The Dangerous Curves Series

Chapter 27

Annie Matthews sighed, torn between two wildly conflicting emotions.

On the one hand, she was thrilled to death that Sarah was finally going to be getting out of the house once in a while. The girl had been dealt a pretty crappy hand these past few years, and God knows, if anyone deserved a distraction, it was her. But was the owner of Dangerous Curves, that dive bar overrun with criminals and prostitutes and drug dealers, really the kind of distraction that Sarah needed? On the whole, Annie thought not.

“So.” Annie narrowed her eyes at her daughter. “He’s coming to pick you up here, is he?”

Sarah nodded. “Yeah. He’ll be here in about five minutes.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Mom.” Sarah kept her voice low, and glanced over at Noah, absorbed in his TV show. She was suddenly totally convinced that driving herself would have been the smarter option, but Jax had insisted: he'd said that they were going to do their first real date properly, and that meant that he came and got her, met her Mom, said hi to Noah. Sarah had been oddly touched at this rough man’s formality and respect at the time that he'd made the offer. Now, she kind of wished that he’d been an asshole about it, and told her to find her own goddamn way to his place.

“What?” Annie said.

“Come on,” Sarah said. “Don’t give Jax a hard time, OK?”

“What the hell kind of a name is ‘Jax’ anyway?” Annie asked.

“I don’t know,” Sarah muttered. “Maybe short for Jackson?”

“But then wouldn’t he be ‘Jack’?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know much about this guy, do you?” Annie shook her head. “Come on, Sarah… you sure you want anything to do with anyone from that shithole?”

“From Curves, you mean?”

“Yeah. It’s not a nice place, not at all, and if Jax owns it, then it means that he’s not a nice guy. Not at all.” Annie sighed again. “Why not hold out for a decent man instead of some low-life? A man with an education and a respectable job? Someone who can lift you up a bit in the world, instead of dragging you down?”

“A guy like Dave, you mean?” Sarah said.

“Yeah.” Annie shrugged. “What the hell happened with him anyway?”

“He cheated on me. Then he beat me up in the parking lot at Curves.”

Annie stared at her, stunned. “He – what? He f*****g what?”

“Yep. Your college-educated, PhD student from a rich New York family stuck his d**k in some sorority babe, then hit me so hard, and so many times, I needed stitches.”

Annie gasped. Sarah turned her back on Noah, pulled her hair off her forehead to show her mother the thin, dark mark along her hairline.

“And you know who helped me and took care of me, Mom? Jax and his low-life friends from that shithole. They got me to a bed, and Mac did the stitches, and Jax slept on the sofa across the room to make sure I was safe, and the next morning, he got me home in time to get Noah his breakfast. King fixed my car for free after Dave slashed all the tires, and he brought it back here.” Sarah’s normally sweet, soft voice was pure steel. “So don’t you dare treat Jax like crap, Mom, ‘cause he’s done nothing to deserve it. And it’s not like we’re the Royal Family, you know. We’re exactly one half-step above w*********h, so mocking Jax for a lack of education or social standing is a bit hypocritical, huh?”

“Sarah –”

“No, Mom. You be decent to him. Promise me.”

“I’m sorry, honey. I – I had no idea. Why didn’t you tell me? About Dave?”

“Because it was over, and I’m fine. Nothing much to say, in the end.”

Annie studied her daughter. “And Jax is different? You’re sure?”

“Positive. He’s no choir boy, that’s for certain, but he’s never going to hurt me. That I do know. OK?”

“OK.” Annie walked over to Sarah. “Now let me see those stitches.” She examined them closely. “They’re even, small, really neat. Who’d you say did them?”

“Mac. He’s a doctor.”

Annie laughed, surprised. “A doctor goes to Curves?”

“Yeah.” Sarah grinned. “Mac’s kind of a doctor-biker, I guess. Tattoos, long hair, don’t-mess-with-me vibe. I quite like him.”

“Oh, Lord. The people you get yourself all mixed up with, honey. Be careful, alright?”

Sarah nodded, and then they heard the roar of an engine outside. She glanced out the window to see Jax getting off his motorcycle.

“He’s here.”

“He has a bike?”

“Mom…” Sarah’s voice was a warning.

Annie threw up her hands. “OK, OK… sorry.”

They heard a knock at the door, and Sarah smoothed down her unruly curls before opening it up. And there he was, large and gorgeous in jeans and a black leather jacket, his dark hair a bit messy, his green eyes blazing down at her. Right away, her heart stopped. The thought that she was going to spend the evening at this man’s place, eating food, was quite literally incomprehensible.

How the hell did I get together with this guy?

“Hey, Red.” That husky growl made her stomach tighten. “How you doing?”

“Good, Stud.” Her voice was a squeak, and he grinned at her attempted bravado. “Come in, meet my Mom.”