Undeniable (A Country Roads Novel) (11 page)

“All right, let’s get you fed.”

She wound up making tomato, mozzarella, and basil sandwiches. Jax stood behind her the whole time she grilled them on the stove, nibbling on her neck.

“You are
very
distracting,” Grace said as she flipped a sandwich, the cheese oozing out the side.

“Can’t help it, I’m starving.”

“Well, I’m almost done. Then you can eat.”

“Food isn’t the only thing I’m starving for,” he said, switching to the other side of her neck.

“We can take care of that craving, too.”

“Can’t wait.” He smiled into her shoulder.

After dinner, they returned to Grace’s bed, where they stayed busy well into the middle of the night.

“Shit!”

Jax shot up in bed just in time to see Brendan banging off the door frame of Grace’s room.

Shit
was right.

There was no way Brendan was oblivious to what had been going on between Jax and Grace for the last couple of years, but there was no telling how he was going to react to the fact that his friend had just had sex with his little sister.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Grace asked, pulling the sheet up to cover her naked chest.

“I told you,” Brendan said, shielding his eyes with one hand while he rubbed his knee with the other, “I was stopping by to get the keys to your car. Holy hell, there are so many things I’ve never wanted to witness and you in bed with Jax is pretty close to the top of the list.”

“Did you ever think of knocking?”

“I did! You didn’t answer. Nor did you answer your phone when I called you. I figured you weren’t home.”

“Crap, I forgot to charge my phone last night. It’s probably dead.”

“Kind of like my eyesight. Where are your spare keys so I can get the hell out of here?” Brendan asked.

“I have to find them. Go out into the living room so we can put some clothes on and I’ll get them for you.”

“Fine,” Brendan said, closing the door behind him.

“So, Brendan knows about us,” Jax said, turning to Grace. “I think he took it pretty well.”

“Oh. My. Gosh,” she said, turning to him, her cheeks on fire. “There couldn’t have been a worse way for him to find out.”

“That isn’t true,” Jax said, unable to stop himself from grinning. “He could’ve walked in while you were screaming my name.”

Grace grabbed a pillow and hit him in the face with it. “Put on some pants, Smiley-McGee. You’re going to need to have some coverage when you go out there.” She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

“Smiley-McGee?” Jax asked as he got out of bed and started searching for his boxers among the clothes that cluttered the floor.

“I don’t know if you’ve looked in a mirror lately,” she called out to him, “but your characteristic scowl has been absent. I’ve never seen your dimples make this long of an appearance before.”

“Actually, I haven’t had a lot of free time to stand in front of a mirror. I’ve been kept
very
busy,” he said, bending down to grab his boxers by Grace’s dresser.

“Mmm,” Grace hummed behind him.

He turned to find her in a bright blue robe. She was leaning against the doorway to the bathroom, staring at him with a very appreciative gleam in her eyes.

“How about you not look at me that way right before I go out there and talk to your brother,” he said, stepping into his boxers.

“Why?” She grinned. “Am I making things
hard
for you?”

“Oh, Princess, you just wait,” he said, grabbing his jeans and pulling them on.

“For what?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows.

“Oh, you’ll find out,” he said, walking to the door and going out into the hallway.

Jax stepped around the corner and found Brendan leaning against the counter, his arms folded across his chest and a severe frown in place.

Huh, normally Brendan was Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky. Apparently that outlook in life had a tendency to disappear when you found your best friend in bed with your baby sister.

“I’m just going to tell you this once,” Brendan said, narrowing his eyes. “It should go without saying, but I’m going to tell you anyway just so we are perfectly clear. If you hurt her, I will hurt you.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

“Good.” Brendan nodded. “That was not what I expected to find when I walked in here.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t,” Jax said, unable to keep his lips from quirking up.

“What the hell is that on your face? Is that an actual smile?” Brendan asked.

“Shut up, I smile.”

“Not like that you don’t,” Brendan said, shaking his head. “I’m serious, Jax, don’t screw this up. You deserve to be happy, too.”

Jax didn’t have a chance to respond to that before Grace came into the kitchen.

“Here you go,” she said, holding her hand out to Brendan. He stuck his open palm out and she dropped a set of keys in it.

“I’ll take a look at your car today,” Brendan said, pushing off of the counter. “I’ll give you a call when I figure out what’s going on, but it’s probably just a dead battery.” He leaned down and planted a kiss on the side of Grace’s head. “You should bring your new boyfriend around sometime,” he said as he walked toward the door.

“Bye, Brendan,” Grace said, shooing him with her hand.

“No, I’m serious. I’m sure the family would
love
to meet him,” he said as he opened the front door and turned around to look at them.

“Get out, Brendan.”

“All right, all right, I’m going. See you two love birds later.” He grinned as he shut the door behind him.

“So,” Grace said, turning to the counter and grabbing a stack of mail. “What are your plans for the rest of the day?” She started to sort the mail without any real organization. Her shoulders were rigid and her voice was off, too high and unnatural.

“Grace?” Jax asked, coming up behind her and pulling the remaining mail out of her hands. He set the mail on the counter and turned her around. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said. Except her voice went up just a little bit more and she was looking over his shoulder, refusing to look him in the eye.

“Look at me,” he said, touching her chin and moving her head so she had to look at him. “What’s going on?”

“Are you going to freak out?” she asked, looking terrified.

“What?”

“Brendan called you my boyfriend; he caught you in bed with me. There’s no going back from here.”

“Grace, there was no going back a long time ago. It started before that session on your couch, and way before that kiss in the café,” he said, rubbing her jaw with his thumb. “I’m not going to freak out.”

“You promise?” She looked up at him with wide imploring eyes.

“I promise.”

“How are you so mellow and reserved about this? You? The guy who’s been determined to keep me at arm’s length, since forever.”

“You’ve never been at arm’s length,” he said, shaking his head. “That was always the problem. Grace, I’ve wanted you for a long time now. Since you were eighteen. Well, that’s when I figured it out. It probably started well before then. So, I’m not scared of the
boyfriend/girlfriend
label. It’s about damn time actually.”

“Who are you?” she asked, searching his face for an answer.

“A man who’s finally taking what he wants.”

“And what do you want?” she asked, a smile finally turning up her lips.

“You. Right now preferably,” he said, bending down and throwing her over his shoulder. And then he proceeded to take her back to her bedroom in full caveman style, Grace laughing the whole way.

When Jax dropped Grace off at the café just before eleven, they sat in his truck making out for a good five minutes.

“Do you have to work today?” he asked, running his thumb across her bottom lip.

“I so wish I didn’t,” she said, pushing back from him and trying to catch her breath. “But just keep in mind while you slave away today, that you’ll get me all to yourself tonight. We’ll have dinner, then move on to dessert.”

“Mmm dessert,” he said, coming in for another kiss that turned into a couple more minutes of heavy tonguing and touching.

“Okay, now I really have to go. I have too much stuff to do,” she said, pulling away from him.

“Call me when you’re done tonight. I’m going to stop by the Sleepy Sheep and get a beer with the guys after I finish up at the house.”

“Sounds good,” she said, giving him one last kiss before she turned and scrambled out of his truck. If she didn’t put some massive distance between them with a quickness, she wasn’t going to be doing anything besides Jax. Before she closed the door she caught his grin and it spread to her mouth.

“Wow,” Lula Mae said when Grace walked in. “That’s a smile if I’ve ever seen one.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Grace said, making her way behind the counter and into the kitchen.

“So you’re not talking?” Lula Mae asked, following her through the door.

“Nope.”

“Why? Mouth tired from the workout you just gave it in Jax’s truck?”

“Grams!” Grace said, spinning around.

“What? Was it supposed to be a secret? Because if it was you should have chosen a different spot to suck the boy’s face off. Also, I can’t believe he didn’t come in here and say hello.”

“He was running late meeting Bennett up at the new house.” Grace grabbed her apron.

“Doesn’t matter, still going to give that boy a piece of my mind,” Lula Mae said, stern look firmly in place.

“Oh, don’t even act like you’re not going to forgive him,” Grace said, tying her apron.

“Well, that depends entirely on one thing.” Lula Mae studied Grace for a second.

“What?”

“If he keeps that smile on your face. I like seeing it there,” she said as her own mouth was overtaken by a grin. “I told you that boy was hopeless when it came to you.”

“Yeah, it goes both ways, though,” Grace said, opening the fridge and pulling out what she needed to make strawberry champagne cupcakes. “That boy makes all rational thought vacate my brain.”

“Gracie,” Lula Mae said, shaking her head. “There’s absolutely nothing
rational
about love.”

Oh, the L-word. Grace wasn’t going to touch that one for a little while. Did she love Jax? Without a doubt. But she was going to keep that fact to herself. He might not have freaked out about being categorized as her boyfriend, but bringing love into the mix would be a whole different story.

“Why don’t we keep that word to ourselves?” Grace asked, pulling out the mixer.

“Don’t tell me you’re in denial.”

“I’m not,” Grace said, shaking her head. “I’m in love with Jax. But I don’t think he’s there at the moment.”

“Sweetie, he ran past that line a long time ago. He just hasn’t realized it yet.”

Yeah, and Grace was scared that when he did, he was going to start running in the opposite direction.

“Grams,” Grace pleaded.

“All right, all right. I wouldn’t say anything to him anyway. I’m not completely clueless.”

“You’re not clueless at all. It’s just I’ve wanted this for so long, wanted
him
for so long, I don’t want to do anything to tip the apple cart. You know?”

“I know.” Lula Mae nodded.

“I’m still waiting to wake up. It all feels too much like a dream.”

“Well, in that case,” Lula Mae said, reaching over and pinching Grace’s arm.

“Ow,” she said, flinching away. “What was that for?”

“Just letting you know that you’re wide awake. Now get cracking on those cupcakes. We have a café to run and people to feed.”

“I know, I know.”

“But I’m happy for you, Gracie,” Lula Mae said as she swooped in and gave Grace a kiss on the cheek. “It’s going to work out for the two of you.”

Dear God, Grace hoped so.

“What?” Jax asked looking over at Shep. Shep had been staring at Jax since he’d walked in the door a half hour ago.

“Something’s up with you,” Shep said, narrowing his eyes.

“Nothing’s up,” Jax said. But that was a lie. Certain things had been up for days. He wanted Grace so bad it was insane, and he was counting down to when he got to see her.

Said countdown was currently at twenty-three minutes, forty-nine seconds.

Forty-eight seconds.

Forty-seven seconds.

“Hmm,” Shep said, still studying him. “Yeah, I don’t believe that. I’m going to figure it out, though.”

“With your super detective skills?” Jax asked, raising his eyebrows.

“You spent the day with him,” Shep said, turning to Bennett. “He’s acting strange, right?”

“Yeah, it’s almost like he’s content with life, happy even,” Bennett said.

“Now, why would that be?” Brendan grinned as he took a pull of his beer.

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling it’s about to disappear,” Shep said as he wiped out a glass.

“Why’s that?” Jax asked.

“Because Grace is here, and you two have been at each other’s throats the last couple of weeks.”

Jax turned around and saw Grace making her way up to the bar.

Jax turned back to Shep as he slid off his stool. “Yeah, that isn’t a problem anymore,” he said before he turned around and walked toward Grace, meeting her in the middle.

“Hey.” She smiled up at him. But she didn’t say anything else as Jax wrapped his arms around her and covered her mouth with his.

“You were supposed to call me so I could pick you up,” he said, pulling back from her mouth.

“Don’t get all upset. We finished a little early so Grams dropped me off.” She ran her hands up his chest. “I wanted a drink, too.”

“Let’s go back to my place and I’ll give you as many drinks as you want.
And
you can be naked while you drink them.”

Grace laughed, shaking her head.

Jax frowned. “You think I’m joking but I’m not.”

“Actually, I know you’re dead serious. We won’t stay long,” she said, and grabbed his hand. His fingers automatically twined with hers and she turned, pulling him toward the bar.

Jax was more than a little disappointed that he was going to have to share Grace for a little while; he wanted her all to himself. But Jax couldn’t stop himself from laughing as he took in Shep’s shocked expression.