Текст книги "Until Jax "

Автор книги: Aurora Rose Reynolds

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 2 (всего у книги 14 страниц)

Her eyes go to the couch, and I know without Hope there wouldn’t be a chance in hell Ellie would be moving in with me.

“I really do appreciate it.”

“Baby,” I murmur, watching her eyes slide half closed, “I’m glad I can help.”

Licking her lips, her eyes go soft then move to the couch again.

“Hope will want her bed.”

“Show me where it is and I’ll put it in the truck now, while you get your clothes and stuff packed up.”

Nodding, she heads down a short hallway and stops at a room that is smaller than my closet at home. There isn’t much in the space, just a small, child size bed and a white dresser, along with stuffed animals scattered over a pink rug. “I’ll get this; you go start packing,” I rumble, rubbing her arms. Looking over her shoulder at me, her lips part when she realizes how close I am.

“I…I’m g-gonna start packing,” she stammers then slips under my arm and heads down the hall. Following her with my eyes until she’s out of sight, I smile. She may not want to admit it, but I know she feels the same pull I do.

Heading into Hope’s room, I pull her pink bedding and mattress off her bed then pick up the frame and move it out to the living room, checking to make sure she’s still sleeping before taking it to the truck.

Once we get started, it doesn’t take long to get everything packed up and in the back of my truck. We will have to come back in a week to clean the rest out but we got everything they will need for now.

“Baby, we’re here,” I whisper, running my finger down Ellie’s cheek, not really wanting to wake her up. She had fallen asleep with her head on my thigh ten minutes after we left the restaurant we stopped at after getting gas. I don’t even think she realized what she was doing when she laid down. I know she has to be exhausted after everything that happened.

Blinking up at me, she wipes the corner of her mouth then sits up quickly, looking around.

“This is your house?”

Looking out the front windshield, I wonder why she looks so scared. It’s not the nicest house on the street, but when it came on the market a year ago for a hundred grand under market value, I had to buy it, and have been slowly fixing it up since then. “Yeah.”

“It’s really nice.” She swallows then looks at the other houses on the block, which look similar to mine.

“It’s your home now too,” I say softly, wanting to get rid of that look on her face, the one saying she feels like she doesn’t belong here.

“Until I have enough money to get somewhere else,” she murmurs, rubbing her eyes.

Ignoring that comment, I grit my teeth and get out of the truck before I can tell her there is no way in hell she’s ever moving out.

“Get a grip before you scare her the fuck off,” I growl under my breath, opening her door and helping her out. I then open Hope’s door and grin when her face lights up.

“You wiv in a castle!” She smiles, unhooking her belt, catching me off guard when she throws herself at me.

Looking back toward my house, I guess it kind of does look like a castle. The old grey brick Victorian with two round rooms on each side of the house gives the look of towers, the white scalloping along the edges, and in the middle is a window that resembles a lookout point.

“I guess I do,” I tell her, setting her on the ground.

“Sooo cooool,” she breathes, peering up at me with her big brown eyes, making my chest ache.

Pulling my hat off, I turn toward Ellie. “Why don’t I take you guys inside and you can look around, while I bring everything in?”

“Are you sure?” she asks, picking up Hope then looking in the back of the truck at all of her stuff, most of which is in black garbage bags.

“I’m sure. Plus, you really should be in bed resting after everything that has happened,” I say quietly, taking her hand and leading her up the front steps, letting her go long enough to open the door and walk over to the keypad to shut off the alarm. “The code is zero-four-zero-three. I want the alarm on anytime I’m not in the house with you.” Watching her nod, I take her hand again and lead her through the house, showing her the living room, kitchen, and downstairs bathroom before moving her to the stairs. “You can have your pick of rooms.”

“Where’s your room?” she asks when we make it to the second-floor landing.

“At the end of the hall.” I nod my head toward my room and she looks in the opposite direction. Dropping my hand, she sets Hope on the ground, opening the door in front of us, almost the farthest from mine, which makes me bite back a smile. A few feet and a couple doors between us isn’t going to matter in the long run, but I’m willing to give her the sense of space for now. “We’ll take this room.”

“There’s plenty of space for Hope to have her own room,” I tell her softly.

“I’d feel better if she was close, at least for now,” she replies just as quietly, taking the piece of hair that is constantly falling out of the bun on top of her head and tucking it back behind her ear.

“Mama, I wanna wiv in the tower like a real pwincess.”

Turning my head, I see Hope has opened the door at the opposite end of the hall from mine, the second room that has a round section that juts out into the front yard, with large windows, and a seat underneath them.

“You don’t want to sleep with me?” Ellie asks her, and Hope’s face scrunches up adorably like she’s trying to think about it then she shakes her head.

“I’m not a baby, wemember?”

“No, I guess you’re not.” Ellie sighs then looks at me, biting her bottom lip. “Are you sure you don’t mind us taking up two rooms?”

“Positive.” I smile, and she looks toward the end of the hall at my door then back toward hers, and my smile gets bigger. I can practically hear the wheels in her head turning. “Why don’t you guys get cleaned up while I bring everything in?” I say, opening the door to the bathroom.

“Bafftub! Bafftub!” Hope jumps up and down, squealing, making me laugh.

“I’ll bring your clothes up first. That way, you’ll have something clean to change into afterward.”

“Thanks, Jax,” Ellie whispers.

“No problem, baby,” I tell her then look down at Hope when she grabs my hand, tugging on it.

“Mama’s not a baby.” She giggles then runs into the bathroom, making me laugh.

Leaning on the doorjamb, I watch as the two of them turn on the tub then pull myself away, closing the door when they both take off their shoes.

I have never really put much thought into having kids, but I could get used to hearing Hope giggle. Moving downstairs, I pull out my cellphone and press send on my mom’s number when I see she’s called a few times.

“Don’t you know how worried we’ve been?” she scolds after the first ring.

“You knew I was driving.” I know my dad isn’t really included in that ‘we’. It’s all my mom; she’s always worried.

“You have Bluetooth,” she mutters, sounding annoyed.

“Ellie and Hope were sleeping, and I’m not gonna answer the phone with the girls in the truck.”

“Oh, God, it’s really happening, isn’t it?” she whispers, making me frown.

“What’s happening?”

“Nothing,” she says quickly. “How’s Ellie feeling, and what’s Hope like?”

“Ellie’s tired, but I think she’s okay. Hope is cute. You’ll love her.”

“I wish it wasn’t so late,” she grumbles, making me smile.

“You can come over tomorrow. If I know Ellie at all, she’s gonna want to head over to the salon in the morning.”

“I can take her,” she says immediately as I pull two of the bags from the back and take them inside.

“Thanks, Mom,” I say sincerely.

“I’m happy to help.”

“Where’s Dad?”

“He’s right here. Hold on,” she says, and I’m sure she is sitting on my dad’s lap, or tucked into his side, where she always is.

“Hey, bud,” I hear his deep voice come over the line.

“Hey, Dad. You busy tomorrow?”

“Nothing’s on the schedule. What’s up?”

“I need to get Ellie some wheels. You got time to go with me?”

“Sure, I’ll bring your mom over in the morning, since I can tell she’s chomping at the bit to meet Hope, and we’ll head out from there.”

“Thanks,” I mumble, taking the two bags up the stairs and setting them in bedroom Ellie chose.

“Anytime. Get some rest and we’ll see you in the morning.”

“See you then,” I say, hanging up and heading back outside. My phone vibrates again, and I look at the screen and shake my head when I see Mellissa’s number pop up, with the emoji of a butcher knife that my sister Ashlyn put next to her name. Mellissa and I dated in high school, and hooked up over the summer one time. I thought maybe she had changed with age and college, but she was a bigger bitch now than she was back then. Pressing ignore on her call, I put my phone in my pocket and take the rest of the stuff into the house. Once I get everything upstairs, both girls are in Ellie’s room lying in bed.

“Thank you for bringing everything in,” Ellie says sleepily.

“No problem.” I shrug, watching as she gets out of bed, and that’s when I realize she’s only wearing a shirt that hangs down to the middle of her thighs. My eyes track her as she walks toward me. Taking in the creamy expanse of her legs and the way her hair looks down over her shoulders, I can picture her walking toward me naked, her hair brushing the tips of her breasts.

“Ax, I wuv your bafftub,” Hope says, bringing me out of my perusal of her mother.

Clearing my throat, I look around Ellie to Hope, who is now standing on the bed and bouncing.

“I’m glad, sweetheart,” I say, and she smiles then hops off the bed, luckily landing on her feet as I rush towards her, feeling my heart in my throat. Picking her up off the ground, I mutter, “Be careful.” Which only seems to make her laugh.

“No jumping on the bed, Angel,” Ellie says, and Hope grins then wiggles out of my hold, running out of the room, past her mom.

“She’s a handful,” Ellie mumbles, looking from the door to me again.

“She’s sweet.” Besides, I was already getting the feeling I was going to have my hands full with both her and her mother. “You look beat.”

“I am, but Hope wants to sleep in her bed, so I’m gonna go get it set up for her,” she says yawing turning towards the door.

“Already done,” I say to her back.

Stopping, she turns to look at me over her shoulder, and something works within her gaze, but her head dips before I’m able to decipher it.

“Thanks,” she mumbles, walking out of the room. Following her to Hope’s door, I stop behind her. “She’s already asleep,” she whispers, tilting her head back to look at me. Tipping my chin toward her, I place my hand on her shoulder then reach around her with my other hand to shut off the light. “You even found her a nightlight,” she whispers, almost like she’s in awe.

Roaming my hand down her arm, I rest it on her waist, giving her a squeeze. This time she doesn’t flinch, but shivers. “Go to bed, babe you need to rest.”

“Okay.” She swallows, and I notice a pinkness to her cheeks that wasn’t there before as she stops at her bedroom door.

“I’m right down the hall if you need me. Do you remember the code for the house?”

“Zero-four-zero-three,” she says, nodding.

“Good girl.” I smile, reaching up and running my finger down her cheek, watching her eyes slide half closed from my touch. “Mom and Dad will be here in the morning.”

“Oh.”

“Mom said she would take you to the salon if you want to go.”

“I do.” Her face brightens.

“I had a feeling you would want to.” I smile as she yawns again. “Get some sleep.”

“Goodnight, Jax,” she says quietly, walking into her room.

“Night, Ellie,” I murmur, watching her door close before heading down the hall to my room. The minute I’m inside, I kick off my boots and take off my jeans and tee then go into the bathroom. Something inside of me settles into place…something I didn’t even know I had been looking for all along.

I knew about the ‘Boom’; every man in my family knew about it from the time they were little. Most of us chalked it up to some old wives tale, but that doesn’t mean I hadn’t been hoping it would happen to me one day. I grew up watching the way the men in my family were with their wives, knew the strength of their relationships and the bonds they shared, how rare it actually was to have something run so deep, something that nothing could ever come between.

I know I now have that under my roof; I just need to convince Ellie of the same thing. I need to show her our future could be beautiful if she’d give it a chance. With that thought, I go to bed hoping that one day Ellie will be climbing into bed next to me while our kids sleep down the hall.

Chapter 2

Ellie

Opening my eyes, I close them again when I realize I haven’t been dreaming. I’m really at Jax’s house in Tennessee. Sitting up and putting my feet on the floor, I stretch before standing. I don’t want Hope to wake up Jax, and my daughter—though I love her more than anything in this world—is loud. I don’t think she has ever gotten the concept of her inside voice. Opening my door and looking down the hall towards Jax’s room, I see his door is open, but he’s not awake. At least, I don’t think so.

His chest is rising and falling steadily. His arm muscles are flexed, one over his head, the other draped across his bare abdomen. All I can see is beautiful golden skin over muscle…lots and lots of muscle. Pulling my eyes from him and tiptoeing down the hall, I make it to Hope’s room and go inside, shutting the door.

Seeing Hope asleep in her bed on her tummy with her hand pressed under her cheek, I walk to the only other piece of furniture in the room, an old rocking chair, and sit down. My life with Hope hasn’t always been easy, but we’ve always been happy. I have always made sure she has what she needs, and a little extra when I could afford it, but last night, when we pulled up in front of Jax’s house and she whispered to him that he lived in a castle, I knew I needed to do more. She deserves to live in a house, not a trailer park where drugs are dealt right outside her bedroom window. She deserves a backyard and a good school, with friends who are good kids. I’m not sure what is going to happen with us living in Tennessee, but I vow I will work harder to give Hope a life completely different than the one I had growing up.

“Mama?”

“Hey, Angel.” I smile, opening my arms to her as she walks sleepily toward me. “Did you sleep okay?” I ask, tucking her head under my chin and wrapping my arms around her, rocking her gently.

“Like a pwincess.” She smiles, tipping her head back to look at me. “I’m hungwy.”

I know Jax said to make ourselves at home, but I still feel awkward using his stuff when he isn’t around. It feels personal…way too personal. “Can I have pancakes?”

Crap. I’m not gonna starve my daughter, so I need to pull my big girl panties up and get over whatever reservations I have with being in Jax’s house, especially since this is our home for the time being, too.

“You have to be very quiet until we get downstairs. Can you do that?”

“Like a mouse,” she whispers, making me smile.

“Okay, little mouse, let’s go,” I tell her, standing up and taking her hand in mine.

“Jax is sweepin’,” she loudly whispers when we step into the hall.

“Remember, quiet as a mouse,” I say, and her nose scrunches up and down a few times like a mouse would do, and I grin.

Getting to the kitchen, I lift her up, set her on the counter, and then look around.

Jax’s house is nice, but you can tell he’s slowly trying to fix it up. Cans of paint and different tiles sit in the corner next to a backdoor I hadn’t noticed last night. The upper cabinets don’t match the lower ones, and the linoleum floors are peeling up, completely gone in some spots. The fridge is new, stainless steel, with some kind of computer on the front, but the other appliance are old and white. The one thing that’s completed is the countertops. They aren’t granite, but look like concrete that has specks of glass imbedded in them. Looking around, I can tell that one day, when he gets around to finishing everything, it will be amazing.

“What are you doing?” Hope giggles, bringing me out of my perusal of the kitchen.

Smiling at her, I shrug then begin opening the cupboards one at a time until I come across the stuff necessary to make pancakes.

“Are you ready to be my mixer?” I ask her, putting some flour in the bowl and handing her a spoon.

“Yep.” She grins, stirring the flour, causing it to fly up out of the bowl and hit us both in the face. “Uh oh.” She covers her mouth with the spoon still in her hand, flinging flour at me and dumping some on her in the process. Then she begins to giggle louder, her little body shaking with the force of it.

Narrowing my eyes, I set my hands on my hips. “You did that on purpose.”

“I didn’t. I pwomise.”

“You did.” I laugh then tickle her while kissing her all over her face, making her squirm in my arms.

“Looks like I’m just in time.” Freezing in place, I lift my head and meet Jax’s sleepy gaze.

“We woke you. I’m so sorry,” I mumble, standing to my full height. I try to ignore the fact he’s shirtless and his hair is rumpled from sleep, giving me a visual of what it would look like if I were to run my hand through it.

You do not need that visual, Ellie, I scold myself.

“You didn’t. This house is too quiet; I could get use to waking up to the sounds I heard this morning.” He smiles, and I feel my cheeks heat up when his eyes drop to my legs. I know I have shorts on, but the shirt is so long that it hides them. His eyes turn darker then travel up, meeting mine again before dropping to my mouth when I pull my bottom lip between my teeth.

“We’re makin’ pancakes, Ax,” Hope chimes in, and his eyes go to her, the heat disappearing, and softness enters them.

“I love pancakes. What’s your favorite kind?”

“Ones wiff syrup.” She grins.

“I like chocolate chips in mine,” he tells her, making her eyes light up like he just told her there is a real life unicorn in the backyard and she gets to ride it.

“Chocowate chips,” she repeats then looks at me and frowns. I have never made her pancakes with anything in them, and apparently she thinks I’ve been holding out on her.

“We can make them with chocolate chips another time, after I have a chance to go to the store,” I promise her.

“We have chips, baby.” Pulling my gaze from Hope, I meet his again. “Like I said last night, use anything you want,” he says, picking up a dishtowel and smiling while wiping off my face then Hope’s.

“Thank you,” I murmur. I swear the only words I have really spoken to him have been thank you. He’s constantly doing things that are sweet and catch me off guard. I’m not use to anyone being nice.

“So can I have chocowate in my pancakes?” Hope asks, making me laugh.

Leaning in, I kiss her chubby cheek and whisper, “Yes, you can have them in yours.”

“Yay.” She smiles, rubbing her face against mine like a cat.

Feeling something strange coming from Jax, I turn my head, seeing a look in his eyes that sends a shiver through me. It’s tender and dark, but so soft, and I wonder what caused it.

Clearing his throat and running his hand over his jaw, he walks across the kitchen and pulls down a bag of chocolate chips from the cupboard, handing them to me.

“Thanks.” When I smile, his hand lifts and he runs his fingers down the side of my face then looks at Hope, tapping the end of her nose, making her grin before he moves to the coffee pot and starts it up.

“Do you want a cup of coffee?”

“Sure.” I nod, watching as he pulls a mug down from above the coffee maker. Forcing myself to look away from him, I go to the fridge and pull out milk and eggs to add them to the bowl. Once everything is mixed, Jax sets a large griddle on the counter and plugs it in.

I raise a brow at him and he smiles then shrugs. “My sister comes over for breakfast quiet a bit, and we always have pancakes.

“You gots a sister?” Hope asks.

“Yep, her name is Ashlyn. She works at the dentist office in town. I’m sure you’ll meet her soon.”

“I wanna sister,” Hope says, looking at me then back to Jax, the corners of her mouth lifting mischievously.

Is my three-year-old seriously trying to hook us up?

“Maybe one day, sweetheart,” Jax rumbles, raking his eyes over me, causing my pulse to spike and the space between my legs to tingle.

“Jax.”

Jumping at the sound of a woman’s voice, I turn to find a beautiful brunette wearing a button down silky-looking shirt, a tight skirt, and heels striding into the kitchen as she looks in her purse. When her head lifts, her eyes stop on me.

“Ellie,” she breathes, catching me off guard when she wraps her arms around me. Unsure what to do, I pat her back awkwardly as she rocks us back and forth.

“I… Do I know you?” I mumble, frowning at Jax, whose body is shaking with silent laugher.

“Oh, God, I’m sorry.” She pulls away. “I’m Ashlyn. I probably should have said that before I mauled you, right?,” she lets out in one breath while laughing.

“It’s okay. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You wook wike a pwincess,” Hope breathes, and Ashlyn’s body turns toward her and her face lights up.

“You must be Hope.” Hope nods and Ashlyn steps forward. As she runs her hand over Hope’s hair, she tells her, “I think you’re the one who looks like a princess.”

“I have a princess bed, and now a princess room in a castle,” she informs her, smiling from ear to ear.

“You’re a very lucky princess.”

“I know, and now we’re having chocolate chips for breakfast.” Hope bounces where she sits on the counter.

“Chocolate chips?” she asks, looking at Jax.

“Jax just told Hope that his favorite pancakes have chocolate chips in them, so now Hope wants to try them,” I explain to her while Jax moves, giving my side a squeeze before pulling down another coffee mug from the cupboard.

“Ahhh. Well, chocolate chip pancakes are my favorite too. Do you mind if I stay and have one?”

“Mama, can—” Hope pauses then looks at Ashlyn again.

“Hope, this is my sister, Ashlyn. Ashlyn, you already know Princess Hope,” Jax introduces them.

“I do.” Ashlyn curtsies, making Hope giggle and me smile.

“Here, Ash.” He hands her a cup of coffee, which she takes and nudges his shoulder with hers, muttering, “Thanks.”

Watching the two of them, I know that if things had been different, if my brother had lived, this is what our lives would have been like. We were always close, and after my dad passed away, we came to depend on each other even more.

“Mama, can Ashlyn stay?” Hope asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Of course.” I smile at her, dipping the ladle in the mix and pouring it on the griddle.

“The key to the perfect chocolate chip pancake is the sprinkling of the chips,” Jax tells Hope, picking her up off the counter, holding her on his hip. “Do you think you can help sprinkle them?”

“Yes.” She nods vigorously, sticking her hand into the bag. She dumps a handful of them on one pancake before he can show her what to do, making him chuckle.

“Like this, sweetheart,” he says quietly, making a smiley face on one, and then a heart on another. Watching, she leans her head on his shoulder, and my heart flutters inside my chest so hard it feels like a bird beating against my ribcage.

“My mom was saying you’re a hairstylist.”

Pulling my eyes from Hope and Jax, I look at Ashlyn, who is leaning with her elbows on the countertop, her coffee cup between her hands.

“Yeah, for a few years.” I nod, picking up my cup and taking a drink of coffee, wondering how Jax knew exactly how I liked it without even asking me.

“You have great hair.” She smiles, and I self-consciously run my hand down my tangled strands.

“I’m sure it looks crazy right now. I didn’t take the time last night to find my blow dryer after I washed it,” I mumble, and she shakes her head.

“It looks sexy, wild,” she assures me, which catches me off guard. Most of my life, I have been surrounded by women who are quick to cut you down or give a backhanded compliment. But there was no malice in her eyes when Ashlyn spoke. I’m getting the feeling the Mayson’s are all just very good people, and I really need good people in my life right now.

“Thank you,” I say for what feels like the billionth time in the last seventy-two hours.

“Just speaking the truth, girl.” She grins then looks at Hope, who is laughing at something Jax said. “She’s really adorable, and seems to have already wrapped big, bad Jax Mayson around her tiny little finger,” she whispers, winking at me.

Looking at Jax talking softly to Hope, I wonder how often he does this kind of thing. For all I know, he could have women with kids over all the time, I think, while something I don’t like settles in the pit of my stomach.

“Who’s ready for pancakes?” Jax asks.

“I am!” Hope yells loudly, making him chuckle.

“What happened to my little mouse?” I ask her, and she wiggles her nose at me over his shoulder.

“Inside voice, Angel,” I remind her softly.

“Okay, Mama.” She sighs.

“Do you have a table?” I ask Jax, looking around and trying to remember if I saw one last night when he showed us around the house.

“No. Shit,” he mutters, setting Hope back on the counter.

“You said a naudy word,” she tells him.

“I meant crud,” he says, trying to look mollified but failing.

Her head tilts to the side, studying him, then she looks at me. “Mama, is crud a bad word?”

“No, Angel.” I shake my head at her, pressing my lips together to keep from laughing when she starts mumbling “crud” under her breathe over and over again, making Jax grimace. One thing I learned early on is never tell a three-year-old not to say something, because suddenly that becomes their favorite word.

“I don’t have a dining table.”

“It’s okay; we can eat here,” I assure him, watching as Ashlyn goes to one of the cabinets and pulls down plates.

“I’ll pick up some stools for the island today while I’m out with my dad,” he says then looks around, his eyes going to the stuff on the floor. “And I’ll get this stuff cleaned up too.”

“Jax,” I say softly, waiting for his eyes to come to me. “It’s really okay. Please, don’t do anything. You’ve already done too much.”

“Ellie—”

He starts to say something, but is cut off when, “Honey!” is yelled through the house.

“Fuck, I need to take everyone’s keys back,” he grumbles, making me laugh, causing a smile to twitch his lips.

“You said a naudy word,” Hope pauses then adds, “again.”

His chest expands on a deep breath and his face softens when he looks at her, muttering, “Sorry, sweetheart,” as his parents walk into the kitchen.

“Ellie,” Lilly says in greeting, giving me a warm hug.

“Hi.” I smile then turn slightly to receive a hug from his dad, Cash, whom I met in the hospital before Jax took me to get Hope.

“How are you holding up, honey?” he asks gently while Lilly moves to Jax, kissing his cheek.

“Good,” I say sincerely then pick Hope up off the counter. “I would like you guys to meet Hope. Hope, this is Jax and Ashlyn’s dad and mom, Cash and Lilly.”

“Hi.” Hope smiles shyly, leaning her head on my shoulder.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Hope,” Lilly says with a soft look on her face while reaching out, running her hand down Hope’s cheek.

“Hi, Hope.” Cash wraps his arm around his wife’s back, pulling her closer to his side.

“Ax said naudy words,” she tells his parents, and I pull my bottom lip into my mouth as Ashlyn starts to laugh at my side and Jax groans, tilting his head back.

“He did, did he?” Lilly frowns over her shoulder at her son.

“Two times,” she says, holding up three fingers, the third one coming up because her little fingers are so chubby.

“Are we supposed to tattle?” I ask her, and she frowns while shaking her head. “Good, now are you ready to eat?” I lift a brow and she nods, so I set her back on the counter, since there is no table, and cut up her pancake, placing it next to her.

“Here, sweetheart,” Jax says, giving her a Solo cup with orange juice in it.

I give him an appreciative look, and he shrugs then asks, “Are you going to eat something?”

“I’m going on a diet, so I’ll have a banana or something,” I tell him absently, watching Hope eat.

“Why are you going on a diet?” He frowns, checking me out and making me blush as his eyes get darker. “You look perfect.”

“I realized how out of shape I was when…” I stop and look at Hope, not wanting her to hear what happened. “I just need to get into better shape,” I whisper.

“I can teach you some self-defense stuff,” he says quietly.

My eyes run over him and I feel my cheeks heat again. He’s not just in good shape; his body is perfect. I doubt he has an ounce of fat on him. Pulling my eyes from his abs, I look into his eyes.

“I just want to be able to run without feeling like I’m having a stroke,” I say, watching his jaw clench.

“You won’t need to run again,” he growls.

“That may be true, but I need to know for myself that I can,” I tell him, reaching out and squeezing his bicep. His eyes drop to my hand and his body relaxes.

“I’d still like to show you some stuff,” he presses.

“All right,” I mutter then look around the kitchen, seeing everyone watching us. My eyes stop on Lilly, whose eyes are on my hand, which I didn’t realize is now against his chest, over his heart. Pulling it away quickly, I mumble an apology and step away from him, going to Hope’s side.

“Are you finished, Angel?” I ask her, needing to get away from Jax.

“Yes.” She smiles with chocolate around her mouth.

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” I laugh, pulling a paper towel off the holder and wiping her face.

“Can I have a baff?”

“Tonight,” I tell her, picking her up off the counter and turning to face the room of people, who are still watching us. “We’re gonna go get ready.”

“Sure, honey,” Lilly says getting a coffee mug while Cash nods, and Jax just stands with his arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his face.

“It was nice meeting you, Ashlyn.” I smile as I pass her.

“We’ll have coffee sometime soon.”

“I’d like that.” I nod and head up to the second floor, where I get Hope ready first, in a pair of leggings, a sweater dress, and her ballet flats. Going to my room, I dig through the garbage bags of clothes until I find my trusty black jeans that always look perfect, a black t-shirt that scoops in the front just enough to give a hint of cleavage, my black ankle boots, and a chunky silver and turquoise necklace that makes the outfit look more dressy.