Pass Interference (Fair Catch Series, Book Four)

by Christine Kersey

  Suppressing a smile, Jax knew their next kiss would be all the sweeter because of the anticipation.

  As they drove back to Autumn’s house, they talked about their hike and getting lost. He remembered the way it had felt when she’d fallen asleep tucked against his side. She’d been all warm and relaxed and he’d completely enjoyed the way it had felt to know he was keeping her safe and comfortable. Well, as comfortable as one can be sitting in the dirt in the middle of the forest. And when she’d been deep in slumber, he’d inhaled the soft floral scent that surrounded her—he assumed it was her shampoo. Whatever it was, he would forever associate the scent with her.

  When they got to her house, the sun was beginning to set. Hoping she would invite him in, when she smiled at him from the passenger seat and said, “Thank you for an interesting afternoon. I think both Sasha and I are going to take a nap,” he kept his idea to himself.

  He faced her, the middle console separating them. “I hope interesting means having an awesome time.”

  “Oh, it does.” Her green eyes seemed to sparkle. “I can’t wait to tell Haylie and Cassie about it.”

  What would her friends think about him when they heard he’d gotten Autumn lost? Would they encourage her to dump him? Not happy about the possibility, he grunted in reply.

  Autumn tilted her head. “What?”

  “I’m sure they’ll get a good laugh out of it.”

  “You can count on it.”

  Fabulous.

  Jax got out of the car and came around to the passenger side, and as he opened the door for Autumn, he was curious to see if she would let him kiss her. Should he even try? No. He would wait until she suggested it. He could play this game with her.

  Maybe it wasn’t a game. Maybe she’d decided she wasn’t ready for so much kissing. Respecting that, he looked at her. She seemed happy and carefree, if not a little tired. Not sure what was going on in her head, he held out his hand to help her out. She grasped it, and it felt so small and delicate in his. Was she delicate? No, he didn’t think so. Strong and resilient seemed like better words to describe her.

  She slid out of the SUV, and as her feet touched the ground in front of him, the floral scent he associated with her clouded around him.

  “When can I see you again?” He heard the words coming from his mouth, but they didn’t feel natural. Typically the woman asked him.

  Eager to spend time with him, but cautious about protecting her heart, Autumn hedged. “Uh, maybe next weekend? I have a lot of work to do at the salon. Besides cutting hair, I mean.”

  Disappointment washed across Jax’s face, but was quickly replaced by a smile. “Right. Of course.”

  Time to say good-bye. Autumn really was tired. “Thanks again, Jax.” Her gaze flitted to his mouth and she was tempted to tell him the magic on her lips was gone and it was safe to kiss again.

  No. She had to hold back. Had to see if he would even contact her this week. She shouldn’t be in a hurry to give her heart away.

  Her gaze went to his. That didn’t help. His blue eyes appraised her and her powerful attraction to him hadn’t waned a bit.

  With his eyes steady on hers, he said, “Thanks for the muffins…Angel.”

  Chuckling, she shook her head. “You’re welcome.”

  Jax knelt beside Sasha. “Be good for Autumn, you silly beast.”

  Warmed that he always seemed to remember her dog, Autumn’s resolve wavered once again, and when Jax stood and faced her, she smiled up at him.

  A car drove by, catching her attention, and when it slowed as it passed her house, Autumn’s gaze flicked to it. The windows were tinted so she couldn’t tell if it was someone she knew. Perhaps the driver recognized Jax.

  That was one thing she’d loved about today’s date. They’d been all alone. No one to interrupt them.

  “Do you…” Jax gestured toward the front door. “Want me to walk you to your door?”

  “Sure.” In all reality, Autumn wasn’t in a hurry to say good-bye. But she knew she should. Because the walls around her heart were weakening and she wasn’t ready to let them.

  When they reached her front door, she unlocked it, then she turned to Jax. She had to kiss him. Had to. “Come closer,” she said, her voice soft.

  His eyebrows rose, but he leaned down, his gaze locked on hers.

  Autumn stared back. Then, placing her hands on the sides of his head, she lifted herself on tiptoe until their mouths were centimeters apart. After pausing a moment, she shifted her head an inch to the left and pressed her lips just to the side of his mouth.

  “The magic hasn’t left yet,” she murmured in his ear.

  Settling back onto the balls of her feet, she smiled at the dazed look on Jax’s face. Reaching behind her while keeping her eyes on his, she turned the knob, then pushed the door inward. She could feel Sasha blasting past her into the house.

  “Good-night, Jax.” With a final smile, she turned and walked inside, then closed the door behind her.

  Holy smokes. Jax had never experienced something like that. Used to women throwing themselves at him, he didn’t know what to do with Autumn. Captivated. That’s what he was. Totally and completely.

  Staring dumbly at her closed front door, after a moment he blinked away his stunned surprise before managing to turn and walk back to his car.

  He had no doubt that when he wasn’t thinking about football over the next week, he’d be thinking about Autumn Foster.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Autumn sank onto her couch, an idiotic smile on her face.

  Had she really done that? Had she really planted a kiss next to Jax’s mouth and whispered silly words into his ear?

  A snort of laughter left her throat.

  Yes. Yes she had. And the bewildered look on Jax’s face had made it all worthwhile. That, and the feel of his rough skin under her lips.

  She had to call Haylie. Right away. She could tell her in person at the salon in the morning, but no. She couldn’t wait. After feeding Sasha, Autumn stretched out on her bed and dialed Haylie’s number.

  “You did what?” Haylie asked after Autumn had told her about the way she’d ended her date. “And what did you mean when you told him the magic hadn’t left yet? What happened on your date?”

  Autumn couldn’t hold back her giggle. “There’s a story behind the magic comment.”

  “Yeah, I figured. Tell me.”

  Reliving her date as she described every minute detail, Autumn felt the same excitement and happiness sweep over her as she’d felt on the date itself.

  “Wowzers,” Haylie said. “I want to go on a date with someone as hot as Jax and get lost in the woods.”

  “Right?” Autumn’s smile was dazzling. And she’d told Jax she wouldn’t be able to see him until the next weekend. What had she been thinking?

  “When are you going out with him again?”

  “I don’t know. We didn’t schedule anything.” And she didn’t know if he was going to call. Maybe he would move on. The thought devastated her, which only worked to remind her of why she was protecting her heart in the first place.

  “Did you take any pictures?”

  “No. I didn’t know if he’d be okay with that.”

  “Cause you’re dating a celebrity, Autumn. That’s so cool!”

  It was funny. Autumn didn’t see him that way. She just saw him as a kind man who she felt completely comfortable with. A man who liked her dog and who made her feel safe. A man she could be silly with and not feel dumb.

  A man she was already falling for, as much as she tried to stop it.

  “I’m kind of worn out,” she said to Haylie. “I’m gonna put on my pjs and read for a while.”

  “Okay. See you tomorrow.”

  “Bye, Haylie.”

  Autumn disconnected the call, then she took a long, hot bath.

  The next morning, Autumn’s mood was brighter than it had been in many, many months. Nearly skipping out the front door, she strolled toward h
er carport, but stopped short when she saw that one of her tires was flat.

  Her mood plummeted.

  “Great,” she muttered as she walked around her car. Only one tire was flat at least. She pulled out her phone and dialed Haylie.

  “What’s up?” Haylie asked.

  “Hey, can you pick me up? I have a flat tire.”

  “Bummer. Yeah of course. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  While she waited for Haylie to arrive, Autumn stewed over what to do. She knew how to change a tire, although she didn’t want to have to do it. When she got home from work she would call her insurance company and have them arrange for someone to come help her.

  Sighing in resignation, when she saw Haylie turn down her street, her mood picked up. She wouldn’t let this little inconvenience destroy the good feelings she had when she stepped out the front door.

  Autumn stayed busy at the salon all morning. When there was a lull between customers and she was sweeping up the hair around her station, she finally had a quiet moment to think about Jax.

  How was his day going? She knew he was doing some sort of team workout that week. Was he enjoying it? Was it painful? He was a large man, strong and powerful, but so were the men he worked with. Were they crashing into each other? How was that enjoyable?

  Shaking her head at the idea that he thought all that physical stuff was fun, she kind of regretted that she’d told him she wouldn’t be available until the weekend. Though she could text him and tell him she’d changed her mind, she wouldn’t do that. She had to see how interested he was in her. See if he would write her off or make an effort.

  “We should go to lunch together,” Haylie said to Autumn a short time later when the only customer was at Cassie’s station.

  “Hey,” Cassie said as she snipped her customer’s hair. “You can’t go without me. I want to hear all the gossip.”

  Autumn laughed. “I already told you everything.” She paused a beat. “Besides, you both know we need to have two of us working.”

  Haylie smiled. “Yeah, yeah.”

  The bell over the door chimed and a delivery man walked in holding colorful helium-filled balloons. Some of the balloons had messages printed on them.

  Excited to know Jax was thinking about her, Autumn hurried to the counter.

  “Autumn Foster?” the man asked.

  Autumn nodded. “Yep.”

  He handed her the strings attached to the balloons.

  Taking them from him, she smiled. “Thanks.”

  “Uh-huh.” He turned and walked out of the salon.

  “What the heck?” Haylie asked as she walked to Autumn’s side, her gaze on the balloons bobbing in the air.

  “He’s so sweet, right?” Autumn grinned.

  “Uh…”

  “What?”

  Haylie looked between the balloons and Autumn. “I don’t think those are from Jax.”

  “What?”

  Autumn yanked the strings so that she could read the messages printed on the balloons. Her eyes went wide. The messages read In loving memory and Forever in our hearts and We will miss you and love you always.

  She’d seen balloons just like these before. At Mitch’s funeral. Someone—she couldn’t remember who—had brought a couple dozen to his funeral to release into the sky.

  Unnerved, she released the balloons and they sailed upward, stopping as they hit the ceiling. Two immediately popped against the rough finish, and one lazily floated toward a ceiling fan. Frozen in place, Autumn watched as the balloon approached the fan but was pushed away by the moving air. She was dismayed to realize it was one that said We will miss you and love you always. Slowly and silently it slid along the ceiling, and with a loud Pop! it burst into pieces that rained onto her head.

  Frantically brushing off the shards of mylar as tears flooded her eyes, she raced to the salon office.

  Seconds later, Haylie and Cassie were by her side.

  “Are you okay?” Haylie asked as she put an arm around Autumn’s shoulder.

  Unable to speak, Autumn shook her head, her eyes squeezed closed.

  Who had sent the balloons? They weren’t from Jax, of that she was certain. But who would do something like that? And why?

  Upset and confused, she inhaled deeply to get her emotions under control.

  “I’ll get rid of them,” Cassie murmured before walking out of the office.

  Haylie rubbed her shoulders. “Just…just forget about it. Okay?”

  As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t. How could she? The memory of her husband’s funeral just ten months before slammed into her. It could have been that very day for how strong the memories were.

  Autumn turned to face Haylie. “Who would do that? Who would send balloons that said…those things? Who?”

  Shaking her head, Haylie frowned. “I don’t know. But maybe we can find out.”

  Autumn hadn’t thought that far ahead. Grateful for Haylie, she nodded. But would they be able to find out? And what would she do with the knowledge once she had it?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “You don’t know who ordered the balloons?” Autumn asked the man on the phone, wanting to make sure she’d heard him right. It was later that afternoon and the salon was between customers. Haylie and Cassie were in the office with Autumn, watching her as she spoke on the phone. Earlier, Cassie had gotten rid of the balloons but had found a small sticker that had been attached to some of the strings. The sticker listed the name of the company that had provided the balloons.

  “Sorry, no,” the man said. “The buyer ordered the balloons online and paid with a prepaid credit card. There was no name tied to the order.”

  “Maybe you delivered it to the wrong address.” Although that seemed doubtful as the delivery man had specifically asked for her.

  The man read off the address from the order. It matched Cutting Edge Salon’s.

  Creeped out, Autumn shivered. “Okay, thanks.” She hung up the phone and faced her friends. “It wasn’t the wrong address and he doesn’t know who ordered them.”

  “Weird,” Haylie said before frowning.

  Other words came to Autumn’s mind—freaky, scary, disturbing. “Yeah.”

  “What are you gonna do?” Cassie asked.

  Autumn grimaced. “What can I do?”

  Cassie bit her lip. “Maybe you could…I don’t know…report it to the police?”

  Autumn frowned. “And tell them what? Someone delivered balloons to me? I don’t think that’s a crime.”

  Cassie sighed. “I don’t know then.”

  Neither did Autumn.

  The three women sat in silence, and a moment later the bell from the door jingled.

  Autumn’s eyes widened. Would this be some other strange delivery?

  Haylie straightened. “I’ll see who it is.”

  A moment later Autumn heard Haylie greeting a customer. Relieved, she tossed a smile to Cassie. “Okay. Back to work.”

  Though she put on a brave face, she was disturbed by the delivery. For the rest of the afternoon she tried not to think about the balloons, but when she saw a small piece of mylar on the floor, she couldn’t help herself. It bothered her. A lot.

  “I assume you need a ride home,” Haylie said after they’d closed the salon.

  Autumn had completely forgotten about her flat tire. This day hadn’t turned out to be as wonderful as she had hoped it would be. “Yes. Thank you.”

  As they drove to Autumn’s house, she called her insurance company and arranged to have someone meet her there to swap the spare tire for the flat.

  When Haylie pulled up to Autumn’s house, she turned to Autumn. “Let me know if you need a ride tomorrow.”

  “I should be able to get this fixed today.” She frowned. “I hope.”

  “Okay. Take care of yourself.”

  They hugged across the console, then Autumn walked toward her front door, her gaze going to the flat tire once again. She let herself into the house and was greeted
by an enthusiastic Sasha.

  Autumn knelt in front of her. “Hi, sweet girl.” Vigorously scratching Sasha’s head and back, Autumn felt the stress of the day leave her body. “You’re such a good girl, aren’t you? Yes you are.”

  Sasha’s tail swung from side to side and her tongue hung out as she danced around.

  “Let’s get you some dinner, okay?”

  Half an hour later someone was putting the spare tire on Autumn’s car while Autumn watched. When the man finished, Autumn thanked him, then with the flat tire in her trunk, she drove to a tire store to have it repaired.

  While she waited for them to repair the flat, she thought about the hike with Jax the day before. Smiling in memory at the adventure she’d had with him brightened her otherwise crappy day.

  Despite her initial desire to discover if he would reach out to her by the end of the week, with the way she was feeling, she needed to see him. She bit her lip as her fingers hovered over her keyboard. Finally, after a moment’s hesitation, she texted him. Are you available tonight?

  Heart pounding as she waited for his reply, she wondered if she should tell him about the balloons.

  “Autumn Foster?” a worker asked her.

  Autumn tucked her phone in her purse as she stood. “Were you able to repair the leak?”

  “It’s not a leak.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’s a puncture on the sidewall.”

  “What do you mean? Like from a nail?”

  “Not sure what caused it, but the hole was small. Kinda unusual.”

  Taken aback, Autumn frowned. First the balloons, now a weird hole in her tire. Actually, the flat tire had happened first. At her house.

  Goosebumps broke out across her bare arms. She rubbed them away.

  “Anyway,” the man said. “It’s not something we can patch. You’ll need to replace it.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  He told her the tire options, but all she could focus on was the fact that her tire had been punctured. She chose the least expensive one, and once they’d put it on her car, she headed home. As she drove, she tried not to overthink it, but her mind wouldn’t let her get away with that. The image of a car with tinted windows driving slowly past her house the evening before jumped into her mind.