Everyone else had been as busy as me, but the couple of texts I got from Grayson lifted most of the lingering doubt I had about that incredible frozen moment. The texts were nothing overt, which was perfect; they let me know everything was all right. This morning’s saidSee you at the match in a few hours x.
Someone pressed into me from behind, and a faint but familiar whiff of cologne reached me.Jax. His heat was warm against my bare lower back, thanks to the exposed midriff on my costume de jour.
He brushed his lips along the outside of my ear, sending shivers of warmth over my skin. Though the assumption of his closeness wasn’t new, I was enjoying it far more than I’d ever dared in the past.
“Grayson told me what you did.” His whisper made his tone hard to decipher.
“He promised he would.” And what a vivid, seductive promise it had been. Did Grayson use similar words telling Jax?
Jax nipped my earlobe, and a jolt raced through my veins. “The plan is to get you addicted to us, so you won’t be able to help but come back for more,” he said.
The emcee started working the crowd, and cheers exploded around us. At this moment, my focus was elsewhere. I leaned some of my weight against Jax. The magic in the air here added to the light floating giddiness in my head, and made it easy to ignore my questions about what was happening between me and them.
“I thought this was just casual fun,” I teased.
“Your words. Though itisfun.” He glided his hands down my exposed sides to rest on my hips right above the waistband of my low-rise jeans. “If I feel you up right here, does it take us a step closer to being more thancasual?”
Did he want that? He wasn’t exactly being subtle about saying so.
What about his current relationship? What about the past? The questions slammed into my thoughts with a quiet cruelty, bringing images with it of a decade ago. A piece of my life I’d forgiven him for. So of course the reminder chose now to gnaw at me.
That didn’t mean I wanted to push Jax away. “It takes us a step closer to getting caught.” I kept my tone light and playful.
“Tempting, isn’t it?”
It was. Much more than it should be. A rush of desire pulsed under my skin, similar to what I’d felt when Grayson watched me with Jax, but this was peppered with a hotter blend of spice. I wasn’t quite bold enough to fool around with nothing but a curtain between us and an audience of several hundred, but it could be fun... “We’ll miss the match.”
“He’ll win. He always does.”
Another reason Grayson was an exhibition player now instead of a competitor.
“But never if you’re uncertain.” Jax’s hands fell away. He didn’t step back, though. “I talked to a friend about your situation.”
I didn’t realize I hadn’t expected him to follow through until he said he had. The way he changed the subject jarred me, and the topic dragged my stress back. “What did they say?”
“I have a letter for you to send Ms. G’s office. It tells them you consider the NDA null and void because you signed on the promise of a job interview, and it’s obvious they never had any intentions of interviewing you. Along with the letter, you reiterate that you’re going to make their information public, and then you publish what you have.”
It was too easy. I shouldn’t complain. “Just like that.”
“That’s what I’m told.”
“That won’t stop them from coming after me.” But if it drew others like me out of the woodwork, would counterattacking me be more difficult? Less appealing for Ms. G’s office to pursue?
Jax sighed. “No. They could—and probably will—still pursue. But other people will come forward when they see that you have. Especially if your reasons for being able to speak up are part of your exposé.”
“And if others have similar stories, it corroborate mine.” I hated that my word about the situation wasn’t sufficient. But one person claimingI was scammed by Hollywoodwould fade into the background. Several gave me credibility.
“I’d think if you keep pushing any correspondence they send you while this moves forward...”
“The internet will bully them back.” Large chunks of this situation were unfolding before my eyes.
“Basically.”
Wow. “Normally I’m opposed to the dog pile mentality.”
Jax rested his hands on my hips again. “What if it’s more of a puppy pile? All three of us collapsing in a tangled heap of exhaustion and limbs after some incredible sex?”
All of us... The longer he talked, the more I wanted to take him up on thatfeel me up right hereoffer. “You’re horrible.”