Page 32 of Attraction & Repulsion

“Not in mine,” he growled, his nostrils flared with irritation.

Now it was a staring contest. Carson stood strong even against his blazing blue eyes. But Jax’s arms were crossed, protective. Had he grown taller? The shadows enveloped him as if he were their ruler and they were ready for his command.

Only, Carson was an attorney. Fighting battle after battle was her everyday job. Astuteness and intelligence were her weapons, sharp and ready. She was prepared to win.

Did she want to win, though? Did she want to leave, never giving Jax another thought? Her stomach tightened. She didn’t want to leave.

When she went to bite her cheek, she flinched. It was raw and sore. How much gnawing had she done tonight?

“I haven’t done this in a while,” she finally admitted. “Since . . .”

“I know,” Jax said softly.

Piece by piece, Carson’s armor fell away. She was no longer ready forwar. She gripped her tiny necklace charm and pulled on the chain, the cool metal pressing into her neck. “Can you be patient with me?”

“We’ll just take it one step at a time and see what happens. Nothing more,” he said.

Small steps.

Carson took one of those small steps toward him. Then another. The muscles in her shoulders released the tension that had been building. Defenses lowered, Jax placed his hands on her elbows. She let him bring her closer until she was in his arms. The shadows surrounded her, too, ready to shield them from any outside force. What they didn’t know was that the enemy was from within.

It was a strange sensation, being in someone’s arms. It wasn’t as distressing as she had imagined it. His arms were the perfect size to nestle comfortably in. No matter how wrong it felt to be in another man’s arms, it felt right to be in his.

One step closer to freedom.

“I feel really idiotic,” Carson said, her voice was muffled from the fabric of his shirt.

Jax snorted. “Why?”

“For leaving you in the restaurant like that. I’m the asshole.”

“Hey.” Jax guided her chin with the knuckle of his forefinger until she was looking up at his stern face. “You’re dealing with a lot right now.”

“It doesn’t excuse the way I behaved.”

Jax shrugged. “Nobody’s perfect.”

Carson thought about the night he’d taken her to urgent care and what he’d said to her.

“You don’t owe me anything anymore,” she said.

“Owe you?”

“For hitting my head with the door. You’ve made it up to me, so you don’t owe me anything anymore.”

Jax gently kissed the crown of Carson’s forehead, precisely where her only visible scar lay. “Whatever you say, Mr. Hoover.”

Chapter ten

Adrenaline surged through Carson’s veins, propelling her forward as she stumbled away from the demolished car and toward Luke’s dead body that lay in the middle of the intersection. Kneeling on the wet asphalt she took a moment before placing her hand on the blanket covering him. No matter how many times she had dreamed about the accident, she always, always hesitated at this moment.

With one hand she ripped back the fabric. Blood and death lay before her. Luke’s eyes were open, blankly staring up at the stormy sky that swirled above them. The color of Luke’s eyes stopped her screams. The brown had been replaced with blue. Sapphire blue.

Then Luke’s face shifted into another’s. It was now Jax, with the same scrapes and bruises. His fire uniform was torn and ripped, exposing parts of his torso. But that wasn’t right. He wasn’t supposed to be the one dead. He wasn’t supposed to be in this dream at all. Of course Carson’s subconscious would do this to her.

Except he was in the dream—no, not the dream, but at the accident. Jax had been the one who pulled her off Luke’s lifeless form—

Hands grabbed her, dragging her away from Jax, who was supposed to be Luke. Carson clawed at the arms that restrained her, leaving deep canyons in their skin with her nails.

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