Jax (Southern Sands Book 1)

by A. M. Williams

  He looked down and his eyes bugged at the realization that the menu was written in French. He started coughing and grabbed at his water glass, gulping it down.

  “Are you okay?” Karlie asked, concerned.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” His voice was a little gravelly.

  She raised her eyebrows in concern but didn’t say anything, returning her attention to the menu.

  Jax gazed at the words in front of him, none of it making sense. He wondered if he could pull his phone out to use Google translate to help.

  “Bonsoir mademoiselle, monsieur. Bienvenue à Bistrot Lumière. Can I get you something to drink tonight?” a male waiter asked as he stopped at their table.

  Jax asked, “Did you want some wine or something?”

  Karlie shrugged. “Sure, if you do.”

  Jax turned and smiled at the waiter. “Do you have a wine list?”

  “We have two house wines that we sell by the bottle, a red and a white.”

  “That’s fine.” Jax turned his attention back to Karlie. “Do you have a preference?”

  “White?”

  “Can we get a bottle of the white?” he asked the waiter, who nodded and walked off.

  They lapsed into silence again before Jax asked, “What are you thinking about getting?”

  “I think I’m going to go for the escargot. I’ve had it a few times and enjoyed it. They have a pasta with it that sounds delicious. What about you?”

  “Oh…umm…” His eyes scanned the menu, settling on an item. He attempted to say, “Cuisses de grenouilles à la Provençale.”

  “Do you know what that is?”

  “No,” he admitted, a little sheepish.

  “I speak some French. I can help you select something—”

  “Here we are,” the waiter interjected, presenting Jax with a bottle of the house white.

  He smiled tightly as the waiter uncorked the wine and poured a little into his glass. The waiter stepped back and stared at Jax. “Are you waitin’ on somethin’?” he asked.

  “I think he’s waiting for you to try it,” Karlie whispered from across the table.

  He glanced at her and then looked at the waiter who had now cocked an eyebrow at him. Jax picked up the glass and tossed the wine back. “It’s good,” he said, placing his glass back on the table.

  The waiter looked at him, horrified with his mouth hanging open. “What?” Jax asked, not sure what the guy's problem was.

  The waiter sputtered before shaking himself and pouring wine into their glasses, setting the bottle on the table. “Are we ready to order?”

  They told the waiter what they wanted as he continued to stare at Jax like he was an alien specimen. When they were alone, Jax breathed a sigh of relief. He knew he’d messed up that entire episode.

  “Do you want to know what you ordered?” Karlie asked.

  Jax shrugged. “Sure. I’ll eat anything though.”

  He grabbed his wine glass and took a big sip.

  “Well, you might not say that once you know. You ordered frog legs.”

  Jax sputtered as he tried to swallow his wine, setting his glass down heavily, making the wine slosh inside the glass. “Frog legs?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well,” he said, trying to gather his thoughts, “I guess I’ll find out if I like them or not.”

  Karlie giggled and slapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. Your face was just priceless.”

  “What did it look like?”

  “It’s hard to describe. I wish I could have taken a picture. You grimaced and looked so shocked all while you tried not to spit your wine at me. I’m not sure I could even imitate it.”

  Even though she said that, she tried to make a face and Jax laughed. “If I looked anything close to what you just did, I can see why you laughed at me.”

  They lapsed into silence and slowly sipped their wine. Jax felt a little more relaxed now that they were in the middle of the date and laughing. Now he just had to survive the last of it.

  Karlie smiled. “Can I ask you something?”

  “You just did, but sure.” Jax smirked as she rolled her eyes.

  “Why did you pick this place?”

  Jax’s face heated and he looked at the table, folding and refolding his napkin. “I wanted to impress you.”

  “So you brought me to the fanciest place in town?”

  He shrugged and glanced at her through his lashes. “Yeah.”

  She bit her lip before saying, “I appreciate the thought, but I would have been happy with a burger.”

  “Well, I didn’t know that…” Jax muttered.

  “I know, but for future reference.”

  “Future reference?” he asked, glancing up to meet her eyes.

  She smiled and shrugged, sipping her wine.

  The waiter stepped up with a tray laden with their food and they grew silent as he placed everything. “Bon appétit.”

  Jax looked at his plate, trying to decide if they looked like frog legs or not. They definitely had a leg like quality about them, but the dish itself didn’t look too bad. He now had to decide if he could go through with it or not. Since they looked a bit like chicken legs, just thinner, he would treat them as such and eat them with his hands.

  He glanced at Karlie’s plate and saw the little blobs of what he thought were the escargot in the white sauce on her pasta. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Want to try one?”

  “Oh, you don’t have to…” Jax said, nervous to try something else he wasn’t familiar with.

  Karlie stabbed one with her fork and held it up, looking at him expectantly. He sighed and took it from her, sticking it in his mouth and started to chew. He tried not to think about what it was and handed back her fork.

  As he chewed, he realized it didn’t taste that bad and that, besides being a little chewy, they tasted pretty good. It was covered in a rich sauce and was seasoned nicely. “I kinda like that,” he said in wonderment.

  Karlie smiled. “See, it’s not so bad. Now, let me know what you think of those legs.”

  Jax gulped at the reminder and looked down. He blew out a breath as he picked up a leg and took a bite. It was a bit gamy and he was pleasantly surprised to find he liked them as well. “Well?” Karlie asked as she ate.

  “I think I can get behind this French food.”

  Karlie laughed. “That’s good. I would hate for your money to be wasted on this meal.”

  Jax laughed as well. Now that he wasn’t so worried about everything, he was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the date. He was a bit surprised it had gone so well considering how badly it had started.

  When he walked Karlie to her door later that night, he tried to think of a way to get her on another date.

  “I had fun,” Karlie said, a coy smile playing on her lips as they stepped up to her porch. The automatic porch light blinked on.

  “Me too,” he said and stopped a step away from her.

  “What do you say we try another one next weekend?” she asked.

  Jax’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. “Did you just ask me out?” he finally asked, still trying to recover.

  “Yeah,” she said and stepped closer to him.

  Jax shivered as she moved into his personal space. He could smell her light floral scent and wondered what it was as she took another step, pressing herself against him. Her soft breasts pressed into his chest and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he restrained himself from grasping her arms.

  She lightly slid her hands up his arms, gripping his biceps as she looked at him through her lashes. “What do you say? Another date?”

  He gulped, flustered, and wasn’t sure what to say or do. He was usually the aggressor and wasn’t used to a woman turning the tables on him. This was new for Jax, but he wasn’t sure it was a bad thing. He just didn’t know how to handle it.

  “Yeah,” he said, his voice an octave higher than normal. He cleared his throat and forced himself to relax, trying
to act like his normal self. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

  She smiled and tilted her face to his, begging to be kissed on her plump lips. He groaned low in his throat as he brought his head down to meet her. She sighed as their lips touched and melted into his. He curled his arms around her, holding her up as their mouths moved against each other.

  He nipped at her bottom lip, making her gasp, and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside, devouring her moans. His arousal pressed into her stomach and he couldn’t find it in himself to care that she could see the effect she had on him. If anything, it seemed to spur her on as she pressed further into him. Any closer and he would be inside her.

  He ripped his mouth away and gulped in lungfuls of air. “Jesus,” he muttered, bringing a hand up to rub over his face.

  Karlie panted and he looked down at her. She was dazed, her eyes half-lidded and her lips swollen from his kiss. He pressed one more light kiss to her before stepping back, and her arms dropped to her sides.

  “I’ll text you about next weekend?” he asked, backing down the steps slowly. If he didn’t put some space between them, he was likely to try and get her inside and then get inside her. He knew that wasn’t the way to go with her.

  Karlie nodded and pressed her fingers to her lips.

  “You should get inside. Don’t know who’s lurking out here.”

  He smirked as she turned and fumbled with her keys, dropping them once before fitting the key in the slot and slipping inside. He listened for the door lock to engage before he turned to walk back to his car, whistling and with a bounce in his step. He could totally do this dating thing. It wasn’t so hard.

  Chapter Seven

  Karlie

  “You pressed yourself against him? You hussy!” Bailey threw a piece of popcorn at Karlie.

  She blushed and dodged the kernel. “I am not a hussy.”

  “I can agree with that. But when did you get so forward?”

  She shrugged and took a sip of her wine. She and Bailey normally got together Sunday afternoons to binge watch home improvement shows and unwind before the start of a new work week. With summer fast approaching, these relaxation sessions were morphing into more adult hangout sessions with wine and staying up late gossiping.

  They were currently lounging on her couch, HGTV playing in the background, while Karlie filled Bailey in on her date with Jax.

  “I don’t know what came over me!” Karlie buried her face in her hands.

  “I think you wanted something specific to come in you.”

  Karlie glanced at Bailey and saw her wiggling her eyebrows.

  “I did not!”

  Karlie’s face heated further as she lied to her friend. While she didn’t know where her boldness came from the night before, she wasn’t far off about wanting to invite Jax in the previous night.

  “You know, you twitch when you lie.”

  “I do not!”

  Bailey laughed. “How would you know? Do you stare at yourself when you’re practicing?”

  Karlie cut her eyes to Bailey, sending her best withering stare.

  “Don’t think that your teacher look is going to work on me. It won’t. I’ve got my own. It can freeze a prepubescent teen from across a busy gym.”

  Karlie huffed. “Alright, fine! Maybe I did want something more.”

  “See, was that so hard?”

  “Not as hard as Jax was last night…” Karlie muttered under her breath, taking a sip of her wine.

  Bailey sputtered, spitting wine down the front of her shirt as she sat up more fully. “What did you just say?”

  Karlie shrugged one shoulder and concentrated on the TV. The screen went black and Karlie glanced at Bailey, biting her lips to stifle the laughter threatening to bubble up. “What’s up?”

  Bailey slowly sat forward and placed her wine glass on the coffee table. Karlie feigned nonchalance. Inside, her heart was hammering in her chest.

  “What’s. Up?” Bailey asked slowly, enunciating each word clearly.

  Karlie arranged her face to look concerned while stifling the laughter that bubbled. “Are you okay? You seem agitated.”

  “I seem agitated? Really, please tell me more.”

  “Well…uh…” Karlie started, but Bailey started talking too.

  “Could it be because aliens have come and snatched my best friend, leaving a brazen, wanton woman in her place?”

  Karlie smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “Yes?”

  “Don’t make me come over there and torture it out of you,” Bailey threatened.

  “Torture it out of me? Pfft...” Karlie waved her hand dismissing Bailey's intimidation tactics.

  “Need I remind you of the dorm debacle of 2008?”

  Karlie’s mind flashed back and she cringed. She had refused to tell Bailey what someone in their hall had tried to do to steal Bailey’s boy-toy at the time and Bailey had ended up tickling Karlie until she peed herself. She didn’t want to relive that. The heat of embarrassment rose to her cheeks.

  “Okay, okay! Fine! I’ll tell you, just put your fingers away.”

  Bailey smirked. “I knew you’d see it my way eventually.”

  She mockingly blew imaginary smoke off her pointer finger and mimed tucking it away in a holster.

  Karlie rolled her eyes. “What do you want to know?”

  “What came over you last night?”

  “I don’t know.” Karlie picked at lint on the couch cushion. “Last night started out so…weird that I thought it would be an awkward date. By the end of it though, we were laughing and enjoying ourselves. I guess I wanted to continue when he walked me to the door.”

  “Hmmm...” Bailey gazed knowingly at Karlie. “And how did you want it to continue?”

  Karlie flushed. “Don’t make me say it…”

  “Girl, you’re going to say it and you’re going to own it.”

  “Ugh!” Karlie huffed. “I wanted him to come inside so he could come inside.”

  Bailey burst into laughter, throwing more popcorn at her. “I can’t believe you just said that!”

  “You made me!”

  “I just wanted you to admit that you want Jax in the Biblical sense, not be crude!”

  “Well, beggars can’t be choosers!”

  They burst into laughter and Bailey turned the TV back on, muttering about over sharing between best friends.

  Karlie flicked through the stack of papers in her hand, double-checking she had everything as she left the teacher’s lounge Monday morning. She dodged a few teachers and greeted others as she straightened her stack.

  “You need to swing by the office,” Bailey said, falling into step beside her.

  “Oh, why?”

  “You got another delivery.”

  Karlie stopped walking, causing Bailey to stop and turn to look at her. “What?” she asked, brow furrowing.

  “Yeah, I overheard Carla talking about it when I walked by earlier. Said she couldn’t get up with you. I guess it’s because you weren’t in your room.”

  “Oh, ok.”

  Karlie walked around the corner, curious about her delivery, and when she pushed through the office door and stepped inside, she smiled at the sight of the small bouquet of different-colored roses.

  “I see you have yourself a beau,” Carla said, her eyes and bangs all that was visible above her desk hutch.

  “I guess I do.” Karlie stopped by the flowers, placing her copies on the counter, and grabbed the card to open it.

  Make sure you look up the meaning of the roses. I enjoyed Saturday and look forward to this weekend

  -Jax

  Karlie slid the card back into its envelope and carefully grabbed the vase before staring at the copies she also had to carry.

  “Let me help you.” Bailey took the vase from her. “Let’s go.”

  Karlie smiled and gathered her copies into her arms.

  Heat rose on Karlie’s face as she walked to her classroom when several teachers commented on the f
lowers Bailey carried, stopping to ask who had sent them. Bailey declared that they weren't hers, but Karlie's and the aim of the questions turned promptly to Karlie. They wanted to know who they were from and if she was dating anyone. A few teachers even sounded angry that they hadn’t heard she was dating. If she needed a reminder of what it was like working in a small town, and an even smaller school, this was it. Teachers were gossipers, worse than women in church, and Karlie was sure she’d be fielding questions all day now.

  Upon entering her classroom, she set her copies down and took the flowers from Bailey, gazing around the room for a good spot to set them. Though the space had a lot of flat surfaces, most were overrun with supplies for labs and other activities. By her desk, she had a small bookshelf that was clear on top.

  She carefully set the flowers there, adjusting them slightly so the prettier roses were visible.

  “What’d the card say?”

  “Just that I should look up the meaning of the flowers.” Karlie was distracted as she moved a few blooms to make the arrangement more evenly distributed and not all leaning to one side.

  “Well, he isn’t professing love, that’s for sure.” Karlie shot her a confused look, so Bailey continued. “Red roses symbolize romantic love.”

  “Well, I’m glad he didn’t. That would be a little too much.” Karlie eyed the vase and wrinkled her nose at the cliché thought of red roses.

  Karlie began organizing her copies for the day, carefully creating stacks for each worksheet, already running through her lessons in her mind. If she didn’t get it organized now, she’d scramble during each period.

  “You’re not going to look it up?” Bailey asked, pulling Karlie from her planning.

  Karlie glanced at Bailey and laughed at the incredulous look on her face. “I will, just not right now. The bell is going to ring soon, and I need to make sure I’ve got everything ready for the day.”

  Bailey rolled her eyes. “Only you would put your job before romance.”