Storming down the hall, Poppy had nearly made it to his bedroom door when she heard…
“Wait.”
The deep, grumble caught her off guard. Turning around, Poppy stayed where she was while he stood near the kitchen’s entrance.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Because she was going to need a little more.
“What happened last night.” Jax shoved his hands into his pocket and cleared his throat. “It…shouldn’t have.”
Poppy stared up at him, waiting for him to expand on that. When he refrained from making eye contact, the frustration she’d already been feeling grew tenfold.
“Okay, look. I know we have a lot bigger things to focus on right now, so I’ll make this easy for you.” She continued staring him down, despite his refusal to look at her. “If you didn’t enjoy our little make-out session, that’s fine. I get it.” She really didn’t, but whatever. “But the least you could do is be a man and admit it, instead of shutting me out like I did something wrong.”
His eyes flew to hers, a look of shock reverberating across his face. “Is that what you think?” Jax’s dark brows pushed together in the center. “That I didn’t enjoy it?”
Uh…yeah. That’s exactly what I think.
Crossing her arms at her chest—something she seemed to do a lot around him—Poppy laid everything out on the table.
“Well, let’s see. When you give a girl the best orgasm she’s ever had and she tries to return the favor only to be stopped with the words ‘I’m good’, that doesn’t exactly scream ‘I want more’.”
Running a hand over his jaw, Jax opened his mouth as if to say something, but then he closed it again.
“Just forget it.” Poppy spun back around. “You were right. We should’ve kept things on a professional level. Don’t worry.” She walked into his bedroom. “Won’t happen again.”
With a strong swing of her arm, Poppy attempted to slam the door behind her. But when she didn’t hear the loud, expected bang, she looked back and immediately realized why.
Standing just over the threshold, Jax had stopped the door with the same, talented hand he’d used on her last night. With his thick fingers curled around the solid wood edge, he stared back at her with an almost pained expression.
Poppy half-expected him to start yelling at her, but he didn’t. Instead, Jax dropped that hand and began walking—nostalking—toward her. And he didn’t stop until he was standing directly in front of where she stood.
“Feeling you come apart in my arms was the most beautiful fucking thing I’ve ever seen.”
Poppy’s breath hitched from the admission. Though she tried, she couldn’t seem to even formulate a response.
“I had to force myself not to go after you.” Jax inched closer. “It took everything in my power not to follow you in here and take you the way I’ve imagined since the moment you bumped into me.”
“Then why didn’t you?” Poppy had to know. “If you want me like you claim, then—”
“It’s not a claim, Kitten. I want you.” His swallow was audible. “But this isn’t about me or what I want. If it were, I’d have you on that bed and be buried balls deep inside you right now.”
Oh, my.
“And if that’s what I want?”
She watched him so very closely as she waited for his reaction. The pity filtering in the browns of his eyes was definitelynotthe one she’d hoped to see.
“I’m not the man for you, Poppy.”
“Because I’m not your type?”
“No, sweetheart.” He cupped one side of her face, his thumb caressing her there. “Because youare.”
Doing her damnedest not to react to his touch, Poppy whispered back, “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Actually it makes perfect sense. And if you knew me better, you’d understand why.”