AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Wow. If the man liked her so much, what was he waiting for? Because if he was waiting for Jezebelle to give him a clear sign she was interested, he’d be waiting a long time.
“She left. Something came up.”
His eyes narrowed as if deciding whether he should ask what that something was. Mia didn’t know what it was, but she made sure to say it in a way as if she did. Let the man stew on that for a while.
“Let me get the tab.”
She pushed the money she noticed Jezebelle left on the counter forward, then started to reach for her purse hanging underneath the bar. Jaxson laid a hand on her shoulder and held out his credit card toward Brick.
“I can’t let you do that.”
“You can, and you will.”
Then he shocked her—and Brick—by kissing her on the lips. His hand slid behind her neck, pulling her closer, pressing his lips more firmly.
“Let me in. Just let me in, Mia.”
Oh, she knew he wasn’t talking about his tongue, bringing the kiss to newer heights. She knew he was talking about her heart.
She didn’t know how.
Because it was complicated.
Very, very complicated.
10
He fumbled with the button, his eyes half on Mia as she struggled with getting her bra off. Jaxson wouldn’t mind helping with her bra as he helped with her shirt. One would think he could toss it into the laundry bin, but oh no. Not when it came to Mia. She stopped him from throwing it mid-air, expressing—with a few slurring words—it had to be buttoned before he put it in there.
He wasn’t quite sure if it was the alcohol talking, making her say such a silly thing, or if she honestly re-buttoned her clothes before putting them in the laundry bin. He’d ask her tomorrow. Because having any sane conversation tonight wasn’t going to happen. At least not right now.
They had left the bar shortly after he’d kissed her. Something she had nothing to say about—yet.
He couldn’t say why he did it.
All he knew was the second she started to argue with him about paying the tab, he didn’t want to hear one argument from her lips. About anything. Sure, he didn’t have a right to pay it. It’s not as if any of the drinks were his. But he wanted to. He wanted to show her how much he loved her. That he’d take care of her in every single way.
He had no worries about Brick divulging their secret. He said as much after Jaxson confessed Gabby didn’t quite know yet. He trusted Brick to keep his word. Not that he wanted to keep the secret from Gabby any longer. Hell, no. It was the last thing he wanted.
Having his best friend mad at him sucked. It sucked worse than getting kicked in the balls, and that had happened a few times. Something he didn’t want to relive even in his memories. That shit hurt.
After securing the last button and tossing it into the bin, he centered all his focus onto Mia, who was still struggling with her bra. The clasp was in the back. Instead of pulling down both straps and twisting the clasp to the front to get a better handle on it—as he’d seen a few women do—she kept trying to finagle her arms and hands behind her, searching and fighting with the clasp.
Her unbalanced feet didn’t help her much.
His sweet and adorable Mia was piss-ass drunk. It was cute as hell.
“Do you need help, sweetheart?”
The endearment rolled off his tongue with ease. Yeah, he could get used to calling her that all day, every day. In front of people. In private. Shouting it out to the world.
God, he loved this woman. The sweet, the hard, the difficult parts of her. Everything.
With a lopsided grin toward him, she shook her head. “I got it. No hanky-panky tonight, mister. I have to cook us a five-star meal.”
He chuckled, although he tried to suppress it with a wide grin. Damn. Adorable didn’t even begin to describe drunken Mia. It was rare to see her like this. She drank. He wouldn’t dispute that. But she rarely consumed more than two or three drinks at the most. She paced herself. She was rigid and accurate when it came to drinking.
He knew why.
