Page 102 of Beneath the Hood

Lee jolts back, raising her hands in surrender. “Ugh, fine, Jax. Have it your way.”

Blakely fidgets, clearing her throat. “Probably best I don’t come along with whatever you guys have planned tonight anyway. I have a meeting at the house with Sierra, and besides...” She glances toward me. “It wouldn’t be smart to be seen somewhere that we can be photographed.”

My stomach flips and drops to the floor. I hadalmostbeen able to forget while we were here.

It felt so nice. Sonormalto be with her like this, not having to worry if I was looking at her for too long or touching her too much.

Lee’s eyes lock onto mine. “Y’all aren’t plannin’ on goin’ public?”

I try to speak around the sudden lump growing in the center of my throat. “We’re just being careful.”

“For a couple reasons,” Blakely chimes in. “One is because things get crazy when you’re in the limelight and I don’t want Jackson to have to deal with it.” She looks toward me again. “Literally hundreds of cameras in your face at every turn, and gossip rags digging into your past, using it to sell a story. Which theywilldo.”

She says it like I haven’t already thought of that. Like I haven’t gone over every single scenario in my head a thousand times and decided that as long as I get to be with her none of it matters.

“Besides, my father would lose his mind, and I would never forgive myself if Jackson lost his job, his chance at making all his dreams come true, because of me.”

I give a soft smile through the throbbing ache in my chest, reminding myself that everything she’s doing is out of concern forme.

But it doesn’t help to blot the sting of truth in her words.

“Yeah, so, speaking of…” I angle my head and look at Lee. “Don’t tell anyone back home.”

“Who would I tell?” She chomps on a cracker.

“Becca. Eli...” I take in a breath. “Chase.”

She sighs, putting her food down on her plate. “Jax, I don’t know if I can keep this from Chase. He’s gonna ask what we did today, and we’re always one-hundred-percent honest with each other. It’s the only way to keep communication open and trust in place. But I promise I won’t breathe a word of it to anyone else.”

Grinding my teeth, I give a short nod back.

My stomach tenses as we leave, happy that I got to see Blakely, but still feeling like something is shifted slightly out of place.

Lee gives Blakely a giant hug on her way out, telling her to not be a stranger.

I stay behind, pushing Blakely up against the wall beside the open door.

“What are you doing?” she breathes.

“Kissing you.” I dive into her lips, moaning as her taste touches my tongue, my body pressing her against the wall. Her arms come up around my neck, squeezing me tight, and I groan, getting lost in everything she is.

Finally, I break away, my forehead resting against hers. “Goddamn, princess, you make it hard to leave.”

She giggles, her finger coming up to trace the edges of my mouth. “Are we okay?”

My heart squeezes. “Yeah, baby, we’re okay.”

I wrap my hands tighter around her waist. “Lee leaves tomorrow, and Ireallywant some time alone with you. Do you think we can figure something out before next week?”

She nods. “We’ll figure something out.”

Pecking her lips one more time, I force myself away from her and walk out the door.

47

Blakely

Alina—Lee—was different than I expected, and as they leave out of my front door, I feel a sense of peace that I haven’t had since hearing her name. They love each other, that much is clear, but Jackson doesn’t look at her the way he looks at me.

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