Saving Jax (11 page)

“I told you – I owe him.”

“You’ve spent your entire life working for him.  Don’t you think you’ve repaid the debt?  You could find something else to do with your life.”

He laughed jaggedly.  “Like what?  The only skills I have are using my fists, Mel.”

“That isn’t true.”

“Isn’t it?”

“No,” she said.  “You’re a smart guy, Jax.  You could do whatever you want with your life.”

“You barely know me,” he said a bit sullenly.

“I know you’re wasting your potential working for a drug dealer like Jimmy Gold – “

“Enough, Mel.  Please,” he said harshly.  “I don’t want to talk about Golden while I’m in your bed.  Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

He paused before putting his arm around her and tugging her against his chest.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to yell.”

“You didn’t.  Besides, it’s none of my business.  I’m just being my usual nosy self.”

He kissed her forehead.  “I like your nosy self.”

She pressed her lips against his chest as he relaxed against the headboard.  “Do you like being a nurse?”

“I do.  I like helping people.  Maybe a little too much, sometimes.  At least according to my brothers.  They could probably use a little less of my ‘helping’.”

She stared up at him.  “I ran into my brother’s ex-girlfriend the other day.  She said that they broke up because I kept interfering with their relationship.”

“Do you believe her?”

She shook her head.  “No.  She was a lying bitch who cheated on Court numerous times.  But I think there’s probably some truth to what she said.  I spend a lot of time worrying about my brothers even though they’re older than me.  Well, maybe not so much Court now – Julie’s a great woman and perfect for him – but definitely Cal.  He’s wasting his potential just like you are.”

“Maybe it’s why we’re friends.  We’ve bonded over our mutual lost potential.”  He grinned at her.

She studied him carefully.  “You are friends, aren’t you?”

“Yes.  At least starting to be.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you friends with my brother?  You have nothing in common.”

“Neither do we, yet here we are,” he said teasingly.

“We’re not friends though, are we?”  She said.

A brief look of hurt flickered across his face.  “No, I suppose we’re not.”

“Are you friends with him because you want to be or because Jimmy Golden asked you to be?”

He jerked against her and tried to hide his shock.  “Why would you say that?”

“Golden said he had big plans for my brother.  Do you know what they are?”

“No,” he lied.

“I hate it when you lie to me,” she said before pushing out of his arms.

He grabbed her arm before she could leave the bed.  “Do we have to talk about this now, Mel?  Can’t we just enjoy…”

He trailed off and she arched her eyebrow at him, “Fucking each other?”

He nodded and she sighed loudly before allowing him to pull her back into his embrace.  “You drive me crazy, Jax Anderson.”

He cupped her breast and squeezed it lightly.  “Ditto, Melanie Thomas.”

Court stared at the laptop screen.  The trailer that served as his office on job sites was hot and stuffy, and he opened the window behind him before wiping the sweat from the back of his neck.  He had the start of a headache, two guys had called in sick, and he had a client meeting this afternoon that he was dreading.

He glanced at his watch.  Julie would be here any minute for lunch and he was looking forward to it more than he could say.  He typed a calculation into the spreadsheet and frowned at the results.  He’d have to talk to Mark about –

The door to his trailer opened and without looking up, he said, “Hi, honey.  Just give me a minute to finish up and I’ll be ready for lunch.”

“Hello, Court.”

He froze before slowly lifting his head and staring at the woman standing in the trailer.  She shut the door and stood in front of the desk as he closed his laptop.

“What are you doing here, Janine?”

She gave him a perfect pout before smoothing her hair.  “It’s good to see you too.”

“Get out.”

She frowned.  “We haven’t seen each other in months and that’s all you can say to me?  Get out?”

“I have nothing else to say to you,” he said quietly. 

“Please don’t be like that, Court.  I want to be friends.”

He barked harsh laughter.  “Since when?”

“I mean it,” she said.  “I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately and how badly I screwed us up.”

“That’s the understatement of the year.”  He pushed away from the desk and moved toward the door.  “Leave, Janine.”

“Court, wait!”  She hurried after him, placing her hand on his arm and staring up at him.  “Just give me a chance to explain, okay?”

“Explain how you ended up riding a bunch of dicks while you were dating me?”

She winced and caressed his arm lightly.  “I’m sorry, Court.  I want you to know that.”

“Good to know,” he said.

“I mean it.  I really screwed up and I’ve been wracking my brain for weeks trying to figure out how I can fix this.  I miss you and I want a second chance for us.”

His mouth dropped open and he gave her a look of stunned disbelief before shaking his head.  “You’re a real piece of work, aren’t you, Janine?”

“Just give me the chance, Court.”

“Not a chance in hell.  You know I’m with Julie.  Don’t pretend you don’t,” he snapped.

“That fat girl your sister was having coffee with the other night?”  She said snidely.  “C’mon, Court.  You think I don’t know what you’re doing?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”  He asked.

She stepped closer and smiled up at him.  “You’re trying to make me jealous and, I’ll admit, it’s kind of working.  Although I’m surprised you took such a step down in the looks department.  What on earth possessed you to date her?  She’s pretty enough, I guess, but that body of hers – does she not have any idea how to step away from the dinner table?”

A look of distaste crossed her face.  “I’m sure she’s a very nice girl but – “

She squealed with surprise when Court grabbed her arm and pushed her up against the wall of the trailer.  He stared down at her, his face red and his nostrils flaring and she swallowed thickly.

“Court, calm down.”

“I’m perfectly calm, Janine,” he said quietly.  He leaned down and she stared mesmerized into his eyes as he said, “When I was seven years old, I pushed a girl at school during recess.  She scraped her knees and when my father found out what I had done, he spanked me so hard I couldn’t sit down for a week.  As much as that spanking hurt, my mother’s punishment was worse.  She told me how wrong I was to hit a girl, how disappointed she was in me, and that if I ever hit a girl again it would break her heart.  I vowed that day to never touch a girl in anger again.  I couldn’t stand the thought of breaking my mother’s heart.”

“Court…”

He leaned even closer until their faces were only inches apart.  “I am dangerously close to breaking my mother’s heart today, Janine.”

Her face paled.  “You wouldn’t hit me.”

“Stop talking shit about Julie.  I love her.  Do you understand?”

Janine’s eyes widened.  “You love her?  Are you crazy, Court?  You’ve been dating for what a few weeks?  You can’t possibly – “

The door opened and Julie, a wicker picnic basket in one hand, stepped into the trailer.  “Hey, handsome.  Are you ready for…”

She trailed off, staring in surprise at Court and Janine pressed up against the wall of the trailer.  “Court?  Is- is everything okay?”

Court pushed away from Janine and wrapped his arm around Julie’s waist.  He kissed her firmly on the mouth before nodding.  “Everything’s fine, darlin’.  Janine was just leaving.”

Janine took a step forward, “Court, I – “

“Goodbye, Janine,” Court said.

“You’re making a mistake,” Janine snapped before brushing past them.  She slammed the door of the trailer behind her and Julie winced.

“What was that about?”  She asked as Court kissed her forehead.

“She wants a second chance,” Court said briefly.

“What?”  Julie said in disbelief.

“Yeah.  I told her not a chance in hell.”

She scowled at the floor.  “I really dislike her.”

“You and me both,” Court replied.  “Come on, let’s eat.  I’m starving.”

As Julie laid out on the contents of the picnic basket on the round table shoved into the corner of the trailer, Court grabbed two bottles of water from the tiny fridge.

“This looks delicious, darlin’.  Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

They sat down and Court dug in to the sandwich.  He watched Julie toy with her salad before reaching out and touching her hand.  “I want nothing to do with Janine, Jules.  It’s over between us.”

“I know,” she said.

“Then what’s wrong?”

She poked at a piece of lettuce.  “Do you ever get tired of hearing people say we can’t possibly be in love?”

He nodded.  “It’s getting a little old.  Who did you get it from this time?”

“Mary.”

He scowled  and she hurried on.  “She wasn’t trying to be hurtful, she’s just worried about me.”

“She doesn’t have anything to worry about,” Court said.

“No, she doesn’t.”  Julie pierced a piece of tomato and popped it into her mouth.

“But?”  Court asked.

“But, she made some good - I don’t know - observations, I guess.”

“Like what?”

“Well, she asked what your favourite colour was, if you were, uh, good with money,” she hesitated, “if you wanted kids.  And I couldn’t answer any of them.”

“My favourite colour is grey, I’m pretty frugal with money but you’re welcome to look at my bank account, and yes, I want kids.”

“Grey isn’t a colour,” she said.

He laughed loudly and wiped his mouth with a napkin before leaning forward and kissing her firmly.  “God, I love you, Jules.”

“It isn’t,” she protested. 

“It totally is.”

“It totally isn’t.”

“Well, look at that –we just had our first disagreement,” Court said and she rolled her eyes as he bit into an apple.

“Do you want kids, Jules?”

“Yes, very much.  Although I’m a little worried that I’ll screw them up the way my dad screwed me up,” she said.

“You won’t, darlin’,” he said.  “And you’re not screwed up.”

“You can’t know that for sure.”

“I do,” he said cheerfully.  “Do you think Mary is worried that I’m after your money?”

She shrugged.  “I don’t think so but even if she does, I don’t care.  I know you’re not.”

“That’s right, little lady.  The only thing I’m after is that sweet body of yours.” He gave her a lecherous grin and she laughed again.

“Did you speak to the school yet about the architectural program?”  Court asked.

She put her fork down and rubbed at her mouth with the back of her hand before staring at the table.  “No, I will soon.”

“Jules, honey, look at me,” he said gently.

She raised her gaze to his face and he took her hand.  “Tell me why you keep putting it off.”

She sighed and dropped her gaze to the table again, “I’m not sure I want to join the program, Court.  It’s so far away and I’d have to move.  You’re busy with work and I’ll be busy with classes - we’d never see each other.”

He didn’t reply and she gave him a nervous look.  “What’s wrong?”

“Are you not doing this because of me, Jules?  Because we’ll make it work.  I don’t want you to give up your dreams because you’re afraid of losing me.  I’m not going anywhere, darlin’.  I swear.”

“No, that isn’t it,” she protested.

“Are you sure?  Because I’ll drive up there every weekend if I have to.  I want you to be happy, Jules,” Court said.

“I
am
happy,” she said quietly.  “I’m happy here with you and I don’t want to leave you.”

She held up her hand when he started to protest, “It’s not just that.  I – I don’t want to be an architect anymore, Court.  I really don’t.”

“Oh.”  Court sat back in his chair and Julie gave him an anxious look.

“Are you disappointed in me?”

“What?  Of course not.  Jules, if you don’t want to be an architect that’s perfectly fine with me.”

“Is it?”  She studied him carefully.  “You kept pushing me to join the program and I just – well, it made me wonder just a little if you really wanted to be with me.  I know that’s ridiculous but you’re my first boyfriend and I don’t have a clue what a healthy or normal relationship should be, and people kept acting so surprised when I said you were encouraging me to go back to school and move away.”

He tugged on her hand.  “Come here.”

She moved around the table, allowing him to pull her down into his lap.  He cupped the back of her neck and kissed her again.  “I love you, Jules.  And truthfully I hated the idea of you moving away.  But I want to be the supportive boyfriend and I want you to be happy.  I thought going back to school was what you wanted.”

She shook her head. “It isn’t.”

“What do you want?”  He asked curiously.

“Well, I want to be a wife and a mom and I – and don’t you dare laugh, Court Thomas – I was thinking of volunteering at the Sunshine Seniors Retirement Home.  I was looking online and they have a program where you can come in and knit with the seniors.  It’s more about spending quality time with them and maybe helping them a little with their knitting projects but I’ve always wanted to do volunteer work.  I could also help out at the homeless shelter on Burne Avenue.  They’re looking for volunteers to help serve dinners on Thursday nights.  My dad never wanted me volunteering with the shelters.  He said they were full of meth heads and thieves, but I don’t think that’s true.”

“It isn’t,” Court said.

“Anyway, I don’t think I want a career, at least not right now.”

Court smiled at her and rubbed her back.  “Then do what makes you happy, Jules.  That’s what makes me happy.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.  Well, and knowing that you’re not going to be moving away and I’ll have access to those amazing breasts whenever I want.”

He squeezed one full breast and she slapped his hand lightly before resting her forehead against his.  “Why do you have to be so damn perfect, Court?”

He snorted laughter.  “Trust me, darlin’.  I’m not.”

“No?  Name something awful about yourself.”

“I leave my dirty clothes on the floor, I never put the toilet seat down, and I may have a severe addiction to Candy Crush.”

She laughed and he gave her a solemn look.  “I’m serious, Jules.  I’ve been hiding it from you but I play Candy Crush when I’m in the bathroom.”

“Oh dear,” she said teasingly, “and here I thought you just had unfortunate digestive issues.”

“Wow, it feels really good to get that off my chest,” he said dramatically.  “The secret was tearing me up inside.”

She shook her head and kissed his warm mouth.  “You’re crazy, Court.”

“Crazy for you, darlin’.  Crazy for you.”