Baker’s Law (21 page)

Jax righted his pants, then swiped a hand over his face. Warmth spread through his
chest when he looked at the freezer door he’d just taken her against. Hell if he wasn’t
getting hard again. The woman did things to him even while he was trying to catch
his breath. He leaned his hands on the stainless steel table, bent his head and took
several deep breaths.

The restroom door eased open. Jax lifted his gaze as she stepped out looking fresh.
You’d never know he’d just ravaged her except for the telltale gleam in her eye and
the way her left eyebrow crooked up slightly. She walked over to him and without a
word bent her head and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek, then she snatched up his
coffee, poured the cooled drink down the drain and refilled the cup.

Jax stood when she handed the cup back to him. He was about to ask her if she was
free after work when someone called from the front of the shop.

Damned if she didn’t blow him a kiss and pat him on the ass when she walked past him.
Jax took a moment to doctor his coffee—he needed those packets of sugar more than
ever—and let some of his ardor dissipate before he went out to the front of the shop.
The woman at the counter’s head came up when he exited the back sipping his coffee.

“Jax, um, Chief. How are you?” Joan Barkley’s cheeks turned several shades of red.

The coffee burned its way down his throat. “Good. You?”

She gave a quick polite nod but didn’t answer as her gaze surreptitiously slid to
Marissa.

“Any more trouble at your store?” He snatched up his hat from the edge of the counter
and tucked it up under his arm.

“No. None. Thanks for asking.” Joan tapped her fingers on the counter as Marissa finished
filling the small box with cupcakes. After Marissa handed over the sweets, then wrapped
up the transaction, Joan narrowed her eyes a moment then asked, “So, Jax, about that
dinner you promised me, why don’t you stop by the store and we can see what we can
work out.” She didn’t wait for Jax to respond but gave a quick finger wave and walked
out of the shop without even looking back.

Marissa stood stiffly at the counter, not meeting Jax’s gaze.

“It’s not what you—”

“None of my business.” She grabbed a rag and started wiping down the counter where
Joan had left fingerprints.

“I never told her we’d have dinner.”

Marissa held up her hand. “You don’t need to explain anything to me.”

Jax’s gut dropped. She was pissed. She wouldn’t say it, but the stiffness in her shoulders
and the rigid arch to her mouth was all the indication he needed. Damn Joan. He’d
never given her the impression that he was the least bit interested. Would Marissa
believe that? Maybe if he had more time to explain.

Jax slapped his hat on his head. He had to be in at work—he checked his watch—in less
than fifteen minutes. He had a tux fitting for Callie’s wedding during his lunch break.
He’d pushed it off as long as possible, but with the wedding so close, today was the
last day he could get it taken care of and have the alterations done in time. After
work would be too late. He was working a double today. “Can I come by after work?
I get off at ten.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Hill is there and…” She shrugged.

“Then come by my house.” He looked over the counter until he found a pen and paper.
He scribbled down his address and a quick, crude map—though having grown up in Oak
Hollow, she’d surely know her way around as well as he did. “Here’s the address. I
should be home no later than ten-fifteen.” He stood right in front of her, blocked
her in next to one of the tables.

When she didn’t look up at him, he took hold of her free hand and kissed it. “I’d
like to see you.”

Marissa sighed and raised her gaze up to his. “I’ll think about it.”

Jax leaned in. She didn’t shy away when he kissed her. “Ten-fifteen.”

“We’ll see.”

“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.