Tempting Sydney by Angela Corbett Page A

but that piece of information hit, and stuck. “You saw her? Us?”
    He didn’t say anything for a minute. He licked his lips before replying, “I did.”
    A question—and realization started to form in my head. “Why were you at Edge?” I remembered him standing in his bedroom in his boxers, listening to me talk to Brynn about our plans. I hadn’t even said the name of the club, but he must have pieced it all together.
    “Because you were.”
    I widened my eyes and immediately regretted it. Jax saw me wince and reached over to the window above my bed, pulling the purple curtains shut. “Thanks,” I mumbled. “Why would you go to the club just because I was going?”
    He took a deep breath, and scrubbed his hand over his chin. “Call me crazy, but I don’t like when people go into situations they could get hurt in. You said you’re Brynn’s backup. I’m yours.”
    My stomach did a flip-flop. “I didn’t ask you to be,” I whispered.
    “You didn’t have to.”
    For some reason, Jax’s protectiveness felt a lot like a man reacting to someone he cared about being in danger. Jax might have feelings for me, but I wasn’t sure how far those emotions extended. I didn’t think he was looking for a relationship, though. As much as I wanted him to care about me, and take care of me, I didn’t know if I could handle it. If I let him in, I was afraid I’d get too invested, and be destroyed when he left. “What if that’s not what I’m looking for?”
    He stared down at me. “Too bad.”
    A warm feeling coursed through me, followed by a giddy rush of excitement at his protective behavior. I wasn’t even annoyed that he’d eavesdropped on my conversation with Brynn and then followed me to the club like a stalker. I couldn’t deny the fact that I was grateful for his presence. If it wasn’t for him, I would have ended up in a horrible situation. I couldn’t thank him for that enough. I put my hand on his arm, his bicep moving under my touch. His gorgeous gaze met mine. “Thank you for being there. I would have been…” I paused, tears pricking my eyes, “I don’t know what would have happened without you.”
    He pursed his lips, the muscle ticking at his jaw again. I felt like there was more he wanted to say, but instead, he cupped my cheek with his palm, his thumb rubbing lightly, back and forth, on my skin. “It should be almost out of your system by now.”
    He turned away, and handed me a cold bottle of water. “Only take a little, and let me know if you feel sick.”
    I took the water, gingerly lifting it to my lips. No beverage had ever tasted as wonderful as that sip; I felt like I hadn’t had anything to drink in days. I wanted to gulp it down, but knew that wouldn’t end well, and vomiting all over Jax probably wouldn’t impress him much.
    When I’d managed to keep down half of my water, Jax handed me some fruit and yogurt mixed with granola. “Little bites,” he said.
    I chewed my food slowly, trying to make digestion as easy as possible. I dropped a piece of granola on my shirt, noticing my clothes for the first time. Blue pajama shorts and a matching tank top covered me. Well, thank Thor I wasn’t naked. I amended the thought when I realized that I probably wasn’t the person who got me in my jammies.
    “Did you stay here all night?”
    He nodded. “I watched you and Brynn to make sure you’d be okay.”
    I hadn’t noticed the dark circles around his eyes, or his heavy lids until now. I couldn’t believe he’d saved us both from our own stupidity, and then stayed up all night to keep checking on us and make sure we were okay. My heart constricted and I swallowed the lump in my throat. He was a good guy. A really good guy.
    I heard Brynn moving around in the other room. “I should go check on her,” I said, shifting to get out of bed.
    “She’s fine. She’s already eaten.”
    I gaped at him. “Seriously? Sheesh. She bounces back like she’s a professional