I kept my eyes cast downward, still not sure what happened. I could have kissed him all day. The “wow” led me to believe he liked it as much as I did, but I wanted to know why he stopped. However, I wasn’t about to ask. I studied my hands a moment. His finger slid under my chin, and I let him tilt my face up to meet his eyes.
“What are you thinking?”
I shook my head. I wasn’t going to answer.
“You do know why I stopped, don’t you?”
I wanted to seem mature and say “yes,” but I also didn’t want to lie so I reluctantly shook my head “no.”
He sighed and smiled at me. “Now, I know what you’re thinking.” He turned in his seat to face me completely. “Sadie, that was the most incredible kiss I have ever experienced in my life. Never have I gotten completely lost in a kiss before. It made me want things I am not about to try and get. It was perfect. You are perfect. But I don’t have the strength to kiss you for a very long period of time and still keep my hands off of you.”
I let his explanation sink in and nodded. I focused my attention on the screen, and he groaned. Suddenly, his hand slide into my hair, and he turned my face to his. His smile turned to a smoldering gaze right before my eyes, and he once again touched his lips to mine. I opened sooner this time, and he was inside my mouth making my heart race and my hands tremble. I slipped my hands into his hair, and once again allowed myself to touch his tongue. This time when he let out a low growl, he pulled me closer, and I heard a moan I realized came from me. I scooted over as far as my chair would let me and pressed close. I wanted to be even closer. He broke the kiss again, but before I could mourn the loss, he pulled me into his lap. He seized my mouth again and let his hands run down my arms as he kissed me. Jax’s breathing became fast and shallow, and I melted into him. I ran my hands up his chest, and his body shuddered under my touch. He groaned, and his kiss became more frantic. It became difficult to breathe, and my heart hammered wildly in my chest. I pressed up against him, and another growl tore from his chest as he pushed me back. We sat there looking at each other, gasping for air. I didn’t need an explanation this time. Finally, he set me back in my seat and took a deep breath.
“It might be wise if I don’t touch you again today. I’m not strong enough to stop again. At least not for the next twenty-four hours.”
“Okay,” I replied and smiled. I turned back to the big screen. Knowing he enjoyed kissing me as much as I enjoyed kissing him made my heart swell a little more.
At some point, we finally caught up from what we missed in the movie. Jax managed to eat all of his popcorn, a bag of M&M’s, and some nachos and cheese. I only made it half way through the popcorn, and I ate a few of his nachos and cheese, which he fed me. Well, he didn’t have to try very hard. The minute he held one up to my mouth, I took it.
We exited the theatre as easily as we’d entered. Jax slipped his disguise back on. “How about a walk on the beach?”
I liked that idea, especially at this time of day. “Sounds good, but don’t go to the public beach.”
He pointed to his hat and glasses. “I’m in disguise, and no one will look close enough to realize it is me.”
I thought about Amanda and her friends. If they noticed Jax, things would get out of hand, and quickly. “I know people on the public beach. Remember, I live here. I go to school with these kids. If any of them come up to speak to me, then they will notice it’s you.”
Jax didn’t say anything, but a frown set in on his perfect features.
“What did I say?” I asked when he didn’t reply.
He glanced at me as if he didn’t want to answer my question. “I guess I forget you have a life other than my house and me. I like having you all to myself, and I know it is selfish, but the fact you are going to go back to school to live a normal teenage life with parties and football games and dances makes me jealous as hell.”
I let out a shocked laugh. “My life is a lot easier to accept than yours. You leave to go to movie premiers, and you’re on the cover of magazines, and The Entertainment channel follows everything you do. I have to live with you going back to another world. When you’re on stage, you belong to everyone.”
He didn’t respond for what seemed like forever. We pulled into a secluded part of the beach, and he turned off the engine.
“I know being with me is not easy. But I want you to understand no one has me, or has ever had me, except you.”
I swallowed, emotion building inside me. I nodded, not sure my voice would work.
He slipped a curl behind my ear. “I’ve never met anyone who has seen past the star and found the real me inside. But even if you hadn’t found the Jax the world doesn’t know, I would be yours. When you smiled at me that first time, I was a goner. I just got lucky with the rest of you.”
I wanted to lean into him but I didn’t.
“Come on, let’s go for a walk before I start kissing you again and am forced to use superhuman will power to stop myself.”
I laughed, and we climbed out of the Hummer. As we walked toward the water’s edge, Jax took my hand in his.
The night breeze and sounds of the waves were soothing. It was easy to forget reality out here.
“When I came home last night, I wanted to call you right away and realized I couldn’t. It proved really hard to go to sleep without hearing your voice and knowing you were okay,” Jax admitted.
“I’m sorry you couldn’t call me, but it makes me happy to know you missed me too.”
He laughed. “I didn’t just miss you. I obsessed over what you were doing and if you were okay and who you were talking to. I realized I am going to have a really hard time when the summer is over.”
He stopped, and I turned to him.
“I have a charity event I have to be at next week. They are auctioning off some of my things, and I have to be there too. I want you to come with me.”
My heart hammered in my chest. Going with him into his world wasn’t something I ever expected to do. “I don’t know. I have work and Mom.”
“Please, for me. Don’t make me go again without you.”
I turned away from his pleading eyes. They made me want to promise him anything. “Jax, I won’t fit into your world. I don’t have any clothes to wear to something like that, and I have no idea what to say to people or how to act, and the cameras will make me a nervous wreck.”