The Jaxon Effect Read online

  A set of thick red velvet curtains hung as a back drop, and a large silver ‘R’ was centred on the stage floor. The stage itself was a ‘T’ shape – like a model catwalk –with a glossy black surface. Several ladies took up residence for the evening on low silver stools placed around the perimeter and there was a small overhang deep enough to place a drink. Kate couldn’t help but notice the contrast between the hard and soft, masculine and feminine, contemporary and vintage used in the decor. Whoever designed this place knew exactly what they were doing—contradictions at their finest.

  More than a dozen scantily clad drop-dead gorgeous men were wandering around, chatting it up with the female patrons. From what she could gather, they were the entertainment. As much as she appreciated their near perfect muscular bodies and extreme good looks, Kate couldn’t help but think about her last patient of the morning. The one she had dreamed of most of the day… Jaxon Remington. She thought about him sitting on the small hospital bed with his grey running shorts and his bare chest. Now that was a man who oozed sex appeal. Sure the men that were currently lingering around the room were sexy, but Jaxon Remington was in a class of his own. If his current occupation didn’t work out, whatever it was exactly she wasn’t sure, he could definitely consider dancing as a backup plan. Even if he couldn’t dance, his sinful body and over-the-top sex appeal could more than make up for two left feet.

  The Emcee for the evening, a dancer who called himself Playboy, had begun to call out individual female names from a list inviting them to the stage for a special treat. Kate watched the reactions of the successful ladies, as they heard their names being called. Sometimes they were shocked and had to be coaxed to get on stage and other times they ran up without so much as a nod from their friends.

  Kate’s eyes slowly wandered away from Playboy and became fixed on a different man. She had to be imagining things. This man was standing against a door that was beside the stage and he looked far too familiar. He was watching the crowd, and by the look on his face, he was agitated about something.

  “Oh my God! He's here!”

  “Who?” Jade asked.

  “Nobody,” Kate said hurriedly, immediately regretting her sudden outburst. She wanted to keep her little incident with this man to herself. Tonight was about Jade.

  “Don’t tell me, nobody Kate. Who are you talking about?”

  Jade caught sight of the man who Kate’s eyes were fixed upon. “Mama Mia Kate, how do you know that guy? He is…gorgeous!”

  “His name is Jaxon,” Kate answered, resigning to the fact that her best friend, who was also an astute reporter, would find out one way or another. If Jade wanted information she could be relentless. “He was in the hospital this morning with a dog bite.”

  “He was your patient?”

  “Yes, just this morning.” Kate was trying to act indifferent regarding the whole thing, but she wasn’t doing very well.

  “You actually get patients who look like that? Kate, you my friend have been holding out on me.”

  Kate smiled at Jade; she really hoped her very perceptive best friend wouldn’t notice his effect on her.

  “Did you actually get to see that guy with his shirt off? Better still did you touch him? If I was his doctor I would..." Jade had suddenly picked up on the nervous yet dreamy look on Kate’s face.

  “Oh my God Kate, you like him don’t you?”

  “What? No, don’t be absurd.”

  “Kate, you‘re blushing and I have never seen you blush.” Jade rose from her chair and Kate immediately pulled on her arm.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To go talk to him,” her friend teased. “Let him know his doctor is in the house.”

  “No!” Kate responded, forcefully. “Jade, sit down!”

  “No way, Kate. I have never seen you look at a man like that. I can’t let this opportunity pass you by."

  “JADE STYLES!”

  Before Jade had the chance to make Kate's presence known—to the man Kate now knew for certain was Jaxon—she heard her name over the speakers and stopped in her tracks, whirling around to face Kate. “Did they just…?”

  Stopping mid-sentence as she heard her name called for the second time; Jade slid back into her chair, forgetting that she was on a mission.

  The timing couldn’t have been any better. “That means you, sweetie,” Kate teasingly reminded her, never as grateful for an interruption as she was at that moment.

  Forgetting all about Jaxon, Jade glared at Kate—half angry, half amused. “You didn't?!”

  “I did,” Kate admitted. “Consider it an early wedding present, one we won't tell Kenny about.”

  “No. I can't go up there, Kate,” Jade insisted. “Kenny wouldn’t like it. I think you should go, just pretend you’re me.”

  “Kenny isn't here. He'll never know. Besides I'm not the one getting married in two weeks, you are. Now go!” Kate pointed to the only open seat that was still left on the stage. “Go on, you'll have fun,” she urged playfully. “When I get married you can do the same for me.”

  “You actually have to go on a date for that to ever happen, Kate,” Jade said in a mocking tone.

  “True, but this isn't about me. It's about you and I say go for it!”

  A waiter approached the table wearing nothing but bootie shorts and a bow tie, he was carrying a tray of drinks, “Ladies can I offer you some poison this evening?”

  His gold spandex shorts fit like a glove, accentuating his assets. While Jade became distracted by his uniform, Kate used the opportunity to buy her a drink.

  “We'll have a couple of these.” Kate pointed to two bright yellow test tubes filled with some kind of alcohol concoction. She fished a couple of bills out of her purse and handed them to him. She plucked two tubes from his tray and handed one to Jade.

  “Here, take some liquid courage. You can thank me later.”

  Jade accepted the bright yellow tube Kate offered and eyed it skeptically. “What the heck.”

  She drank it down in one go—keeping her eyes on the assets of the waiter as he moved on to the next table. She could hear her name being called a third time, but she ignored it.

  “Shit! That’s good stuff!”

  Very pleased, Kate passed her the second tube. Jade didn’t waste any time drinking that one too.

  “Okay,” Jade finally agreed, with a girlish laugh. “Why not?”

  She wiped her forearm across her mouth. “Wish me luck,” she squealed, as she headed for the stage. If Kate wasn't mistaken, she thought she could actually see Jade skipping. She laughed at the sight feeling satisfied with her friend’s level of happiness so far this evening. Even more so, she was satisfied that Jade had forgotten about her quest to go talk to Jaxon.

  Kate glanced back over to where she had seen Jaxon standing earlier. He seemed so powerful and he was definitely as beautiful as she remembered. She wondered what he was even doing there. He wasn’t a dancer or at least she didn’t think he was. He was dressed in a dark suit and he appeared to be watching over things as though he was security or something of that nature.

  Remembering that Jade was in pursuit of the stage, Kate took her eyes off Jaxon to catch a man who had the name Loverboy tattooed across his muscled back, escort her to the empty seat. Jade was smiling and her amusement was clearly evident as she wiggled her bottom into the chair. She locked eyes with Kate and waved at her from the distance. Kate smiled back at her, giving her two thumbs up. She was trying to appear natural as though Jaxon Remington’s presence hadn’t affected her in the least. Jade didn’t need any reminders regarding her earlier intent on playing matchmaker.

  Jaxon was standing in his usual spot—to the right of the stage—leaning against a door marked “Employees Only”. The last chair was finally claimed by an attractive brunette. As she sat down, the woman waved to someone in the crowd. Jaxon followed her gaze and his eyes locked on a beautiful blonde who was giving her two thumbs up. It took him a minute to register who she was.
She looked different from the last time he saw her, but he knew it was her. He would recognize those beautiful large green eyes and full pouty lips anywhere; they were committed to memory. She had her hair down this time and he liked it. He liked it very much. Her golden locks cascaded over her shoulders, framing her perfectly rounded face. The air around him began to feel thick as he breathed it in. It became as though no one else was in the room because she had his undivided attention.

  When he had arrived at the club earlier that night he hadn’t been sure how late he’d stick around. His ankle was throbbing but that hadn’t been his biggest problem. He had been obsessing over a certain female doctor and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake her from his mind. The intrusive thoughts were making it extremely difficult to concentrate on his work. He had planned to leave right before the “Celebration” stage show began. He had an itch he needed to scratch—compliments of Dr. Sims—and until he was able to find relief he would remain on edge and irritable as hell. Now that she was there, things had only gotten worse but he would be damned if he left now.

  The “Celebration Package” was offered for a fee to any female who wanted to purchase one. Normally ladies didn't purchase it for themselves but for someone else. It was a chance to get up on stage and get a little sample of several of the dancers at once. It was named the “Celebration Package” because it was usually purchased for those celebrating upcoming marriages, birthdays and—Jaxon's own personal favourite—divorces. Sometimes the divorcees could be even more entertaining than his dancers. They often had fewer inhibitions. They were rarely shy and they didn’t pretend not to love the attention his men showered them with.

  While waiting for the show to start, Kate could sense that someone was standing exceptionally close to the back of her chair. She automatically found herself checking to see if Jaxon was still standing against the door and it unnerved her that he wasn't. Her heart skipped a beat because she could feel someone was very close to the back of her chair. She craned her neck around to see if it was him. He had made her flustered the last time she saw him but she still hoped it was.

  Holy mother of— A muscled Amazon, who was wearing a barely there peach coloured thong, had his junk pressed up against a lady wearing a wedding veil. Since he was facing the lady with his front, his perfectly round tight ass was so close to Kate she could reach out and touch it. Her immediate reaction was to try to move as far away from him as possible, pulling her chair in so close to the edge of the table that she was certain she would have a bruise tomorrow.

  “ARE YOU LADIES R-E-A-D-Y?"

  The crowd cheered loudly. They were more than ready

  The lights unexpectedly went off, leaving the room in almost complete darkness. The only light came from the exit sign above the door in the far right corner. Kate could barely see, but she noticed a number of silhouettes moving onto the stage. It was actually kind of exciting despite the fact it was hard for her to concentrate knowing Jaxon was in the room—somewhere—and she didn’t know where.

  Moments later the lights came back on and the music started to play. The country beat sounded familiar. She chuckled to herself as she realized it was “Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy.”

  Now that the lights were on, she could see a dozen very sexy jean-clad shirtless males in cowboy boots and matching white Stetsons on the stage. Each man positioned himself in front of a lady, facing the crowd with their backs to the ladies in chairs. On cue, they all bent over and ripped the denim clear off their bodies with flair and sharp synchronization.

  Kate might have actually enjoyed the show more if it wasn’t for the fact that he was there, somewhere.

  She felt the air around her change. Jaxon was close she could feel it. She kept her eyes on the stage, afraid to look anywhere else.

  “Hello Doctor,” a deep familiar voice crooned. She knew it was him.

  Kate slowly peered across the table to find Jaxon sitting in Jade’s chair.

  “Mr. Remington, what a surprise! How's the ankle?” Kate tried to play it cool.

  “My ankle is good, thanks to you. So what brings you to a place like this? I’ve never noticed you here before.”

  Never noticed me here before… So he was here regularly?

  “I might ask you the same thing, Mr. Remington. I mean, you don’t seem to be the type to be into men and you certainly aren’t dressed like a dancer.”

  “No, that’s right. I'm neither of those. I actually own this place.”

  He owned the place? Did she hear him right? She’d never expected that.

  “I thought you said something about owning a factory in Madrid.”

  “I do have a factory in Madrid, but I also own this club.”

  “Oh,” she said, not sure what else to say. He was looking at her, with his deep blue eyes, so intensely that she wanted to look away.

  “You still haven’t told me why you're here, Doctor.”

  Kate directed his attention to the stage. “The girl on the end is my friend Jade. She's getting married next week.”

  “So what about you? Do you have a husband or a boyfriend?”

  “No I—am sad and lonely—No I don’t.”

  “I am very surprised. A highly intelligent, beautiful woman like you, I guess you’re just waiting for Mr. Right then.”

  He said she was beautiful. That did all kinds of strange things to her insides. She really hoped he didn’t notice, as far as the Mr. Right comment went, there would never be a Mr. Right, not for her.

  “Are you blushing doctor? Because I have to say I find it very…sexy.”

  His voice was seductive and he drew out that last word so slowly that Kate could feel her internal temperature rise. This man knew how to push all the right buttons, sending her body into a lustful frenzied state of confusion. She began wondering what it would be like to be kissed by him—just one kiss. That's all she wanted from him.

  Jaxon was pleased to see he had the same effect on her as she had on him. Not only was she blushing, but she was heating up before his eyes as he observed tiny droplets of sweat begin to form above her upper lip. She was staring at him as if he was dessert and he really wanted to know what she was thinking. He hoped she was thinking about the possibilities they had between them. He wanted to lick the salty droplets of sweat from her face; he wanted to taste her lips. He just knew they would be divine. Sweet Dr. Sims, he really wanted to kiss her.

  He stopped himself before the fantasies went any further. He had no idea what had gotten into him. He didn’t do things like this; he didn’t fantasize. Life was too real, too serious, for that. When it came to sexual tension, he rarely felt it unless he was in a very specific setting— sitting at a table in his club with a woman he barely knew was definitely not one of those settings. In fact, his sexual encounters served a very specific purpose to him and everything was very controlled and always planned. Spontaneous hook-ups were not ever on the menu. Still, the attraction was there, exploding between them like a powder keg. It was something he couldn’t ignore.

  He was trying to decide what he was going to do about this woman, when one of his men—Six Pack—showed up at the table. He observed her closely as her eyes shifted to their new visitor. He was curious to see if she would look at Six Pack in the same way she had looked at him, but she didn’t. She made very quick eye contact with him, smiled and then looked away again. It surprised him greatly to see that she showed no interest in Six Pack. All the ladies loved Six Pack. He was the most popular dancer on his payroll.

  His relationship with his employees was complicated. Most of them had been with him since day one and many of them owed him for being able to get their lives on track. He saved many of them from self-destruction and he often got the feeling they felt indebted to him, even though that wasn't what he was after. They respected him for the most part and they respected the rules—with Jaxon there were always rules.

  “What is it?” he grunted at Six Pack.

  “Sorry boss I really hate to in
terrupt.” Six Pack glanced over at Kate. “Actually never mind boss, sorry to interrupt. It's nothing.”

  “You’ve already interrupted us, so now you are going to tell me what’s going on and I will decide if it’s nothing,” Jaxon said with complete command.

  “Trent is trying to cut off a customer who’s had too much to drink. She's starting to get out of hand. We’ve caught her disrupting other customers a few times by trying to convince them to order her drinks.”

  Jaxon pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. He turned to her, a look of regret on his face. “I have to go deal with a problem. It was nice seeing you again.”

  He held out his hand to her and she eyed it nervously as she remembered what happened the last time she attempted to shake his hand.

  “Yes, you too,” she replied, wishing he didn’t have to leave so soon. As uncomfortable as she was, with the feelings he stirred in her, she still wanted more time with him. “Please call me, Kate.”

  His hand was still stretched out to her. She knew she had no choice, and she was going to have to touch him. This is crazy it’s just a handshake; don’t be a chicken shit Kate. As if it was on a slow motion movie screen, his large powerful hand took hers—completely covered it—and there it was. The intense electric feeling she experienced earlier that day at the hospital came back causing her to feel dizzy and overwhelmed. Just like the last time they shook hands her automatic response was to pull away but as if he anticipated her reaction he squeezed a little tighter. All she could do now was hope to God that her wobbly knees didn’t give out.