Before You (Before You #1)(2)
Aubrey shot him a confused look, but before she could respond, a tall blonde woman in a tight red dress that was working overtime to conceal her lady parts put her arm on the man’s shoulder. “Well, hello there, Jax. Have you missed me?” She leaned in to his body and whispered into his ear while conveniently putting her cleavage in his direct line of sight. With what Aubrey guessed was meant to be an alluring smile, but one that came out more predatory than anything, she whispered, “Maybe you want to visit the storage closet with me again tonight. We could have a repeat of last weekend.”
Aubrey tried to ignore the disheartened flip of her stomach caused by the woman’s proposal. It didn’t matter what this man did or didn’t do. She didn’t know him and she would never know him. He was a stranger in a bar, nothing more.
Jax’s face became unreadable. “I’ll catch up with you later, Katie. I’m busy right now,” Jax replied dismissively, shifting away from the woman, so she plainly understood he wanted her to leave him alone.
Katie shot Aubrey an angry look and looked back toward Jax. “But you never answered my text about going to my parents’ house for dinner tomorrow.”
“Katie, you know I don’t do the parent thing,” Jax responded forcefully as he glanced over his shoulder. “We’ll catch up later.”
“Fine. We’ll talk later.” Katie flipped her hair and turned to leave.
Jax glanced at Aubrey, tilting his head to the side, surveying her response to the woman’s comment. “I’m not dating that woman. She’s just a… family friend, nothing serious,” he said in a lazy voice.
“Good to know. I can rest easy knowing that you don’t hop into closets with random strangers. For a moment there, I was worried for your safety,” Aubrey replied, searching the room for Camden again.
“Ah, you heard that,” he replied, a slow, startling white smile spreading across his face. “Well… in case you’re curious, I’m definitely not interested in her tonight. I have other things in mind.”
She couldn’t control the heat that flooded her face. “I have no interest in what you do or don’t do,” Aubrey said, scanning the room.
Jax shot her a wry glance and his voice deepened enticingly. “Really? Because from the way you looked at me earlier, I got the distinct impression that you were interested.”
“Impressions can be wrong. Like I said earlier, I’m meeting my boyfriend here. His band is playing tonight.”
The man rose from the barstool and regarded her curiously. “There’s only one band playing here tonight.”
For the first time, Aubrey noticed that he was really tall and she had to tilt her head back to meet his gaze. “Right, Chasing Ruin. That’s his band. He plays the guitar.”
Setting his beer down on the bar, his eyes traveled over her body and face with frank masculine appreciation. “Ah, you must be Aubrey, Cam’s girl from home.”
“Yes,” Aubrey replied, smiling. “Do you know Cam?”
Jax shoved his hands in his pockets, his gray eyes enigmatic. “You could say that. See you around, Aubrey.”
Aubrey watched his back as he wove through the crowded bar until she couldn’t see him anymore. She didn’t really understand what had happened between them, but she didn’t have much time to ponder it before the lights flipped on above the small stage at the far end of the bar.
Almost immediately, Cam bounced onto the stage with his guitar followed by two other men and Aubrey smiled when she saw his familiar head of bright blond hair. Camden was dressed in faded jeans and a plain white t-shirt.
The two men trailing Cam couldn’t have been more dissimilar if they tried. The first man was all brooding darkness, whereas the other one was playful lightness. Dressed in a fitted black t-shirt with black jeans and heavy black boots, the dark-haired man slid behind the set of drums and flipped his drumsticks into the air, mesmerizing the audience with the black tattoos curling up his toned arms.
The other man picked up the bass guitar, smiling intimately at the crowd, his blond hair spiked in every direction. If there were such a thing as a living Ken doll, he was it. With fitted dark jeans and a tailored dress shirt, he didn’t look as if he should be playing bass in a band, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have admirers. Women grabbed at his ankles when he neared the edge of the stage. He clearly loved the attention.
Interrupting the scene created by the living Ken doll, the drummer banged his drumsticks together, and the lead singer ran onto the stage with his back turned away from the crowd. He ran up to the other members of the band, saying something to each one before addressing the audience. When he turned around, Aubrey’s mouth fell open. It was Jax. The amusement twinkling in his eyes earlier was noticeably absent. He was all business. His intense eyes scanned the crowd, eager women screaming as his gaze passed over them.
The attention that the other band members garnered earlier faded into the background as all eyes in the bar focused on Jax. Aubrey noticed his appeal when he approached her earlier, but on stage, he commanded attention, and that was before he even opened his mouth. She secretly admitted that his sexual magnetism eclipsed the rest of the band members, who had looked so impressive before she saw Jax on stage, Cam included. Now she understood why Cam was so excited about the prospects of his band.
When Jax’s eyes land on her, somehow Aubrey managed to keep her face composed, but her perfidious heart raced double-time. Physically incapable of pulling her eyes away from his penetrating stare, she soaked him in. He really had the most disconcerting eyes. Being Cam’s girlfriend, she knew she should look away and ignore him completely. Instead, his mischievous smile held her hostage, making her feel as though they were sharing some private, intimate joke, and against her better judgment she found herself returning his smile.