Jax's Game: Book 1 of The Checkmate Series

Chapter 9

There was a knock at her door. It was ten at night, and Harriet was in her bed, drinking tea, and reading a book with a random movie on in the background.

"Come in," she responded.

Jax came in, clad in his classic sleepwear of just sweats. His hair was disheveled, curls evident, and droplets of water were sitting on it. He must've just had a shower.

She looked at him through her glasses as he sat down on the bed. His broad body was blocking her view of the television. Harriet could see every outline of his back muscles moving as he turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry about this morning," he muttered, blue eyes filled with pity. "It was highly inappropriate, and I shouldn't have forced information out of you." It was sweet and to the point.

"Now you know."

"Was it genetic?" he asked, getting up and moving to get in the bed. She moved over a little for his figure to fit in.

She shook her head 'no'. Jax nodded, closing his eyes, and fidgeting to find a comfortable spot. Giving up, she continued with her book and movie.

"I'm going to leave Claudia," he mumbled into the pillow.

She simply ignored him. He was a stubborn guy, and once he made up his mind, he would always follow through with it. Nobody could change it. Jax was going to leave his wife, and the question was, was he leaving her for Harriet?

* * *

A dress was hanging in her closet that morning, a gorgeous long black slip dress. Harriet thumbed the silk material, so smooth and soft. The price tag was still stuck to it. Her eyes widened, three thousand pounds!

"Shit," she mumbled. Jax really liked to have the best.

Ember walked into the room, wiping her tired eyes and holding her doll. She sat on Harriet's bed, watching the woman brush her teeth.

"These are really big underwear," Ember mumbled, holding up a pair of boxer briefs. Harriet looked over, eyes bulging.

'Where the fuck did she get those?'

Harriet stormed over to her, snatching the underwear from her hands. "Where were these?" she pressed.

"Under the bed, Harry," she responded, lying back and rolling in the unmade bed.

Harriet looked around, getting on her knees to look under. Sneaky, a pair of joggers were under the bed too. Fucking, Jax. It must've been when they... what a mistake! She showered quickly, placing her makeup on and grabbing her jeans and a band tee. Harriet walked out of the room; Ember hot on her heels as they headed downstairs.

Jax was in his office, and Caleb was seated on his lap, bouncing on his knee. She looked at him, the little one snuggled against his side in the dark academic-styled room. Large wooden bookshelves filled to the brim with books, a dark desk, a red leather chair, and a black leather couch. Small windows were behind him as he typed away.

"When you stay over, clean your shit. Em found a pair of your boxers," she told him. He looked up innocently as Caleb gripped his grey tee harder. He must have just returned from a run as he had water droplets on his skin and sweat marks.

"A present for you, Kit," he winked.

"Jaxon. Clean your shit," she whispered the last bit, making sure no child could hear it.

"Hey," he said, holding his child to his chest and adjusting his sitting position, "my dad is coming over for a drink today. He wants to meet you." Jax closed the computer screen and got up.