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Page 6 of Fierce-Jax (Fierce Matchmaking #18)

EXPLOSION OF INAPPROPRIATE THOUGHTS

“ G oing up?” Jax asked two days later as he stood by the elevator with his hands full.

He had two boxes of cookies he’d picked up at the bakery this morning to leave out for staff.

A treat for all the hard work getting the office set up and looking professional, welcoming, and comfortable.

“I am,” Dillion said. “Let me help you with that.”

He was going to say he had it, but the strap on his bag slid off his shoulder and started to drop down. He didn’t want his laptop to hit the floor.

“If you can just grab my bag,” he asked. “Or hitch it back on my shoulder?”

It was a backpack that he always threw over one shoulder to carry everything in.

“Or I can carry it for you,” she said. “Slide your arm out if you can balance the boxes.”

He hesitated for a moment. “Sure,” he said, putting the boxes in one hand while she slipped his bag off.

Just the touch of her hand on his arm over his jacket was enough to ignite an explosion of inappropriate thoughts.

The elevator doors opened and the two of them got in.

She only hit the button for his floor. “You need to get off on the third,” he said.

“I can come back down,” she said. “Plenty enough time. Seems like you and I might be the early birds of the building.”

It was barely seven thirty. He was normally earlier than this. “I’m running late today,” he said. “Had to stop for the cookies.”

“Yum,” she said. “That’s nice of you.”

“The staff have worked hard to get us set up. It’s the least I can do.”

“That’s very considerate of you too,” she said. Her eyes dropped down to his hand. “And look at that. I do good work. Your hand looks great.”

He laughed.

He’d thought maybe she was just friendly in her office to ease her patients, but maybe he was wrong and she was like this with everyone.

Or just him.

Nah, couldn’t be just him. That’d be nuts.

Hot successful women didn’t tend to gravitate toward him.

Unless they wanted to be friends.

“Thanks,” he said. “I barely know it’s there, but you know, my doctor told me to keep using the cream so I am. It’s in that bag you’re holding. Three times a day.”

She laughed. “I guess you do follow orders.”

He gave a mock shiver. “It grossed me out. Even the fact that I contracted it from touching someone else.”

“I know,” she said. “It happens. It could just be a crazy reaction you had to whatever touched you. Maybe it was an allergic reaction to something you’ve never been in contact with before. We won’t really know.”

“And I hope I never get it again,” he said. “Ever. Or it’s in a spot no one can see.”

Now that he thought of it, he’d have to go back to Dillion and maybe it’d be in an even more embarrassing location and she’d think he was a gross dirty person.

“We’ll get it cleared up quickly if that is the case,” she said.

He was looking at her as they talked. She was smiling and a faint blush covered her face.

He was right—her eyes were blue today, which matched the blue jacket she was wearing. He barely noticed anything else.

No, not true. He’d heard the sounds of her shoes clicking on the floor and walking toward him. Not super high heels but more like wedges. Her pants were black again; he had no idea what color her shirt was under her jacket.

“I have no doubt you would,” he said. “But my hope is not to have to see you in that capacity again.”

The elevator hit the sixth floor and the doors opened.

“You never know, we can just keep running into each other this way.”

“If we are both the early birds, that most likely will happen,” he said.

She stepped off with him and went to the door right in front of the elevator to his office.

“It’s locked,” she said.

“I’m the first one as always,” he said. “I need my keys, which are in the bag.”

“Oh,” she said, smiling. “Swap.”

“You sure?” he said. “They are heavy.”

“I’m carrying a four-year-old around all the time. She still thinks she’s a baby when she’s playing. Dozens of cookies are nothing.”

“You have a child?” he asked without missing a beat.

Guess she wasn’t flirting and was most likely in a relationship, though he’d looked and didn’t see any rings on her fingers.

“Gianna,” she said. “My daughter.”

“That’s a pretty name,” he said, fishing out the keys from the side of his bag and unlocking the door. He stuck them in his pocket and flung his bag on his shoulder again, then reached for the boxes.

“Thank you,” she said. “Do you have any kids?”

“Nope,” he said. “Not yet. Someday I hope to. Just got to find the right person for it.”

He wasn’t sure why he added that, but she flushed again and he figured maybe he overstepped.

“It’s not easy,” she said. “Trust me, I know that too.”

Her face was flushing more, but he didn’t know what that was about.

“Thanks for helping me bring everything up,” he said.

“Any time,” she said, turning and walking back to the elevator. He stood there for a minute and watched her through the glass doors.

She turned back to look at him and smiled, sent a little wave with it and he did the same.

The doors opened and one of his staff came out of the elevator. Rather than turn and walk into his office, he held the door and waited for Tamara.

“Morning, Jax,” Tamara said. “Did someone get off on the wrong floor this morning? I didn’t recognize that woman.”

Since they were the only occupants of this floor, Tamara would know. He wasn’t sure he wanted to admit who that was and how he knew her.

“She’s on another floor and helped me bring everything up when my bag fell off my arm. I had my hands filled.”

“That was nice of her,” Tamara said. “Did you try to pitch her for a job on the ride up?”

“No,” he said, laughing over that. His staff knew what he did.

“Too bad,” Tamara said. “She seemed nice and friendly. Classy. We need more class around here at times.”

He was going to ignore that comment. Tamara worked in HR and he’d heard one too many complaints about staff behavior and how they presented themselves.

Jax thought the same most times, but there wasn’t a lot he could do about it either.

“Put together some seminars,” he said. “Make it mandatory.”

Tamara rolled her eyes and picked up one of the boxes he had on the counter to carry. She was always polite that way.

“Do you know how hard it is to get staff to do mandatory trainings? Adding more will cause a rebellion.” She leaned down and sniffed the box. “But if you bring cookies in, they might do it.”

“Heard,” he said. “So if you can’t fix it, then don’t bitch about it.”

Tamara laughed and set the box down in the break room next to the one he’d been carrying. He opened both boxes, revealing their contents.

“I know, I know. Accept it and move on. Not everyone can just roll with the punches like you do, Jax.”

“If you sweat the small stuff, the big stuff is going to take you down every time.”

“Speaking of big stuff,” Tamara said. “Mega calories here. Are these for us?”

She was eying all the cookies, her hand hovering as if she was just waiting for the starting gun to go off so she could snatch the first one and race to her office before someone stole it out of her hand.

“They are,” he said. “I’m going to send an email out to the staff here and let them know it’s a thank you for all their hard work setting the place up. And keeping the complaining to a minimum.”

Tamara rolled her eyes. “It was less than I thought. Most of it came from people who have a longer commute now.”

Like him, but only by two miles. What was the big deal when the place was so nice and centrally located?

“And some have a smaller one. There is no making everyone happy.”

“Just need to make them understand,” Tamara said. “You say it all the time and it sticks.”

Glad some things he said got through to people.

If only he could understand what the hell happened in the elevator with Dillion this morning.