“I was, uh, saying how tired I was.” I pulled the sleeves of my sweater down over my hands. “I was going to, uh, go home and get some rest.”
“You should go with Liv,” Ella carried on, knowing full well what she was doing. “Order up some delivery and relax. You’ve both got to be exhausted.” In true Ella fashion, she wasn’t going to let this go.
“Nowthatis a great idea.” Jax looked over at me expectantly. “What do you say, Liv?”
Ella gave me an encouraging smile, and I couldn’t help but notice Cash looked thoroughly charmed by her antics.
I gazed up into Jax’s eager eyes, and my resolve completely broke. “Yeah, let’s do that.” The relief that spread across his face was so cute, I almost forgot why I was thinking about canceling our plans in the first place.
“To the Batmobile,” Jax joked
“Sorry, Bruce Wayne.” I chuckled. “I live down the street, so I walk to work.”
“It looks like it might rain,” Brady mentioned as he peered out the door. “I could drop you guys off. It’s no trouble.”
“I think we’ll be okay,” Jax said, his eyes not leaving mine. “Thank you, though.”
“We should probably head on out,” Cash said regretfully to Ella. “I’ve still got a few things to do, and I know Dal needs to get to his meeting with the realtor. I was going to go grab a coffee first, though. Can I bring you back anything?”
“No, but you’re so sweet to offer,” Ella replied.
“Well, ladies, it was good seeing you both again. Tell Grace we said hello.” Cash hugged both me and Ella. He waved over in Katie’s direction. Dallas squeezed her with one arm, balancing the cupcake boxes in the other. She gaped at me over Dallas’s shoulder.
“It was nice meeting you, Top Chef Katie. I hope I get to see you again sometime.” Dallas said, turning to embrace Ella. “Tell Grace we may be neighbors soon.”
“She will be thrilled.” Ella laughed. “I know she’ll be sad she missed you guys.”
“I’m sure we’ll be backplenty.” Dallas winked at me, pulling me into another hug. “And I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon, Liv. Thanks for all the goodies.”
“Anytime,” I replied. “If you need any insight into the neighborhoods around here or anything, we’re born and raised Nashvillians.” I plucked a couple of our business cards from the holder on the counter and handed them to Dallas. “Now y’all have both me and Ella, and you can stop in any time you’re in the neighborhood.”
“Thanks, Liv,” Dallas said, before fist-bumping Jax. “And we’ll seeyoulater.”
“If you guys get any songs written before I see you again, send me some audio.” Cash’s eyes settled on Jax.
I noticed Jax’s jaw tense and his body stiffen slightly. It was clear he was uncomfortable, though I wasn’t entirely sure why.
“See ya, ladies.” Dallas waved, and Brady unlocked the door, flipping the sign back to ‘open.’ Brady nodded at us, and Cash threw one last smile over his shoulder at Ella.
“Bye, y’all,” Ella called cheerfully, as the door closed behind them. She turned her attention to me with a shit-eating grin. “Now, you two skedaddle on out of here. Katie and I have everything under control here.” She turned to Jax, leaning in to hug him. “Take care of my girl.”
“You know I will,” Jax replied. “Tell my favorite accomplice, Grace, I said hi. It was nice meeting you, Katie.”
“It was nice meeting you guys too,” she said, still starry-eyed.
“Text me later,” Ella sang, and I started back through the kitchen with Jax on my heels.
“Ready?” I asked over my shoulder, grabbing my purse off the hook by the door.
“You donut even have to ask.” He waggled his brow as he moved to open the door for me. “After you.”
As we set off on the short walk to my house, I noted that Brady had been right. It looked like we were about to get an autumn thunderstorm. We walked for a couple of moments before I finally spoke. “So, you’re really thinking of moving here?”
“It’s something I’ve been considering.” Jax smiled at me as we strolled down the sidewalk. “The idea is getting more attractive by the second.”
I averted my gaze, looking down at my boots as I walked. “How long are you in town for?”
“At least for a few days. We’re on a break for a couple of weeks.” I caught him looking at me out of the corner of my eye. “I guess it all depends on if you get sick of seeing me or not.”
