Page 71 of Reputation
He chuckled, nodding.“I have thought about it—every time I fight jet lag.But all my family is here, my sister and her family.I know it’s a lot of time to spend traveling, but I like being close to them when I’m home,” he said.
So he was close to his family, too.She liked that.
“So, what type of work do you do?”Austin asked, turning the question back on her.
Looking up from her menu, she said, “I work for the Toronto Royals.I’m the executive assistant to the general manager.”
“Oh,” he said, a touch of surprise in his voice.“How did you get into the professional sports industry?”
As they perused their menus, she told him about her career history and how she had also grown up around hockey.Shortly after, the server returned with their wine and took their dinner orders.Once he left, they continued chatting, asking each other the basic questions you do on a first date, stuff like what you do outside of work, where you grew up, those types of things.
She learned he had one sister and his family lived in Oakville.He was a big sports guy and liked to play soccer when he could.She also discovered he was a hockey fan and, unsurprisingly, had grown up cheering for the Royals.
He was easy to talk to, Eavie thought—a good conversationalist.Not that she was surprised, given he dealt with clients regularly.Despite her hesitations, she was enjoying the evening with him and decided another date was not out of the question.
Partway through their meal, his attention shifted past her shoulder for a moment, before landing back on her.“Working for the Royals, you must spend a lot of time around the players,” he said.
Surprised by the sudden change in topic, Eavie answered, “Yes, almost daily.I just spent twelve days on a road trip with the whole group.”
He nodded before his eyes glanced over her shoulder again.“Well, I think one of them might be coming over here.”
The smile on her face faltered for a moment as her heartbeat kicked against her ribs.It was foolish—it could be any of the players.She knew almost all of them well enough that they would recognize her.But the fingers of ice that crawled down her spine told her before she looked exactly who was approaching their table.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Eavie
Closing her eyes briefly, she drew a deep breath to mask the nervous flutter in her stomach.Gracefully, she glanced over her shoulder with a look of polite interest.Her eyes connected with Jax’s the moment her head turned, and she swore she saw vivid blue sparks explode between them.
As he approached, she saw a fire in his eyes as he took her in, body clad in the tight black dress that revealed her back and legs.When he reached their table, he smiled down at her before flicking his eyes over to Austin.
“Jax,” Eavie said, fixing a polite smile on her lips.“It’s nice to see you.”Humor passed over his face at her formal greeting.
“Eavie,” he said, returning her smile with the crooked one she thought of distinctly as his.It never failed to cause her knees to go weak, even sitting in a chair.
“This is Austin Kane,” she said, breaking their connection.She turned and gestured across the table to where her date sat, eyes flicking between them.“My…date,” she finished hesitantly.
Jax paused for a heartbeat, and Eavie swore she could see tension enter his muscles at the word “date.”She must have been mistaken, though, because he smiled at Austin a second later and reached out to shake his hand.
“Pleasure to meet you.Jax Morghan.”
Austin stood from where he sat and returned Jax’s handshake.“Nice to meet you as well.I’m a big fan of the Royals.”
“Thank you,” Jax said.“You should come to a game sometime.Eavie, can set you up in one of the boxes.”
She watched their exchange, aware of a low hum of energy radiating off Jax.Was it possible that what she had seen when she introduced him to her date was jealousy?
She was still contemplating this when Jax turned back to her.Looking up at him, Eavie saw a flash of something in his eyes.Her entire body lit with heat when she recognized it as possessiveness.Jax Morghan was definitely jealous.
Just then, a tall, curvy blonde clad in a tight dress an obnoxious color of red, walked up to them, shaking Eavie out of the trance his eyes always seemed to put her in.The woman stopped beside Jax and placed a possessive hand on his arm.Eavie couldn’t help but think she had gold digger written all over her.Her own head of jealousy roared inside at the sight of another woman’s hand on him.
“Darling,” she said in a sugary voice that made Eavie want to gag.“Our table is over there.”
She smiled down at Eavie but, from the sharp flick of her eyes, could tell the woman was sizing her up.Behind the fake smile and layers of make-up was a mutual dislike.Clearly, she didn’t like Jax’s attention being on another woman, no matter who she was.
Eavie smiled as kindly as she could at the woman before turning back to him.“It was nice seeing you, Jax,” she said, watching how her use of his first name lit a flash of desire in his eyes.She could only think of one other time before tonight she had addressed him with it.“Good luck tomorrow.I’ll see you at the game.”
He looked down at her for a long moment before he smiled.“Enjoy your evening.Austin, nice to meet you,” he said before placing his hand on the small of the blonde’s back and steering her toward their table.Eavie watched them leave, an irritation rising in her at his hand resting just above the woman’s ass.
