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I reach down beneath the bar and grab my purse. I let Mia and Andrew know I’m leaving, and that Jaxon is going to show me the apartment upstairs. We say our goodbyes, and I walk from behind the bar and sit down on one of the stools, waiting for Jaxon to come and get me.
8
WHEN JAXON COMES BACK, he goes to Mia and Andrew and speaks with them for a moment. Mia hands him something and he slips it into his back pocket. When he reaches me, he holds out the hand that has the leather wristband around it, waiting for me to grab it. When I don’t immediately reach out, he takes a step closer to me.
“It’s okay, Bailey. I won’t hurt you,” he says in his gravelly voice.
I look from his hand to his eyes. The emotion I see there breaks me. They look sad. For some reason, it’s important to Jaxon that I trust him. It’s so hard for me to trust people. Why would I when it’s only caused me pain in the past? The only person I fully trust is Chris, but I’m realizing that there may be more people in my life who aren’t out to hurt me; Jaxon is one of them.
“I know,” I say softly.
Although I’m still not quite there yet, I hesitantly place my hand in his. He visibly relaxes a little, and I see pleasure replace the sadness in his eyes. A small smile tips up the corners of his lips. His hand is warm, and I feel the calluses that run along the base of his fingers. He grips my hand firmly, but not too tightly. The feeling is unfamiliar to me, but it’s pleasant. It makes me feel like he has no intention of letting it go, but in a good way. Like no matter what happens, he’ll always be there for me.
He leads the way, and I trail behind him until we reach the back door that leads outside. He pushes it open and we step outside into the cool night air. We turn left, and a few feet away is another door I never noticed. He pulls out a set of keys and unlocks the door.
“When this place was built, they decided to put the entrance to the stairs that lead to the apartment outside. It’s supposed to give the person living here a sense of privacy.” His voice echoes off the cream-colored walls as we make our way up a flight of stairs.
There’s a white door at the top of the stairs, and we stop again as he unlocks it. Before we step through, he turns to face me.
“As I said before, it’s not much, but it’s better than sleeping in your car. My great-grandfather built this place when he was young and single, so he didn’t need a lot of room. It should have everything that you need though.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Jaxon. I’m just grateful you’re allowing me to stay here.”
He tucks a piece of hair that has fallen from my ponytail behind my ear. “Anything for you, angel.”
He turns back around and pushes the door open. When we walk through the doorway, I immediately know I’m going to love living here. Even though it won’t technically be my place, it’ll still be my place. I’ve never lived on my own before. While in college, Chris and I shared an apartment. The thought of living by myself is a little daunting, but I’m looking forward to the new experience.
The apartment is really small and has an open floor plan. The living room that sits off to the left is only big enough for a floral-print couch, a single coffee table, and a TV stand. To the right, with no walls separating the two, is the kitchen. There’s a fridge and a stove, with a counter and cabinets between them. One other counter sits to the right of the stove with cabinets above and below it as well. Straight ahead is a cute, small wooden table pushed up against the window that sits three people.
Still holding my hand, Jaxon leads me into the kitchen and starts opening cabinets to show me the contents.
“I try to keep it stocked with necessary items a person would need while staying here. There’s plates, glasses, pots, silverware, and a few other items you’ll need.”
He steps over to another cabinet, opening it.
“I wasn’t sure what types of food you like, so I had Anna get a variety of things.”
Next, we go to the fridge and he releases my hand to open it. My mouth drops open when I see what’s inside. It’s jammed full of a wide range of items.
“Jaxon! You didn’t have to buy all this food!” I exclaim. He must have spent a fortune. The cabinets are overflowing with food as well. I’m mortified. He must know that I can’t really afford to go shopping yet, and decided to buy the whole grocery store to make sure I had enough to eat.
He confirms my fears when he says, “It’s no big deal, angel. I know things are tight right now for you until you get on your feet.”
I feel so embarrassed. He must think me some helpless creature that he, for some reason, feels he has to take care of. I look down at my feet as I feel heat creeping up my face.
“I’ll pay—” I start, but he interrupts me.
“No, Bailey. I don’t want your money.”
“But—” Again, I’m cut short.
“Angel, I’m not going to take your money, okay? Please, just leave it. Everyone needs to eat. Besides, it benefits me, as well. You need to eat in order to be in top shape for work.”
Okay, that’s logical, but I still know he’s just using that as an excuse.
“Why? Why are you so adamant on helping me? I just don’t understand. You’re being so nice to me and you don’t really know me. Why would you do that for a stranger? What do you get from all this?” My breathing has escalated. Normal people aren’t like Jaxon. They don’t just help random people. Or, if they do, they expect something in return. As much as I don’t want to believe it, there must be something Jaxon expects from me. It’s the only reason I can think of why he would want to help me so badly. He told me earlier that no woman should fear a man, but him buying me food to last me a month has nothing to do with fear.
Jaxon steps closer to me, shortening the distance between us.
