Persuasion Skills Read online

  She wore a white snow cap with earflaps, her curls spilling around her shoulders, and what looked like a heavy white winter coat. She looked like a ferocious bunny.

  If looks could kill. He chuckled softly.

  He swung the axe one last time and planted the blade firmly in the chopping block before walking leisurely to the top of the drive and waiting.

  It wasn’t hard to keep the smile on his face as his gaze caught hers and held. He could practically feel the waves of rage rolling off of her as she pulled the car to an abrupt stop only inches from where he stood.

  He merely winked at her and gave a cheerful wave. God, he loved hunting rabbits.

  She stared at him for a searing moment before climbing out of the tall vehicle and dragging out a medium-sized piece of luggage. She snapped up its telescoping handle and marched the few steps it took to stand in front of him.

  He let his gaze wander over her frame, taking in the rapid rise and fall of her chest, the tight grip she had on the luggage handle, and the clenching and unclenching of her free hand. Yet the only thing that caused his smile to dim was the hurt mingled with the outrage on her lovely face.

  He let his gaze drift back to her clenching fist for a moment before looking at her face again. Staring into her eyes, he let loose a loud sigh as he widened his stance and shoved his hands into his coat pockets. This is going to hurt.

  “Go ahead. Do it. You know you want to.”

  He let the taunt hang in the air, waiting for her to speak, react, do anything.

  She stared at him for a few seconds before her eyes swelled with unshed tears.

  The sight caused a small ache in his chest. Nothing ever hurt as much as seeing Pepper cry.

  The thought barely registered in his mind before she pulled back her clenched fist and slammed it squarely on his jaw.

  His head jerked to the side with a snap.

  “Fuck!”

  He let loose a few more choice expletives. Trust Pepper to have a killer right hook.

  The stars in his eyes cleared just in time for him to watch her turn and stomp toward the porch steps and up to the front door of the cabin.

  “Feel better now?” he called out to her retreating back.

  Her answering response was a decisively unladylike hand gesture over her shoulder before she entered the cabin and slammed the door behind her.

  He rubbed his jaw for a few seconds before turning and walking to the car door. Peering inside, he glimpsed the keys still dangling from the ignition.

  Reaching inside, he pocketed the keys before popping the hood of the SUV open.

  “Well, let the games begin,” he muttered to himself as he walked to the front of the car and reached under the hood.

  He barely winced in pain as a smile spread across his face while he reached into the belly of the car and yanked out a bundle of wires.

  Chapter Three

  Pepper braced herself against the thick oak door of the cabin and stared blankly into the open room, trying desperately to fight back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. She lifted her aching hand and massaged the bruised knuckles. I can’t believe I slugged him!

  When she had first spotted Jax standing in the driveway, a rush of euphoria had filled her to see him again, but that sense of relief quickly returned to a haze of anger when she saw the grin on his face. The pure audacity of the smile had enraged her.

  After the weeks of confusion, hurt, and frustrations she’d been through because of the sexy, arrogant inventor, she’d barely been able to breathe past the ball of fury in her throat. To see him smile and wave at her so nonchalantly had pushed her to the edge. His audacious goading had shoved her clear off.

  And damn the bastard, it felt good, she thought, shaking out her fist and straightening away from the door.

  She wouldn’t let him get to her. She’d come up to the cabin for a reason, and as much as maiming Jax appealed to her at the moment, she had a job to do.

  For the first time, she took a good look at her surroundings.

  It was smaller than she expected. She doubted the whole structure took up more than a thousand square feet of space. But what it lacked in size it more than made up for in comfort and opulence.

  The cabin was really just one huge open space, reminding her of the loft Jax had back home in Miami. He hated confined spaces.

  The ceiling was high. Well over twenty feet, as far as she could tell, with beautifully rustic exposed beams crisscrossing over her head. Despite the dark wood covering the ceiling and walls, the entire place was flooded with light from the huge floor-to-ceiling windows stretching along the far back wall and showcasing the snow-topped mountains.

  The front door landed her directly into the great room. It contained plush off-white couches arranged around a large travertine-faced fireplace on the left far wall. The room flowed into a large kitchen. The two spaces were separated by a large, light-colored granite island, which, judging by the chairs surrounding it, doubled as a dining table.

  A few feet from her right, there were three steps that led up to a dais that sported a large four-poster bed atop a fluffy, white fur rug. She hoped some poor polar bear hadn’t died for the sake of luxury.

  From her vantage point, she could glimpse another door slightly open a few feet from the bed and that looked to lead to a bathroom. The gleaming glint of marble peeked out at her, and she couldn’t hold back a snort.

  Jax never was one to rough it.

  Thinking of him had her lips firming again in anger. It didn’t matter how and where he chose to spend his “vacation” time. She had made the journey to Colorado for a reason. She refused to let him to continue to postpone the Lubtech deal any longer. She had worked too damn hard on it to let him screw it up now.

  If the mountain wouldn’t come to the Mohammed....

  She shrugged out of her hat and heavy coat, slung them over a plush couch as she passed, then marched to the kitchen island with her rolling case in tow.

  After opening the case, she placed a laptop and tablet on the double-duty surface and switched them on. She also removed her paper file on the Lubtech purchase and a few other important pieces of paperwork before she sat down in front of the computer and began keying in commands.

  A few minutes later, Jax’s heavy footsteps resonated on the front porch. When she heard the door open, she refused to look up.

  “So how much longer do you plan on staying mad?”

  She ignored him and continued typing.

  “Oh, the silent treatment, how mature.”

  Her hands didn’t pause on the keyboard.

  “The meeting starts in few minutes. I suggest you park your butt down until it’s over,” she said through gritted teeth.

  She heard the scrape of the chair and felt the brush of his thigh against hers as he pulled out a seat and sat down next to her.

  “You’re as sweet-tempered as ever, I see.”

  She bit back a growl and clicked open the program that would host their video conference.

  Before leaving the office, she had confirmed with the legal department, and they assured her that an electronic signature from both Jax and herself would suffice to move the Lubtech deal forward, as long as it was witnessed appropriately by all parties. Hence her trek into Colorado mountain country with a satellite laptop and electronic signature tablet.

  Her screen flickered, and the faces of their senior contracts attorney and the CEO of Lubtech Enterprises came into view. She launched immediately into her speech.

  “Good afternoon, gentlemen. Let’s get this meeting started, shall we?”

  It was a relatively short conference, and Jax even participated, asking several pointed questions as well as addressing some of Lubtech’s concerns regarding keeping true to certain research ethics the company had established and wanted maintained after the buyout. The rat seemed genuinely eager to close on the deal.

  His willingness to participate in the meeting only served to incense her further.


  If he was so damned excited about the acquisition, why hadn’t he flown back to Miami when she’d asked?

  The time finally came when they both signed the electronic pad, and she sent the digital file for the lawyers to worry over and finalize. She breathed an internal sigh of relief.

  The deal was finally done, but the sense of happiness was soured by how she’d had to go about getting it finalized.

  She and Jax would normally be hugging and giving each other high fives after closing a deal like this, but she couldn’t even trust herself to look at him without wanting to scream.

  When she finally closed the lid on the laptop, the silence stretched out between them.

  “So how long are you going to make me wait before you talk to me again?” he finally asked.

  She kept her eyes trained on the granite surface of the island.

  “As long as it takes for me to not want to throw you off the top of this mountain,” she said in the sweetest voice she could muster.

  “Come on, don’t I get brownie points for sitting through the meeting like a good little engineer? You’re lucky I was able to stay conscious long enough for that,” he said. “I think you gave me a concussion.”

  Her gaze flew to his face. He winced and rubbed his jaw. As usual, his cheeks sported a layer of stubble along his olive-toned skin, but she could clearly see a dark bruise forming.

  She turned her head quickly from the sight, pushed back from her chair, and stood. Ambling away from her makeshift conference table, she walked to the kitchen counter and pulled a hanging dishcloth from a corner cabinet before rifling around in the tall stainless steel refrigerator for some ice.

  After wrapping some cubes in the cloth, she returned to the island and plopped the homemade ice pack in Jax’s lap before sitting back down and staring at him.

  “You deserved it,” she muttered.

  His soft chuckle filled the room.

  “Maybe,” he said as he gingerly placed the cloth on his jaw.

  “What’s the deal, Jax? You know how much this contract meant to me. Skipping town, putting off meetings—at least for this long. This isn’t you.”

  He remained quiet for a few moments before looking into her eyes.

  She tried not to let his soulful gaze deter her frustration. Unfortunately, her body didn’t get the memo, and a slither of awareness slicked its way down her body. She had to clench her hand to keep herself from reaching over and trying to comfort him.

  “Don’t give me the puppy dog face. I’m immune, remember?” she said instead, shifting uncomfortably in her chair.

  Falling in love with Jax was definitely wreaking havoc on her nerves.

  His gaze didn’t waver.

  “A lot’s happened this year, Pep,” he said softly. “I just needed to get away and think about a few things.”

  His words acted as a heavy blanket, smothering her fury in only a few short breaths. She was such a horrible friend, focusing only on her hurt and pique, completely dismissing the fact that Jax had suffered a major loss that year. With his birthday coming in only a few weeks, he must have been feeling the loss of his mother even more keenly lately.

  She should have made the connection sooner.

  It hurt her to see such a look of loss and confusion on his face. Jax was rarely confused. He always believed that a solution was in reach. Whenever he was working on a tough design or trying to solve some problem in the lab, he attacked it with complete focus and concentration. Watching him flounder was rare and difficult to observe.

  She wanted to tell him that it would all be okay, but knew the words would ring hollow against the loss of a parent. Instead, she reached across and squeezed his hand.

  “You should have talked to me about this. I would have understood.”

  He raised his brow at her statement and looked pointedly at the computer and tablet she had set up on the table.

  “Really? And I suppose confiding in you would have prevented this impromptu meeting?” he asked.

  Pepper felt her face flush in embarrassment.

  “Well, maybe not the meeting, but definitely the punch in the face.” She reached up and cupped his jaw in her palm. “Jeez, Jax, I’m sorry I hit you.”

  He placed his hand over hers and reached out with his other arm to pull her close.

  “Hell, Pep, I missed you,” he said before dragging her from her chair into his waiting lap.

  He dipped his head to the crook of her neck and engulfed her into a tight hug.

  There was nothing quite like a Jaxon Grey hug. He hugged with his whole body. His tall frame and broad shoulders always curved just right around her, immersing her in a mantle of warmth and shelter.

  She dipped her head and rubbed her chin onto the top his head and closed her eyes.

  “I missed you, too, jackass.”

  His resulting rumble of laughter caused his chest to shift against hers, and just like that, her back stiffened in addition to a few other things along her body.

  She bit back a groan as her nipples tightened against the lace of her bra.

  The warm gust of his breath against her neck wasn’t helping matters either.

  “You’re such a sweet talker,” he said. “And since I like you so much, I promise not to spank you for your bad behavior.”

  He pulled her in tighter and began to rub the base of her back. His stroking hand was far from soothing as it settled low, and his fingers grazed the swell of her ass. All it did was remind her of how good his big hands had felt stroking her naked flesh.

  She shifted uncomfortably on his knee, trying to scoot away from the heat of him.

  “I’m sorry, but I left my Emily Post handbook at home.”

  He lifted his face from the crook of her neck and drifted his hands lower. Holding on to her hips, he dragged her forward and caught her gaze with his.

  “Really? That’s too bad. Chapter six is dedicated to the perfect way to drape yourself across a man’s lap. Feel like practicing?”

  Both his suggestion and hooded gaze held her captive for a few silent seconds. The idea of his strong hands spanking her ass flushed her body with heat.

  The thought of him holding her down at his leisure and pleasure was surprisingly arousing. She knew that Jax liked to control things in bed, but how far did his need for dominance go?

  “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”

  He continued speaking as if he hadn’t just casually filled her mind with raunchy goodness. She tried not to pout before responding.

  “It is what you’re known for,” she said, trying hard not to stare at his mouth. Her clit was already warming at the recollection of what that mouth could do.

  She yelped at the pinch he gave her hip.

  “Brat. I’m serious. After Mom died, I really started thinking about what I wanted in my life. I started thinking about all of the things missing.”

  “Jax, you can’t expect to fill the void your mom left with things. It’s just gonna take a little time to heal.”

  “I’m not talking about things, Pep.”

  He smoothed a hand up and began to rub the nape of her neck.

  “Mom was always pestering me about settling down and starting a family, but I always thought there was plenty of time. You know me. I’ve never been one to believe in love and marriage.”

  Pepper tried not to flinch at his words. Jax had always considered love to be an illogical emotion. He always joked that it was just nature’s chemical drug designed to propagate the species. His outlook on love was one of the reasons why she had always been able to avoid acting on her attraction to him. There was no use ruining a perfectly good friendship for Jax’s idea of a romantic relationship.

  His words only served to remind her that falling in love with him was a lost cause.

  “But, ever since the funeral, I’ve realized she was right.”

  It took a few seconds for his words to sink in.

  “Uh, what exactly was she right about?” she asked,
confused at his line of thought.

  “She was right. I should be thinking about getting married and starting a family,”

  “What? Okay, who are you, and where have you hidden the real Jaxon Grey?” she said, laughing desperately, and hoping this was his version of a horrible joke.

  The look on his face sobered her up quickly.

  “You’re not joking, are you?”

  “No. I’ve analyzed the situation and determined that my mother was right. So I’ve decided to get married,” he said.

  “Married?”

  The words came out of her mouth in a whisper of disbelief. Married? Married?

  “Yeah, married. And I’ve concluded that you would make me the perfect wife,” he said before pulling her head down and covering her shock-slackened mouth in a hot kiss.

  Chapter Four

  Pepper struggled to collect her thoughts, but the feel of Jax’s hot tongue sliding into her mouth was wreaking more than just a little havoc on her senses.

  Her mind was in complete chaos. Before she could fully focus on his statement delivered with such surety and let it completely process in her mind, the calculating louse decided to kiss her.

  She snaked her hands up to his chest, totally intending to push herself away, but the feel of his hard pecs had her curling her palms up to his broad shoulders instead.

  He nipped her bottom lip and sucked it, causing the flesh to throb a bit, before he stroked back into her mouth. The rhythm he set made it hard to remember why she needed to push away. His kisses were sparking tendrils of heat, pooling at her center, making her core wet, her clit aching and swollen.

  When he pulled her closer, she had no choice but to wrap her arms around his neck to keep her balance.

  That logic seemed perfectly sound as he lifted her slightly, arranging her legs to straddle his hips.

  They both groaned when her jean-clad pussy settled against his crotch. Despite his hands clenching on the cheeks of her ass, she didn’t need any encouragement to rotate her hips against his.