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Afewdayslater,I headed to Sea-combers after finishing my paperwork. Who knew what possessed me to go there. The truth was I half hoped to see Jax there, or at a minimum, maybe someone else to hook up with and forget about him. Maybe not the latter.
I eased up to the bar and ordered the same whiskey Jax had drank—the one with honey. I wasn’t a whiskey drinker but wanted to know more. About Jax. What he liked. What he drank. The bourbon was warm and smooth with a slight honey flavor, just sweet enough to leave a cozy note on my tongue that made him think of hot tea on a cold night. And what did it say about Jax?
I didn’t know.
I slammed the rest of the shot and slid the glass across the bar. None of this had turned out like I’d thought or wanted.
I paid and went home. Nothing in the bar would fill that aching hole in my chest—I knew that much. I wasn’t in love with Jax, anyway. I couldn’t be. We barely knew each other, even if I would like to change that.
Plus, Jax wasn’t exactly human, was he? Green skin or not. He had some weird ability that, by all rights, should have freaked me the-fuck-out way more than it did.
Going home proved my best option. I wanted to watch some mindless TV and forget Jax even existed. That would be hard when I would see Eric every day. Jax’s father didn’t look much like him, or vice versa. But I knew who the man was, and I would never be able to see Eric without thinking of Jax.
Had I let my boss talk me into breaking things off?
That question swirled around as I drifted off to sleep on the couch. Some stupid show about whether aliens were real droned on in the background. Aliens? Maybe not. Nymphs? Yep. That’s what those people should have been looking for… blond-haired, muscular, sexy-as-hell, surfing nymphs.
Maybe Jax had done some kind of whammy-nymph-magic to get under my skin? Maybe I simply liked the guy? Really, when I searched my heart, I didn’t care about our differences or what Jax was or wasn’t. I had concerns, but maybe I’d been too quick to give in to them—jumped the gun.
I closed my eyes, barely listening to the man with the wild hair on TV demanding, “It was aliens!”
It wasn’t aliens.
It was Jax.
**
“Damn it,” I mumbled as he crawled off the couch the next morning and glanced at the clock over the stove. I was late. I had a headache, and my back seriously needed cracking. Stiffly, I stumbled to the shower. Fuck work, I’d just be late.
The hot shower did the trick, and I quickly dressed and headed to work. At least I wasn’t scheduled for the first shift on the stand. That was Izzy, and I was confident she wouldn’t have called off. When I parked and headed toward the office, a flash of blond hair and lean muscle caught my attention at the side of the building. “Hey! Wait. Give me a second, Jax. Wait!”
Jax finally stopped and turned to face me. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at me. His face was a mix of emotions, and his eyes were back to being two cold, round chips of ice. “What?” he snarled.
I stopped a few feet from him. I couldn’t blame Jax for being pissed. Hell, I was pissed at myself. “Hey, I’m sorry. I really like you. And oddly enough, I don’t care about you being a nymph or whatever that means. And I don’t even care so much that your dad is my boss. But I only found out yesterday. And I don’t know. I’m processing. I’m concerned about it. Dating the boss’ son and all.”
“Don’t be.” He glanced down at his bare feet. He curled his toes as if wishing they were digging into the sand instead of pressing against the asphalt.
“What’s that mean?”
“If you like me, and you don’t care that I’m a nymph, then don’t worry about my dad. Did he warn you off or something?”
“Maybe. Something. And I don’t know what a nymph is anyway.” Or if I believed it.
Jax raised his head and squared his shoulders. “Maybe find out for yourself who and what I am?”
“Okay.”
“Yeah? Okay?”
I nodded and reached out for Jax. “Let’s start over?”
Jax stepped into my embrace, and we hugged. “Okay. Dinner tonight, and then I want to show you something.”
Chapter seven
Neil Learns a Secret
Aftergrabbingsomequickburgers, Jax led me to the beach. It was dark, but we could see a little from the streetlights and the gibbous moon. We kicked off our shoes and pulled off our shirts before heading out across the sand. It appeared almost luminescent as we walked through it to the water, feet sinking into the cool underlayer. The beach was officially closed that late at night, so we were the only ones on the sand.
