The Dangerous Curves Series

Chapter 10

Jax got out of the shower and dried himself off. It felt weird to be staying here at Dangerous Curves overnight. Even though the place was actually open twenty-four/seven, and the crash rooms doubled as hotel rooms when people made reservations, and the food that Luke produced in the kitchen was more than decent, Jax had never treated the place as more than a place to drink a bit, and f**k a lot.

He towel-dried his hair, then pulled on some clean boxers and a fresh t-shirt. He always had a change of clothes in his office, just in case some drunk spilled something or puked on him. More than once, he and his bouncers, Dillon and Curtis, had been involved in some pretty serious bar brawls, resulting in significant blood spillage – both Jax’s and the drunks’.

He opened the bathroom door quietly, not wanting to wake up Sarah. She was still sleeping, he was relieved to see, and in fact, had barely moved since he’d come into the darkened crash room twenty minutes earlier.

Jax put the towel on a chair to dry overnight, then looked at Sarah. He wasn’t totally sure how it happened, but suddenly he found himself standing right over her. His green eyes skimmed over the bandage on her forehead, the swelling around her eye, the scrapes and bruises on her cheeks. His hand was drawn forward slowly, and he touched her hair. Gently. Barely a touch; more like a caress.

God, her hair was so soft. Silky. And she was just so beautiful, so – innocent, somehow. Not hard, or jaded, or suspicious. Not his kind of girl at all, not ever. And despite knowing all of that for damn sure, he still wanted to get into this bed and hold her close, offer her some warmth and comfort. Kiss the back of her neck, run his hands down her hips.

Pull yourself together, man. She’s hurt, and if you take advantage of that, you’re an even bigger asshole than she already thinks you are.

He moved away from her with a sigh, and turned off the small bedside lamp. He kept the bathroom light on and shut the door halfway, in case she woke up in the night and got scared, not knowing where the hell she was. Jax climbed onto the sofa, and pulled the blanket up and over his body. He turned to face Sarah, watched her sleep for a while.

His last thought before he drifted off was that he found he kind of liked sleeping in the same room as a woman. He’d never done that before. And he resolved to get Sarah’s phone number tomorrow, after she woke up.

He’d ask her to coffee or dinner, take her to a movie, go for a f*****g walk, if that’s what she wanted. And then? Well, hopefully he’d be able to get her home. In his arms, in his bed. And then she’d be out of his system, and he could just get back the f**k to normal.

****

The first thing Sarah thought was that her room seemed an odd color. She blinked at the walls, wondered who had painted her room red and black during the night. Then she remembered Dave, and she felt the pain in her head, and she groaned.

“Hey,” a deep voice said. “Sarah? You alright?”

She gasped, turned over quickly to look at the man who was speaking to her. When she saw a huge man with black hair staring at her from a sofa, she scrambled backwards, pulling the sheets around her.

He got to his feet, palms up. “Hey, it’s OK. Do you remember me? I’m Jax.”

She squinted in the faint light coming through the black, drawn blinds. “Oh, right. Yeah.”

“You slept here at the bar last night. You remember now?”

She stared at him, her mind suddenly going a million miles a minute.

Sunlight… stayed overnight… oh, God. What time is it?

“What time is it?” she blurted.

He looked around. “I don’t know. Hang on, I’ll check my cell.”

“No, I have to check on my watch. It’s synchronized with another clock… just open the blinds a bit.”

He looked puzzled. “Uh, sure.” He pulled the blinds back, and she tried to focus on her watch. Her heart stopped and then took off again, beating double-time.

Oh, s**t. I have exactly thirty-four minutes to get to him.

She jumped out of bed, ignoring the pain in her head. “I’ve got to go.”

“You – what?” Jax shook his head. “You were hurt last night, and you need to lie down again, get some more rest.”

“No.” She almost tripped over her sandals. “No, I have to go.” She sat on the edge of the bed, ignored the way that her head was spinning, and she tugged the sandals on.

“OK, whoa. Baby, hold on…”

“Where’s my purse?” she asked.

He paused. “On the bedside table. But can’t you stay for a coffee? I wanted to ask you…”

“No, I really can’t.” She glanced at her watch again. Thirty-three minutes. Goddammit. She pulled on her jean jacket, checked her pockets.

“Sarah. What’s the rush?”

She didn’t answer him. She just headed for the door without a backwards glance, and barrelled on out. Stunned, Jax stood alone in the crash room for a few seconds, then whirled around and found his jeans. He tugged them on, then pulled on his boots, hopping a bit on one foot as he started to follow her while still putting on the second one.

She was already out the door and heading across the parking lot by the time he caught up to her.

“Sarah!”