Free Relentless (Relentless #1) by Alyson Reynolds Page A

I rested my head on his chest and listened to the steady beating of his heart.
    “I’m not ready for anyone to know, Jax. We need to keep this between us and the few people that have found out for now. The only person I’m scared will say anything is Silver.”
    “I’ll take care of it. She won’t say anything or I’ll make her regret it, but I believe our secret is safe. Lexi scared the shit out of her.”
    He called it our secret and it thawed my anger towards him a little bit. Jax looked like he wanted to ask something, but was struggling to decide if he wanted to or not. I smiled at him.
    “What? Just say it.”
    “How far along do you think you are?”
    “Maybe seven or eight weeks, it might have happened that night at the beach, so that would make it eight weeks. Remember? We didn’t have anything, but we still…” I trailed off.
    He grinned wickedly. “I remember. Vividly.”
    Blushing, I threw a pillow at him. He pulled me into his arms and this time I stayed there. We sat soaking in the quiet, my head resting on his shoulder and his hands rubbing up and down my arms in a soothing pattern.
    “Jaxon?”
    “Yes?”
    “I’m not going anywhere, but you need to promise me you will talk. No secrets from each other.”
    “Done.”
    We had so much to discuss, but now wasn’t the time. For now, we would be okay. Everything was forgiven, but not forgotten. I appreciated the fact that he had come clean about his ex, but it would be a long road back to where we were only a few days ago. When had life become so confusing? A few months ago, all I wanted was to apply to law school or land my next acting gig. Now my priorities had completely changed.
     
     
    Neither Stephen nor Taylor seemed surprised to see us sitting together when they came back from dinner. Stephen turned back towards the kitchen and I heard him mutter something under his breath about having to see us screw on the couch every night now. I burst out laughing and Jax tried to fight the smile that was forming on his lips. The look Stephen pinned us with made me laugh even harder. Taylor took his hand and led him into the kitchen.
    “Come on tiger; let’s go get you a drink.”
     
     

     
     
    The next morning I watched from just outside the door as Taylor sat down at the kitchen table and gave Jaxon the third degree.  She might be my little sister, but she looked out for me just as fiercely as I looked out for her. As she ramped up her argument about why I needed to be treated like a queen, I decided it was time to intervene.
    “Taylor, stop. We’ve discussed it and its over.”
    She scowled at me from across the room, and I stuck my tongue out at her.  A giggle escaped as I poured myself some coffee, without thinking I took a huge gulp.  I took off running for the bathroom with Jax hot on my heels. He pulled my hair back while I threw up the breakfast I had just eaten an hour earlier. Groaning, I said, “Not coffee!  It’s supposed to be my best friend. Why did it turn on me?”
    “I'm sorry, love.”
    My nausea went away after a few hours, but the only thing I could keep down all day was apple juice. I had only tried that out of desperation because I normally hated it. Apples in general weren’t my thing. If this kept up, I wouldn’t have to worry about hiding baby weight any time soon.
     

 
    Two days later, I was back on set filming. Gage had played off my absence as exhaustion and a touch of some virus going around. I owed him big time.
    Amanda walked up carrying my coffee and it took everything I had not to gag at the smell. She thrust it into my hands, and I grabbed it before it fell to the ground.
    “I appreciate that you brought me coffee this morning, my stomach isn’t up for it yet,” I said. As Stephen passed by, I handed it off to him. He grabbed it from me and shot Amanda a smile. She didn’t smile back.
    “Are you sure you don’t want a drink of mine? Just a sip?”
    She was fishing for a reaction from me, but