Oh hell, that hadn’t come out quite right.
And it wasn’t really the truth, either.
“I’m sorry,” I rushed to add. “It’s more than that. As strange as it might seem, I actually like you, and I’d like to think we’re becoming friends. I just didn’t want you to think I was hitting on you or anything.”
Jax chuckled. “Believe me, that’s the last thing I’d assume since you laughed in my face when I asked you to go out with me. I’m not just tolerating you, either, Harlow. I like spending time with you. Our relationship isn’t just about my obligation to you as an advisor anymore. It’s nice hanging out with a woman who doesn’t have a shitload of preconceived ideas about who I should be because of my wealth and my last name.”
I squirmed in my chair just a little, maybe because I’d been guilty of prejudging Jax in the past. “I’m sorry I laughed at you two years ago when you asked me out,” I told him earnestly. “I could have been a lot nicer about it.”
After spending more time with Jax, I’d realized that regardless of his reputation and his preferences for one-off dating experiences, he was a pretty nice guy.
“I can’t really say that I blame you,” Jax answered contemplatively. “My dates usually do turn into a media circus. Some women thrive on that kind of attention, but I can see that you aren’t the type to enjoy having reporters in your face.”
“It wasn’t all about that,” I told him truthfully. “I’m almost thirty-two years old, and I was thirty when you asked me out. I was beyond my party years, and ready to look for a relationship that meant something. I guess I was looking for more than casual dates or a dance partner at a club. I was kind of done with those relationships.”
“And you assumed I was just another player?” he asked, sounding slightly wounded.
Our gazes locked, and my heart skipped a beat. A woman could so easily get lost in his mercurial green eyes. “Of course I did,” I said softly. “How could I not? You’re the insanely handsome, highly desirable billionaire who has never gone on a second date with a woman.”
He held my gaze as he replied, “What if I’d just never found a woman who was more interested in me than my money and my last name?”
I swallowed hard. “Then I’d say that they were missing out.”
Was that really why he’d never asked a woman out twice? Surely some of those women had seen something more than Jax’s money and status.
He was so much more than just those two things.
He shook his head and turned away. “It doesn’t really matter, I guess. You did turn me down, and now I’m your advisor and a friend. I can’t say that I’m completely unhappy about how everything worked out, even if you did break my heart at the time.”
I snorted because I knew he was being dramatic to make me smile. “I think the only thing that I wounded was your ego, and I think you already have far too many women who fall all over you. Everybody needs a reality check once in a while.”
“Maybe,” he said noncommittally. “So, did you find that something more relationship you wanted with Mark?”
I was silent for a moment, thinking about his question before I answered. “In a way, yes. He was one of the kindest men I’d ever known, and we became close enough that I was comfortable sharing almost everything with him. We were definitely friends who flirted with the idea of a romance, but we never really had enough time to figure out all the other stuff. We didn’t go on real dates that often because he was always in another country on another job. Maybe it could have been more, so I think I’m grieving the loss of what could have been had we just gotten more time. Not to mention losing the first man I’d really cared for and trusted in a very long time.”
“Obviously, you’ve had other boyfriends, right?” Jax questioned.
Because that was a topic I didn’t want to delve into very deeply, I replied in a lighthearted tone. “I doubt very many women get to my age without having kissed a whole lot of frogs.”
“No princes?” he teased.
I sighed. “Sadly, not a single one turned into two-legged royalty after I kissed them. I guess the closest I’ll get to knowing a prince is my conversations with Nick.”
Jax raised an eyebrow. “Nick? As in Crown Prince Niklaos of Lania? That Nick? You actually talk to that bastard?”
I was taken aback because Jax had suddenly gotten so serious.
I nodded. “Occasionally. We do video chats from time to time. He keeps in touch just to see how I’m doing. He actually owns a home in Newport Beach. We’ve spoken a few times about getting together when he comes for a visit.”
“Not happening. Ever,” he growled.
I turned my head sharply to look at his face to see if he was joking.
One look at his stony, stubborn expression gave me my answer.
Jax
“Have you forgotten that Prince Niklaos is the ruler of the country where you were nearly killed?” I asked in a guttural voice.
Christ! Just the thought of Harlow cozying up to Prince Nick made my blood boil.
Yeah, I’d only met the guy in person once, but I hadn’t trusted him then, and I didn’t trust him now.
Maybe my older brother Hudson was convinced that Nick had no part in the kidnapping of three of our employees, but I wasn’t. Since two of them had almost died, and the other one had been executed mercilessly, it was going to take more than just the prince’s word that he hadn’t been involved to change my mind.
Hell, even if he hadn’t participated in the event, the asshole was at least partially responsible since it was his damn country. Those rebels hadn’t just showed up in Lania right before the incident. They’d been hiding out in that country for some time before it occurred.
“It wasn’t really his fault, even though he feels responsible,” Harlow said. “The rebels were in a remote area, and it’s a really large island nation. The majority of the population is along the coastline and in and near the capital.”
“Not his fault?” I said irritably. “How can it not be his fault? Where in the hell was his domestic intel? He should have had some clue that there were still terrorist groups present. I lost at least a half dozen friends to that damn country and their rebels when I was a SEAL. They haven’t been a peaceful country long enough for them to have let their guard down.”
“Jax, their military isn’t sophisticated enough to function like ours, and their government doesn’t have an equal to our FBI and other governmental law enforcement. Give the poor guy a break. He hasn’t been the ruler of Lania for long, and it will take some time for him to turn things around there. Like you said, they were a country in a brutal civil war for a long time.”