Page 19 of Still Forever
“Isn’t that what a man does when he’s interested in someone?” He shot back as he raised his eyebrow and leaned against my desk. I didn’t respond.
He had a point, I suppose. Reclaiming my position at the desk, I sat down.
“I want to make it clear that I want to pursue you, Kennedy. I know that you just got out of a situation, and I understand you want to move slowly. But it’s not my intent to be your little friend.” He chuckled and made me smile.
He was saying the right things, but as soon as he mentioned me just getting out of a relationship, my mind drifted to Jaxon. I hate how much I think about him. How the smallest thing triggered memories, even when he just seemed not to care at all. He didn’t even have to be in the room to ruin all my moments, and here it was happening again.
“I receive that, Taj, I do. I think we can keep going in the direction we are and see where it goes.” I tried to let him down easily. The truth is, I really wasn’t in a rush to get to know anybody, but if it happened, it happened.
Silence stretched between us, thick and full of things I didn’t want to unpack. He let me sit in silence as I completed the note on my screen. Just trying to do something, anything to occupy myself.
“I’m not rushing you. I like you, Kennedy. You make me want to slow down. That’s new for me. I’m trying to be patient, butif I’m being honest, you got me checking my damn phone like a high schooler.” I laughed before I meant to.
He smiled. “That’s the prettiest part about you.”
I shook my head, blushing. “Look at you, being smooth.”
“I’m honest,” he said.
Then he reached out and touched a strand of my hair. I didn’t move away from him, but didn’t lean into his touch either. His eyes dropped to my mouth. Then back up to mine.
“Can I kiss you?” I should’ve said no. Iwantedto say no. But instead, I gave the smallest nod.
His hand brushed my jaw first. Then his lips touched mine. We kissed for a while. The kiss was soft, careful, and almost like he was scared I’d disappear. And I almost did.
Because the second our lips touched, my mind did what it always does—think ofhim. How Jax used to kiss me, as if my mouth held the oxygen he needed to breathe.
But Taj didn’t kiss like that at all. He didn’t devour me, didn’t take control of the moment. He asked me, and he waited for a response. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated his chivalry. But it wasn’t raw, it wasn’t passionate. He didn’t slightly apply pressure to my neck. The kiss didn’t cause my thighs to clench, or me to pull him into me, or moan into his mouth. It was transactional. And when our lips parted, I knew in my soul, he’d never be the man to tell me “Stop fucking whining, KD and take this dick.” Maybe that was the problem.
When he pulled back, his thumb lingered at the corner of my mouth. “You okay?”
Was my internal battle really written all over my face?
I nodded again, lying. “Yeah.”
“You’re not ready,” he said softly. “And that’s okay.”
I looked up at him. “I’m trying.”
He smiled. Not cocky, not frustrated. Just soft and understanding. “Try with me.”
In that moment, I wanted to. But I wasn’t sure if I’d be saying yes to trying or saying no to feeling empty. So I chose not to say anything. Instead, I walked around my desk to lead him out of the office. When we made it back into the waiting room, I unlocked the front door and walked him outside.
“Thank you, Taj, for always being a gentleman,” I said as I pulled his tie and brought his lips to mine. I placed a soft peck on his lips. Partly because I felt bad, and partly because I wanted to test the waters again to see if I would feel something for anyone other than Jaxon. He smiled and turned to go back to his car before pulling out of the empty lot. Just as I turned to walk back in, I saw headlights turn on and a black car zoom out of the parking lot behind him. My heart fluttered for a minute, then I pushed the thought out of my head.
For a second, I thought it might be Jaxon. Then I decided to stop flattering myself. Jaxon was probably somewhere with his girlfriend, and I needed to let him go before I became a client at my own clinic.
CHAPTER 8
Jax
I sat in the dark, the engine humming. With my big ass stuffed in a small car that I knew Kennedy couldn’t recognize. My detail said that she had been working well into the night, so I decided to come to make sure that she was okay. Imagine how shit went left when I saw who Judah calls “the car salesman” pull up with some flowers. He rang the doorbell of the office and stood there for a minute before he disappeared behind the door. My fingers gripped my Glock as I called Judah.
“What’s up, G?” He answered.
“I need you to intercept KD’s cameras at her office and share the live feed with me,” I demanded. He didn’t even ask why, just told me to hold on while he went to his computer. Until now, I had avoided having access to her cameras myself. I knew that it would run me crazy if I could watch her every day. But this was different, nigga was visiting at night with flowers. All I could think about was all the shit that we had done inside that same office. So if I saw anything that I didn’t like, I was kicking the front door in.
“I’m in, I sent it to you.” He said when he came back.
