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“Looks good.” He kept his hands at his sides, staying a respectful distance away, nothing suggestive in his tone or posture, but damn if I didn’t feel tingly all over. I smiled and blushed, thrilled all out-of-proportion that he’d noticed. But that was the thing about the heart, it just sort-of did what it wanted. If it chose to soar up like a balloon because Jax gave me a compliment, well, that was what it did and no amount of straight-talk would pin it down to the ground.
“She always looks good.” Ace jumped in as if to my defense. “Now, let’s all have some of this pie! I’ve got one of those…” Ace gestured in the air. “Those flat things? You use with pie?”
“A pie server?”
“Yep. Up there, I think.” He pointed to a high cabinet. I wasn’t sure why he would put something like that way up where it was hard to reach, but it wasn’t the first time I’d helped an elderly resident remember the word for something, or retrieve it from an unlikely place. Stretching up, on my tippy-toes, I reached into the upper cabinet, feeling around without being able to see inside.
“Here, let me.” Jax came to the rescue, reaching easily up and over me to get the serving knife. His body heat sent a shiver down my spine. My eyelids fluttered closed for half a second as I caught his scent, masculine and mint.
“Thanks.” My voice sounded breathy, like I’d just run a lap instead of standing still. So close to him, my blood pounded like I’d broken into a full sprint.
It was a small kitchen and to navigate the space, he wrapped a hand along my waist, sliding me to the side as he stood at the counter. He held me a fraction of a second longer than was necessary. But not as long as I would have liked.
Gesturing toward the pie, Jax raised an eyebrow. “You having some?” Why did everything he said sound suggestive? Must be my hormones on high alert. The man wasn’t offering to lick pie filling off of me nice and slow, taking his time to make sure he didn’t miss a drop. Even if that was where my dirty mind went. His biceps bulged as he cut a slice of pie. That wasn’t fair.
“Thanks, I’m OK.”
“I think you need to indulge a little more, Sky.” That low, smoky voice, the sinful smile playing on his lips, maybe I wasn’t the only one with a dirty mind.
Mouth open, about to respond, my phone went off with a loud ding. I stepped away to check my text message.
Mike: See you home @ 5 tonight.
Right. That would be hard since my shift didn’t end until six p.m. I tucked the phone back into my pocket without replying, giving my wedding ring a nervous twist. The text was a good reminder. I should get a move on. Mike would not like it if he could see me with Jax. He figured everyone I saw all day long was either old or female, since all the nurses and aides were women. Jax Branson definitely didn’t fit into either of those categories.
“You two enjoy the pie!” Briskly, I headed for the door, dismissing Ace’s protests. “I’m sorry, I’ve got to keep making my rounds. But happy anniversary, Ace!”
Walking out into the hallway, I realized I was shaking. Jax did something to me. Ever since the first time I’d met him, he’d intrigued me. His bar was a favorite motorcycle club hangout, and I’d seen him on his own fierce ride, but he wasn’t a brother. He hung with the Skulls and they all respected him, I could tell by the way Mike had introduced me, but he was independent, his own man.
I couldn’t explain the effect he had on me. But I bet he could make me cum in about 10 seconds flat.
Except I was married. It didn’t make any difference that I’d tied the knot during a night in Vegas I could barely remember and my signature on the wedding license probably looked a lot like an X. It didn’t matter that my husband had started spending a hell of a lot of evenings away from home. It didn’t even count that I was beginning to wonder if the man I’d married was not actually a good man after all.
I still wore the ring. So I had to resist the intense pull of attraction. But just because I resisted it didn’t mean I didn’t feel it.
There was nothing between me and Jax, and nothing had happened, nothing at all. I repeated it to myself as I continued my rounds. There was no reason to feel guilty. But I did feel guilty. Because I so desperately wished that something would.
2
Jax
I walked toward the two guys, sizing up the situation. Saturday nights were always busy and this was no exception. One of them I knew well, a Skull. The other didn’t look familiar. I didn’t think he was a Reaper, but you never knew. Who would have guessed that owning a bar could feel so much like being a high school principal? If the high school happened to be in the middle of rival gang territory in L.A.
“How we doin’, guys?” I asked in my well-worn “let’s all settle down” voice. The Skull darted a look at me from the corner of his eye. He knew enough to understand I would not let shit go down in my bar. The other guy, though? He might need an education.
“You want another beer?” I tried good cop on the guy I didn’t recognize. But he didn’t take the easy way out. Instead, his jaw flexed, eyes narrowing in on the man he intended to harm. Not in my bar, if I had my way, and I usually did.
“Let’s take it outside, gentlemen.” I caught the eye of one of my bouncers, adding some “what the fuck is taking you so long?” into my glance. They needed to be on this type of thing. Along with my business partner, Tommy, I owned the place. I couldn’t afford to be the guy kicking ass and taking names, which also meant making enemies. I paid people to do that shit. But somehow I always seemed to be the one with my finger on the pulse, sensing the violence before it erupted. Guess I’d been around it long enough to know it intimately.
I caught the punch before it landed, swiftly grabbing the guy’s arm and twisting it up behind his back while I kicked the back of his knee, making him lose his balance. It helped that he was drunk. Sober and weighing in around 225, I easily had the upper hand. And a lot of backup. Finally kicking into gear, a couple of bouncers took it from there, leading the much more compliant Skull and his nemesis outside where they could do whatever the hell they wanted. At least fifty feet away from my property.
“Now, what can I get you ladies?” Swooping three pretty young things under my arms, I ushered them toward the bar. I’d learned a lot over the years about diffusing and distracting. Better to have girls happily flirting and drinking than standing and gawking. The last thing drunk guys needed was an audience to show off their prowess. Some people thought gladiatorial displays had gone out of style with the Romans. I knew better.
I kept them occupied for a few minutes, turning on my practiced skills. To be honest, it didn’t take much. It probably sounded egotistical, but my experience was that if I wore a short-sleeved T-shirt and stood around, big arms crossed over my big chest, it didn’t take long for a woman to start running her hands along my muscles. Add to that the fact that I was the owner, and I basically had it made.
Funny, though, standing there surrounded by hot girls in short skirts, my mind wandered to that delicious little nurse’s aide I usually saw when I visited Ace. Sky was like a ripe, juicy peach, so fresh, sweet and rounded just right. She didn’t seem to know how sexy she was, her curvy ass and full breasts always hidden in baggy scrubs. She barely even wore any makeup, though she did blush easily. That faint pink flush stealing across her cheeks gave me all kinds of nasty ideas. I’d like to pink her up all over.
I was careful, though. I kept the brakes on around her. I’d never done anything more than exchange a few casual words when she checked in on Ace.
She was married. I could see the ring on her finger, plus Griller had introduced me to her when she’d first moved to town. She probably didn’t remember, but I did. Her brute of a husband had brought her by my bar, showing her off like a prize he’d won at the county fair. I’d wondered why such a beauty had teamed up with that beast, especially since I knew Griller wasn’t going to turn into a prince one day. He was never going to learn manners and waltz around with her while a candlestick sang.
&nb
sp; I hadn’t understood the match even before I’d learned how kind and thoughtful Sky was, always helping everyone around her, brightening everyone’s days. She remembered little details about every resident in that home, making each of them feel special. When I saw her in the courtyard or the dining hall, I couldn’t help but watch her like some sort of hulking stalker in the corner, riveted by her easy grace as she laughed, brushing her hair behind her ears, her lyrical voice greeting and chatting. She treated everyone around her right. I had to wonder, was she getting the same treatment from her man?
But I knew Sky’s business wasn’t mine. She wasn’t my woman to have and to hold. Yet attraction was attraction. You couldn’t fight chemistry, it was either there or it wasn’t. And for some reason it was there in a big way with Sky. Maybe it was the pies. I’d grown addicted, thinking about the soft and curvy woman who’d baked them every time I sat down for a slice, then usually ate half the damn pie in one sitting.
Crowd dispersed, conflict avoided for at least the time being, I took my favorite post, standing behind the corner of the bar where I could survey all the action. The bar was packed. I guess you could say it was a rough crowd. To tell the truth, I knew a lot of bad guys. Some people might say that made me one of them. I didn’t see it that way.
Over in the corner, I spotted a guy pawing at a woman like she was puppy chow and he was a mangy mutt who hadn’t had a meal in a week. I’d give him a minute to settle down. Then, if he hadn’t stopped, I’d see to it that he did.
I loved owning a bar. I swear I did. But sometimes I wondered if I’d picked the wrong location.
I’d moved back to Cavallo four years ago, mostly to be near Ace. He was the only family I had left in what I guess could be considered my hometown. I’d moved around a lot in my 27 years, starting off in Cavallo, then doing time everywhere from Massachusetts to Florida, where my father was last we spoke, to Texas where my mother was shacked up with her latest boyfriend. But Ace had come through for me when no one else wanted to, back when I was 16 and fresh out of juvie.
