Tempting Sydney (21 page)

The room fell into silence for a few minutes and Jax seemed to be thinking. I got up and grabbed our plates, and took them to the sink before bending down to load them in the dishwasher. As I stood, I felt his presence behind me. His arm wrapped around my waist and I leaned my head against his strong shoulder, my hand resting on his. I’d anticipated that he’d try to make a move and finish what had been interrupted at the theater. Instead, he just held me. Tight. Like he needed the touch and the connection, but not in a sexual way. He leaned down and kissed my cheek, his lips soft against my skin. “You’re unraveling me, Syd—” he paused. “—and I like it.”

“So, I hear you’re dating Jax,” Red said, as I pushed open the door to his shop the next day. She-Ra was due for an oil change.

Jax was such a private person, I was surprised he’d told Red. “Yeah. Having a free mechanic on call was too much temptation to resist.”

Red laughed and grabbed some papers out of the printer. “He’s a good guy, Syd. I’m happy for you. You’ll both be good for each other.”

“I think so, too.” I smiled, and put my keys on the counter. “I’ll be back in a while.”

Red’s eyes went wide. “You’re leaving She-Ra here?”

“Yeah. I’m meeting Brynn for coffee.”

He nodded his head, as he leafed through the papers. “See, that’s how I
really
know you care about Jax. You’re leaving your car and not supervising.”

I laughed. “Jax knows he’ll be in serious trouble if he screws something up.”

“He should be terrified,” Red said. “We’ll have it done in about an hour.”

I glanced over through the window on the door, my eyes searching the garage. I found him leaning over a large metal tool box. He looked great from every angle, but especially this one. I couldn’t get enough of his shoulders, back, and ass. I sighed as he crouched down, muscles bunching in his legs. Red chuckled and I looked over at him. He shook his head. “You should go see him…before you hyperventilate watching him and pass out.”

I fought a grin as I gave Red a playful glare and pushed through the door. I flashed Jax a huge smile as he turned around.

“Hey,” Jax said, his voice husky. He looked me up and down, taking in my dark wash jeans, white sweater, and light blue scarf. “You look hot. I missed you.”

I smiled as I melted into his arms. I liked this new, open Jax. A lot. I felt like he was trying really hard to communicate with me, regardless of how hard it was for him. That made me care for him even more. “I missed you, too.”

“Are you going to wait here while I work on your engine?”

I smiled slowly, my eyes raking over him. His gaze darkened to a deep sapphire, the desire between us palpable. “I like the sound of that,” I said, licking my lips “but I’m meeting Brynn for coffee across the street. I’ll bring you something back.”

He picked up a wrench from the tool box. “So that’s what I’ve been missing out on by not having relationships. Coffee runs.”

I smacked him on the ass. “Just for that, I’m not getting you the whip cream.”

“That’s okay,” he said, bending over the hood of the car he was working on and giving me a sidelong glance, “I have some at home for us later.”

I blushed as I walked back through the door, avoiding Red’s knowing gaze.

I walked across the street to my favorite café. Brynn was waiting for me in our spot. She already had her drink—something low fat, with fake sugar for sure. Brynn had calorie issues. I picked up a chocolate chip cookie, then ordered my coffee—with full fat, real sugar, and chocolate—and met her back in the corner where she was sitting in the comfy overstuffed leather chairs. I was eager to hear how her date went.

“Hey!” I sank into the empty chair next to her. “How was last night’s research?”

“Disappointing,” she said with a frown. “He had the right equipment, but he was a piss-poor operator.”

I unwrapped my cookie and took a bite. “Maybe your standards are just too high?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Or maybe I’m dating the wrong guys.” Her eyes lit up and she gave me a conspiratorial smile. “Speaking of men perfect in every way—or at least the important ones—how was dinner last night?”

I grinned, replaying the night in my head. After he’d told me he liked that I was unraveling him, we’d moved to the couch and lost some essential pieces of clothing. I’d also found out that Jax is partial to lacy, slightly see-through bras—I figured most men probably were. “Fantastic.” I took a sip of coffee and winced, burning my tongue. “He’s an excellent cook. Apparently, he took lessons.”

She cocked a brow. “I’m sure he’s excellent at a lot of things. How was dessert?” She brought her cup to her lips, hiding a smile.

I grinned, and took another bite of cookie before answering just to torture her. “Even better than dinner.”

Her other brow shot up. “Did it involve chocolate sauce?”

“No, but there were a lot of wandering hands.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Hands?
Only
hands?
Nothing
else wandered?”

I shook my head.

“Jesus,” she breathed out, totally offended. “You’re killing me, Syd! Killing me!”

I rolled my eyes. “I told you, we’re taking it slow.”

She cursed again. “Slow is an understatement. You’re moving at snail speed! Have you
seen
the man you’re dating? You could wash clothes on his abs! He cooks! And he has a gigantic c—”

“Syd?” I looked up at the deep voice that had interrupted Brynn’s list of Jax’s attributes. It was Cade, my friend from school.

“Hey, Cade!” I gestured between my two friends. “Cade, this is my best friend, Brynn. Brynn, this is Cade from my criminal law and torts classes.”

“Hi,” Brynn said, dragging out the “i.” Her eyes traveled over his face, to his broad shoulders, large chest, and held around his waist.

“Nice to meet you,” Cade answered back. Brynn tore her eyes away from his musculature and traveled up. Their gazes met—and held. I stared at them both for a minute, unable to ignore the vibe. I knew Brynn, and I could tell she was attracted to Cade. I didn’t know Cade as well, but judging by his inability to look away, he seemed pretty interested in Brynn, too.

“Are we still studying in the library after class tomorrow, Cade?” I asked, trying to break the silence and remind them I was still there.

Brynn acted like she was coming out of a fog as she turned her attention back to me.

“Yeah,” Cade answered. He seemed reluctant to turn away and focus on me, but he finally did. “That sounds good.” He noticed my cookie sitting on the side table between my chair and Brynn’s. “They have the best cookies in town.”

“Yeah, and coffee. It’s our favorite place,” I said, nodding toward Brynn.

His gaze settled on Brynn again, and he seemed completely ensorcelled. “It was nice to meet you, Brynn. I hope I’ll see you both again soon.”

“You’ll definitely see me this week,” I said, reminding him of the study date I’d just reminded him about thirty seconds before. “The exams before Thanksgiving break seem like they’ll be brutal.”

“We’ll study hard and do fine.” Music started playing and Cade reached a hand into his back pocket, pulling out his phone. He checked the screen, and then glanced up. “I have to go, but have a good day, ladies.” He walked toward the counter to wait in line.

Brynn leaned over, her voice whisper low, expression serious. “Who. The. Hell. Was. That? And why have you been keeping him a secret?”

“I wasn’t!” I said, my voice defensive. I’d stopped trying to set Brynn up years ago. “He was in my law school prep class, and now he’s in a couple of my other classes. We sit by each other a lot and study together. He’s really nice.”

“I don’t care how he acts, have you seen how he looks?”

My gaze traveled to where Cade was waiting for his order. I looked at him through Brynn’s eyes. Wheat colored hair, strong upper body and a nice ass—not as nice as Jax’s, but really, even Michelangelo’s
David
couldn’t compete with that perfection. I could definitely appreciate Brynn’s perspective. “He’s attractive. He’s not dating anyone that I know of. And he
is
nice. Maybe the problem you’ve been having lately is that you’re just going after appearance instead of heart.” She bit the corner of her lip. “You should ask him out.”

“Hmm,” she said, sitting back with a thoughtful expression. “Maybe.”

I shrugged. “I think you’d hit it off.”

Cade walked by with his coffee and waved as he went out the door. Brynn and I both waved back. She tapped the side of her coffee cup with her forefinger and I could see the wheels turning in her head. “I’ll think about it.”

Brynn and I talked for another hour or so and then I left to go pick up She-Ra.

“Jax washed her and parked her in the back lot,” Red said as I walked in the door.

“Thanks! You’re the best, Red.”

His eyes brightened as he smiled. “I know.”

I paid for the service and went out into the bay to find Jax. “Hey,” I said, grinning as I walked up to him and handed him the coffee I’d promised. He took a sip. “Mmmm, that tastes good. Like you.”

I blushed, thinking of the parts of me he had tasted—and the parts he hadn’t, yet. “You’re going to give me an ego,” I said with a smile.

“You deserve it,” he answered back.

I smiled wider, liking this whole relationship thing, and that Jax felt comfortable with me. “Red said you have my keys.”

“I do.” He took them from his pocket and dangled them in front of me.

“Can I have them?”

He dragged his bottom lip back with his teeth. “I’m holding them hostage.”

I quirked a brow. “In exchange for what?”

“Your obedience in all things.”

I burst out laughing. “Oh honey, you’ve really got the wrong girl if that’s what you’re looking for.”

He ran his tongue over the inside of his cheek like he was amused and assessing me at that same time. “We’ll see about that.”

I could feel the color rising in my cheeks and marveled that he could still make me embarrassed considering all the foreplay we’d done.

“Tell you what. I’m about to go on break, so I’ll give you your keys if you go to lunch with me.”

That was all he wanted? I was hoping for something more scandalous than a sandwich. “Done.”

We stopped by a local deli. I ordered a veggie sandwich with chips and grabbed a bottle of iced green tea. He ordered something with a lot of meat. I looked at his food as we sat down. “You’re either trying to have a heart attack, or get colon cancer.”

He laughed, and took a sip of his soda. “I’d rather live a short life I enjoyed than a long one eating lettuce.”

“Well, I know where you stand. You might want to get life insurance while you still can. In a few years, they won’t issue you a policy.” A serious look crossed over his face, but it was gone as fast as it was there.

We moved to a booth near a window that overlooked a creek, the trees above it bare of leaves. The water was still moving despite the cold air. It hadn’t started snowing yet, but I knew the frigid temperatures were just around the corner.

Jax sat next to me in the booth. I loved that he sat beside me instead of across from me. It made me feel protected, and like he wanted to be close to me. I was glad, because I really wanted to be close to him.

We ate our food and talked until Jax’s break was almost over. “Are you ready to go?” I asked, worried he’d be late getting back. I didn’t want to get him in trouble with Red, though Red wasn’t the type to get upset easily and would probably let it slide.

“Almost.” He grabbed his coat. “I have something for you first.” He pulled a bright blue box out of his pocket…and I almost hyperventilated. It took me a good thirty seconds to realize it wasn’t Tiffany blue. I’d just agreed to a relationship, anything more than that right now would probably make me apoplectic. He handed the box over to me.

“A gift?” I didn’t realize we were at the gift giving stage. I also worried that in the midst of my focus on school, I’d missed some sort of relationship milestone and was about to look like a total ass for not getting him anything. “Did I miss an anniversary?”