Then he smiled, and as with the others, that smile transformed him from a man not to be fucked with to a man who would stop traffic with only that smile. He stood and walked slowly toward her, almost as if he sensed she might run back into the bedroom and shut the door.
“Just Jax. And you must be Evangeline, unless Drake has two gorgeous blue-eyed blondes holed up in his apartment,” he said with a flirtatious grin. “Was there a problem? Do you need something?”
His voice had softened and he stopped several feet away from her, whether by coincidence or out of deference to her obvious nervousness.
“Um, yes. I mean no.” She groaned and smacked her forehead.
Jax laughed. “Which is it?”
“Yes, I’m Evangeline, and no, he doesn’t have two women in this apartment. At least he better not.” She muttered the last under her breath but knew he’d heard when Jax’s lips twitched and his eyes gleamed with amusement.
“They weren’t wrong about you,” Jax said, cocking his head sideways, as though studying her.
Her gaze narrowed. “Who? What are you talking about?” Damn it, she knew she’d been set up as today’s amusement for the new guy.
He just grinned. “What can I do for you, Miss Evangeline?”
Then she remembered the whole reason she’d come in search of Jax and wanted to die of embarrassment. She closed her eyes, her face on fire. How did she stand a chance of surviving a single day in Drake’s world much less a significant length of time?
Jax softened at the sight of the gorgeous, sweet woman staring at him in obvious distress. Damn, but the others had been right. Her agitation made him want to do whatever had to be done to correct the matter. He’d laughed at Thane, Maddox and Justice when they’d extolled her virtues and told him the impossible. That she was the real deal. Too sweet and innocent for her own good but a tigress when it came to defending people she felt were wronged.
“Evangeline, what’s wrong?” he asked gently. “What can I do to help?”
Oh shit. She looked like she was about to burst into tears. If there was one thing he couldn’t handle, it was a crying woman.
Instead of responding, she thrust a piece of paper at him. Puzzled, he opened it and read Drake’s distinctive scrawl and then looked back up at Evangeline, who was growing more anxious by the minute.
What on earth in Drake’s note could cause her this much upset? It was straightforward. Typical Drake. He didn’t see anything that should have caused Evangeline to react with such panic.
“What does he mean by dressy and sexy?” she asked, her voice rising with each word. “I’m not sexy and I have no idea what his definition of dressy is because believe me, my definition and his are miles apart. And as I’m obviously not sexy, how the hell would I know how to dress the part?”
Jax’s mouth fell open. Not sexy? Was she crazy?
“I don’t want to embarrass him,” Evangeline whispered, tears filling her eyes.
It was all he could do not to pull her into his arms and hug her. For God’s sake. He was contemplating hugging someone? He should have known he was being set up when it was suggested that he be the one to collect Evangeline. Since she needed to meet all of Drake’s men, Maddox had smugly pointed out.
Jax’s lips made a firm line, and then he reached out and took Evangeline’s hand, tugging her behind him as he headed toward the closet. He was no fashionista, but he sure as hell knew what looked good on a woman. Especially a woman like Evangeline. Hell, she’d look good in a sackcloth. What the hell was wrong with Drake that his woman didn’t think she was sexy? Because if Evangeline belonged to Jax, not a single day would go by that she wouldn’t know exactly how desirable she was.
“You, stand there,” he directed, planting Evangeline in the middle of the huge walk-in closet. “Now, what you have on now is perfect for casual. You totally rock that look. I expect Drake will be in a foul mood whenever another man has to come into his office.”
She looked at him like she had no clue what he was talking about.
Jax nearly shook his head. Hell, the others hadn’t been fucking with him about Drake’s woman. They’d been telling him the honest truth.
“Dressy and sexy for a night at the club means something a little more glittery, fun, even daring.” Though he wondered if he should have included that last part. It might get his ass kicked by Drake if his woman showed up in something too revealing and Jax and the others had to spend the entire evening beating other men’s asses for ogling Evangeline’s sweet ass.