The thought of Jax looking at her the way he was after having been out doing whatever—orwhoever—he’d been doing made her feel almost…dirty.
Poppy dropped her arms back to her sides. “He just said it was business.”
Whether or not that was the truth was an entirely different matter. But like Ivan had so graciously pointed out, she shouldn’t care one way or the other.
I don’t care.
Yes, you do.
No, I don’t.
Great. Now she was engaged in a mental argument with herself.
You’re losing it, Pop. Better watch that.
“It was.” Jax came to a stop a few feet away. “Business, that is.”
“Okay.”
His lips twitched from their nestled place between his dark scruff. “You don’t believe me.”
“Doesn’t really matter what I believe.” They were the same words Ivan had thrown at her minutes before.
“It does to me.”
Now that surprised her. “Why?”
“Because I need you to trust me.” He shoved his hands into his jeans. “I don’t know who you saw in that alley, but whoever those men were, they clearly want you dead.” Apparently not one to hold back, he went on to say, “I don’t know who the bastard was who came after you tonight, but I’m willing to bet that wasn’t his first hit.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was able to enter your apartment without you or any of your neighbors knowing,” Jax started listing off the reasons behind his theory. “He was smart enough to try to hide his identity with that mask, and he brought his own weapon to the scene. Not to mention his comment about you sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Poppy could still hear the man’s voice as he’d said those menacing words in her ear.
Belatedly, Jax added, “He also had your phone, which is probably how he tracked you down.”
“But the address on my cell account is my parents’ farm, not my place here.”
When she’d decided to take the travel gig, she’d filled out a change of address form with the post office so all paper mail would go to their house instead of having to continually switch it over to fit wherever her next contract took her.
“My important stuff”—Poppy continued—“like my car, phone, utilities…all of those are set up on automatic withdrawal.” Something that was easy to change with the click of a few buttons once she was settled into each new temporary home.
“If this guy is as connected as I’m thinking, none of that matters. You’d be surprised what I can find out with a few clicks of my own buttons.”
“Don’t you mean Ivan’s?” Poppy challenged. Because yeah, she wasn’t about to let that slide without saying something. “He told me you had him look into me.”
“Did he?” Jax didn’t sound too pleased. “Is that what the two of you were discussing when I walked in?”
“Among other things.”
“Such as?”
Did she tell him the truth or cover for his friend? If Ivan’s interrogation was some sort of test and she’d passed, she didn’t want to screw that up by lying now.
“He also insinuated that I should steer clear of you. Romantically, I mean.”
The corners of Jax’s eyes twitched slightly. “And why is that?”