“You’re ridiculous.”
“Mmm hmm,” he hummed into the soft spot under her ear.
“You know what else could be pretty hot?” she asked, placing her palms on his hard chest.
“What’s that?” He continued to slowly run his hands up and down her waist.
“You could pick out the panties I’ll wear all day.”
Jax’s hands stilled and he looked like he might’ve just swallowed his tongue.
“Oh, Princess,” he said, smiling wide, “you have no idea what you do to me. Let’s go before I tackle you again.” He spun her around and ushered her out of the bedroom.
When they got to her apartment, Jax searched her underwear drawer while she changed into a yellow cotton dress. When she came out of the bathroom, he was grinning as he stretched out his arm, a peach cotton thong with white lace around the top dangling from his index finger.
Grace smiled back as she lifted up the skirt of her dress. “Would you like to put it on for me?”
Jax’s smile transformed into something hot and hungry and he looked like he was going to combust. He dropped to his knees in front of her and ran his tongue around her navel as he pulled the thong up her legs. When it was in place, he kissed the tiny little bow that was sewn onto the front of the lace. Then he reached up and pulled the skirt of the dress from her hands, straightening it around her thighs.
He stood up and kissed her, his tongue sweeping the inside of her mouth. “You sure do keep things interesting,” he said above her lips before he pulled back. “I’m now going to have the image of you in that thong all day long.”
“You’re welcome.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “Come on. Let’s go,” he said as he grabbed her hand, their fingers lacing together.
She was never going to get over how it felt when her hand was in his.
* * *
They headed up to Tallahassee to look at new furniture for when Jax’s house was finished. He told Grace that most of the stuff he had wouldn’t be making the move with him. Bennett was building a couple things that Jax wasn’t going to need to buy, like the coffee table and side tables for the living room, the dining room table, and a new headboard for Jax’s bed.
So Grace walked around the store with Jax helping pick out a sectional, bar stools, bedroom furniture, and a recliner for the den. The significance of it all wasn’t lost on Grace. She just wasn’t sure whether it was lost on Jax.
When they finished there, they went to a couple of stores Grace wanted to go to. At one of them Jax headed toward electronics and Grace made her way to the women’s section. She picked out some new panties whose only possible function was Jax taking them off her. She was sure both of them were going to enjoy said panties thoroughly.
And then it was time for the best part of the day. Jax was taking Grace on their first official date. It might’ve only been dinner and a movie, but she was beyond excited.
There wasn’t a theater in Mirabelle, and Grace loved movies. So it was a treat for her to see one on the big screen, especially a movie that was relatively new. They agreed on a recent Oscar winner, and bought a small popcorn and coke that they shared. Jax pulled up the armrest between them and put his arm around her shoulder while she snuggled into him.
Every time their hands brushed against each other in the popcorn tub, a ridiculous giddy feeling flared up in Grace’s stomach. This moment was every high school fantasy she had come to life. She was on a date with Jaxson Anderson.
The movie was amazing, and they talked about it for a good part of dinner. He took her to a small restaurant that was known for its steaks. They both ordered filet mignon, which was so tender it melted in their mouths. The garlic mashed potatoes were amazing, and the tiramisu had Grace moaning around her fork.
And then Jax took her back to his house, where he made love to her. He was so sweet to her, so tender, so perfect. He blew every one of her fantasies out of the water.
Chapter Twelve
Little Surprises
Grace woke up on Monday alone. She was flat on her stomach, her head on Jax’s pillow and her arm draped across his side of the bed. It was dark in the room as it was just after six and the sun hadn’t risen. She pushed up from the mattress and looked over her shoulder to the bathroom across the hall. The door was open and it was unoccupied. But there was a light shining from down the hallway, the floorboards and wall reflecting just a little bit of the soft yellow glow. The refrigerator closed quietly and a drawer was opened and then closed.
Grace sat up, pulling the sheet with her to cover her bare chest. She drew her knees up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
It was still a little disorienting waking up in Jax’s bed. She hadn’t gotten over the feeling that being with him was all still a dream. She kept thinking that any moment she was going to wake up. Either that or Jax was going to freak out again. She couldn’t get over the fear that he was going to come to her and tell her they couldn’t be together.
She was just about to get out of bed when footsteps echoed down the hallway and then Jax was standing in the doorway, wearing his uniform and holding two cups of coffee.
“Morning,” he said, coming into the room.
She stared at the incredibly yummy man in front of her and pushed her fears to the back of her mind.
“Morning,” she smiled as he sat down on the bed facing her, his hip pressed against hers.
She reached for a cup, but he shook his head.
“You have to pay the toll first.”
She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.
“That’s not going to cut it.”
“You’re so demanding in the mornings,” she said, shaking her head as she came in for another kiss. This time she pressed her lips against his.
“That’s more like it.” He handed her a cup.
“I was just trying to spare you from my dragon morning breath,” she said before she took a sip of coffee. “Mmm,” she hummed as the warm, rich, hazel-nutty goodness hit her tongue.
“You don’t have dragon morning breath,” he said, shaking his head before he took a long drink.
“Oh, you’re just being nice, and in more ways than one. Thanks for the coffee. You make a pretty good cup. I didn’t think you could, based on the fact that you come to the café almost every day to get your fix.”
“I have ulterior motives,” he said, leaning forward and kissing her neck. “You’re better than coffee,” he said, moving to her ear and nibbling on her earlobe.
“Why didn’t you wake me up before you got dressed?”
Jax laughed as he kissed her throat. “You were sound asleep. I thought you needed some rest after last night.”
“Mmm, last night was nice,” Grace said as she turned her head and his mouth opened over hers. “We’re going to spill coffee everywhere,” she said against his lips.
“Probably,” he said, pulling back.
“You getting off at seven?” she asked.
“Yup.”
“I’ll make you dinner.”
“What is it with you and this need to feed me?” he asked.
“What is it with you and your need to protect me all the time?”
“I’m a deputy sheriff; it’s my job to protect people.”
“Do you get all moody and overbearing with them, too?” she asked.
“No, but I’m not sleeping with any of them.”
She froze, the mug halfway to her mouth. “Right,” she said softly before she brought the mug up and took a drink.
“Grace? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head.
“Yeah, I don’t think so. What’s wrong?” he repeated, looking down into her face.
“I’m just being stupid, don’t worry about it,” she said, and took another sip of coffee.
“Like that’s going to happen. Talk to me,” he said seriously.
She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before she sighed and let it fall from her
teeth. “I just…it’s more than that, more than us sleeping together. At least it is for me. So when you simplify it, I…I don’t know.”
“Grace, it’s more than that. It’s a hell of a lot more than that,” he said as he grabbed her coffee and put both his and her cup down on the nightstand. He grabbed her face in both of his hands, and his fingers wound into her hair. “That’s just the newest facet of our relationship, so it was what came to mind first. But if you’ll remember correctly, I’ve always been moody and overbearing when it comes to you. It didn’t take us sleeping together for me to start acting that way around you. Baby, I know this just started, but I’ve known you for most of my life, all of your life, and when it comes right down to it, there is no way to simplify it. Not with words.”
She just looked at him, unable to stop her mouth from turning up at the sides.
“What?” he asked, and the corner of his mouth quirked up.
“I love it when you call me baby.”
“That’s the one thing you got out of what I just said to you? That was a really good speech. I was all eloquent and stuff, and you know I don’t do eloquent.”
“That wasn’t the only thing I got from your speech.” She smiled, running her hands up his chest. “This is about more than just sex for you, too,” she said seriously.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, some of it’s about the sex.” He grinned, something he was doing a lot more of these days. “I have to get going.” He leaned in and kissed her sweetly on the mouth.
Too bad she didn’t want sweetly. She wanted to push him down on the bed and get him out of that uniform.
“You should’ve woken me up,” she said just a little bit pathetically.
Jax laughed as he pulled back. “I should go before you make me late. There’s more coffee in the pot. Lock up before you leave,” he said as he stood up.
“With what?” she asked, reaching for her cup.
“With the key I put on your keychain.”
For the second time that morning, Grace’s mug stopped halfway to her mouth. Had she heard him correctly? He’d given her a key to his house?
“When you go to your place, you should grab a few things to leave over here,” he said.
“What? You’re serious?”
“I’m serious.” He laughed again as he planted his hands on either side of Grace and leaned in close to her face. “I’ll see you tonight,” he said before he pressed his lips to hers. “Have a good day at work, baby.” He smiled as he straightened.
“You, too,” she said still just a little bit stunned.
Jax grinned at her one more time before he turned and walked out of the room. The second the front door closed Grace bolted out of bed and ran down the hall completely naked. Her purse was on the counter, and next to it were her keys. She grabbed them and immediately noticed the new key on the ring. How could she not? It was bright blue, her favorite color.
* * *
Grace’s mind was still spinning seven hours later as she drove to the Adams and Family Funeral Home. She needed to talk to somebody, and who better than Paige? It might’ve been a year and a half ago, but Paige had gone through the whole key thing more recently than anybody else. It might’ve been with Grace’s brother, but Paige was pretty good about keeping certain details to herself…sometimes.
Grace pulled into the parking lot, right next to a Pepto-Bismol-pink Mercedes convertible. It read Missy on the license plate. Well, that was new. And it made sense, an obnoxious car for an obnoxious person.
Grace grabbed the tray of cookies for that night’s funeral from the back of her Bug and made her way up the porch and in the door. Tara was behind her desk while Pinky leaned her hip against it, the two of them whispering conspiratorially.
“Oh, let me get that,” Pinky said, pushing off the desk and closing the door behind Grace.
“What are you two gossiping about? And what’s up with Missy’s new ride?”
“Go put those cookies down and we’ll fill you in,” Tara said.
Grace put the cookies in the kitchen and when she got back Pinky and Tara were standing at the base of the stairs.
“Come on, let’s go visit the lonely pregnant woman. She’s to the point where she only attempts these steps once a day,” Tara said as she started her way up the stairs.
When they walked into Paige’s office she was sitting at her desk, her eyes closed as her head rested on the back of her chair.
“You better not let Missy catch you sleeping on the job.”
“What is she going to do? I’m done for the day. I have a doctor’s appointment and I’m just waiting for Brendan to come and get me,” Paige said slowly opening her eyes. “Please tell me you brought something chocolaty and covered in frosting.”
“What kind of sister-in-law would I be if I didn’t?” Grace said, reaching into the canvas bag that hung from her shoulder. She pulled a Tupperware container of birthday cake brownies covered in butter cream frosting out and set it on the desk.
Paige eyed the container for a second before she looked back up to Grace. “Milk?”
“Puh-lease, I know who I’m dealing with,” Grace said, reaching back into the bag and pulling out a thermos of milk and some plastic cups.
“You not getting enough sleep?” Pinky asked, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of Paige.
“I don’t remember what sleep is anymore. This child keeps me up half the night,” Paige said as she reached for the Tupperware.
“You make me sick,” Tara said, shaking her head. “If I ate like you do I’d be a whale.”
“I am a whale,” Paige said, pulling out a brownie and biting into it. “Oh, my God,” Paige moaned around the brownie as she closed her eyes again and leaned back in the chair. “This is incredible.”
“Thank you, and you’re not a whale,” Grace said, unscrewing the top off the thermos and pouring four glasses of milk. “All of your weight is where the baby is at, and your boobs. Your butt and thighs have barely changed. It’s disgusting how good you look.” She handed a glass to Paige.
“Really it is,” Pinky said, shaking her head as she helped herself to a brownie. “I was a house for mine. What do you do? Surely sex with Brendan doesn’t burn that many calories.”
Paige inhaled her milk and started coughing.
“Oh, God,” Grace said, grabbing a tissue and handing it to Paige. “Can we not talk about that?”
“What?” Pinky said unabashedly. “Pregnant sex is pretty amazing.”
Paige coughed harder and Grace turned and looked at Pinky. “You’re going to make her go into premature labor.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Paige said, wiping at her eyes. Her cheeks were flaming and Grace had a pretty good idea that it wasn’t from lack of oxygen.
If the sex hadn’t been with Grace’s brother, she would’ve asked Paige just how good pregnant sex was. But really, after Brendan had walked in on Grace in bed with Jax, both of them completely naked, what boundaries were left?
“Can we talk about something else?” Paige wheezed out.
“Yeah, didn’t we come up here to talk about that pink Mercedes that’s outside?”
“What pink Mercedes?” Paige asked.
“Hold on,” Tara said, walking over to the door. She peeked out into the hallway before she came back inside and shut the door.
“Is the gossip really that good?” Grace asked, perching on the side of Paige’s desk as Tara sat in the other seat next to Pinky.
“Yes,” Tara said in a hushed voice, grabbing a small piece of brownie.
She handed the Tupperware to Grace, who took a fairly substantial brownie out. She knew that she was burning a ton of calories between the sheets with Jax, so that bad boy would be gone by the morning.
“Missy has a brand-new ride,” Tara said.
“That car has to be over fifty thousand dollars,” Grace said.
“Where the hell did she get that kind of money?” Paige asked.
“That
is the question, isn’t it?” Pinky said.
“Have you noticed that her wardrobe has gotten a little fancy, too?” Tara asked. “She’s been wearing Prada shoes, Dior purses, and fancy suits that she isn’t buying from anywhere around here.”
“I think that those conferences she goes to are just excuses to go on shopping sprees. She probably just buys a book on tape and listens to it when she drives to Atlanta or Tampa or wherever the hell it is that she goes,” Pinky said.
“So where do you think the car came from?” Grace asked. “You think it’s from a guy?”
“Is she dating someone again? I thought she’d sworn off men,” Paige said, making air quotes over the last part.
“Riiight,” Grace said. “The day that Missy Lee swears off men is the day that Bethelda grows a conscience.”
“But where is the money coming from? There’s no way that she makes that kind of money,” Paige said.
“You think she’s doing something illegal?” Tara asked.
“Please tell me you are going to start playing detective,” Pinky said, grinning at Tara.
“Don’t you dare doubt my sleuthing skills,” Tara said, raising her eyebrows and pursing her lips.
“Oh, I don’t doubt them, Sherlock,” Pinky, said shaking her head and still grinning. “I just think that this is going to be very entertaining.”
“You just wait, Paige is going to be my Watson.”
“I am?” Paige asked, looking alarmed. “I’m a horrible sleuth.”
“Oh, you’ll be fine. No one will assume that you’re up to anything ’cause you’re pregnant,” Tara said.
“Yeah, I highly doubt that. I think I’ll just attract more attention to the scene.”
“Or,” Pinky said, “you can just stand in doorways and block anyone from seeing Tara snoop. By the time you waddle out of the way no one will know what she was doing.”
“All I wanted was chocolate. That was all I wanted. How in the world did I get roped into playing backup for Inspector Clouseau over here?”
“It’s because you’re here all the time,” Pinky said.
“Between you, Grace, and Panky, you guys can play backup, too,” Paige said.
Undeniable (A Country Roads Novel) Page 17
