Page 180 of One Good Crash

But as it turned out, I was wrong.

Chapter 70

In front of me, Jax still hadn't answered.

I gave him a stiff smile. "Would you like to hear what I know already? Wouldthathelp?"

He paused to study my face. "I doubt it."

What was that? Sarcasm?I felt my teeth clench, even as I said, "Iknowthat you own the place where I work." I kept the smile plastered in place as I continued. "But I've already mentioned that, so let's move on, shall we?"

See? I can do sarcasm, too.

When he made no reply, I kept on going. "You own the place where I live. You own the car that I drive. You–"

"The car, it's yours, just like I said."

"It can't be mine," I pointed out. "I haven't paid you for it."

"You don't have to. It's a gift."

Yes.And it was incredibly thoughtful. I realized this. But my mom had received plenty of gifts, too – including a car from that auto executive she'd dated a few years back.

As far as my car, the one from Jax, I loved it. Truly, I did. But I didn't love it nearly as much as the guy who'd bought it.

And now, like some sort of ingrate, I was giving him a hard time.

Right on cue, there it was – that familiar whiplash between gratitude and fear, contentment and panic, love and obligation. It was too much, and suddenly, I almost felt like crying.

Jax reached out, as if to pull me into his arms. I held up my hands, palm-out. "Don't distract me, okay?"

He stiffened. "I wasn't trying to."

On some level, I knew that I was being unreasonable, but I couldn’t seem to make myself stop. Oh sure, it would've been so easy to fall into his arms and pretend that everything was okay.

And maybe itshould'vebeen okay. Hell, my mom would've been delighted to be in my shoes. In a way, Iwasdelighted.

I loved him so very much.

And I knew he loved me.

But this road, it was so dangerous, because I knew exactly where it ended.

I took a deep breath and tried to smile. "Just let me finish, okay?"

His mouth tightened, but said nothing.

Deliberately I softened my tone. "I know you've been bribing people."

His face was unreadable. "Yeah? Who?"

"Well, my co-workers, and probably the manager, too."

I waited for him to deny it. But he didn't. Instead, he looked away and muttered, "Fuck."

"So, you were?"

He returned his gaze to mine and said, "Maybe I didn't see it that way."