Natural Attraction (17 page)

A quick demo on the use of the all-in-one washing machine and dryer later, Jax turns to me and offers to take my tightly balled clothes out of my hands.  I guess that he plans to shove them in the machine for me.

Acutely aware of my hidden underwear in the
center of the ball, I balk his offered hands and try to sidestep to the machine to put the clothes in myself.

“I’ve got this.” I quickly let him know that I need no help to place the clothes into the machine.  In one swift
maneuver I fling the entire tightly wrapped ball into the machine and slam the door shut.

“Mmmmmmm.  Don’t you need to separate those so they wash properly?” I see his eyebrows lifting and a mischievous twinkle appears in his eyes.  “A tight ball like that is not going to wash well.”

“They’re fine just the way they are.” I mumble looking back at him, trying to blank the expression on my face. 

I do this so he won’t see I’m fibbing to him and that it is going against all my inner self-control not to re-open the door and carefully loosen and separate all the items.

“Don’t you want me to see your underwear?” He asks, piercing me with a look that dares me to lie.

“How do you know my underwear is even in there?” I throw the taunt at him, cocking a leg and tipping my hip out to show my ‘prove it’ attitude.  “Who's to say I didn’t put it back on?”

“Well I didn’t pick out that very
thin,
white t-shirt by accident.  I have some incriminating evidence that you are not, in fact, wearing a brazier.  The panty situation I have yet to assess.”

I feel a flood of heat burn across my cheeks as I quickly drop my eyes to my chest.

Oh my god.

Sure enough, clear as day I can see the dark shadows of my nipples peering at me through the front of my shirt.

Cheeky bastard.

I look back up to his blue eyes and see them intensively examining my chest.  There is a broad, appreciative grin beaming across his face.  He is most pleased with himself and seemingly the view as well.

“Right then,” I announce turning back to the washing machine while I gather my thoughts.  “I guess this means I’ll separate the washing and
you’ll
be off to find me a better t-shirt or even more preferably, a thick jumper to wear.  Perhaps even a cable knit, the
thicker
, the better.”

“Spoilsport,” he mutters as I hear his bare feet slapping on the tiles as he retreats down his hallway.

*****

“Do you want a drink?” Jax asks me as I make my way warily back into the lounge-room in the replacement thick, black, t-shirt he has now found me.  This time I was sure to do a full check in the mirror to make sure that
nothing
was visible to errant eyes. 

As long as it doesn’t get too cold I should be okay.

He is squatting down in front of his entertainment unit fiddling about inserting a DVD into his player with one hand, while he presses a series of remote buttons with the other.  I can't help appreciate the picture before me as his shirt stretches across his shoulders while he hunches forward.  A small strip of skin is laid bare above his jeans.

“Sounds great, do you have any
bourbon?”

“Sure.  Straight, with water, ice or do you want
Coke?”  He asks as he finishes what he is doing and heads for the kitchen again.

“Diet
Coke, caffeine free, if you’ve got it.  Normal Coke will do at a pinch though.  Ice would be good too.” 

I don’t hear him reply and wonder if there is any chance I am going to get diet
Coke.  I am the only person I know who drinks bourbon with caffeine free diet Coke but I started the habit all those years ago when I’d needed to lose weight.  After that, the habit stuck.

It seems like another paradox because drinking the hardest liquor one can buy with a soft-assed caffeine and sugar free mixer is in itself a bit odd. I am however aware that I do love a bourbon and sugar is a definite no-no for me.  Also if I drink caffeine at this time of night it may just wipe out any chance of me getting any sleep tonight.

Jax returns a short time later with a tall Coke filled highball glass tinkling with ice.  “Sorry, it’s got caffeine in it but it is diet Coke.  I found a leftover bottle of diet in the fridge, it’s probably Teagan’s.”

I doubt I’ll be feeling asleep on the couch then, probably a good thing.

I take a quick sip to test the mix of the drink and note it’s
strong. 
Is this guy trying to get me drunk?

“What’s the movie you’ve primed up?” I ask.

“Gone in Sixty Seconds.   A
family staple that never fails to impress its audience.” 

He smirks at me as he dims the light in the room and heads back to the couch with his own drink in hand. 
“Enough action for your liking?”

I decide not to reply because it’s clear he has decided not to pick a move with a muscle-bound guy because you can’t exactly classify Nicholas Cage as muscle-bound.  He’s sexy of course, but in no way is he classified as muscle-bound against say the likes of Dwayne Johnson or Vin Diesel.

My eyes dart around the room as I consider my choices on where to sit and I decide to take the safe bet, the far end of the couch from where Jax is sitting.  My butt has barely touched the soft leather when I feel a strong arm wrap its way around my waist.  With a quick yank, I am dragged sideways to slam against Jax’s side. 

Amazingly I manage to succeed in covering my glass during this manhandling and avoid spilling my drink.

“Why did you sit all the way over there?” He asks.

Not too sure how to answer that question I decide that silence might be the best policy so I just roll my eyes at him and shrug.  I really am out of my depth here as although I probably want nothing more than to crawl into his lap, it all seems a bit odd after spending only one day with the guy. 

In fact, now that I’m almost sitting in his lap, it’s making me feel tense and I’m not sure I will be able to relax at all.  I take a massive swig of my drink, perhaps strong alcohol will help.

“Go easy there little girl.  I don’t want you drunk on our first night together.” Jax says with a concerned note to his voice.

I almost choke. 

What the fuck?

He’s making it sound like we are expecting to sleep together.

“You don’t think I’m going to sleep with you do you?” I choke out between coughs and splutters as I force the alcohol to slide down my now burning throat.

I hear Jax start laughing as he removes his arm from around me to grab the remote control and start the movie.   He fiddles about with a few buttons, adjusting settings and settles the remote in his lap.  I swing to face his gorgeous eyes.  He looks incredibly sexy while he laughs. 

“No Ash, I don’t.  Well not unless you want to that is. I just don’t want you throw
ing up on my carpet halfway through the movie.”

“Okay.” I sputter some more and then gather myself back together. 

That was awkward.

The flat screen glows to life and the deep rumble of introduction music starts rolling from surround sound speakers scattered around the room.  I take the opportunity to slide back in my seat and let the soft leather of the couch wrap around my back.

I am barely settling when I feel Jax leaning across me, his closeness makes me catch my breath.  I start to feel my temperature rising and my heart beat quickens. 

A second later I realize that he is fiddling about with something and I feel my seat recline.  

Disappointed, much.

“Better?” He asks as he reclines his own seat and we both settle again to watch the movie.

“Heaven actually.” I sigh, and I’m dead serious.  This has to be the most comfortable couch I have ever sat on.  There’s no way that gold class at the movies can even compare with the pure luxury of this reclining couch and the sound system rolling around my ears. 

I take another sip of my drink and feel myself starting to relax. 

This is nice, real nice.  I take the opportunity to steal another sly look at Jax comfortably reclining next to me.  Trying to look at him out of the corner of my eyes and soak in all his glory is highly distracting.  After a while the constant strain on my eyes of looking sideways starts to give me a headache. 

I decide to try to focus on the movie.  We are only at the scene where Nicholas Cage is talking to a bunch of kids about go-karting and I’m starting to feel a bit restless.  Damn caffeine.  A take a huge breath and try to relax myself.  I’m in trouble, I need to fidget.

Fidgeting during times of concentration is one of my worst habits.  I fidget in meetings at work and I fidget during movies if I am not engrossed.  Right now I am not engrossed because I am too interested in looking at Jax.  I cannot concentrate when I am looking at Jax.

There’s also another problem that is niggling and nipping at the back of my mind.  The more I try to ignore it the worse it gets.  I fidget a bit more but it all gets the better of me.

“I’m going to need you to hand over the remote control.” I announce in a serious tone.  One like you hear a cop use on the television asking a driver for ‘license and registration’.

“Why?” Jax asks me casually.

“Because I can’t watch this movie without full control of the remote control.  It’s a deep psychosis developed during childhood as a member of a large family where I had no control over what we watched on television unless I held the remote.   I’m sorry, but if you want us to watch this movie together, you are going to need to hand over the remote.”

“What’s the point in that?  You don’t know how to use it.  Besides that, last time I looked, this was my house
and
my television.  Being my house and my television, I drive the remote, not you.”

I see one of his eye-brows lifting slightly as he continues to focus on the television.

“An excellent point, but unless I am
holding
the remote, I don’t know what to do with my hand.”

“You have a drink in your hand, isn’t that enough to keep it busy?” He asks with a small smirk.

“No it is not.  That’s only one hand.  I need a drink in one hand and the remote in the other.  Only then will all will be well.  Both hands will feel like they have a job to do and I’ll be able to relax.  Please just give me the remote and then we can focus on watching the movie.”

I feel myself starting to tense up again and I know it can’t be good. 

Why won’t he just give me the remote?  I start to tap my free hand on my leg, aware that it is a very annoying habit and one that I have often used in the past to get my own way.

I see him turn to look at my hand thoughtfully and then he looks back up at the screen to resume watching the movie.

I start tapping louder.  Surely he’s going to get the point soon and just give in.

“Are you ignoring me?” I ask annoyed, continuing my loud tapping and giving him my best impression of a death stare.

I see his lips twitch slightly.  “Yes.”

“You know I’m serious about this don’t you.” 

Seriously, there is no way I am going to be able to function unless he gives me that remote.  What is wrong with this guy, why not just hand the damned thing over?

I take another huge swig of my drink and finish it in one go.  Now I’m in even more trouble, my drink is finished so I have
two
free hands.

I prop the empty glass carefully up on the empty seat next to me.  Now finding my second hand unemployed, I start tapping that one on my other thigh too. 

I watch as Jax slowly turns and again spends some time looking at my busy hands before resuming his intensive study of the movie playing in front of us.

Feeling my blood pressure rise, I become more agitated about being unable to control the movie going on in front of me.  I start crossing and uncrossing my legs at regular intervals while tapping away furiously with my hands.

“Please.”  I decide to resort to begging.

“No.  Stop fidget
ing and get over it.” Jax says calmly, not looking away from the screen.  “Has anyone every told you you’re extroverted?”

“No they haven’t and no I’m not, I’m an introvert, I like to spend time by myself.” I retort with acid in my tone.

I’m getting towards boiling point and not too sure how much longer I can hold myself back from physically tackling him for the remote.  If he didn’t have that drink in his hand I probably would.  I reckon I can take him.  I used to fight off three siblings to gain control of the remote, one mere male can’t be that hard. 

Why won’t the bastard just hand it over?

I see Jax smiling as he takes a long swig from his drink and continues to watch the movie as he continues to ignore me. 

Asshole.

“How do I unrecline this seat, I need to sit up straight,” I snap at him.

“You don’t need to sit up straight Ash, just relax and calm down will you?”