Read Online Jonquils for Jax: The Rousseaus #1 (The Blueberry Lane Series Book 12) by Katy Regnery - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Katy Regnery
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combination of lemons and rosemary made his senses soar a little. Her glower brought him back to earth.
“I’m nothing like Paris. I didn’t ask for that attention! I didn’t go on TV and open up my life to speculation by starring in a reality show! I never made a sex tape that was”—she put her fingers over her lips in an exaggerated gesture of surprise—“oops! leaked onto the Internet.” She took a deep breath and let it out through her nose in a huff. “I love movies. I just wanted to produce one. Did you know it was filmed here? On location? I just wanted to remake my favorite movie, to see Le Chateau on the big screen. I didn’t know I’d lose every ounce of privacy, that I’d be stalked like an animal—”
Her eyes filled with tears and she stopped abruptly, lowering her eyes and swallowing. And suddenly, she didn’t look like a duchess or a femme fatale or even the heiress that she was. She looked like a girl who felt lost and alone…and his heart ached for her because Gard understood lost and he understood alone. He’d lived equal parts lost and alone every day of his life since the accident.
Reaching out, he slipped his fingers under her chin and raised it gently until she met his gaze. She was so beautiful, her expression so vulnerable and naked, his breath caught and he held it, his lungs burning as she stared back at him, her misery betrayed in the tremble of her lips and the glisten in her eyes.
“First rule of self-defense…”
Near his fingers, the pulse in her throat leapt wildly, matching the fierce beating of his heart. Regardless of the intimacy that seemed to grow like a warm, living thing between them…regardless of the slippery slope that was his unwanted attraction for this virtual stranger…and regardless of the imminent danger of slipping, of sliding, of falling into whatever ill-advised chasm lay between them, he held her eyes captive with his.
“First rule, Jacqueline ,” he repeated softly, his throat dry, his voice husky. “No matter what…Don’t ever look away.”
Chapter 5
It was jarring and intimate to hold eye contact for so long, but Jax dug deep inside for the strength not to look away.
As the seconds ticked by, locked in his gaze, it surprised her to feel something galvanize within her. Broken pieces of something shattered started pulling back together as though they were fitted with magnets, like lost puzzle pieces seeking out their scattered mates, wanting to be whole again. It made her feel different—excited or energetic or hopeful, somehow—and after several months of feeling disillusioned, different felt…well, good .
After staring at each other for a solid minute without speaking, she somehow managed to compose herself and open the door to the gym, turning away from him and into the mirror-walled workout room. Gardener, who stood in the doorway behind her, whistled low, taking in the space, which housed an elliptical machine, a stationary bike, a treadmill, a punching bag hanging from the ceiling, a ballet bar, a full rack of dumbbells, two benches, and a home gym with arm, chest, and back press functions. In the far-left corner of the room was a door that led to a sauna, and a door in the far-right corner led to a bathroom, complete with a rainforest shower and Jacuzzi tub.
“You weren’t kiddin’ when you said you had a gym,” he said.
She tossed him a look over her shoulder. “You assumed I was?”
He squinted as he looked around the room. “Duchess, the only home gyms I’ve ever seen lately had a stationary bike stuck in a basement…maybe with a crappy black-and-white TV on a table nearby. This is…”
From a cabinet just inside the door, she plucked a remote control and pressed a button that made a bracket in the ceiling open. A small television set descended to the perfect viewing height in front of the stationary bike.
“ Voila ,” she said. “Bike and TV.”
From behind her, he chuckled softly, and it made her
“I’m nothing like Paris. I didn’t ask for that attention! I didn’t go on TV and open up my life to speculation by starring in a reality show! I never made a sex tape that was”—she put her fingers over her lips in an exaggerated gesture of surprise—“oops! leaked onto the Internet.” She took a deep breath and let it out through her nose in a huff. “I love movies. I just wanted to produce one. Did you know it was filmed here? On location? I just wanted to remake my favorite movie, to see Le Chateau on the big screen. I didn’t know I’d lose every ounce of privacy, that I’d be stalked like an animal—”
Her eyes filled with tears and she stopped abruptly, lowering her eyes and swallowing. And suddenly, she didn’t look like a duchess or a femme fatale or even the heiress that she was. She looked like a girl who felt lost and alone…and his heart ached for her because Gard understood lost and he understood alone. He’d lived equal parts lost and alone every day of his life since the accident.
Reaching out, he slipped his fingers under her chin and raised it gently until she met his gaze. She was so beautiful, her expression so vulnerable and naked, his breath caught and he held it, his lungs burning as she stared back at him, her misery betrayed in the tremble of her lips and the glisten in her eyes.
“First rule of self-defense…”
Near his fingers, the pulse in her throat leapt wildly, matching the fierce beating of his heart. Regardless of the intimacy that seemed to grow like a warm, living thing between them…regardless of the slippery slope that was his unwanted attraction for this virtual stranger…and regardless of the imminent danger of slipping, of sliding, of falling into whatever ill-advised chasm lay between them, he held her eyes captive with his.
“First rule, Jacqueline ,” he repeated softly, his throat dry, his voice husky. “No matter what…Don’t ever look away.”
Chapter 5
It was jarring and intimate to hold eye contact for so long, but Jax dug deep inside for the strength not to look away.
As the seconds ticked by, locked in his gaze, it surprised her to feel something galvanize within her. Broken pieces of something shattered started pulling back together as though they were fitted with magnets, like lost puzzle pieces seeking out their scattered mates, wanting to be whole again. It made her feel different—excited or energetic or hopeful, somehow—and after several months of feeling disillusioned, different felt…well, good .
After staring at each other for a solid minute without speaking, she somehow managed to compose herself and open the door to the gym, turning away from him and into the mirror-walled workout room. Gardener, who stood in the doorway behind her, whistled low, taking in the space, which housed an elliptical machine, a stationary bike, a treadmill, a punching bag hanging from the ceiling, a ballet bar, a full rack of dumbbells, two benches, and a home gym with arm, chest, and back press functions. In the far-left corner of the room was a door that led to a sauna, and a door in the far-right corner led to a bathroom, complete with a rainforest shower and Jacuzzi tub.
“You weren’t kiddin’ when you said you had a gym,” he said.
She tossed him a look over her shoulder. “You assumed I was?”
He squinted as he looked around the room. “Duchess, the only home gyms I’ve ever seen lately had a stationary bike stuck in a basement…maybe with a crappy black-and-white TV on a table nearby. This is…”
From a cabinet just inside the door, she plucked a remote control and pressed a button that made a bracket in the ceiling open. A small television set descended to the perfect viewing height in front of the stationary bike.
“ Voila ,” she said. “Bike and TV.”
From behind her, he chuckled softly, and it made her
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