves during a time of the tests comes not from themselves, but the doubts someone put in their mind.”
Jax shook his head. “What in the hell are you talking about?”