will turn into something more than mutual admiration. I don’t buy it.”
“She’s weak, and she’s fragile,” I growled. “Do you really think I fantasize about tearing off her clothes, bending her over the nearest available surface, and screwing her until we’re both completely satisfied?”
Jax shook his head. “No, man. I think it’s even worse. I think you might fall for her, and then you’ll want to bend her over,” he said in a serious tone.
“Now you’re being totally ridiculous,” I scoffed.
He shrugged. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you in a couple of months. It’s there.”
“What’s there?” I asked shortly.
“That same crazy protective look that Seth gets when he thinks something might hurt Riley. Mason, too, and his brothers. I can see it in you because I’ve seen it in them. Hell, all of them get this strange look in their eyes that says they’d move mountains if it would make their woman happy. I see that look in your eyes right now, and to tell you the truth, it’s scaring the hell out of me.”
“I’m not thinking about moving any mountains,” I grumbled, disgusted with Jax.
“Not yet,” he answered wryly. “But I kind of think you will if she sends you some pleading look with those big green eyes of hers.”
Fuck! I’d already seen that vulnerable look from Taylor when she’d admitted that she hated hospitals.
Not that she’d done it on purpose, and she hadn’t been trying to manipulate me in any way.
But dammit! My gut had ached with the need to make damn sure I could erase that apprehensive expression in any way possible.
Even if it meant moving that fucking mountain from one country to another.
“I want to protect her. She’s vulnerable right now,” I confessed. “I’ll get over it once she’s feeling better.”
“I gotta wonder how many times Seth told himself that,” Jax mused.
“I am not Seth,” I ground out.
“I guess I don’t get why it has to be a big issue,” Jax said in a perplexed voice. “It’s been a long time since you’ve had an interest in any female, Hudson. You work too damn much. Why can’t you just let things happen, and keep it real. Taylor doesn’t seem like a woman who is going to make your money her first priority, and she isn’t like most of the females we grew up with in our status-obsessed circles.”
“She’s not,” I said flatly. “She’s not the least bit intimidated by me, my name, or my money.”
“Well, damn, that must be painful,” Jax ribbed me. “But seriously, isn’t it nice to just talk to somebody with no ulterior motives for a change.”
Honestly, when Taylor treated me just like any other guy, it was nice. “I’m not sure. It’s been a while,” I muttered.
“Just relax, man. Help her recover and see what happens. I get why you want to do this now, and I’ll handle stuff at the office. It’s way beyond time that you take a break.”
I gave him a skeptical look. “So you’re over trying to talk me out of it?”
Not that anything my brother might say would change my mind.
“Definitely,” Jax answered. “I guess I was just worried that you felt motivated by guilt because Taylor’s our employee and our rescue. I didn’t want you to get caught up in that. You blame yourself for way too much shit already. But now that I know your real motivation, I’m all good. You could use a lady friend who isn’t intimidated by you, and God knows you really need to get laid.”
I glared at Jax. “I told you that I’m not—”
He held up a hand as he interrupted, “Hey, you can’t blame a guy for hoping. I have to work with you every day.”
“Speaking of work, I really need to reach out to Mark’s relatives, and to Harlow,” I told Jax grimly.
“I got it,” Jax informed me. “Mark’s parents have been gone for years, but I contacted his brother this morning. Needless to say, he’s devastated. I can’t say I blame him. He mentioned that he didn’t see Mark much in person because he was always out of the country, but they stayed in touch. Of course, we’re covering all the funeral expenses, and doing a settlement in addition to Mark’s life insurance. It won’t bring him back, but I want to do right by his family.”
I nodded sharply. “I completely agree. What about Harlow?”
“She was insistent about not coming back to Montgomery Mining, but I’m working on that. I think she just needs some time,” Jax