Suzanne Wright - From Rags

At the very mention of that birthday she stiffened. “It doesn’t matter.” She tried to think of a subject change but the memories of that day hit her too hard.

He felt her tense. Had he really hurt her that much? He hated himself right now. “I didn’t stay away because I didn’t care, Jaxx. It was just…I had this vision of going to see you and” – subconsciously he held her tighter – “you either laughing at the fact that I’d even turned up, or seeing you with someone. I’d have beaten them to a pulp, Jaxx, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself. I figured you were better off without a person like me in your life.”

She was glad he hadn’t turned up that day. Even though she had come to terms with what had happened, it wasn’t something she enjoyed sharing, and there would have been no way of keeping it from him if he had come. But if he had just turned up even once before that day then so much may not have happened. She had never truly put any blame on Connor, especially because that would mean absolving others to some extent of their actions. But if he hadn’t done what he did to those blokes before leaving, if he hadn’t made them want revenge so badly then maybe… No . She wouldn’t dwell on the ‘what ifs’. Pain was just part of life.

“You’re miles away, Jaxx.” She tensed again, and he noticed that she was still keeping her eyes tightly shut as if afraid her secrets might shine from them. “Look, I was wrong to expect you to tell me the ins and outs of everything. I just hated that you didn’t feel like you could confide in me the way you used to. But I see that’s my own fault. What I’m trying to say is that I’m not going to pressure you to tell me anything again, but if you ever want to…”

That stunned her. It didn’t sound like Connor. Warily she opened her eyes…and saw only sincerity in his. As if to assure her it was the truth, he brought his lips to hers. It wasn’t one of his demanding, dominating kisses. It was soft and drugging and she felt herself de-tensing.

“There’s something I need to know, though, Jaxx,” he said as he cupped her face. “I need to know that you believe me that I never touched that selfish bitch.”

She found that she actually did believe him. Even though she hadn’t allowed herself to think about him or their argument during the holiday, it was almost as if a part of her brain had been subconsciously sorting things out. He was right about her sister. Leah hadn’t been able to form a sentence that didn’t have some deception within it, and Jaxxon had always preferred to believe those lies than believe that her sister would have this need to hurt her all the time. “I believe you.” He gave her another one of those drugging kisses, this one filled with relief. Hoping to escape the subject now, she said, “I need to get some PJs on.”

“You’ll have my body heat to keep you warm.” He dragged the pile of blankets and bulky duvet over them. “Now sleep.”

Sleep? “You’re going to stay with me the whole night?”

“Mm-hm.”

“But -”

“Jaxx, sleep.” He knew what she was thinking: that this wasn’t something he did, that there were other rooms. He didn’t want to properly acknowledge that he actually wanted to lie with her and simply hold her while they slept, or that he liked the idea of her being there when he woke up. He’d never seen the attraction in that before. He didn’t want to explore why he did now.

With morning time came the discovery of the magic of morning sex, something Connor intended to make the most of during the remainder of the trip. If he was right and Warren was itching to comment on Connor having slept in the same bed as a woman the entire night, he held himself back. Wise man. After breakfast they all bundled up warm and there was no restraining the smile that spread on his face at the sight of Jaxx – even though she looked as though she was about to go strolling on the moon she was absolutely adorable and, amazingly, her movements were still as sensual as always.

“You’re dying to laugh, aren’t you,” observed Jaxxon.

“What I’m dying to do is rip all that stuff off you,” he said as he grabbed her waist and yanked her against him. “I don’t like knowing that there’s that much between your skin and mine, and I really don’t like that I’ll have such a big job getting to your body.”

“The hard work will do you good.”

“It’s going to be a lengthy job. Maybe I should start it now.”

“Jaxxon!” Anna yelled out from her bedroom. “Your phone’s ringing!”

Jaxxon dashed from the living room to her own bedroom and dug deep into her bag. “Morning Oliver,” she greeted as she answered.

“You know,” began Ollie, “I really shouldn’t be surprised to hear that you had a food fight in the middle of a posh restaurant, but I actually am.”

“I take it the papers got wind of it.” That was going to make the maître d' very happy.

“I’m looking at a very interesting photograph of you with a face like thunder drowning McKenzie in red wine.”

Jaxxon suspected that Connor wasn’t going to see the funny side of that photo having been seen worldwide. “He ruined my sweater.”

“You told me it was just you and Anna going away by yourselves.”

“That’s because it was the truth. Connor and Warren paid us an unexpected visit.”

“There’s also a photo of him carting you over his shoulder out of the ladies’ restrooms where, according to the tabloids, you both had been arguing.”

“At least they thought that it was arguing we were doing,” she mistakenly said aloud.

“What?”

Moving quickly onwards… “We did apologise to the maître d' but he was ecstatic about the idea of his restaurant getting publicity. I take it the tabloids see us as nothing more than wild animals now.”

“Actually, it’s gone as a positive for you.”

She noticed that Ollie didn’t sound very pleased. He obviously still didn’t approve of her and Connor. “How?”

“Do you have any idea how many couples sitting in restaurants suddenly, for one reason or another, have an overwhelming urge to throw food across the table? They don’t do it because they fear making a scene, something I wouldn’t expect you to understand. They love that you and McKenzie shoved society’s etiquette aside like that, and of course they like to see that you’re a normal couple – as they’re still under the impression it’s an actual relationship – who argues just the same as everyone else. Are the boys still there?”

“Staying ’til Monday.”

Ollie groaned. “I don’t like that he showed up like that, I don’t like this caveman crap that he pulls. I don’t like that you haven’t made him go home.”

Jaxxon mocked, “I can’t help it, daddy, I love him, please don’t make me give him up, I -”

“Alright, fine, I’ll see you Monday.”

When she joined Connor, Warren and Anna outside the challet it was to find them studying her Ski Map.

Connor gestured to the all the markings she had made with a red pen. “Are all those X’s the slopes you’ve been on?”

“No, it’s where I hid the bodies.”

Shooting her a playful snarl, he fisted his gloved hand in the snow and launched a clump of it at Jaxx. That sparked off a grand scale snow fight between the four of them – boys against the girls. When twenty minutes went by and neither side showed any signs of weakening they agreed to a tie and headed off to rent him and Warren some skiing equipment.

Jaxxon might have been a bit put out to discover that Connor was just as good a skier as he had claimed to be – confident, smooth, skilled – if it wasn’t for the fact that he seemed to have forgotten she was such a quick learner and had therefore been shocked to see her competence level on the slopes. But when she bettered his timing that wasn’t a good moment for Connor. It was a great moment for Jaxxon.