He couldn’t remember the last time someone had been disappointed in him other than himself. He’d forgotten how much letting someone down burned like acid in the center of his chest.
Vanessa was turning out to be a puzzle he couldn’t solve. If he’d read her right, then for her to be disappointed in him would mean she cared for him on some level. At least a little more than one generally cares for her best friend’s brother whom she barely knew. But that didn’t add up with the calculating woman who made him agree to formal stipulations regarding their sexual relationship.
For probably the fiftieth time since he met her, he wondered what prompted her to make the rules in the first place. He couldn’t shake the feeling that she was more than just a woman scorned by a few ex-boyfriends.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He grabbed it, glanced at the caller ID, and answered. “What’s the word, man? How’s Lucie?”
“She was feeling better until Vanessa spilled about your little role-playing fiasco down there.” Shit. Reid sounded like he wanted to use him as a punching bag. “What the hell is going on, Jax?”
“Look, this isn’t exactly anything I planned, all right? It started out as something I said just to get under her skin. Or maybe it wasn’t, I don’t know. I meant to tell her the truth, but then the planner got involved and it all went to hell.”
“So what happens when we show up at the end of the week? Because I’m sure as hell not pretending to be you while you get hitched to Vanessa.”
“Whoa! Chill out, okay? The only people getting hitched this weekend are you and my sister.” Jax glanced over to where it looked like Vanessa was finishing up her phone call. There were a lot of hand gestures that, if Lucie could see them, would probably reassure her Vanessa had everything under control. Now he had to convince his best friend of the same thing. Whether Jackson believed it or not.
Scratch that. He had to believe it. Because one way or another, he wasn’t going to let anyone—including a pissed-off not-quite-French wedding coordinator—stop his baby sister from having the wedding of her dreams.
Across the room, V ended her call and started walking toward him just as Robért pushed through the swinging doors of the kitchen with a rolling cart. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything. You just get my sister healthy so she can travel and marry your punk ass. Gotta go.”
“Jackso—”
Jax tapped the end button and put his phone away just before Vanessa sat in the chair to his right. She kept her attention on Robért setting out a silver tray of mini cakes and small bowls of filling.
He hated that she refused to look at him. Hated that he’d upset her.
Without thinking about it, he gently lifted her hand and pressed his lips to the delicate skin above her knuckles. He didn’t hear it, but rather saw the breath catch in her throat as her eyes flicked to his. Within their depths he saw the barest glimmer of desire beneath the uncertainty.
“Oh, look how sweet!” Robért exclaimed. “I swear, you are just the loveliest couple. You still act like new lovers. So refreshing!”
Vanessa snatched her hand back and gave the man a nervous smile. “So, what do you have for us, Robért? I’m anxious to figure out the cake.”
“Of course, of course! Let’s get down to the hard work of cake tasting, shall we? Then you two can go back to the room and work off those extra calories, if you know what I mean.”
Jax peeked over at Vanessa, who turned bright red and took a sip of her ice water as Robért busied himself with presenting the first cake.
“O-kay, here we go. The first cake is a vanilla cream. It’s light with a delicate vanilla flavor, the most popular cake we have, and of course can be paired with any of our specialty fillings. Popular choices are pineapple curd, guava buttercream, and white chocolate cream cheese. Go ahead, dig in.”
They each sliced off a piece with the edge of their forks. Being a glutton for punishment, Jax watched as Vanessa placed the cake in her mouth and slid the utensil back out. Torrid images—the sort he definitely didn’t need right now—flooded his mind. Giving his dick a command to heel, he focused on tasting the cake he’d put in his own mouth. It was just as Robért described.
“Well?”
Jax looked over at their host and lifted an eyebrow in question.
“What do you think? You can’t taste the cake and not say anything. You need to tell me if you like it, if you don’t like it…”
“Oh,” Jax said, clearing his throat before taking a sip of his water. “I like it a lot, but it’s a little on the plain side. Don’t you think, babe?”
Vanessa didn’t look at him when she responded. “I agree. I like it, but I think she—uh, I want something a little less common.”
Robért clasped his hands to his chest and said, “I couldn’t agree more. Next cake!”
He took another sample from the tray and placed it before them.