by Belle
The Promise: Chapter 6
Nothing was going the way she had planned; instead of the steamy glances and nervous stammering at the sight of her in her pale blue silk pajamas that clung to her body like second skin she had expected, Jax was sitting on an arm chair across the room, calmly reading some business documents and barely giving her the time of the day. Brenda sighed heavily - loudly enough for Jax to hear - and rearranged herself on the bed so that her already short shorts rode all the way up her thigh. She then stretched just enough to reveal her toned, tan stomach. When she was positive Jax was watching, she reached over and flipped on the TV, pretending that all her actions were strictly innocent.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jax bite back a smile and shake his
head a little.
"What?" She cried, sitting up on her knees and facing him.
Jax glanced up from his papers for a second and shrugged. "Nothing."
"No - no nothing… I want to know why you’re laughing at me!"
Jax rolled his eyes. "What makes you think I’m laughing at you? Stop being so paranoid and go back to watching TV."
The condescending tone in his voice enflamed her, and Brenda glared at him. "Fine." Her ego was definitely taking a beating, and she was feeling suddenly miserable by this bizarre turn of events. Why less than thirty minutes ago Jax had been kissing her passionately and begging her not to answer the phone. And now here he was - reading business documents with her alone on a bed in her sexiest lingerie. Not that she *wanted* Jax to want her… no - that was ridiculous. She just wanted a little pay back. She wanted to know that he was at least as miserable as she was by this little sleeping arrangement. And more than anything - she wanted to know that the sight of her in her pajamas was making him as crazy as the sight of him in his unbuttoned shirt and jeans was making her. Brenda glanced quickly over at him again, and seeing that he was still hard at work, flipped off the television and grabbed her bottle of lotion off the bedside table and immediately began to slowly smooth lotion all over her long legs. Slyly, she looked over at Jax again and to her horror he was not only still reading - but he was holding back a smile again. She had had it. Tossing the lotion down on the floor, she stood up on the bed, and placed her hands on her hips.
"Would you *mind* sharing with me exactly what it is you find so amusing?"
Jax put down his papers and grinned at her. "As a matter of fact - I wouldn’t mind at all." He rolled his eyes and got up from his chair to stand next to the bed. He was looking up at her and she found his steady gaze to be not only extremely distracting - but extremely frustrating as well. "I find you so amusing… you and your cute little pajamas that I’m sure are intended to send me into a testosterone-induced haze." He gave her a cocky little grin and leaned closer to her. "Nice effort Bren… you lost a few points in being so obvious, but you most definitely scored big in overall appearance. With a few more days of practice - I’m sure you can make your little act perfect." He winked at her. "Practice does make perfect. Although - as much as I am *enjoying* your little show - I’ll have to ask you to practice on someone else. I am an engaged man afterall."
His brazen attitude was making her even angrier than before. Practice makes perfect! An engaged man? "Excuse me? You think I’m wearing these pajamas for you!?" Her cheeks were flushed with anger and her dark eyes were flashing.
Jax reached up and brushed her cheek softly with his hand. "Well aren’t you?" he whispered intimately, letting his hand trail down her neck, over her shoulders and then down her arm. She shivered and cursed herself silently for letting her body betray her.
"No! I… I… I just threw on the first thing I saw."
"I see."
The disbelief in his voice was apparent and she flushed even more. This didn’t escape Jax and he grinned. He thought she had never looked more beautiful than she did now - trying to deny her attraction to him, and getting more and more flustered by the minute. He knew that he wasn’t behaving well… he knew that he should still be in his arm chair pretending to work, but there was something about her that kept him from using common sense. The truth was that the only thing on his mind was Brenda and that searing kiss between the two of them that he could still feel on his lips. He knew he should be freaked out by the way she was making him feel since he was already engaged, but for some unknown reason he felt intrigued instead. Everything about her was fascinating to him. The way she yelled at him for no reason one second and then smiled at him the next. The uncanny insight she had into him eventhough she had met him less than a day ago; the fact that he was sure he had met her before, but knew that wasn’t really possible. All these things added to the fact that she looked like a goddess and could draw him in with a simple smile made Brenda the most mysterious woman Jax had ever layed eyes on. Only problem was - she seemed to think he was about as intriguing as the plague. Or at least - so he had thought. Taking Brenda’s hands in his, he pulled her down so that she was on his knees. He pushed her dark hair away from her ear and leaned close.
"You know what I think?" His breath tickled her neck and she got the chills.
"What?" Her voice sounded breathless, and despite her greatest attempts to remain calm, she could feel her heart pounding. He was staring deeply into her eyes and his mouth was so close to hers that she swallowed. She licked her lips in anticipation of their kiss. Their last kiss. This would be it. She promised herself. Just one more.
"I think we should…." His voice was as thick as honey and his hand caressed her cheek as he leaned even closer. And closer and closer until - he detoured past her mouth and whispered in her ear. "Go to bed."
She felt her cheeks burn with fire as she misinterpreted what he had meant. "Go…go to bed?" She stuttered, pulling away slightly and looking up at him with surprise.
"Yeah." Jax shrugged and stood up. He gave her a look of feigned oblivion. "Do you mind if we both sleep on the bed? Or are you going to be heartless and make me sleep on the floor?" Brenda’s mouth dropped open and it took her a moment to recover. "OH! You didn’t think I meant "go to bed" as in you and me did you?" he arched an eyebrow and laughed softly. "And here I thought you hadn’t worn those pajamas for me." he sighed. "Sorry to disappoint you Princess - but I was talking in a strictly platonic sense."
Outrage filled Brenda and she threw her hands up in the air and ran towards the bathroom. "I hate you Jasper Jacks. And I’ll hate you till the day I die." And with that - she slammed and locked the door behind her. The room filled with the smooth, rich sound of Jax’s laughter and he grinned. "Oh no you won’t Brenda… not that long."
His words were followed by the sound of the door locking and her declaration that he was definitely spending the night on the floor.
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"Brenda? Bren - are you sure you don’t want to come out? I promise I’ll behave and stay on the floor… come on - just answer me - or at least unlock the door."
It was 1:30 a.m. and Jax was wide awake, sitting on the floor outside of the bathroom door. Brenda had been in there for over two and a half hours, and despite the five minute break she had given him over an hour and a half ago so that he could go to the bathroom - she was showing no sign of coming out or unlocking the door anytime soon. In fact - he hadn’t heard a word from her for the past forty-five minutes and he was starting to get worried. He had tried seven times to fall asleep… but every time his eyes would begin to close he’d imagine he had heard something fall in the bathroom - or heard her cry out in pain. Sleep was obviously not going to come to him unless he knew Brenda was all right - and he was determined to get her to open the door. Jax pressed his ear against the door and listened carefully for any sound - a snore, a breath - a yell. Anything. He sighed and got up to call the concierge. He just had to make sure she was okay.
Ten minutes later Jax was walking the hotel locksmith to the door and laughing about his apparent bad luck with women seeing as "his" had fallen asleep behind a locked bathroom door. He slipped the man a large tip for coming out in the middle of the night and after closing the door, walked quietly into the now open bathroom. He smiled unconsciously at the sleeping Brenda on the floor. She was curled up in a tight ball on the bath mat with a pile of towels underneath her head and the remaining towel draped across her feet in an effort to stay warm. The bathroom was freezing and Jax was surprised that she’d even been able to fall asleep in her flimsy clothing. Her legs and arms were covered with goose bumps and even in her sleep she shivered occasionally. For a moment Jax debated carrying her into the bedroom and tucking her in, but he knew that she would probably wake up while he was moving her and with his luck - she would kill him. Returning to the bedroom, Jax gathered two blankets, some pillows and the comforter from the bed and carried them all into the bathroom. He lifted Brenda gently with one arm and laid her back down on top of the comforter - plopping her head up with pillows and then covering her with the blankets. When she was all warm, he kneeled by her side and softly brushed a stray curl out of her eyes. Sleeping she seemed so innocent - so sweet and angelic that he couldn’t resist watching her. "Brenda." He whispered rocking back on his heels and caressing her skin. "Bren…. I shouldn’t have made so much fun of you - it’s just well… I just wanted to get under your skin the way you’ve gotten under mine and I went a little too far. But I didn’t mean to make you so angry and I’m sorry." he sighed and looked down at his hands. "Sleep well "princess." Giving her a final glance, Jax turned off the light and climbed onto the bed. Lying his head back on his pillow he smiled as an image of Brenda standing on the bed with her hands on her hips flashed before his eyes. She was definitely something else - that was for sure. Closing his eyes, Jax fell asleep with a smile on his face and visions of Brenda in his mind.
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"NO!!! NO! SOMEONE HELP! NO! DON’T LEAVE ME. PLEASE PLEASE DON’T
LEAVE ME!"
The sound of Jax screaming yanked Brenda from her deep sleep and she jumped up and ran into the bedroom. Jax was thrashing back and forth on the bed, yelling at the top of his lungs. Brenda climbed up onto the bed, and knelt by his side without thinking about what she was doing. The sight of him in only his boxer shorts took her breath away, and if Jax hadn’t started yelling again - she would have probably sat there all night just watching his beautiful body and marveling in how incredible he was. Leaning over, she nervously put her hands on his bare chest and shook him slightly. "Jax.. Jax wake up - you’re only dreaming."
"NOOO!! Please don’t leave me!" Jax yelled again, this time grabbing Brenda arms and pulling her on top of him. He was clinging to her and Brenda was shocked by how worked up he was. She could feel his heart pounding against her chest and his body was hot and sweaty. Although his death grip made it nearly impossible, Brenda pushed herself up and took his face in her hands. She slapped him lightly on the cheek. When he didn’t respond - she slapped him again. Hard. His eyes flew open and their eyes met. She sighed with relief - a smile of pure joy lighting up her face. "Jax…" she whispered breathlessly. "You’re were only dream-"
Her words were cut off by a searing kiss as Jax’s lips seized hers.
The kiss ended just as quickly as it began and by the time Brenda’s
mind cleared and she opened her eyes - Jax had fallen back asleep - with
his arms still wrapped tightly around her - clamping her to his chest.
To Be Continued...
The Promise: Chapter 7
6:24 a.m.
It had been years since Jax last felt as peaceful and well rested as he did
when he woke up the following morning in the Ritz hotel. Sighing, he opened
his eyes, stretched and tried to sit up. That was when he realized it for
the first time; that not only wasn’t he alone in the bed, but he was
covered by Brenda’s sleeping body. She was lying on his chest, with
her head resting right below his shoulder and her right hand over his heart.
Her dark hair was sprayed across his skin and he marveled in how soft and
right she felt lying on top of him. Jax slowly eased himself into a semi-sitting
position so that he could get a better look at her, and although he tried
to resist the temptation - he couldn’t help touching her cheek gently
with his thumb and brushing her hair away from her eyes. This wasn’t
right. He knew it wasn’t. He was engaged to another woman - the last
thing he should be doing was reveling in was another woman sleeping on him,
but he just couldn’t bare to end this moment. Somehow he knew that it
was sacred, and he knew that this would be his one and only "morning" with
Brenda. He had only one choice. Wrapping his arms around her back, he closed
his eyes - and went back to sleep.
*******************************************************************************
Zack stopped knocking, glanced at his watch and turned to Annie. "Well sweetie
- your five minutes are up." He reached into his pocket and held up the key.
"I think it’s time for unforced entry."
The sound of the door opening followed by Annie and Zack’s voices stirred
Brenda and she regrettably opened her eyes. She felt so comfortable - so
safe and for the first time in months - she hadn’t dreamt of Michael.
Lifting her head, her eyes caught Jax’s and she gasped - realizing where
she had spent the night. She was about to run back to the bathroom when she
heard it.
"OH MY GOD." Annie’s cry thundered throughout their room, followed by
Zack’s gasp as the two of them froze in the doorway of the bedroom.
The scene in front of them was unbelievable. Jax and Brenda entangled in
bed. Jax in his boxer shorts with a lingerie clad Brenda sprawled across
him. But it wasn’t the mere image of them in bed together that struck
them both as so incredible. It was the intensity in the look the two of them
had been sharing before Annie yelled.
"Zack!" Jax yelled pulling his eyes away from Brenda before gently lifting
her off of him and scrambling out of bed.
"Annie!" Brenda stood up on her knees on the bed, and pulled the sheet up
around her - trying to hide how flimsy her pajamas were. Her cheeks were
flaming and she felt incredibly flustered. "I - I can explain."
"What is going on here?" Zack cried, glaring at Jax as Annie walked over
to the edge of the bed and gazed with confusion and hidden delight at Brenda.
"Sweetheart - will you please calm down." Annie looked pointedly at Zack.
"Why don’t we give Jax and Brenda a moment to explain." She glanced
over at Jax and then Brenda, letting a smile show through for a sec. "at
least now we know why they were so late for breakfast. And here we were worried
they had killed each other."
Zack ignored her jokes. He was too confused by the fact that his best friend
who was supposedly ENGAGED was in bed with his wife’s best friend. "Jax-"
he said calmly. "What happened?"
"I - we - well…." Jax spoke quickly, trying to think of a reasonable
explanation of how to explain how this had happened. "Well - honestly Zack
- I don’t know HOW this happened. All I know is that I woke up with
Brenda in bed with me." he shrugged. "Last I had seen her - she was sleeping
on the bathroom floor. So if you have questions - you should ask her exactly
how she ended up in bed with me." Jax knew what that he wasn’t going
to score any points with Brenda on this one, but in the back of his mind
he could just hear Jerry yelling at him when Zack told Gwen and suddenly
the Montgomery deal was off.
"Excuse me?" Brenda’s eyes widened with anger and she turned and glared
at Jax with ice in her eyes. "You just woke up and I WAS HERE?! How *I* ended
up in bed with *you.*? That is the most -" she let out a heavy sigh and got
off the bed, walking towards Jax slowly. "Don’t you remember screaming
in the middle of the night? Begging me not to leave you!" Standing next to
Jax, she pointed her finger at him and tapped him on the chest with each
word for emphasis. "You have to be the most self-absorbed, untruthful man
I have ever met."
"You forgot to mention egotistical." Jax added, his eyes sparkling. Both
he and Brenda had completely forgotten that they had company. He shrugged
and grinned. "And I know that’s one of your favorites."
"I … I…" Brenda could feel anger boiling inside of her.
"Hate me?" Jax finished her sentence for her. "Yes - you already mentioned
that last night"
"Was this before or after the two of you ended up in bed together?" Zack
asked dryly, stepping up next to the two of them with Annie by his side and
reminding Jax and Brenda that they weren’t alone.
"We didn’t *end* up in bed together Zack… I just explained what
happened! He was having a nightmare - I came to see what was wrong, and he
begged me to stay with him. End of story."
"Fine." Zack rolled his eyes - not looking convinced in the least. He sighed
and turned to Jax. "So why did she say she hated you?"
"And exactly WHY was Brenda sleeping in the bathroom?" Annie added, looking
genuinely confused.
Before she could get an answer - Brenda slapped Jax, ran into the bathroom
and slammed the door. Zack and Annie’s mouths fell open and Jax shook
his head, biting back a smile and rubbing his red finger-streaked face.
"Need I answer your last question Annes?" Jax gave Annie a pointed look and
Zack burst into laughter. Looking back and forth between the bathroom and
Jax’s red face he sighed.
"Honey - is this Bren’s time of the month?"
Annie rolled her eyes and gave him a look before going over to the bathroom.
"Just shut- up and help Jax pack…." She looked at his swollen cheek.
"Oh - and get him some ice."
*******************************************************************************
"Annie - would you please ask Jax to pass me the salt." Brenda’s tone
was cold as she glared icily across the breakfast table at Jax even though
she was talking to Annie.
Jax returned the glare and spoke to Zack. "Zack - would you please tell Brenda
that if she wants the salt - she has to ask me herself."
Brenda narrowed her eyes. "Fine. Annie - please tell Jax if that’s the
way he’s going to be - I don’t want the salt anyway. I’ll
just eat my eggs with a lot of pepper on them."
"Zack - please tell"
"STOP!!" Annie threw her hands up into the air and glared at both Jax and
Brenda. "this is absolutely ridiculous and I refuse to help either one of
you in your pathetic little games." She closed her eyes for a moment and
rubbed her temples with her index fingers. She suddenly felt an intense head
ache coming on. After she had finally gotten Brenda out of the bathrooom
and Zack had forced Jax to apologize for accusing Brenda of being the reason
they were in bed together she had hoped that they’d allow bygones to
be bygones and move on with their lives. However - if this breakfast was
any example of how things were going to be - this month in Africa could possibly
be the longest month of her entire life. And that was only if she and Zack
didn’t kill Jax and Brenda before they killed each other.
"Well I’ll only stop if Jax stops." Brenda whined and Annie had to resist
hitting her.
Jax turned to Zack and pointed at Brenda. "do you see what I have to deal
with here?"
"Oh please Zack - cry him a river." Brenda shot back.
"Could you be any more spoiled?"
"Could you have any bigger of an ego?"
"COULD YOU TWO JUST STOP!" This time Zack threw his hands between them. "Now
I have just about had it with BOTH of your whining." He turned to Jax. "I
invited you on this trip because I wanted to spend time with you before your
wedding. Your WEDDING Jax. Now I don’t know WHAT is going on with you…
whether this is a reaction to the fact that you’re going to be tied
down in a few months or what. But it has to stop now." Brenda smirked and
it did not go unnoticed by Zack who turned to her. "And Bren - you know I
love you like a sister, but I love Annie more and if you are going to make
her miserable this entire vacation with all your whining and games with Jax
then I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask BOTH of you to either
A. Go home, B. Go find some hotel room - get it out of your systems for real
and then come back to us or " Both Jax and Brenda opened their mouths to
protest, but he held out his hand and continued. " Or C. Start acting like
adults and reach some sort of peace agreement so we can all enjoy our vacation."
He looked back and forth between Jax and Brenda. "So guys - what is it going
to be?"
Jax and Brenda looked across the table at one another wearily. Neither one
of them wanting to be the first one to choose. "Well… I - I guess C."
Brenda said softly, looking down at her hands.
Zack and Annie both smiled. "Jax?" Zack gave his friend a pointed look.
"Sure - I say C too."
"Great." Annie grinned. "Now Bren - don’t you have something to say
to Jax?"
Brenda was about to shout that she didn’t have anything to say to the
ape across from her when she saw the expressions on Annie and Zack’s
faces and realized that neither one of them were in the mood to joke around.
"I umm…. I’m sorry about hitting you." she mumbled, looking at
him from underneath dark lashes.
Jax sighed. "Yeah - I’m sorry about blaming everything on you…
and well - generally being a jerk."
They both looked nervously at each other and Annie sighed. "Wonderful - now
that all of that is taken care of - let’s talk about what we’re
going to do once we get to the Elephant Camp."
Brenda choked on her coffee. "Excuse me?" Her dark eyes flew open and she
looked at Annie in shock. "What did you just call the place we’re going?"
"The Elephant Camp." Annie restated. "I’m sorry I didn’t tell you
earlier, but the place we’re staying is called the Victoria Falls Elephant
Camp… I’m going there to shoot pictures of us spending time with
the -"
"elephants?" Brenda gasped, licking her lips… her usually flushed face
suddenly pale.
"exactly." Annie grinned. "It should be an incredible experience Bren. There
are four domesticated elephants in all… and we get to spend all our
time with them -"
"bathing them, walking with them - eating with them…" Zack interrupted
her.
"Sleeping with them." Jax added, grinning and winking.
"IT would be a lot more pleasant than sleeping with you." Brenda retaliated.
Annie gave her a look and Brenda flashed Jax a brief, apologic half smile.
She looked back at Annie - hesitation all over her face. "So we… we….
We have to actually *touch* these elephants?" Her mind was racing. Hadn’t
she ever told Annie about her one phobia? The one that came from the time
her Nanny let her ride on that Elephant at the zoo and she almost died? This
trip was really truly turning into her worst nightmare.
"That’s kind of the whole idea Bren." Annie said gently.
Brenda nodded, trying to take all of this in. "I see… Well… umm…
we don’t really have to sleep with them - do we?"
Although he tried to control it - Jax burst into laughter and Zack kicked
him under the table. He immediately sobered, biting his lip to keep from
smiling. The expression on her face was absolutely priceless.
"Only if the elephants sleep in the bathroom." Jax joked. Annie slapped him
on the arm.
"Of course you don’t have to sleep with them Bren."
Brenda sighed and tried to smile. "Okay… well…. Umm.. So where
do we sleep?"
Zack and Annie shot each other looks across the table. Zack shook his head
slightly and Annie sighed. It was probably better for her to keep that quiet
for the time being. "It’s going to be fine Bren - don’t worry."
Standing up from the table - she glanced at her watch. "Well guys - I’d
say it’s about time that we get going - don’t you think?"
As everyone walked towards the lobby to get their things, Jax stood back
slightly. He had seen the look between Annie and Zack when sleeping arrangements
had come up and he knew it had to mean only one thing. That one way or another
- his troubles with Brenda were only beginning…
August 18
The Ritz Carlton
Rm. 1455
8:30 a.m.
The Ritz Carlton
hallway - Rm 1455
"Honey- why don’t you try knocking a little louder." Annie suggested
to Zack, glancing at her watch and shaking her head. It was 8:30 a.m. and
Jax and Brenda had beenover 45 minutes late to "breakfast" and were now seemingly
refusing to open the door to their room. After calling their room and getting
no answer, Zack had finally bribed the concierge into giving them a copy
of their room key. Annie had felt very uncomfortable with simply barging
in, so she had made a deal with Zack that they would try knocking for five
minutes. If that didn’t work - they would use the key.
10:55 a.m.
August 18
The Ritz Carlton
Café Amour