The Dangerous Curves Series

Chapter 99

“s**t, Naomi.” Mirrie looked horrified, which was highly unusual for her; she wasn’t taken aback by much. “You actually accused the man of giving your program money so he could get you into bed?”

“Yeah.”

“And he didn’t kill you on the spot?”

“No.”

“Shit.”

Naomi groaned and covered her eyes with both hands. “I know, I know.”

Mirrie laughed now, a ‘holy-f**k-girl’ kind of laugh. “You seem bound and determined to keep the man on his toes, huh?”

“I guess.” Naomi sighed. “And I’m reminded yet again, and in the most painful and humiliating way possible, that this is why I’m on a dating sabbatical… can you imagine what a nightmare I’d be as a girlfriend?”

“Urgh. Terrifying to contemplate.”

“I know, right? Just about the last thing in the world I should be doing is getting involved with a man.”

“No. The last thing is drinking.” Mirrie grinned. “Getting involved with a man is a damn close second, though.”

They both laughed.

****

Sarah stared at the laptop screen, overwhelmed by frustration. She knew that she knew this, knew that she’d been damn good at it once upon a time. But f**k her if she could remember how the hell to use Photoshop.

She moved the mouse around, pressed some code keys, saw that she was making an even bigger mess. She grabbed her empty tea mug now, and hurled it across the kitchen. It shattered against the wall, and she stared at the glass shards in horror as she realized what she’d just done. Then she heard the pounding footsteps coming up from the basement, and she shut her eyes.

How the hell do I explain this to him?

“Sarah!” Jax stood there now, wearing just a pair of black sweat pants. His tattooed, muscular chest was gleaming with sweat and he was panting. She’d clearly interrupted his workout and she tried to look like a sane person, not a raving lunatic who wrecked things because she’d forgotten how the hell to crop an image. “What happened? You alright?”

“I’m fine,” she said. “I just – I broke the mug.”

He stared across the room at it, then turned back to her, one dark eyebrow raised. “You broke it from all the way over here?”

“I – I…” She looked down, ashamed and angry. “I threw it.”

“OK.” His voice was low and calm; the perfect tone for placating the crazy lady, she figured. “Why’d you do that?”

“Because I’m f*****g useless!” she said. “I can’t remember anything about the software I need to do my job! How the hell am I supposed to work when my brain is so f*****g broken that I can’t even design a simple ad?”

Jax took a deep breath. He’d been waiting for this moment, and he still had no real idea how he was supposed to handle it. “Sarah… Mac told you that you need to take it easy on yourself, right? That you’ll have to relearn lots of things, and wait for others to come back to you.”

“How long am I supposed to wait?” she said. “Weeks? Months? Years? And what, Jax – I’m just going to live off you the whole time that I sit around and wait?”

“What do you mean, ‘live off’ me?”

“What do I mean?” Her voice was rising now. “I mean, I live here in your house, Jax, rent-free. I have zero income, so I can’t even buy the goddamn groceries… you pay for literally every little thing, including my toothpaste and tampons. Do you have any idea how f*****g humiliating that is for me? Do you?”

“No,” he said quietly.

“You paid all my medical bills, you’re paying for Noah’s private care provider, you’re paying for my lawyer and my physical therapy, you’re giving my Mom money, you’re handing Naomi half-a-million dollars… and there’s no end in sight to any of it. I’m just – I’m a goddamn gold-digger, living off my rich boyfriend.” She was shouting now. “I’ve been taking care of Noah since I was four years old, and working to help my family since I was eighteen, and now I’m this useless nothing who can’t do anything remotely productive, except when I’m lying flat on my back.”

“OK.” Jax’s voice was hard. “You just about done?”

“For the moment.”

“Listen close now. You paying attention?”

She nodded, her arms crossed tight against her body.

“First, you don’t earn your keep around here by f*****g me, and I can’t believe you even said that to me out loud. You shake that idea out of that head of yours and I mean right the hell now. We clear?”

She looked away.

“Sarah? We clear?”

“Yeah.”

“Next, you’re no goddamn charity case, so stop acting like one. You’re the woman that I love, and that makes you my family. And if that’s what you are, then Annie and Noah are my family too, and I take care of family. End of f*****g discussion.”

“But –”