The Real Me (How to Tame a Heartbreaker Book 4) (6 page)

That was a definite no. Cam had friends that worked there, and he knew he'd be recognized. Going to Common Grounds with a fake beard would definitely be a disaster.

"How about Café Coco?" he asked.

"I'm okay with that." She paused for a second staring at the ground as if evaluating whether or not she regretted her decision. "I have to get back to work."

"I'm not going into Bing's," he said, "so, I should probably make sure you still have my number—you know, just in case you can't make it on Sunday."

She pulled the notebook out of her apron and turned to the page with his number written on it, flashing it at him as proof. "I actually almost called it this week," she admitted. She said it guiltily as if she thought it would have been a reckless choice.

"You should have," he said smiling.

She stared into his blue eyes and cursed herself for being so attracted to him.

"I guess I'll see you Sunday," she said.

"Yes you will."

Chapter 6

Jax's parents had no idea she was a bartender. She hated lying to them, but she had no choice since the only thing that would result from telling them would be severe disappointment.

She waited tables her first two years of college and did pretty well, but she made a lot more money bartending. This translated into having to work two nights a week rather than four. The extra time was priceless since she was a conscientious student and very busy with her schoolwork.

Jax wasn't trying to be a goody two shoes or anything, she just never had interest in partying. As a bartender, she got to experience the whole process from the outside looking in, and she honestly didn't see the appeal. She witnessed girls getting all dressed up and flustered trying to impress guys who spent the evening strategizing on how to get in their pants. It seemed to Jax that a lot of the song and dance could be skipped since both sides seemed to be interested in the same thing, but courtship had been around since forever, and who was she to judge?

Anyway, she was a good girl who didn't mind taking money for the simple job
of bartending. Her shifts went by fast and most of the time she managed to have a little bit of fun too. She could cut down her work shifts to one night a week if she became a stripper. The thought crossed her mind, but ultimately she drew the line at bartending.

Her parents thought she still waited tables, which hadn't gotten tricky yet. She assumed one day they'd want to com
e eat at the restaurant she didn't work at, and she'd have to make up an excuse, but so far there hadn't been need for that.

Her seven
teen-year-old sister, Kate, didn't even know about it. They were really close, and several times Jax had been tempted to tell her, but she just hadn't been brave enough to do it.

Jax slept as late as she could the next morning, but still managed to get to Clarksville in time to see her daddy preach. She missed the praise and worship but caught most of the sermon, which was about putting on the whole armor of God.

Kate's boyfriend, Jeremy, went with the family to eat lunch at their favorite barbeque place. The good Reverend didn't mind Jeremy coming along. He came from a fine family—one of the longtime members of their church. As far as he was concerned, Kate and Jeremy had a cute little case of puppy love. Jax honestly didn't know if it was more than that or not. Kate was pretty secretive with details about her relationship with Jeremy—probably for the same reason Jax was secretive about her job. They both thought the other would tell their parents. Rick and Cindy Overstreet were very strict parents who wouldn't take kindly to their daughters making questionable choices, so both girls were smart enough to keep their questionable choices under tight wraps.

"Are you moving home for the summer?"
Cindy asked. They were all sitting at a round, corner table in Tillman's BBQ and her question was directed to Jax.

Jax came home for a couple of months during the summer after her first t
hree years of school, but this year she was staying in Nashville. It was a fact she'd gone over several times already, but Cindy was really good at asking the same question over and over again until she got the desired answer.

"I can't," Jax said regretfully. "I have to get ready for the fall semester. I went to see my advisor last Friday. I'm gonna have a crazy schedule this fall if I plan to graduate in December."

Truth was, her boss at Bing's said they'd have to replace her if she wanted to take the summer off, and she didn't want to have to look for another job when she went back in the fall. She liked Bing's, made good money there, and didn't know if she could find something she liked as much.

"
I'm going to have coffee with a guy later today," Jax said out of nowhere.

In unison, everyone else at the table, includ
ing Jeremy, looked at her with stunned expressions. Jax
absolutely never
talked about guys. She talked about school and mostly about the house for abused women where she worked after school during the week, but she never, ever talked about guys. Rev. and Mrs. Overstreet had even discussed the possibility of their oldest daughter being one of those who'd never marry so that they may dedicate their life to the Lord's work. Suffices to say it surprised everyone when Jax casually mentioned having a coffee with a guy.

Cindy
, who was already thinking of future grandbabies, grinned at her daughter. Rick was slightly less thrilled than his wife. In fact, he flushed as he took a sip of his iced tea to calm his nerves.

"Where'd you meet him?"
Cindy asked.

Jax hadn't considered
her asking that question. "At work," she said honestly.

"Is he a server too?"

Jax didn't have time to respond before her dad chimed in.

"A restaurant isn't the best place to meet someone," he said.

Oh Lord, if he only knew it was actually at a bar.

"Why do you say that?" Jax asked. "I don't think it's a big deal. Work is the most common place to meet someone."

"Is he a server to?" Cindy repeated.

"No mom, he's not a server. He's a—I don't know what he does actually. He's one of my customers."

"God Almighty Jacqueline, you can't possibly mean to tell me your going out with someone you don't even know."

"Dad, he's a nice guy and were going to share a cup of coffee at a crowded coffee shop. Nothing
's gonna happen."

"You better carry your knife."

"I always do."

Kate and Jeremy had been listening intently,
and Rick's
knife
comment reminded Jeremy of something.

"
Pastor Overstreet, did you go to that gun and knife show this weekend."

"Naw. The Mrs. says I have enough knives as it is." He gave
his wife a smile and wink before looking back at Jeremy. "She's probably right."

Rick Overstreet was a champion knife thrower and
avid collector. Jeremy, who was a fan of keeping his friends close and his enemies closer, had solicited lessons from Mr. Overstreet in an effort to convince him he was worthy of dating his daughter. Jeremy had three lessons so far, and to his own surprise, actually enjoyed their time together. He was quite good at throwing too.

"I went with a couple of friends
yesterday, and picked up a new switchblade," he said.

"You got it on you?"

"It's in the truck."

"What did you get?"

"A Gerber."

"Nice," Rick said.

"I like the Spyderco," Jax said.

"What do you know?
" Jeremy said, assuming Jax was just spouting off the only thing she knew about knives.

"Jax can out-throw you any day, son," Rick said.

"Yeah right," Jeremy said chuckling. He honestly thought they were joking around.

"Jax knows how to throw a knife, Jeremy," Kate said. "I do too. Although, I'm not as good as her."

Jeremy looked shocked at the news. How could they have overlooked telling him that their whole family was trained assassins? Okay, maybe it wasn't that dramatic, but it was still a shocker to learn your girlfriend knows how to chuck a knife at you if she wanted to.

"I carry one all the time," Jax said. She leaned to one side so that she could take the knife out of the back pocket of her jeans. In one fluid motion she lifted and opened the automatic knife and then lowered it under again where she closed it and put it back into her pocket.

"
Geeeez!
" Jeremy said.

"That's
the same as saying Jesus Jeremy," Cindy said.

"Ma'am?"

"When you say geez—it's the same as saying Jesus, because it makes us all think you're going to say Jesus."

"Try saying
oh my word
next time you need to use an exclamation around our mom," Jax said. She stifled a smile. "She really likes
oh my word
. Oh, and
my lands
is a good choice too."

They all laughed, even Rick, but
Cindy just crossed her arms indignantly. "Go ahead and make fun of me. I was just telling Jeremy that in case he didn't know."

Jeremy still looked a bit confused. "I honestly didn't know geez meant Jesus Mrs. Overstreet. I'm sorry about that."

"That's very sweet of you," Jax said. "But mom doesn’t know if geez means Jesus or not. It probably just sounds like it to her. You should probably just use something more like
goodness sakes alive
or
boy howdy
when you're with our family. Geez is far too crude."

Everyone at the table, including
Cindy, laughed that time.

"What's this boy's name." Kate asked
, getting back to the subject of the coffee date.

"Cole."

"I like that name. There's a guy Jeremy's age at school named Cole Bruce."

"I don't remember this guy's last name," Jax said. "He told me, but I can't think of it. It's
something complicated—hyphenated, I think."

"
I can't believe you're going out with someone you don't even know," Rick said.

"You said that already, dad. We
just
covered all this. It's coffee and I have my knife, remember?"

"Call your mother when you finish, would you?"

Jax sighed. "Dad I'm twenty-one—a grown woman."

"Would you please just call your moth—"

"Okay."

"Thank you."

"What's he look like?" Kate asked.

"He's really cute," Jax said, smiling at her little sister. "He's got dirty blonde hair with light eyes and this beard that's about this long." Jax held her hand under her chin indicating a beard that was approximately
three inches long.

"How old is this man, honey?" Rick asked.

"I don't know. He's young though, Dad. In his twenties, I assume."

Jax was done talking about Cole and her coffee date. She went for a topic of conversation that was completely natural to her. She absolutely loved the small women's shelter where she volunteered and it was something she talked about on a regular basis with her family. It was actually more of a rehab center than a shelter.

Mary, t
he lady who started it, helped a friend get back on her feet after she'd been in an abusive relationship. One thing led to another in the way things do, and now Mary has a six bedroom home in Nashville where she shelters and rehabs women and children who've been in abusive situations. She gives them a place to stay while she instructs them on how to get a job, rent an apartment, and reenter the world able to take care of themselves and their children. Mary could house up to six women at one time. Two of the bedrooms had adjoining bathrooms and were reserved for women with children. The other four bedrooms were used for single women.

Most of the women who came through the house stayed
about four to six months. Jax had been around long enough to see several of them graduate from Mary's house. The transformation was always amazing and she was honored to be a part of it.

As much as she wished there wasn't a need for such a house, the sad truth was there were women applying constantly who were turned away because they didn't have enough room. Unfortunately,
all six rooms were always occupied and there was an ever-growing waiting list.

"We're having this big fundraiser at Mary's House next month." Jax said, changing the subject to anything besides Cole and the very dangerous coffee date.

"You were telling me about that," Cindy said. "How much is she trying to earn?"

Jax shrugged. "She wants to add on a bedroom or two. It'd cost fif
teen or twenty thousand I think, but that's above and beyond our normal budget. She doesn't expect to raise that much, but we're always needing stuff for the house, so really, anything helps."

"We can see what the church can do as a gift," Rick said.

"Oh, that'd be awesome," Jax said.

They spent the rest of their lunch talking about thin
gs besides Cole, the mystery guy, though Jax couldn't help but be a little nervous at the prospect of seeing him in a few hours. She imagined what it'd be like to talk to him, and hoped it wouldn't be awkward or forced. She told herself that if it was, she would just leave.

Before she knew it, Jax was sitting in her car in the parking lot of Café Coco.
Her nerves were so heightened that instead of opening her car door and walking inside like a normal person, she sat in the driver's seat and stared at her phone, deciding whether or not she should text him and say she couldn't make it.