12-Alarm Cowboys (119 page)

She lingered in front of the button-downs for a moment, then moved on to the selection of dress shirts. She was immediately drawn to a crisp white one that seemed extra-long. Inspired, she yanked the T-shirt over her head and tossed it on the bench seat in the middle of the walk-in closet, then slipped into the dress shirt. The moment the fabric settled on her shoulders, she knew she had a winner. She moved over to stand in front of the long mirror as she buttoned it up, turning this way and that just to make sure she wouldn’t give Jax an impromptu show-and-tell session. Even though the shirt only hung down a few inches further than the T-shirt, it didn’t show off her assets when she bent over.

Yeah, this would definitely work.

Dropping the towel in the hamper in the bathroom, and the T-shirt off in the guest bedroom for later, she walked into the kitchen. Rodeo was parked beside the island while Jax was standing barefoot at the stove wearing a T-shirt and a pair of jogging shorts that showed off his sexy muscles as he cooked scrambled eggs. She was still appreciating his well-sculpted biceps when she realized he’d made small breakfast steaks and toast to go with the aforementioned eggs.

Skye was about to point out that it was four o’clock in the morning and that he didn’t have to go to all that trouble. She would have been fine with a handful of chips or cookies, or even a sandwich. But then Jax turned to look at her, and she forgot what she was going to say.

He took in the dress shirt she wore, his gaze lingering on her bare legs. Something that looked like hunger flared in his dark eyes, but he turned back to the stove before she could be sure.

“Have a seat,” he said over his shoulder. “The eggs are almost done.”

She turned to the table to find it set with silverware and tall glasses of orange juice. No coffee, though. Which was probably a good thing if either of them planned on getting any sleep tonight. She sat down and reached for her glass just as Jax came over with two plates of food.

“You didn’t have to go to the trouble of all this,” she said as he sat down across from her. “I would have been happy with a snack.”

He shook his head. “It wasn’t any trouble. I usually make something to eat when I get home from my shift anyway.”

Somehow, she doubted he bothered grilling steak and making scrambled eggs every day. “Well, thank you.”

Picking up her knife, Skye spread butter on her toast, then added a generous amount of orange marmalade before taking a bite.
Mmm
. She never remembered a simple piece of buttered toast tasting this good. The steak and eggs were even better. She must be hungrier than she realized. Or it could simply be that Jax was such a good cook. Then again, he was a firefighter. Knowing how to cook was part of the job description.

“How have you been?” Jax glanced at her as he pushed eggs onto his fork with the edge of his toast, then softly added, “Since your parents passed away, I mean. I know the fire at hotel must have brought up bad memories for you.”

The toast she’d been chewing suddenly went dry in her mouth and Skye took a sip of juice to wash it down. After ten years, the memory should have dimmed. But it hadn’t. And after tonight, it was even more vivid.

She’d been halfway through her sophomore year in high school when their house caught fire. She’d been at a movie with friends and gotten back just in time to watch her childhood home go up in flames. Dane had tried to save their mom and dad, but hadn’t been able to get them out. He’d barely made it out alive himself. She didn’t even want to think how close she’d almost come to losing her brother that night, too.

“I’m okay,” she said quietly. “It was a long time ago. At least I can talk about it without breaking down and crying anymore.”

“There’s no shame in crying.” He regarded her with sad eyes, then cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you and Dane. By the time I got back into town, you’d already graduated from high school and headed off to college.”

She used what was left of her toast to chase a piece of egg onto her fork and chewed slowly. “I hated leaving Dane, but he insisted it was what Mom and Dad would have wanted, so I went.”

Her brother had planned to go to college, too, but he’d put that on hold to pay for her schooling. By the time she’d finished and paid him back, he seemed to have lost interest. He’d never admitted it, but sometimes she wondered if he blamed her for making him give it up. It would certainly explain why he hadn’t ever wanted her to come home on vacation.

“You went to college for economics, right?” Jax asked.

She nodded. “I originally planned to go to school for something creative, like graphic art or interior design. But Dad was an economics teacher, and always wanted me to go into math or finances. So I ended up majoring in economics with minors in finance, accounting, and business statistics.”

Across from her, Jax’s eyes looked like they were about to glaze over. “Wow. That sounds…”

“Boring as hell?” she finished.

“I wasn’t going to say that.”

She laughed. “Yes you were and you know it. And you’re right. It
was
boring. I might be good at math, but I don’t love it the way my dad did. Taking all those classes didn’t give me much time to think about anything else, though, and back then, that was a good thing. And as an added bonus, I landed an amazing job when I graduated.”

Jax studied her, his dark eyes thoughtful. “If it was such an amazing job, why did you quit?”

She shrugged and looked down at her nearly empty plate. “I took a look at my life and realized I’d been living it for other people for so long that I’d stopped living it for me.”

“By ‘other people,’ you mean your parents?”

“Mostly them yeah, but Dane, too.” She chewed on her lower lip. “There was also my ex-boyfriend, Jordan. We’d been dating for a while and it occurred to me that he was making all these plans for me without even asking if any of it was what I wanted. He was setting a wedding date before we even talked about getting married. He had a five-year plan that included everything from when we would have kids and how many we would have, to what social circles I needed to be part of so he could become a partner in his law firm.”

Jax snorted. “He sounds like a jackass.”

“He is,” she agreed. “I’m just sorry it took me so long to see it. I’d probably still be back in New York clueless if it wasn’t for Jordan’s best friend, Aiden. He convinced me I need to figure out what I want to do with my life, then get out there and do it.”

“Let’s hear it for Aiden then,” Jax said.

“Definitely.” She smiled. The only thing she’d miss about New York was not getting to hang out with Aiden anymore. “The next day I broke up with Jordan, quit my job and cashed out my investment portfolio, then booked the first flight to Dallas.”

“Wow.” Jax lifted a brow. “Okay, some people might say that’s a bit abrupt. But instead I’ll just applaud you for your decisive decision-making skills. So, what kind of business are you going to start?”

Skye finished the last of her eggs and set her knife and fork on the empty plate. “A bakery called Comfort Cakes. I plan on focusing on the internet market and special events, like weddings, conferences, and conventions to start with. Then after I get established, I can get a storefront and grow into a full-service dessert catering business.”

She finished in a rush, waiting for Jax to say she was crazy for giving up a six-figure job to open a bakery, but he just nodded and polished off the rest of his toast.

“Why a bakery?” he asked when he finished chewing.

She shrugged. “I used to spend a lot of time helping mom bake when I was little. She loved being in the kitchen and showing her affection for people through her food. After my parents passed away, I made cupcakes and gave them to people for all the kind words, cards, and stuff they did for Dane and me. I didn’t realize it until much later that I was also doing it because it made me feel better.”

Across from her, Jax swigged his orange juice, but didn’t say anything.

“I continued baking in college, then as a form of stress relief after I moved to New York,” she continued. “Before I knew it, I was staying up late every night making dozens of cupcakes and selling them to people at work and in my apartment building. Even a few wedding planners. It was hard work and didn’t pay nearly as well as my day job, but I loved doing it. Baking brought back all the warm, wonderful memories I had of my mom, memories I’d buried away and forgotten. So when Aiden asked me what I wanted to be doing five years from now, I knew I’d rather stay home and bake than go to work on Wall Street.”

It felt so good to finally be able to open up and talk about this to someone. And Jax was a damn good listener. He sat across from her, nodding and asking her serious questions as she told him her dream business and her business plan. It was like he really got it. He even told her that she could stay at his place as long as she needed so she could save money. Even if she didn’t hold him to that promise—he was a friend and living here rent free would start wearing on that friendship soon enough—she still appreciated the offer. There weren’t many guys like Jax Malloy out there.

It wasn’t until they were cleaning up the kitchen and the conversation started to slow that Skye realized they’d been talking for almost three hours.

“I should probably try to grab a few hours of sleep before I go back into work,” Jax said as he closed the dishwasher and turned it on.

Skye was having so much fun, she would gladly have stayed up all night, but the sun would be coming up soon and she didn’t want Jax going to work exhausted. “Yeah, me too.”

She waited while Jax made sure the door was locked and turned out the lights, then together they walked down the hallway to the bedrooms, Rodeo leading the way. When they reached hers, she turned to look at him.

“I really do appreciate you letting me stay here,” she said. “I know you don’t think it’s a big deal, but to me, it is. So, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He gave her a small smile. “I know you feel like you’re alone right now, but you’re not. Promise me that if you need anything, you’ll let me know. Okay?”

Tears clogged her throat. She continued to be blown away by how amazing this guy in front of her really was. Giving in to an irresistible urge, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tightly. She’d meant the gesture to be innocent and platonic, but she couldn’t miss how broad his chest was and how good it felt to press her breasts against all that solid muscle. She almost moaned when her nipples began to stiffen into firm, sensitive peaks.

Maybe it was just a reaction to her near-death experience, or maybe she was responding this way because she had a crush on Jax for so long. Either way, the smart thing would have been to pull back before he felt the hard pebbles of her nipples through both of their shirts and realize she was getting excited. But her head didn’t seem interested in doing the smart thing. If anything, it was urging her to press up against him even more tightly.

Fortunately she got it together before she embarrassed herself. But right before she dropped her arms and stepped back, she could have sworn she felt something hard and interesting poking her in the tummy. She supposed it could have been his belt—if he’d been wearing one. Clearly, she hadn’t been the only one getting a little turned on from a little hug. And for some silly reason, that made her extremely happy.

Jax didn’t say anything, but his dark, smoldering eyes practically undressed her where she stood. Skye wet her lips, wondering if he’d kiss her. Or maybe she was the one who’d do the kissing. Because right then, she wouldn’t have been surprised if either of those things happened.

But after a long, heart-stopping moment, Jax stepped back. “Good night, Skye,” he murmured. “Sleep well. And feel free to make yourself at home while you’re here.”

Giving her a smile, he turned and walked down the hall, Rodeo at his heels. She waited until he disappeared inside his bedroom before going into her own. She leaned against the door until her pulse returned to something close to normal, then walked over to the bed. She unbuttoned her shirt as she went, her breath hitching as the material grazed her hypersensitive nipples. Draping the dress shirt over the end of the bed, she picked up the long T-shirt she’d left there earlier and pulled it over her head, luxuriating in its softness as she turned out the light and climbed under the covers.

But instead of falling asleep, she lay there in the dark. Between her aroused nipples and the thought of Jax just down the hallway with a hard-on in his shorts—if he even wore shorts when he slept—she was pretty sure sleep was going to be a long time coming.

Sighing, she rolled over on her back and relived the day she’d had. Not the bad parts, but the good stuff. Like running into Jax after all these years and having him offer her a place to stay, not to mention finally having a sounding board she could talk about following her dreams.

While Aiden Dunn was a good friend, he wasn’t Jax. Maybe it was because she’d known Jax since they were kids, but he made her really believe she could start a whole new business from scratch with little more than a hope, a dream, a Kitchen-Aid, and a cupcake pan. It wouldn’t be easy, and she was going to have to deal with Dane’s disapproval, but with Jax in her corner—symbolically at least—there was nothing she couldn’t do.

‡