Anna observed as Jaxxon and Connor’s gazes met and, instead of the verbal and physical explosion she was expecting, there was that same electrical exchange of pure, primal need between them that she saw at the charity event. Just like then, the people around them were caught up in the moment, in the excess sparks of desire that surrounded the couple. It was there and then that Anna came to a conclusion about Jaxxon and Connor: as much as their craving for each other was primitive and raw, their connection couldn’t be on just a physical level. A link that intense couldn’t only survive on sexual hunger. It would need the involvement of the mind and the soul just as much as the body.
Jaxxon continued to hold his eyes as he stalked toward their table at a casual, non-threatening pace. He stopped before her and slowly bent down, pressing the softest lingering kiss to her lips. She wondered why she hadn’t slapped him yet. She wanted to. Really wanted to. But instead all she seemed to be doing, despite her anger, was devouring the sight of him. Their gazes never left each other’s the entire time that two more chairs were added and Anna and Warren took positions on either side of her, almost as if protecting her and Connor from each other. That then left him opposite her, which made it easier to snarl at him.
Anna, scowling wildly at Warren, spoke first. “We were just about to order starters before you interrupted our meal and, also, our holiday.”
Warren gave her a pleading expression. “Look, how about we enjoy the meal and then we’ll talk about it when we get back to the challet?”
“Translation: let’s not argue in public?”
Back to the challet? Jaxxon held back a growl. So not only had they interrupted the holiday but they were planning on staying. And in their challet. For them to have gotten inside it, Anna had to have left the key for them somewhere outside. Jaxxon would deal with her later. When she was sure she could speak without the sound being animalistic.
“Garlic bread,” drawled Warren. “Haven’t had that in a while. What about you?”
“The soup,” Anna said through her teeth. As much as she was glad to see Warren, she wanted to throttle him right now. So far there had been no outburst from Jaxxon. When she was silent, it wasn’t a good sign.
Warren turned to the lump of stone on his right. “Connor? What do you want for Starters?”
“For starters…” He hardened his gaze on Jaxx. “You can tell me why you left for France without even a goodbye.”
Hoping to distract Jaxxon from giving Connor a very heated response, Warren quickly turned to her. “And you, Jaxxon? What’re you having?”
Only one thing had stopped her from lashing out at Connor after his remark; she knew that was what he wanted. A reaction would show she was ruffled, unsettled. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her lose it. Plus, if she did lose it that would show she cared and he couldn’t be allowed to know that. She was resolute on keeping her rage controlled. But that didn’t mean she was going to sit and have a civil evening with him. She consulted the menu. “I’ll have the ‘Get Over The Fact That My Business Isn’t Yours You Prick’.”
“I had to find out days later from Dane,” said Connor. “My two best mates knew exactly where you were, but I was purposely kept out of the loop.”
She could almost believe he was genuinely hurt by that.
“You couldn’t even manage a text message to let me know you were going away for a week? All you would’ve had to do was press a couple of buttons. Wouldn’t have even taken you two minutes.”
“You’re going on at me about the simplicity of text messaging when you’ve just flown all the way to France to argue with me?”
“Oh I don’t just want to argue with you.” The implication was in his voice, in his eyes.
“Do you always follow your bed-buddies abroad?”
Warren nearly choked on his wine, but no one at the table seemed to give a shit.
“You’re not my bed-buddy,” said Connor quickly.
“Oh?” She arched a brow. “Then what am I?”
You’re mine, he found himself wanting to say. He leant forward in his seat. His tone was grave, cautioning. “Don’t ever make out that I think that little of you, Jaxx.”
The appearance of the waiter was welcome, giving her a reprieve from her stare-out with Connor. They all ordered their starters and main meals. Other than those coming from Warren, each order came out robotic. It was then that Jaxxon noted that Anna’s mood was no better than her own. Maybe she hadn’t played a part in their coming here. The poor waiter nearly jumped out of his skin when Connor growled.
“What was that for?” she snapped when the waiter scarpered.
“I didn’t like the way he was looking at you.”
Anna snickered. “That was nothing compared to the stares she’s been getting over the past few days.” Yes, she wanted to cheese Connor off just like he had cheesed her best mate off. “If you thought you being here would discourage that, I’m thinking you’ll be proved wrong. Why do you think we got such a fab table? And then there was the complimentary bottle of wine. We’ve had a load of freebies since we got here because of how admired she is. Aww there was this one bloke who stuck a piece of paper with his phone number onto her ski pole. And another who sang a song to her on the karaoke.” She left out the fact that Jaxxon flipped him off.
Noticing that Connor was getting even more frustrated, Warren gestured for Anna to leave it there. But with a wide smile on her face, she continued. “It was hilarious when that tall, blonde Viking-like bloke asked her to write her autograph on his pecks. It wasn’t so hilarious when that little old bloke asked her to. She’s had quite a few people come up and ask to have a photo with her. I don’t know how they even recognised her with all her ski clothes on. I think a lot more would’ve approached her if she wasn’t known for telling people to sod off.”
There was a little silence then; Connor striving to remain in control, Anna trying to think of how else she could wind up Connor, Warren wishing he could get his beautiful girlfriend to shut up, and Jaxxon condemning herself for the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss that Connor had given her a few minutes ago. He’d never kissed her like that before, it was actually affectionate. And that fourteen year old girl in her wouldn’t let that fact drop.
The Starters came then. The silence continued as they ate; Jaxxon and Connor staring at one another while Anna glowered at Warren and he looked at her apologetically.