Page 14 of Reputation (Toronto Royals #1)

Returning to the safety of the twelfth floor, Eavie slid behind her desk and forced herself to shake off her interaction with Jax.

She refused to let thoughts of their conversation derail her focus.

His intense stare, confident persona, and smirking lips were nothing special.

She would get used to him being around. More importantly, her body would get used to his presence and stop its goddamn annoying reactions.

He’d demonstrated his true personality—just another swaggering athlete with a massive ego, used to getting his way, no doubt bolstered by the endless puck bunnies that lusted after him.

All afternoon, she shoved it to the back of her mind, refusing to let her conflicting emotions affect her work. She needed to make an impression here if she wanted the permanent offer, and getting involved with Jax would be the spark that imploded her plans.

Her reaction to him was ridiculous. She was a grown-ass woman, completely in charge of her body’s responses to men.

She was not some love-struck teenage girl with her first crush.

She could not for the life of her understand why she found him attractive, especially after his display today.

By all accounts, he was everything she hated in a man, and his refusal to accept her declination of his advances was a major red flag.

There was no logical reason that just the feeling of his eyes on her should cause her core to melt.

She had sworn off all men like him a long time ago.

After eleven years of abstinence, she wasn’t about to change that.

Men like him were widespread. All she had to do was scroll Hinge to find a plethora of them.

After a while, his pursuit of her would become nothing more than annoying until he finally gave up.

When his attention caught someone shinier than her, she would become just as invisible to him as the hundred other people who worked here, and the inferno of her attraction would be smothered into nothing.

But what if it didn’t?

Despite her positive affirmations that it was nothing, she couldn’t suppress the devilish part of herself that got excited at the possibility she might have met her match.

It was cruel, really. Why did the first man she had ever felt such a strong reaction to have to be Jax Morghan ? It felt like she’d waited years to find a man who ignited both her body and her mind. She thoroughly enjoyed their verbal sparring. Why did he have to be hot and witty?

She groaned internally, cursing the fates for making her the focus of their unfair meddling. She wanted to give in and see what could happen between them, but her mind warred with her hormones in an epic battle, creating a mess of complicated feelings.

When she arrived home that evening, she hurried up to her suite to change for the kickboxing class she had with Joyce in half an hour. Her workout bag was already ready, so she only needed a few minutes to switch from work to workout mode.

Unlocking her door, she tossed her bag on the entrance table and put her coat in the hall closet before sprinting to her bedroom.

Grabbing her light blue crop leggings and matching sports bra from her closet, she swapped her business clothes for athletic wear, threw a white t-shirt over top and dashed into her bathroom to switch her bun into a ponytail.

When her hair was secured, she grabbed makeup remover and quickly divested herself of the cosmetics on her face. She sweated a lot at kickboxing and wasn’t fond of having raccoon eyes from melting mascara.

Just as she finished wiping it off, she heard her front door close. “Eavie, are you still here?” came Joyce’s familiar voice down the hallway.

“In my bathroom,” she yelled back.

Joyce appeared a moment later in the reflection of her bathroom mirror. “Sorry, I’m almost ready. I stayed a little late at work.”

“No worries. I figured I’d check if you were here before I left. How was the first day?” she asked, excitement punctuating her words.

“I’ll tell you on the way,” Eavie replied, turning from the mirror and heading back into her bedroom.

She barely paused to grab her workout bag before heading to the front door, grabbing a light puffer from the closet. Joyce kept pace behind her as she rushed around.

“Did you see Jax?” she asked, getting straight to the point as they entered the hallway outside her suite.

Eavie turned to lock her door, taking a second to ensure a blush wouldn’t betray her when she answered. Marching toward the elevators, she replied, “I did.”

“And…” Joyce prompted after it was clear Eavie wasn’t planning to elaborate.

“And…nothing,” she said, stopping at the elevator and jamming the down button harder than necessary. She hoped it could feel her plea to arrive quickly. She wanted to escape the conversation she knew was coming. Joyce saw too much.

When the elevator dinged its presence, they got in, and Eavie stood facing the doors, keeping her face carefully blank. When it began its descent, Joyce turned to look at her.

“So he wasn’t surprised to see you? Did you talk to him?” she pressed.

“Yes, I talked to him, and yes, he was surprised to see me,” Eavie said, answering her direct questions and offering no more explanation.

She could feel Joyce studying her in the careful way she always did. She had an innate ability to make Eavie feel like she was reading her mind. Her dark eyes were endless pools of knowledge, and their effect had cracked Eavie to spill her secrets more than once.

When the doors opened to the lobby, Eavie almost tripped in her rush to get out of the confined space. Emerging onto the sidewalk, they turned in unison and started toward the kickboxing studio.

Practically jogging to keep pace with her long legs, Joyce said, “Eavie, come on. I know you’re being evasive. I’m your best friend. Tell me what happened.”

Without slowing, Eavie considered what to say.

She wanted to tell Joyce the whole thing, but how could she explain it when she didn’t fully understand it herself?

He was nothing like the guy she’d met last week.

But then, how did she explain the odd feeling she’d been carrying since she spoke to him?

Why did she feel like something was off about his persona today?

It didn’t make any sense. Was she so desperate in her love life that she was fooling herself into believing that night was more than it was?

And how did she explain this without sounding crazy or desperate?

Not to mention, her unexplainable attraction to him had phantasmic written all over it.

Finally, she sighed. “I saw him at the first team meeting today.”

“And…” Joyce prompted.

“ And , as soon as I walked into the room, my eyes were drawn to him. It took everything in me to resist staring at him, although that only lasted so long. I couldn’t help myself, and when I looked over, he was staring directly at me.”

A flash of his smile when their gazes connected flitted through her mind, and an answering curl of longing wound its way down her body.

As they turned another corner, she continued, “You’re going to think I’m crazy.

Honestly, even I think I might be, but when our eyes met, I swear, it felt like I was struck by lightning.

” She paused, absentmindedly rubbing her sternum with the heel of her hand.

Joyce, forever her sounding board, waited patiently for her to continue when she was ready.

“I can’t explain it. I don’t even understand it.

When I’m near him, it’s like I become someone else. He asked me to get tacos with him—”

“Tacos?” Joyce interrupted, eyebrows drawn in confusion.

A humorous smile tugged at Eavie’s lips. Shaking her head, she said, “It was part of something we talked about when we met. But that’s not important.”

“I mean, you love tacos, so I feel like it’s relevant. Did he know that?”

“Yes, I’m the one who brought it up. Really, it doesn’t matter,” Eavie answered, exasperated.

Joyce hummed as if this was an essential nugget of information.

Eavie sighed, rolling her eyes to the darkening sky above them. “We are really getting off point.”

“Then what is the point?” Joyce asked, brows now raised in amusement at Eavie’s evident vexation.

“ The point is I said no, but he…he refused to accept my answer.” Her face scrunched as she remembered their interaction.

“What do you mean?” Joyce asked.

“I mean, I said no, that I couldn’t go out with him, and he basically told me that my answer was irrelevant because he always gets what he wants. It’s like he’s viewing my rejection as a challenge.”

They had arrived at the kickboxing studio, but Eavie stopped outside the doors, turning to face Joyce.

She crossed her arms over her chest and breathed in the fresh evening air.

She could smell the beginning of fall on the breeze as she pulled in a deep breath and could see faint clouds where it blew out of her lungs when she exhaled.

Before they knew it, the leaves would change to the vivid colors defining autumn’s arrival.

She could see Joyce choosing her response carefully.

“Would it really be the worst thing to give in to it?” she asked finally.

Before Eavie could speak, Joyce held up her hand.

“I know you’re going to say he’s not your type and that you don’t date athletes.

But seriously, babe, there was some major chemistry going on with you two—”

“Chemistry isn’t everything,” Eavie interjected sharply before taking another breath. “I mean, yes, it’s important, but I have to be able to stand his personality. This guy is the textbook definition of arrogant. I’ve dealt with his type for years. They are all the same.”

“How do you know?” countered Joyce, placing one fist on her hip. “You just met him.”

Eavie couldn’t help but remember her odd feeling that something about him today didn’t seem real. Like he was wearing a mask to hide the person she’d met last week. She shook her head, dislodging the thought before she allowed her hormones to turn it into hopeful logic.

“All I’m saying is that just because your last relationship with a hockey player ended disastrously doesn’t mean it will happen again. You were so young last time. You’re both adults, and he’s not some high school boy. He sees you as you are now.”

This time, she shook her head sadly. “It would be the worst idea to get involved with him.” She laughed almost hysterically. “Hell, I literally can’t get involved with him. I signed a policy against it. I cannot blow this chance with my career or reputation.”

If she wanted to keep this job, she had to keep her hands to herself. And even if, in a year, she didn’t get the offer, she needed her pristine reputation to get another one.

Looking down, she admitted what she was most concerned about. “I’m more worried that if he doesn’t lose interest, what if…what if I won’t be able to resist him?”

Saying the words out loud to Joyce made her realize how much the thought had weighed on her.

She hadn’t given it purchase in her mind until now, but it had been rolling around in the back of her thoughts since she’d talked to him today.

It didn’t matter how often she told herself she would get over it or that he wasn’t her type.

Deep down, she knew this was unlike any attraction she had ever felt, that he might be different.

Joyce considered her for a heartbeat before she nodded her head. “I get it. Maybe the best thing to do is not think about it too much and see what happens.”

Eavie chuckled, “You know that’s never been my strong suit. I like to be in control.”

Smiling, Joyce said, “Oh, I know. But maybe it’s time someone strong enough to challenge your control came into your life.” She emphasized the word strong with a wink.

An unsolicited image of Jax’s muscle-laden arms in his tight t-shirt from today presented itself in her mind.

Slapping it away like she was swiping left on a dating app, Eavie shook her head at her friend.

Joyce was the fiery one who enjoyed a man challenging her.

It was not something Eavie was familiar with.

She usually chose quiet men who, she hated to admit, were easily controlled.

None of them ever challenged her in any way, which was what she preferred… right?

It occurred to Eavie then that might be why she got bored with them after a few months. None of them elicited the same spark that seemed to engulf her whenever she was near Jax.

“I don’t want to think about it anymore tonight. It’s getting cold, and I could use a good workout to deal with all these confusing thoughts,” Eavie said, reaching for the studio door.

“Fine, but don’t think this conversation is over.” She pointed a sassy finger at Eavie to emphasize her point. Joyce held her stare for a beat before she followed Eavie into the studio. “Let’s kick the crap out of some punching bags!”

Laughing, Eavie shook her head at her friend. They didn’t talk about Jax for the rest of the evening, but later that night, nestled in her extravagant bed, thoughts of him edged through the silence.

She could feel her body responding to just the idea of him, as it had earlier in the day. She hadn’t planned on this complication, and she would have to figure out what she was going to do about it. She was not about to risk the reputation she’d worked so hard to build for a man.