The Rebel
Chapter 28

Brenda stared at the phone as it started to ring. She didn't want to answer it. She didn't want to talk to any one. At least, not until the answering machine clicked on, and she realized it was a friend.

Hastily she grabbed the receiver. "Robin?"

"Brenda? How are you?"

"I've been better."

"Oh-oh, I know that tone. Bad day?"

Tears burned Brenda's eyes. "You couldn't possibly imagine."

"Well, maybe I have something that will cheer you up."

"Anything."

"You remember when you told me about that tall, blond, handsome guy that was so mysterious? You said his name was Jax McCarty, or at least you thought it was."

"Yes," Brenda agreed, trying to find some reason, to understand what he'd done, to reconcile who he was with who she'd thought he was, and to determine if any of it mattered. "I remember."

"Could he be Jasper Maximillian Jacks?"

Brenda frowned. How could Robin possibly know who Jax really was when she'd only just found out herself? "Why do you ask?"

"My Uncle Mac, used to work for the Jacks family in Alaska and he told me that Jax sometimes uses alias' in his business dealings. Jax McCarty just happens to be one of them."

Brenda could almost hear her friend frown.

"So is this the same guy?"

"Yes, it is. What else did your Uncle Mac say about the Jacks' family and Jax.

"He said that before Jax and his brother, Jerry formed their own company, they worked with their father, John. Several years ago, they found out that the company that John owned had huge ties to the Mob. Jax and Jerry wanted no part of that and they left their father's company and formed J and J Jacks Enterprises, Inc. John has since cut all ties with the Mob and made up with his son's. He is now retired and lives here in New York with his wife Jane."

Brenda twisted the phone cord around her finger. "Robin, how'd you like some company for the weekend?"

"What? You're flying to New York?" came the enthusiastic response.

"Yes, I am." Brenda's eyes twinkled. Jax had told her to know the competition, which meant before he'd even met her, he'd known all about her. She was going to do the same. By looking into the past, maybe she'd find some answers for the future. "Can you put me and my two kids up?"

"Kids?"

"Peter and Wendy. They're kittens."

Robin howled with laughter. "That old tomcat of ours is sure going to be surprised to see you!"

***

Jax adjusted the cuff of his sleeve beneath his tuxedo and prepared for his moment on stage, but he was barely aware of the other men standing around him, waiting for their turn in the spotlight and for the chance to be "purchased" for the night. He was thinking of Brenda.

He'd left her alone as long as he could. One whole day. Then he'd gone to see her when she'd stubbornly refused to answer the phone, but when he arrived at the beach house, it'd been empty. Not even Peter and Wendy had been in sight to greet him.

That she'd run away didn't seem likely. Brenda didn't run away from opposition, but she was at least avoiding him. He'd tried all week to leave messages for her with a frosty-toned Lilly, but none of his calls had been returned. His only option had been to go over to the office to confront her, but he didn't relish a public scene or a right hook from Brenda's obviously dedicated secretary.

His hero status had definitely been diminished in Lilly's eyes. But betrayal was a good way to alienate people--whether he'd actually done anything wrong or not.

Gritting his teeth against the helpless anger, he refused to give in to the guilt. He *hadn't* done anything wrong. Not intentionally. He'd met Brenda by accident, gotten to know her out of curiosity and fallen in love with her despite himself.

One thing he'd never imagined himself was married. Not with a business to run that took up most of his time, but on meeting Brenda, he'd discovered he could make time for other things. He would again once he got her alone and persuaded her to hear him out.

Whether she wanted to or not, she was going to hear him out, from beginning to end. He was going to start when he met her and make her listen and understand why and how things had gotten so out of control. Emotions weren't something he was well equipped to deal with. He should have know that and refused her invitation on its being offered, but she'd intrigued him. She still did. And he wasn't going to give her up willingly. He was going to fight for her.

The woman in charge behind the stage motioned him forward, and Jax stepped toward the curtain and what he saw as his final chance to reach Brenda. He already knew her mother was in the audience, and Veronica would have insisted her daughter be present, as well. Unless, Brenda had learned to slam the door on her parents, too.

Abruptly the curtain opened, and Jax strode out. He didn't listen to the announcer or the numbers being called out. He ignored them and zeroed in on Veronica and those seated at the table around her, but he was disappointed to find that Brenda wasn't one of them.

Scanning the audience, he tried to see through the bright lights illuminating the stage as he trod diligently up and down the runway, but he couldn't find her. Cursing himself and fate, he stopped and heard a bid for three thousand dollars.

Surprised, amused and a bit embarrassed, he tried to see the caller but was stopped when the bidding erupted into a furious crescendo of counteroffers.

Unable to help but smile as women screamed and laughed at one another, he shoved his hands into his pockets, struck an arrogant if appealing pose, and tried to enjoy the moment, but it was a hollow experience without the woman who'd allowed him to be there. And it would be an empty night when the evening ended and she remained somewhere other than at his side.

"Five thousand," someone called.

"Five thousand, one hundred," came another voice, and the announcer all but purred.

"Ladies, ladies, we can do better than that for this handsome hunk of a man."

Jax turned in surprise at the woman behind the microphone, who was old enough to be his mother, but she wasn't embarrassed by her declaration even if he was, and the audience loved his consternation. The bidding rose.

"Seven thousand!"

"Eight!"

A hushed murmur fell as two finalists seemed prepared to duke it out, but without warning a third voice called out of the shadows.

"Twenty-thousand dollars."

Gasps erupted, but Jax just grinned, humiliation forgotten. His rescue had just arrived.

"Do I hear any other bids?" the announcer all but shouted, beside herself with ecstasy at the upward turn of events.

No one answered.

"Then he's going, going, gone to the highest bidder!"

Jax followed the applause off the ramp and into the audience even though he was supposed to go backstage to be claimed. He wasn't willing to wait for Brenda to come to him. He was going to find her, and he didn't have to go far. She was standing under the exit light. "Brenda..."

But when he reached for her, she backed away.

He clenched his teeth but refused to give up. He followed her into the hall where he tried to touch her again, but she held up her fingers in warning.

"Hands off."

Frustrated but determined, Jax let his arms drop to his sides even as she crossed hers in front of her and leveled him a dark glare.

"I kept my word. I rescued you."

"I wasn't concerned with rescue. I was only concerned with finding you."

Her breath caught as she looked at him, but she managed not to let him know it.

He watched her chin rise and prepared for battle. "Bren, we have to talk, I went to see you last weekend--"

"But I wasn't there." She'd concluded. "I was in New York."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise until he remembered her college roommate. "Robin."

"Partly," Brenda agreed. Mostly I went to meet your father and to find out about you."

His jaw dropped, and he tried to speak but suddenly found himself with nothing to say.

"Someone once told me that I should know my competition. When I realized my competition had already done their research on me, I did mine on them."

Impressed and amused, Jax smothered a smile and shook his head he studied her. The expression was haughty as was the posture, but she was wearing the black dress. The same one she'd had on when he'd seen her for the first time on that dark, deserted street. His hopes rose. "Find out anything interesting?"

"I know why you had a fight with your father and left to form you own company."

"My father was in with mob. I didn't want any part of that. I wanted to invest in something good and clean."

"Like KLM."

"Like KLM," he agreed.

Brenda paced away, walking around him. "Okay, I can understand that. I can even applaud your motivations, but you must have known we were after KLM at the same time you were."

"I did."

"But you still came to work for me."

"Not because of KLM," he denied firmly, and captured her gaze with his. "Because of you."

"But you researched me before you met me."

He shrugged, watching her as she circled him again. "No, I didn't know anything about you until the day after I met you."

"Did that influence your decision to come work for me?"

"No, because there wasn't anything to read." He cocked his head to the side. "You keep a very low profile."

"Like you."

She stopped before him to search his eyes. "You hurt me."

"I didn't mean to." He gestured futilely. "It started so simply. Like a dare."

"And you couldn't resist?"

He shook his head. "Jerry says no."

"He's a good brother?"

"Like Robin is a sister to you."

Her eyes dropped from his, but he wasn't willing to let her go.

"When I accepted you job offer, I didn't think I'd be working with you long. After what happened with my father." Jax watched her gaze lift up to his again, and he moved his shoulders helplessly in explanation. "I don't know. I just thought I'd come give you a shove in the right direction, quit and then disappear. But once I touched you. I was lost. And when I realized I'd fallen in love with you, there was no way I could just walk away and not look back."

Her eyes warmed under his, and he quickly looked away.

"I was wrong not to tell you the truth. When I started, I didn't think I'd ever have to. Then, when I went to, Sonny got in the way." Jax's mouth thinned. "He was setting you up. I knew it, but I couldn't make you see it."

"I finally did," she said softly. "But too late. The fire came and the fight, and I trapped you when you were trying to break free."

His gaze locked with hers. "I tried to tell you that night."

"I know." She opened her arms, and in an instant he was in them, hugging her, twirling her and holding her close.

"I missed you."

She pulled back to gaze into his eyes. "I missed you, too."

He pulled her back to him and lowered his head to kiss her.

Brenda pulled back again. "I do have one small problem."

He smiled. "And what is that?"

"I'm broke. I just cleaned out my bank account for you, and I don't have a job."

His eyebrows arched in amazement. "You quit?"

"I had to. I couldn't get along with the boss."

"Different philosophies?"

"No problem. We'll find you a new job where the pay is better."

"Lilly needs a job, too."

Jax grinned. "I like loyalty."

"So do I, and I want to reward it. Any suggestions?"

"I think I know a place that has a vacancy for an up-and-coming executive, and she'll need and good secretary. There is one condition though."

She smiled "And what condition is that?"

"This up-and-coming executive has to marry me."

Brenda's smile widened. "I think I can agree to that condition. When do we start?"

"Right now." Pressing his mouth to hers again, he held her close but soon became conscious of too many watching eyes as people wandered in and out of the hall. Reluctantly he released her to gesture to the dress she had on. "You wear this for me?"

She did a simple turn in front of him. "I remembered you liked it."

"I liked what was inside it."

She grabbed his tuxedo. "I like what's inside this, too."

He grinned. "Then let's go get naked."

"Okay, the bike's outside."

"No, I brought my car."

She grinned. "But I brought my bike."

He followed her out into the parking lot, a frown lining his forehead. "You have a motorcycle?"

"I told you that I wanted one." And she led him to a smaller version of his with lots of chrome and plenty of sass and held out the keys. "But you better drive. I'm not too good on turns yet."

"Yeah? Well, I'm a good teacher."

He swung onto the bike, and she hastily followed, put her arms around him and leaned close to whisper in his ear. "I can't wait for the lessons to begin."

The sound of the starting engine drowned out his laughter, but the happy sound followed them as they roared off into the night together.

THE END