“Gaw.” Marissa let her head fall back to the freezer. Her shop had been closed for well over an hour. Instead of going home and catching up on her sleep, she stood in her shop trying to psych herself up to heading over to Jax’s house.
Her hands flattened on the freezer and a flush returned to her cheeks once again. She’d stuttered and hemmed and hawed when Kya asked her why she kept wiping down the freezer door. She couldn’t very well explain her to her employee she kept seeing her ass-print in the stainless steel. Not that it was really there—after the first disinfectant towel she laboriously wiped over it. But a wee bit of self-consciousness stole into her and she’d worried someone would be able to tell by looking.
The strangest part was, if she had to do it all over again, she would do the exact same thing no matter how many reasons she had to stay away. Jax turned her inside out, made her into a woman who had sex—fantastic sex—against a refrigerator in the middle of the day. No other man could make her feel this way. She didn’t want any other man. Despite their differences, Jax had gotten under her skin. She didn’t know if she could—or wanted to for that matter—let go.
That fact alone scared her. She’d been so focused on Sweets by Marissa that her personal life had taken a back burner.
Marissa closed her eyes and leaned her head back. It would be easy to ignore all the issues between the two of them. The sex alone was worth consideration. But those issues grew in leaps and bounds every time something other than sex came up. His family. Hill. Both were obstacles she wasn’t ready to traverse.
She pushed away from the freezer, shaking her head. “No. I’m not ready.” She packed up a few cupcakes, grabbed her bag and headed out of the shop.
Guilt and temptation warred in her the entire drive home; still she didn’t deviate. Even when she pulled into her driveway she was tempted to turn around, but she held strong.
At the door inside the garage, she couldn’t decide if she should sneak in or if she should make noise, in case Lexi was there. If the teens were doing something they ought not to, did she want to know?
Chalk that up to another thing pulling at her attention. Wise choice or not, she’d taken on the responsibility for a teenager.
She needn’t have worried, though. When she walked into the kitchen, she found Hill and Lexi sitting—on opposite sides—at the kitchen table. Doing homework.
“Hey guys.”
Hill stood to take the pastry box and her bag. “Marissa. You look like hell.” His cheeks burned red. “I mean heck.” He shook his head.
Marissa chuckled. “I’ve heard hell before. And I’m just tired. I worked longer than I’d planned to today.” She patted his shoulder. “How are you feeling? Arm bothering you at all?”
“I’m good.” He set her things on the table.
“He only complained once and I made him take some ibuprofen.” Lexi smiled up from the book in front of her, then she waved at it. “I got his assignments and we’ve been working on them.”
The pair went back to their homework. Marissa set two cupcakes next to each of them. Neither looked up from their homework, but they both managed to scarf down the treats. Once Lexi handed Hill a piece of paper, he marked all over it and handed it back. That was pretty much the only interaction the two had until Lexi leaned back and rolled her neck and shoulders. She glanced at her watch. “I need to get going. My mom gave me a ten o’clock curfew.” She wrinkled her nose. “Like I’m some kind of baby.”
“Your mom’s just being a mom.” Marissa gave her a lopsided smile. “Let me walk you back. It’s dark.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Nonsense. It’ll only take a minute.” After all, Jax might have seen someone around her house.
“It’s not that far.” Lexi stuffed her things into her backpack.
“Then it will be a nice, quick walk.” Marissa turned to Hill. “Be right back.” It took her all of five minutes to walk Lexi down to her house and then get back to her own.
When she came back in, the teakettle whistled. Hill was standing next to the counter with a sheepish look on his face. “I wasn’t sure if you like tea. But you looked like you could use some.”
When was the last time someone had taken care of her? And here she was trying to take care of him. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“And you didn’t have to help me out. I don’t think I can ever repay you.” It was the first time Hill had ever thanked her outright. The teen showed his gratitude by helping out. He hadn’t caused a single problem and he’d been true to his word. “And I don’t understand why you’re doing it.” If she wasn’t mistaken, there were tears in his eyes.
She motioned for him to sit, then filled another cup of tea for him. Over their tea, Marissa explained about her mother. “I get that she was a grown-up and no one was responsible for helping her, but I’d like to think someone could, or would, if they were able. I’m in a place where I can help you. You deserve it.”
His shoulders slumped. “You’re the first one to think so since my mom died.” He laughed unhappily. “Even my dad took off because he didn’t think I was worth anything.”
“Aw, hon.” Marissa stood and went to the teen’s side. She took him in her arms and hugged him as tightly as she could while her heart broke a little.
She couldn’t have been more surprised when he started crying. He’d never shown that much emotion in the short time she’d known him. It started off quietly, then turned to a soft and sad whimpering sound as his shoulders shook. By the time he finally pulled away, though, his tears were dried up and his shoulders had straightened back to his proud and defiant firmness.
“You’re a good kid, Hill. Don’t ever let anyone tell you different. If they do, I’ll kick their asses. Got that?”
Her gave her a watery smile and nodded.
As she cleaned up the table, there was an insistent knock at the door while the bell rang simultaneously. She waved Hill back as she hurried to see who it was. Jax was standing on her porch. She rolled her eyes as she opened the door. “I never said I was going to show up. You don’t have to go all cop on me.”
Jax settled his hands on the utility belt around his waist. “That’s not why I’m here. I came to speak to Paul Hillman.”
Tension streaked through her stomach. “Why?”
“There was another robbery tonight.” He said it in his cop voice.
And they were back to that now, were they. “So.”
“It was a bunch of teens.”
Marissa matched his I’m-a-bad-ass-cop stance. “So.”
Jax rolled his shoulders slightly. “So I want to ask him a couple of questions.”
“No.” A fierce protectiveness came over her.
Jax narrowed his eyes. “No?”
Marissa fisted her hands at her side and she set her foot behind the door so he couldn’t push in. “Are you suddenly hard of hearing?”
He puffed out his chest. “I will haul him down to the station if I have to.”
“Like hell you will. You have no grounds to come over here harassing—”
“A witness described one of the teens. It fit Mr. Hillman.”
“Oh, really. And when did this happen?”
“Nearly an hour ago.”
Marissa crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, then your witness saw someone else. Hill has been here all damn day long.”
“Have you been here with him the entire time?”
“You know I wasn’t. I was at the shop until nine-thirty.”
Jax’s eyebrows rose then quickly fell back into place. He knew her shop closed at eight. Did he suspect she’d hung around, killing time, until she was supposed to meet him at his house? There was no way he could know that.
His jaw jutted forward. “When did you get home from the shop?”
“Nine-forty, forty-five at the most.”
“And he was with you the entire time?”
“Yes.” She frowned. “No, I left to take Lexi home.”
Jax’s eyebrows rose.
“She lives about eight houses down. It took all of five minutes. Unless the kid has some super powers I don’t know about, he couldn’t have gone into town, robbed some place and been back in five minutes.” She rolled her eyes, made sure Jax saw. “I’m sorry you wasted your time, Chief.” She stepped closer to him and lowered her voice, “I don’t know why you’ve fixated on this kid, but he hasn’t done anything wrong. You’re not going to pin something on him.”
“Have you forgotten how you met him, Marissa? He broke into your shop. He may not be guilty of this one, but think about it for a moment. He’s gotten into your shop when you weren’t there. That’s not all innocent.” Jax turned without another word and headed back to his SUV.
Marissa watched him drive away, before she finally shut the door. When she turned around, Hill was standing there. He’d paled almost as badly as he had after the fire.
“Don’t let him get to you.” Marissa locked the front door. “Why don’t you go on up to bed? You need your rest.”
Marissa poured out the rest of the water in the teakettle and went in search of a spicy Shiraz. She had hid the liquor in the laundry room when Hill came over the night before. She did a quick count. All three bottles of wine were where she’d left them—inside the box of old rags. She dug out one bottle of wine and went in search of her bottle opener. She poured a hearty glass and went and sat down in front of the television. She’d missed the nightly news, so she scrolled through her DVR until she found a recorded episode of her favorite comedy. She needed something to get her mind off her profoundly weird day.
She’d only taken two sips of her wine when she set the glass aside. She was…anxious. She got up and strolled behind the sofa and into the kitchen. There was something bothering her and she couldn’t put her finger on it. A snack didn’t help. She wasn’t hungry.
It hit her. The anxiousness. The agitation. It was Jax. He’d gotten under her skin. He’d aggravated her. She should be pissed that he’d come over and blamed Hill again. She had been pissed when he was there, but once he’d left his absence was more profound than she’d have expected. She was wound up. Sexually. Even after what had happened at her shop earlier, she wanted more.
Marissa leaned against the wall and covered her face with her hands. Jax’s touch lingered on her skin like a shadow. His warm lips and strong hands a memory she didn’t want to shake. God, even the smell of him—his musk and warmth—had clung to her and embedded itself in her senses.
She pushed off the wall and tucked her hands in her pockets, just to give her something to do. A piece of paper was lodged in the left pocket. She pulled it out and groaned. It was the address and directions to Jax’s house. She wasn’t even sure how long she stared at the paper. She started moving without thinking, grabbed her purse and her keys and was at the back door before she realized what she was doing.
She stopped. Could she do this? Could she go to him? The bigger question was, could she not?
She scribbled out a quick note to Hill, telling him she’d be out but he could catch her on her cell if he needed her.
She stopped by the shop to pick up Jax’s favorite cupcakes—he was partial to the strawberry, even if he hadn’t said so yet. He was polite enough to try any and every combination she offered him. But he always got a little extra sparkle when she offered him the strawberry.
The entire drive to Jax’s house, Marissa was tempted to turn around. “This is crazy.” She sat at the stop sign to turn onto his street. “What if he turns me away?”
What if he didn’t, said the little voice in the back of her head, cheered on by her screaming libido. It wasn’t just about the sex—though, if she was honest, that was plenty. No, it was more. Somewhere along the way, she had fallen for the man. He was who she wanted to turn to when she needed help or had a problem. He was the one she wanted to tell when a recipe turned out perfectly. And when she didn’t know what to do about Hill, he was the one she wanted to confide in and commiserate with. He was her waking thought and the last image that lingered as she slipped off at night.
He lived in one of the oldest sections of Oak Hollow. She’d half-expected him to live in one of the mansions near the country club that his mother and her Stepford buddies all called home. From all accounts, though, Jax hadn’t done a single thing his mother wished him to do. She pulled up in front of his house and cut her lights. His house was dark and still. She never considered he might be up at the station.
“God, am I stupid.” She leaned her forehead against the steering wheel. “I have resorted to an unannounced booty call.” She gave a quick laugh.
A loud knock on her window startled her upright.
“Jesus, Jax, you scared the shit out of me.” Not that he could hear her. She rolled the window down. “What’s up?”
A wry smile tilted up the corner of his mouth. “Didn’t mean to scare you. What’s up with me? You just pulled up in front of my house. You okay?”
She ignored his question. “Were you standing watch or something?”
“Actually, I was walking my dog.” He waggled the leash in his hand.
Marissa followed the tether to a large, dark shape sniffing the front end of her Tahoe.
“Marissa?”
She shook herself and shifted her gaze to Jax. “Hmm?”
“What are you doing here?” he asked slowly.
Her palms were sweating as she held on to the steering wheel. She gripped it tighter, something to keep her hands from shaking. “I wanted to—I needed to…see you.” There, she’d said it. Gotten it out there. The ball was in his court.
He didn’t lob the ball back. He simply looked at her.
When she was almost overwhelmed with embarrassment, Jax leaned through the open window and set his lips on hers. He whispered against her mouth, “I’m so glad you came over.”
He kissed her for a long moment, then pulled back. “You want to come inside?”
She nodded, then rolled up her window and turned off her SUV. Her hands were shaking when she opened the door and slid out, but she didn’t have time to contemplate that before she was knocked back to the vehicle. A long wet tongue swiped down her cheeks as nasty warm breath clogged her nostrils. “Jax, help.”