We look at her serious expression, and then we laugh our asses off.
When Lane finally gets his voice he puffs out. “Mom we’re not on crack.”
She sniffs us again.
“Just a little pot, Mom. You know, weed, grass, marijuana, cannabis.”
She rolls her eyes. “I know what pot is smart ass.”
I finally stop my hysteria and she gives me a stern mother look.
“I expect this kind of behavior from my son Alexia, but not from you.”
“I’m sorry, Mary.” I laugh-pout.
“Well, just don’t do it again. That shit messes up your reproductive system.” She points at Lane.
I giggle.
“Thanks, Mom, I love you too.”
“You know I love you son. Why else would I drive a minivan with a bumper sticker that reads: ‘Proud Parent Of A Clueless Pothead’.” She laughs, Lane frowns.
“Well, you two, I’ve got to get back to the party. I can’t stay and baby-sit for the rest of the night—so stay out of trouble. What would Jaxson say if he found you two stoned out of your minds?” She shakes her head and walks out the door.
We dig into the leftovers. Lane looks at me and with his mouth stuffed full of mashed potatoes, he mumbles something like “It’s a good thing my mom doesn't know that I get my weed from Jaxson.” He swallows.
Thank fuck. Because I can’t understand him and don’t like seeing mashed potatoes swimming around his tongue piercing.
Gross.
He takes a drink of water. “She would be heart-broken, she thinks he’s a saint.”
I smile.
We devoured the leftovers and a pot of coffee, then sit on the sofa, full and sleepy.
I’m tired dude. It’s time for me to head out. Had fun hanging with you, Mr. Gray. Not sure if I want to remember some of it, but…”
I look at Lane who is sit-lying next to me, fast asleep. I get up and pull a blanket over him. I give him a kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight, dude man.”
THE PARTY IS OVER
The morning after the shindig I run a quick five miles. Afterwards, I sit on my favorite bench in the west garden.
Lane strolls over.
“Good morning, Chubby Boy Dude Man.”
He smiles as he sits.
“You look like you slept well,” I comment.
“Yeah. Hey, did I fall asleep on you last night?”
“You did, but I was ready to leave anyway.”
“How did you sleep?” he asks.
“Almost fell asleep in the shower. When my head hit the pillow—I was gone.”
“I had the strangest dream.”
“Do tell.”
“I dreamt that I got real high and swam around in a pool with a beautiful naked woman.”
“That is a strange dream. Perhaps you should talk to your therapist about that one.”
He laughs. “How was your run?”
“Okay. Just a little off my stride.”
Lane looks up. “Jaxson twelve o’clock.”
I look up and watch Jaxson walk through the garden toward us.
“Good morning. Mind if I join you two?” he asks.
“Not at all,” I answer. I slide over and pat the bench and he sits.
“How was your party?” Lane asks with a smirk.
I give him an elbow.
“Okay, I guess. We surpassed our donation goal.”
“That’s wonderful, Jaxson,” I say.
He clears his throat. “Mary tells me that you two had your own little party.”
“Yeah, we had a smokin’ good time,” Lane rings out.
Jaxson tilts his head. “What did you do at this party?”
I give Lane a sideward glance. No help there. “We watched a movie.”
“What movie did you watch?” I turn my head and look at Lane again. “Do you remember the name of the movie?”
“Hmm…let’s see…think it was called something like—‘Daddy Couldn’t Make Me Come’… I mean…‘Go—Make Me Go.’”
I bite my lip desperately trying not to laugh.
Jaxson rubs his brow. “Never heard of it. Sounds like a horror film.”
We giggle.
“So it was a comedy, then?”
“Yeah,” I reply. “Dark comedy.”
“What was it about?”
“Some poor skinny girl hiding with her daddy in the bush,” I retort.
Jaxson gives me a skeptical look. “The Australian bush?”
“Yeah, the deep Australian bush.”
Lane’s face turns beet red from holding in his laughter. He gets up and blows it out. “I’ve got to go…I’ll see ya later.” He walks toward the guesthouse and when he rounds the corner we hear him burst out with laughter.“
“Must have been one hell of a funny movie.”
“Yes, it…it had its moments.”
Jaxson sits back and nudges my knee with his. “Missed you last night.”
“Sorry I couldn’t make it. House arrest and all.”
“Would you have come if you weren’t?”
“Probably not.”
He nudges my knee again. “You and Lane seem to be getting close?”
“Are you jealous?”
“No, just making an observation.”
“Yeah, right.” I smirk.
“Okay, maybe just a little.”
“No worries he’s a bit young for me.”
“He’s only five years younger.”
“The same age as my sister. I’ve been thinking about setting him up with Sam.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that. One less man I’ll have to fight off.”
“You mean Lester and Louie? They’re the only other men around here.” I grin.
He pulls my hand in his and entwines our fingers.
“Lane and your sister huh?”
“Yeah.”
“But she lives in Portland, Oregon.”
“Don’t you remember I told you that Sam’s moving to New York in a couple months.”
“I forgot. Got a lot on my mind lately.”
“I know you do, and I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
“Sam, she’s a structural engineer?”
“Yeah, green construction. She’s been trying to get a job in the city for a couple of years.”
“Well, I can’t wait to meet her.”
“You’ll like her.”
“I remember seeing her picture on your laptop. She looks like your twin.”
“Yeah, she looks like me.”
“If Sam is anything like you, then Lane is a lucky man.”
“We might look a lot like each other but personality-wise she’s more like Jules.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“What’s with you and Jules?”
“Really? She’s a nut case. I feel like she’s eye-fucking me all the time.”
I laugh. “I think she does. Maybe not anymore—she has her own eye candy now.”
“Poor Nick. He’s got it bad for the wacko.”
Jaxson brings up our linked hands and kisses my knuckles. I return the gesture.
“You’re different here, more relaxed ”
“Really? Could it be because I’m unemployed with too much time on my hands?”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
I give him a hard look. “Oh my God, I can’t believe you just said that. I’m going fucking crazy. Don’t get me wrong. I love everyone here and love spending time with them. And yeah, it’s been nice sleeping in and having the time to read a few books. But, you know I need to work, just like you do. It’s more than just a job to me. It always has been. Working grounds me.”
“I thought running grounded you.”
“It does, but it’s not enough.”
“Then run more.”
I roll my eyes. “I have been—twenty miles a
day. I’m starting to count when I run and that’s not good.”
“What does that mean?”
“Every time a foot hits the pavement I count it. I try not to but the more I try not to the greater the urge is to do so.”
“That’s just weird.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.”
“So how is the investigation of the outside audits going?” I ask.
“Slowly.”
“And yours?”
“Good. Better and faster than I expected it to go.”
“Do I want to know how that’s possible?”
“No.”
“Have you hired a hacker?”
“I thought you didn’t want to know?”
“I don’t. I just want to make sure that none of your illegal dealings with hackers and the sort can be connected to me or Ryan.”
I un-entwine our fingers. “Do you really think I’d do that to you or the company? Sometimes I wonder if you know me at all.”
“I don’t—not really.”
“Is this going somewhere or are you just in a bad mood and feel the need to take it out on me?” I stand up. “I’m going to go grab a shower.
I start to head back toward the house.
“Go ahead and run like you always do.”
I turn. “I’m not running—I’m walking.”
“You’ve avoiding,” he spouts.
“Where is all this coming from?”
“Who is Zane Black?”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“He’s a friend of the family. Why?”
“He contacted me yesterday.”
“He called you?”
“Oh yeah. He wanted to inform me that he was hired by you to look into the embezzlement settlement.”
“I didn’t really hire him—per se. I hired some of his associates. He’s playing the point man. What else did he say?”
“Oh, he had plenty to say.”
I sigh. “Zane had no business contacting you. And believe me when I say you don’t have anything to worry about where he’s concerned. I’ll take care of him.”
I turn and continue my trek toward the house. Jaxson grabs my shoulder and turns me around.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
“There isn’t anything more to say.”
“Then, fuck you!”
“Jaxson, why are you so mad at me.
“You don’t get it. I wanted you…I wanted you here at my home. I wanted to keep you safe. And yeah, stupid ever hopeful me was hoping that it would give us the opportunity to…Fuck I don’t know.”
“What? You’re making like, zero sense. Do you want to tell me what’s really going on here? Because I don’t get why you’re so damn mad at me.”
“That’s the problem, Lex. You don’t get it.”
“Jaxson.”
“Lex, I feel like you’re always telling me half-truths. You know what? Who the hell cares?” He releases my shoulder and stomps away.
“Jaxson,” I yell. What the hell just happened? When they say men and women are from different planets—they were right. Who ever the hell they are.
BATTLE OF THE SEXES
I need to talk to Jaxson. We need to get a couple of things straight. First: I’ve obviously done something to make him mad, but he’s not going to go off, then just walk away. He’s hot and cold like a faucet. What he said about half-truths—he’s right. But all that other shit he was spouting…I haven’t a fucking clue. Second: We need to make some decisions about us.
The last few days I’ve been thinking about a possible us. This embezzlement thing has forced me to rethink a lot of my decisions. But it was last night that sealed the deal. Seeing Jax with his ex-wife was upsetting and revealing. I’ve seen him with other women, and hell yeah it hurt. But Tinker Hell—she’s different. There is something about her that’s just not right. She has some kind of hold over Jaxson and I don’t like it. I’ve never been a woman that has felt the need to mark her territory, but I am now.
I call Zane and verbally kick his interfering ass, then make my way to the kitchen. I’d asked Lester to make some of his world famous cinnamon rolls. Mary said they’re Jaxson’s kryptonite. I figured I’d need all the ammo I could muster up before I faced my Superman. Mary tells me that he’s in his office. So, armed with a tray of Lester’s killer kryptonite cinnamon rolls and coffee, I knock on his office door.
“Jaxson. Hey, it’s Alexia. Can I come in?” No answer. I knock again. “Jaxson, I know you’re mad and I don’t blame you. I...Just…Will you please answer me?” Knock. Knock. Knock. Okay, so far so good. Not.
I try the handle and it’s unlocked so I decide to let myself in before I talk myself into bailing. I open the door and Jaxson is sitting behind a large—no…enormous dark wood desk. His office is warm and inviting like the rest of the house. His entire home has a charming old-world feel to it and I felt at home as soon as I walked through the door.
Jaxson is working on his laptop with headphones on. He doesn’t sense my presence so I stand and watch him work. I’ve had many opportunities to observe him over the last two plus years and he continues to fascinate me. His movements and expressions are subtle except for The Brow. The Brow is all but subtle. So with the one exception, his expressions are slight and guarded.
He’s good at negotiating deals and acquiring companies because it’s hard to read him. A slight twitch of the eye means he’s nervous or anxious. A quick bite on the lower lip—accompanied by an exhale means he’s mad or wants to throttle you. A fast tip up of the chin means he’s up for a challenge or he’s dismissing you. When he looks and or plays with his hands he’s bored. When he looks slightly down though his long lashes and rubs his thumb back and forth over the tips of his fingers, he’s checking you out. He wants you––a look that I’ve become familiar with and never get enough of.
But ninety percent of Jaxson‘s expressions come from his dark chocolate eyes. His eyes tell it all. I’ve never seen such expressive eyes. One look can challenge me. One look can make me sad or bring me to tears. One look can make me mad. One look can turn me on. One look can devastate me.
I step further into the room and place the serving tray down on one edge of his desk. He looks up in surprise. A flash of happiness washes over his eyes but is quickly flooded over with sadness. Okay, not good.
He removes his headphones. “This is a surprise.”
“A good surprise or bad?”
“You tell me,” he bites.
Ouch. “Good, I hope. May I?” I gesture toward a large overstuffed leather chair that flanks his desk.
He nods.
I sit and look at his now forgotten laptop. “Am I interrupting?”
”Not anything that can’t wait.” He closes his computer and pushes it forward then sits back in his chair.
I nod toward the tray. “Lester made your favorite.” I lift a hopeful brow.
“Yes, I see and smell. A peace offering I presume?”
“Yes, and ammunition.”
“Are we going into battle?”
“You tell me.”
He frowns.
Okay, this is going well. Not. I stand and pour him some coffee then place it in front of him. I then place a couple of rolls on a plate and push it toward him. I wait a few seconds and then sit down.
“You’re not having any? he asks and gestures toward the tray.
“No. All yours. More ammo and all that.”
“Yeah, I think you’ll be needing a large stockpile.”
“Large stockpile huh?”
He nods and takes a big bite of cinnamon roll. I watch as he downs two rolls and bites into his third. He sure likes his cinnamon rolls.
“Jax, we need to talk.”
“Ya, think?”
“Don’t be a smart-ass. You’ve always said that I don’t take you seriously, but you’re wrong, I take you very seriously. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be living in your home under house arrest and I wou
ldn’t be sitting here watching you…devour cinnamon rolls. Good, God is that your fourth roll?”
“It’s my fifth,” he mumbles, with a mouth full of roll.
“I think you said fifth. I recommend swallowing before talking. You know, Lester made a few dozen of those. I though that was extreme, but I was wrong.”
“I love these things,” he states while grabbing number six.
“I could come back latter.”
He swallows another huge bite. “No please, stay. We do need to talk.”
“Jax, I know you’re going through a lot right now, I get it. But I don’t appreciate being yelled at. It’s not that I can’t handle it. I’ve been yelled at by some of the best…yellers. But if you want to have it out with me, I need to know what we’re fighting about. If it’s Zane Black, it’s a waste of oxygen. I’m sorry he called you. I can guarantee that he won’t be calling again. So, what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry about earlier. I was out of line. I’ve got a lot going and I did let that asshole get to me.”
“I figured.”
“He…implied, well he implied a lot.”
“Like what?”
“He said he was just a friend but implied a more intimate relationship. It was like he was staking his claim and I…well l made it clear—over my dead body! From there it turned into a big pissing contest. Things got real ugly. He was calling me all this shit. I didn’t even understate most of it. I mean I got the fucker, and wanker, but the rest of it… In the end I just wanted to deck the guy. Fuck I was mad. I’m still mad. If this guy is a friend, then no wonder you’re so fucked up.”
“Ouch.”
“Oh, fuck Lex, I’m sorry.”
“Hey, no offence. It hurts to hear it but I am fucked up.”
“It was just one more reminder of how little I know about you.”
“You know what’s important.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?”
“You know, that I would do anything for a friend. I love to laugh. I like to eat cereal for dinner. I’d wear my Converses and sweats to work if I could. I can’t keep numbers out of my head and it drives me crazy. I thrive on organized chaos. I like to people-watch, and make up stories about them. I love unusual and weird facts. You know, I have a soft spot for turtles. I’m allergic to penicillin. And you know the location of my one and only ticklish spot.”
Layers Page 11
