nosy reporters don’t follow me around here. Since I’ve never brought any of my dates here, I guess they don’t feel it’s worth their time to hunt me down outside of the city.”
“You’ve never brought any of your dates here?” I asked curiously.
“Never,” Jax confirmed. “Let’s face it, there’s a lot more to do off the island. It’s pretty quiet here compared to downtown San Diego.”
I was dying to ask him how he got laid if he’d never brought a woman here. Did he use his downtown condo? Or did they always go to her place?
Jax’s sex life is none of my business. I am not going to ask that question, no matter how curious I might be.
“Then I’m really honored that you trust me enough to bring me here. Not that we’re dating, or that I think any of these visits are anything like a date,” I hurried to assure him. “I mean, we’ve mostly just learned to tolerate each other, right?”
Oh hell, that hadn’t come out quite right.
And it wasn’t really the truth, either.
“I’m sorry,” I rushed to add. “It’s more than that. As strange as it might seem, I actually like you, and I’d like to think we’re becoming friends. I just didn’t want you to think I was hitting on you or anything.”
Jax chuckled. “Believe me, that’s the last thing I’d assume since you laughed in my face when I asked you to go out with me. I’m not just tolerating you, either, Harlow. I like spending time with you. Our relationship isn’t just about my obligation to you as an advisor anymore. It’s nice hanging out with a woman who doesn’t have a shitload of preconceived ideas about who I should be because of my wealth and my last name.”
I squirmed in my chair just a little, maybe because I’d been guilty of prejudging Jax in the past. “I’m sorry I laughed at you two years ago when you asked me out,” I told him earnestly. “I could have been a lot nicer about it.”
After spending more time with Jax, I’d realized that regardless of his reputation and his preferences for one-off dating experiences, he was a pretty nice guy.
“I can’t really say that I blame you,” Jax answered contemplatively. “My dates usually do turn into a media circus. Some women thrive on that kind of attention, but I can see that you aren’t the type to enjoy having reporters in your face.”
“It wasn’t all about that,” I told him truthfully. “I’m almost thirty-two years old, and I was thirty when you asked me out. I was beyond my party years, and ready to look for a relationship that meant something. I guess I was looking for more than casual dates or a dance partner at a club. I was kind of done with those relationships.”
“And you assumed I was just another player?” he asked, sounding slightly wounded.
Our gazes locked, and my heart skipped a beat. A woman could so easily get lost in his mercurial green eyes. “Of course I did,” I said softly. “How could I not? You’re the insanely handsome, highly desirable billionaire who has never gone on a second date with a woman.”
He held my gaze as he replied, “What if I’d just never found a woman who was more interested in me than my money and my last name?”
I swallowed hard. “Then I’d say that they were missing out.”
Was that really why he’d never asked a woman out twice? Surely some of those women had seen something more than Jax’s money and status.
He was so much more than just those two things.
He shook his head and turned away. “It doesn’t really matter, I guess. You did turn me down, and now I’m your advisor and a friend. I can’t say that I’m completely unhappy about how everything worked out, even if you did break my heart at the time.”
I snorted because I knew he was being dramatic to make me smile. “I think the only thing that I wounded was your ego, and I think you already have far too many women who fall all over you. Everybody needs a reality check once in a while.”
“Maybe,” he said noncommittally. “So, did you find that something more relationship you wanted with Mark?”
I was silent for a moment, thinking about his question before I answered. “In a way, yes. He was one of the kindest men I’d ever known, and we became close enough that I was comfortable sharing almost everything with