Undeniable (A Country Roads Novel) (7 page)

“What was that?” Grace asked, unable to stop herself. She wasn’t sure what had gotten into her, but she apparently really wanted to play with fire tonight.

“I said,
fantastic
,” Jax repeated clearly.

“What’s your problem?” she asked.

“I don’t have a problem,” he said, shaking his head.

Grace pushed away from her spot at the bar and went to stand next to Jax, getting right up in his face.

“Yeah, you do. So why don’t you tell me what it is?”

“Why would you care what I think? You’ve never consulted me about the guys you’ve slept with before. And you’ve got golden boy over there to keep your bed warm tonight, so what I think about you shouldn’t really matter.”

Everything in Grace went cold, like she’d been plunged into a tub full of ice water. A shock to her system, and the sudden coldness made her inhale sharply. Jax had pretty much just called her a whore. Grace didn’t even realize what she was doing, but a second later she reached over and grabbed Jax’s full beer from the bar, throwing the amber liquid in his face before she slapped him soundly across the jaw.

He stared at her in shock, his green eyes going clear and wide as they focused on her.

“Fuck you, Jax,” Grace said, slamming the glass down on the bar. She turned around and went to grab her things. She had to get out of there and as far away from Jaxson Anderson as possible. She needed to be alone when she lost it, which was inevitable, because she apparently didn’t know the man she loved at all.

W
ake up jack-ass.”

There was a pounding in Jax’s head, a deep throbbing hammer working in tandem with the churning in his stomach. Jax cracked an eye to a sea of navy blue. He was face first in a pillow, but it wasn’t his pillow. He rolled to the side, slowly, and looked up at Shep, who was frowning down at him.

“What time is it?” he croaked. His mouth was like sandpaper.

“Eight.”

“Why am I here?”

“’Cause your sorry ass couldn’t drive home. I wasn’t going to drive you home just to have to pick you up in the morning so that we could go get your truck at the bar.”

“What the hell happened last night?”

“You honestly don’t remember?” Shep asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I remember Grace and…” Jax trailed off trying to picture the night before. It made his head hurt. An image of Grace laughing with a guy came to him vividly. “Preston Matthews,” Jax mumbled, bringing his hand up to rub at his eyes. It was like his arm was attached to a marionette string as it flopped down onto his face.

“Yup, that was when you started to shoot doubles.”

“And you didn’t stop me?”

“Nah, I figured it was about time you got knocked on your ass.”

“How nice of you. What happened after the shots?” Jax asked, bringing his hand down.

“You got slapped.”

And then with picture-perfect clarity Jax remembered everything from the beer thrown in his face all the way to the look of pure loathing on Grace’s face before she told him to fuck off.

“Shit,” Jax said as he slowly tried to sit up.

“Yup. Now drink up.” Shep handed Jax a cup of coffee when he became vertical. “You need to take a shower and change, ’cause you smell like a brewery. Then we’re going to pick up your truck at the bar before we go up to your new house where Bennett and Brendan are meeting us.”

Oh, great, he had to do construction with a hangover. It was going to be a
long
day.

“Clothes?” Jax asked.

“I put some in the bathroom,” Shep said, pointing to a door off the guest bedroom.

Jax stood up on wobbly legs and made his way into the bathroom, desperate to wash away the night before. What the hell had gotten into him?

Such an easy answer.

Grace had gotten into him. She made his life so freaking complicated. He’d seen her with another guy and something in him had just snapped. It was becoming clearer to him that his relationship with Grace was changing, and he most definitely wasn’t ready for it.

Twenty minutes later, Jax felt relatively human again. He’d never been one to underestimate the power of a shower and a strong cup of coffee. Shep was only an inch shorter than Jax, so the pants were long enough, if not a size too big, but Jax’s belt took care of that problem.

When Jax walked into the kitchen, Shep was at the stove frying something up.

“Smells good,” Jax said, easing himself down into a seat at the kitchen table.

“You’re lucky we’ve been friends for so long, otherwise I wouldn’t give you anything,” Shep said as he spooned some fried potatoes onto a plate and forked on a few pieces of bacon. He loaded up another plate and made his way to the table.

“I was that bad?” Jax asked, grabbing the plate Shep handed him.

“Do you not remember anything after we left the bar?”

Jax tried to think, but after Grace slapped him everything was a blur. But he had a brief image of Shep helping him up the stairs.

“Not really,” Jax said as he forked up a mouthful of potatoes. The salty, crispy pieces were just what he needed.

“You get pretty chatty when you’re trashed.”

Jax’s fork froze on its return journey to his mouth. He looked up at Shep, who was smirking at him.

“What did I say?” Jax asked as the fork resumed its course.

“Oh, you know, just that you’re a moron. You said that multiple times. And you mentioned something about Grace and the taste of her tongue.”

Jax swallowed his mouth full of potatoes, not really chewing them. The sharp edges and heat made his eyes water. He put his fist to his mouth and coughed as he reached for his cup of coffee.

Jax wished he could say Shep was lying, but the taste of Grace’s tongue had been a constant thought of his since he’d kissed her. He wouldn’t be surprised if he’d finally voiced it.

“Not denying it?” Shep asked.

“Did I say anything else?” Jax asked, ignoring Shep’s question.

“A couple random mumblings,” Shep said, waving his hand in the air. “Nothing memorable.”

Shep was full of it, and Jax had a feeling that those
random mumblings
were going to be revealed slowly, and most likely at the worst possible times for Jax.

“Also, I had no idea how ticklish your feet were. When I was taking your boots off you kept flailing your legs around like I was going to pin you town and take a feather to you.”

“Now you’re just making shit up,” Jax said as he resumed eating.

“You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you, but I’m not.”

“You’re going to keep all of this information to yourself, right?”

“Not a chance.” Shep grinned.

When Jax had decided to buy and remodel the house on the river, he had the brilliant idea that he’d just do it himself. Brendan and Shep had put the kibosh on that little plan pretty quick.

“This isn’t some small favor, like helping you move or watching your dog. This is rebuilding an entire house. Something that will take months to do and will be extensive and exhausting,” Jax had said.

“I’m glad you clarified. I thought this was going to be a piece of cake,” Shep said. “If you only were like a brother to us or something, then maybe this wouldn’t be such a
massive
inconvenience.”

“Yeah, it isn’t like you’ve done
anything
for us over the years,” Brendan added. “Like rebuilding Shep’s mustang, or helping me build an art studio for Paige. Or hey,” Brendan said, snapping his fingers in the air, “remember that time you went into a river and saved my wife and little sister’s life? That wasn’t a big deal at all, either.”

“Stop being an idiot. We’re going to help you build your house, because if anyone deserves a place to call home, it’s you,” Shep had said seriously.

Even Bennett had offered his services, which was a godsend really because Bennett worked in construction so he knew exactly what he was doing when it came to just about everything.

Sometimes blood wasn’t the strongest bond. Sometimes your friends were your real family.

But despite that fact, Jax was a little unsure of how Brendan was going to react to the events of the night before. Jax had seen Brendan since the flourgate episode. He knew that Brendan had gotten that full story. It wasn’t that he thought Grace was incapable of keeping a secret; it was more along the lines of Brendan forcing the truth out of her.

That first couple of days after the incident had consisted of Brendan’s jaw bunching up every time he saw or spoke to Jax. But he hadn’t said a word to Jax on the subject of Grace. Jax had the feeling that this wasn’t going to be the case for much longer. He and Grace were having too many collisions of late, and if there was one thing that nobody messed with, it was the women in Brendan’s life. Jax might’ve been one of Brendan’s best friends, but there was no doubt in Jax’s mind that the man would grind his ass into the pavement.

After Shep had taken Jax to go pick up his truck, Jax stopped to get ice and drinks to fill up the cooler. When he pulled into the driveway, Shep, Brendan, and Bennett were standing around the tools that they’d already pulled out for the day.

They got to work right away, and Brendan didn’t say a word about anything to do with Grace. Apparently the events of the night before were being kept from the big bad brother.

Jax’s hangover eased up and he was able to get some work done on the house. By the time everyone parted ways at five that afternoon, the windows and doors were replaced and the new insulation installed. The next thing on the agenda was putting up the walls.

Jax stopped for a pizza on the way home. He threw it in the oven before he got in the shower and washed off the sweat and dirt from the day. After changing into a fresh pair of jeans and T-shirt, Jax grabbed the box of pizza and plopped down on his couch.

The labor of the day had kept his mind occupied, and off Grace. Well, for the most part. She’d managed to slip in a couple of times, as was the norm. But now, sitting in front of the TV and watching an action movie that he’d seen twenty times, he couldn’t think of anything besides her.

He needed to talk to her. Even if they couldn’t be together romantically, they could still be friends. He had to fix it. Had to have her back in his life. He missed her too damn much.

Grace slept in until after ten that morning. The café was closed on Sundays, and she really didn’t want to leave her apartment. She didn’t want to be around anyone. So she’d spent the day doing a little spring cleaning. And by a little, she’d cleaned every inch of her apartment from top to bottom, blasting music and singing at the top of her lungs.

Now she was curled up on the couch, a glass of white wine in one hand and a Kit Kat in the other. Yup, Grace knew exactly what delicacies to pair up with her liquor. She’d put on an action movie that wasn’t centered on a love story and felt a deep satisfaction every time something blew up.

“And that’s what you get,” she said to the TV as the hero punched the villain in the face.

Just as another building blew up, Grace’s doorbell rang. She muted the movie and put her half-empty glass of wine and candy wrapper on the table. She padded over to the front door and stretched up on her tiptoes to peek out of the peephole.

Of course it’s him.

“Can I help you?” Grace asked, opening the door.

“I was hoping we could talk,” he said, shifting on his feet.

“Well, that’s entirely up to you since you’re the one who avoids conversations.”

“Grace, please.”

“Come in,” she said, moving to the side and opening the door wider so he could squeeze in past her.

The fresh scent of him, and whatever soap he used, wrapped around her as he walked by. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, but not audibly. She closed the door behind him and when she turned to face the room, he was standing there just looking at her.

“So talk,” she said, waving her hand in his direction.

He studied her for another moment before he said, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For the kiss at the café and for last night.”

“You’re going to have to be a little more specific in both of those instances.”

“What do you mean?” he asked as his eyebrows bunched together.

“What about the kiss are you sorry about? That it happened or what happened afterward?” she asked as she folded her arms across her chest.

“Both.”

Grace flinched. That sucked. She had a desperate need to cross the room and throw back the last of her wine. That was the only way she was going to get through this conversation.

“Grace—”

“And what about last night?” she asked, cutting him off.

“For what I said to you. It’s none of my business what’s going on between you and Preston. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No,” Grace said, shaking her head, “you shouldn’t have.”

“Well, I’m sorry for that.” he said shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Nothing is going on.”

“What?”

“Nothing is going on with Preston and me. Not that it even matters,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s not going to change anything. And neither is this conversation.”

“What do you mean?” Jax asked taking a step forward.

“What did you think tonight was going to accomplish? That you’d just come down here and apologize and we’d go back to the way things were before?”

“I was hoping that would be the case.”

“Then you’re delusional, Jax. I don’t want to go back. I
can’t
go back. Can you honestly tell me you don’t know how I feel about you?”

“Grace,” he said, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

“Can you?”

He opened his eyes slowly and just looked at her for a second before he shook his head again. “We can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because we just can’t.”

“That’s not good enough,” she shouted at him.

“You’re right and neither am I,” he yelled back.

Grace’s legs were moving across the room of their own accord. She plowed into Jax, and he stumbled backward. They would have been on the ground if the sofa hadn’t broken their fall. Grace scrambled onto Jax’s lap, straddling him. She grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him hard. He didn’t resist for even a second. His mouth opened to hers instantly. His arms wrapped around her back, his hands sliding up and down her spine.

This was right. So. Damn. Right.

Grace’s hands traveled up to his hair, her fingers sliding through the soft strands. She started to move her hips against him, her body grinding down on a spot that made both of them groan. And within an instant she found herself flat on her back, Jax now completely in control as he moved between her thighs. Their mouths hadn’t separated once. Their tongues moved together in a rhythm that mimicked their bodies.

Wow. Just. Wow.

Jaxson Anderson was on top of her. He was touching her, kissing her, surrounding her. She never
ever
wanted it to end.

His hands traveled down to the hem of her sweatshirt and he worked it up her sides, pushing it up past her breasts, leaving them covered by only the thin material of her tank top. She let go of his hair and stretched her arms above her head. She was all for less barriers being between them. As far as she was concerned the clothes needed to start flying, like
now
.

Their mouths broke apart as Jax pulled the sweatshirt up and over her head. He threw it to the floor, and the second his hands were free he cupped her jaw with one palm, while the other brushed her now errant hair out of her face. He stared down at her for just a second, the look of desire in his eyes so intense Grace thought she was going to explode.