The Dangerous Curves Series

Chapter 28

Jax stepped into the house, his body taking up an astonishing amount of space in the small room. He took it all in: the sparse furnishings, the cheap dishes on the counter, the effort Sarah had made at painting a bit of brightness into the kitchen.

Timid, shy, Sarah looked up at him, saw no judgment on that tough face. Not like Dave, who'd always acted like he was going to catch something every time he entered the house and breathed the air. More than once, she’d had to fight down the urge to ask him if he wanted her to fetch him a plastic sheet to sit on.

“Jax, this is my Mom, Annie Matthews. Mom, Jax Hamill.”

They regarded each other, both seeing quite a bit, neither one totally sure that they liked what they saw. From Annie’s side, she saw a whole lot of trouble and heartache – a hot biker playing business owner, a guy who’d been with far too many women, a man who was going to screw her daughter over, in every sense of the expression.

Jax looked at Sarah’s mother, and saw a woman who’d been beaten down by life, hard. A woman who had undoubtedly been beautiful once upon a time, but who had long ago given up trying. She looked most-of-the-way to bitter, and she was exactly the kind of person who could smother Sarah’s light and spirit.

Not that Annie would grind Sarah down on purpose, he thought, but sometimes people could kill you with a thousand paper cuts. Stealing Sarah’s joy could be done over years, over thousands of conversations, over a million small daily irritations.

His own mother had made one hell of an effort to do it to his kid sister, but Megan was made of pretty strong stuff, and thank God, because Jax hadn’t been around much. This time, Jax was damned if he was going to let that happen on his watch. He’d keep Sarah safe from anything or anyone looking to bring her down, and that included her own mother.

They shook hands, a hundred silent words passing between them, then Jax turned to Noah.

“Hey, Noah.”

Noah looked up, blinking. “Jax, Jax, Jax.”

“Yeah, it’s me.” Jax grinned. “Good to see you.”

Noah nodded, turned his attention back to the TV.

“OK,” Jax said. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah.”

“Grab your jacket, baby. It’ll be chilly later.”

Annie looked up sharply at the endearment, but didn’t say anything. He gazed right back down at her, not looking the slightest bit sorry to have called Sarah a pet name in front of her mother.

“Goodnight, Mom,” Sarah said tightly, very aware of the tension between Annie and Jax. “Don’t wait up.”

Noah looked over now. “Sarah?”

“Hey, don’t worry.” Her voice was gentle now, and Jax loved to hear it. “I’ll be here in the morning, OK?”

“For breakfast?”

“Yes, I’ll have your breakfast ready. I promise.” She gave Noah a kiss on the head, and he touched her hand. “You be good for Mom, right?”

“Right.”

“Love you, Noah.”

“Love you, Sarah.”

“Yeah, I know you do. Goodnight.”

Noah nodded again, went back to gazing intently at the TV.

Jax opened the door for her, placing his hand on the small of her back as they walked down the path together. When they got to his bike, he did up her helmet, making sure to stroke her cheek every chance he got. She closed her eyes as those rough fingers moved over her skin, and he longed – to the point of sheer desperation – to kiss her. But no way he was doing that with Annie peeking through the curtains at them.

“When we get to my place,” he murmured. “I am going to kiss the hell out of you.”

Her breath caught.

“You going to have a problem with that?” he said.

Sarah shook her head.

“Yeah. I didn’t think so.” He straddled the bike, extended his hand to her. “Hop on, Red. Let’s go.”

This time, she wrapped herself around him with no hesitation at all. Now that their relationship had been clarified and declared, she wasn’t holding back from him. She held on tight, loving to feel his body under her hands, between her legs. She was sorry to be wearing the helmet: she wanted to rest her cheek against his broad, leather-clad back, to just inhale him, absorb him into her own body.

They headed out of the city, up the Rockies. She stared up at the sky, taken aback that Jax lived way out here; it was beautiful, but she’d taken him for a city boy, through and through. When he pulled up in front of a house and typed a code that slid the heavy front gate open, she gazed at it in complete shock.

Jax drove around the side of the house to a covered outdoor garage. He stopped, killed the engine. “We’re here. Home sweet home.”

Sarah looked around. There was a sprawling backyard, fragrant flowers. On shaky legs, she got off the bike, and stood mute as Jax unstrapped her helmet. She took a few steps towards the rolling green lawn, stopped when she saw a pool and a hot tub.

She turned to look at him. “What. The. Hell?”

Jax leaned back against his motorcycle and shrugged. “What can I say? The bar business pays well.” He grinned. “People always want beer, you know?”

Sarah stared at him some more, knowing that wasn’t the whole story, but it was rude to ask people about their bank balance. She nodded.

“Now.” His eyes were hot. “Come over here and say hello properly.”

She didn’t need to be asked twice. Sarah walked straight over to him, stepped between his spread legs. She slipped right on into his arms like she belonged there, lifted her shining face to his. Jax was a bit surprised at her eagerness, but he decided that he liked it. A lot.