Page 32 of Marked for Obsession

Looking to her right, Poppy found the living room. The spacious area consisted of a light brown leather couch with a chaise on one end and a sleek glass-topped coffee table. Beneath those was a gray and white rug, its blurred streaks reminding her of an afternoon rainstorm.

Mounted high on the wall facing the couch was an enormous flat screen T.V. Below that was a black floating shelf and rested neatly on top were several hard-cover books held together by two bright red, contemporary-styled bookends.

Poppy looked to the wall in front of her. It was made of exposed brick, the look adding just the right amount of rugged texture to the otherwise sleek space. Evenly spaced along that wall were two floor-to-ceiling windows, each covered in long white curtains which she presumed blocked out the sun.

To her left was a luxurious kitchen. A long white bar ran its length and four metal and leather barstools neatly pushed beneath the edge of its black granite counter. Though she couldn’t see its entirety from where she stood, Poppy could tell the sink was nestled on the other side of the bar.

On the far wall to her left were several white cabinets divided by a stainless-steel exhaust fan reaching down from the ceiling. Rested beneath those were more matching cabinets adorned with the same black granite as the bar, an industrial-sized gas stove and oven, and where the cabinets ended on the far right was a large stainless-steel refrigerator.

Poppy glanced down the hallway that began where the back kitchen wall ended. Two doors split up the shadowed space, one a few feet to the right along its path, the other facing her from the hallway’s end.

Bathroom and bedroom, she assumed.

“It didn’t used to be this big.” Jax set her bag down on the floor behind the couch.

“You remodeled?”

“You could say that.” One corner of his lips curved slightly. “There was a fire a few months back. The bones remained solid, but everything else had to be replaced. Figured since I was pretty much starting from scratch, I’d make a few changes.”

“A fire?” She frowned. “That sounds awful.”

“Wasn’t the best day I’ve ever had, but luckily no one was hurt. And since this section of the building belongs to me, and the only areas up here are my office across the hall and this place, I took advantage of the opportunity to reconfigure the floorplan so it better fits my needs.”

His needs were not something she should be thinking about. That did, however, bring up another question.

Poppy looked around again before pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. Feeling incredibly awkward, she had to ask, “So, it’s just you here, or is there…”

She felt ridiculous waiting until now to find out if he had a girlfriend or wife she might risk upsetting with her presence. After all, he had been the one to insist she stay with him tonight. Still she felt it only fair to ask, just in case.

“It’s just me.” Jax’s intense gaze met hers. “No girlfriend, no wife…and I live alone.”

The relief she felt from that revelation should not have been as strong as it was. Especially after everything that had happened.

A flash of a memory came from out of nowhere. Glass shattering. Large, meaty hands painfully gripping her shoulders. Pain from being struck in the face, and the indescribable fear she’d felt when that gun had been pressed against her skull.

Poppy’s breathing increased. Her heartrate spiked, and the palms of her hands became covered in sweat.

“Hey.” Jax’s face appeared in front of hers. With a gentle hold, he wrapped his tattooed hands around her trembling shoulders as concern became etched in his nearly black eyes. “Look at me.”

Uh…she thought shewaslooking at him.

Blinking several times, Poppy forced herself to really focus on those soul-reaching eyes. As soon as she did, the mound of fear she’d been hit with immediately began to dissipate.

“That’s it, Kitten. Deep breaths. In through your nose”—he demonstrated— “and out through your mouth.”

As he exhaled slowly, she followed his gentle command and drew in a deep breath through her nose before letting out slowly between her lips.

“There ya go,” Jax crooned. “Again, just like that.”

Over the next few seconds, Poppy continued to mimic the calming technique. Before long, the trembling had stopped, and her heartbeat fell back to its normal rhythm.

“Better?” He kept his gaze locked with hers.

She nodded. “Thank you. Sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

“Don’t apologize,” he rumbled. “You had a hell of a scare tonight. Something like that’s going to take a minute to work through.”

Poppy nodded again because he was right. Tonight had been the scariest night of her life.

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