Could that be related?
Jax was beat. It had been a good workout and he’d enjoyed it, but he was ready to relax for a while. He showered and changed into his street clothes, then looked at his phone. There were several texts. Skimming over the list of senders, when he saw one from Autumn, he tapped it and read her message.
Are you available tonight?
Smiling at the unexpected question, he typed a reply. Sure am. Okay if I drop by in half an hour?
Why was she inviting him over so soon? She’d said she wouldn’t be available until the weekend. Thrilled that she’d changed her plans—or her mind—Jax looked to see who else had texted. Kelli Judd. What did she want? Frowning, Jax shook his head, then he tapped the screen to bring up her text. Hey handsome. Why don’t you come over? We’ll have a fabulous time.
Hadn’t he made himself clear the other night? He’d flat-out told her he’d never go out with her again. There was no way she could have misunderstood. So why was she acting like everything was normal? Frowning deeply, Jax shoved his phone in his pocket and walked out to the parking lot. He would ignore Kelli and focus on Autumn.
Once in his car, he checked his phone to see if Autumn had replied. She had. He would head directly to her place.
Twenty minutes later he parked in her driveway and walked to her front door. Moments later she opened it. The warm smile on her lovely face calmed him and the stress of the day melted away. The memory of her tantalizing good-bye kiss on the corner of his mouth the evening before filled his mind. All he wanted to do now was kiss her until she melted in his arms.
Her green eyes sparkled and he said the first thing that came to mind. “I was surprised to hear from you already. Does this mean your lips are kissable again?”
Her eyebrows rose as she smiled. “I never said that.”
He hoped she was joking. He didn’t think he could spend the evening with her without at least one kiss. Chuckling, when Sasha pushed between Autumn and the door, Jax knelt and greeted her before standing to face Autumn once again. “Have you eaten?”
“No. I was about to heat up some leftovers. Care to join me?”
Now it was Jax’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “That depends. Are your leftovers as delicious as your muffins?”
“Of course.” She stepped back and held the door open for him.
Jax walked inside, the coziness of her place wrapping around him. He could picture himself snuggling with Autumn on her couch. At least that’s where he wanted to start. He would have to see where things progressed from there.
Trying to take his mind off what might not happen, he asked, “How was your day?”
Distress flashed across her face, but she replaced it with a smile so quickly he wasn’t sure if he’d seen it at all.
“My day was great. Busy, but great. How about yours?”
Ignoring the soreness that was a constant in his life, he smiled. “Good. And the best part is, I get to do it all again tomorrow.”
She laughed. “Yeah. Me too.” That brief look of distress again. She turned and began walking toward the kitchen. “We’ll eat in here.”
Following her, his gaze swept over her body, appreciating the way her jeans hugged her curves in all the right places. “What leftovers are you heating up?”
Peeking at him over her shoulder with a smile, she said, “You’ll just have to wait.”
He laughed. “All right.”
When they entered the kitchen, he looked around. It was tiny—at least compared to his enormous kitchen, a kitchen he hardly used. But it was homey. Canisters of flour and sugar sat on a short counter along with a large mixer, and a turquoise container next to the stove held spatulas, a wire whisk, and other implements. Odds and ends were scattered across another counter.
This kitchen was well used. He could picture Autumn mixing up a batch of muffins. She was his Angel Muffin, after all. Grinning at the name, he watched her place what looked like enchiladas on a plate before putting them in the microwave.
“Do you need any help?” Not that he could actually do much, but he thought he should offer.
She turned to him with her beautiful smile. “Sure. You can set the table.” She pointed to a cabinet. “The dishes are in there.”
“Okay.” Jax took out a pair of plates and set them on the small table situated in the corner of the room. After placing glasses, napkins, and utensils on the table, he turned to see Autumn tossing a salad.
Liking the little domestic scene he was participating in, one side of his mouth tugged up. Typically the women he dated expected him to take them out. Not Autumn.
“Are those enchiladas in the microwave?” he asked.
Her eyebrows rose. “Yes. Do you like enchiladas?”
“Sure do.” After burning through all those calories during his workout, he needed to refuel. He didn’t want to look like a pig, but how many did she have? If he was still hungry, he would pick up more food on his way home.
The microwave beeped and Autumn took the food out before placing it on a platter then carrying it to the table.
It smelled wonderful.
“Can you grab the salad?”
He did as she asked, then they sat across from each other. He wanted to know more about this woman, know what made her tick. He would start by asking her about the distress he had seen in her eyes.
Chapter Twenty-Three
If someone had told Autumn that morning that she would be feeding Jax leftover enchiladas for dinner in her kitchen that night, she would have laughed. Especially after she’d told him she wouldn’t be able to see him until the weekend. But now, sitting across from him at her kitchen table, it felt so right that she wondered why she’d been resistant to seeing him again so soon.
“What happened today?” he asked as he used the side of his fork to cut off a section of enchilada.
Autumn looked at him sharply. How did he know? Was he involved? The idea was ludicrous. Still, it was possible, wasn’t it? But why would he send her such a strange gift?
“What do you mean?”
He swallowed a mouthful of food. “These are great, by the way.”
Though flattered, concern kept her from smiling. “What makes you think something happened today?”
With his fork still in his hand, he rested his forearms on the table. “You just…you looked upset earlier. When I asked how your day went.”
“Oh.” That made sense. It was silly to think he had anything to do with it. She would tell him what had happened. She wanted him to know. Wanted to have him on her side. Maybe he could help her come up with a reason why someone had sent her those balloons.
“First,” she said with a frown, “I had a flat tire when I went out to my car this morning.”
Jax’s eyebrows bunched. “That’s a bummer. Do you need help fixing it?”
Touched by his thoughtfulness, she shook her head. “I already took care of it. But at the tire store they said the hole was on the side and it looked like a puncture. Not a normal nail-in-the-tire kind of hole.”
He set his fork down. “A puncture. You mean like someone did it on purpose?”
Hearing that idea spoken out loud sent a wave of alarm cascading through her. “I…I don’t know.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Why would someone do that? Have you had any unhappy customers at the salon?” He chuckled. “Maybe someone whose hair was cut too short on one side?”
“That’s not funny, Jax.” Well, it kind of was, but this whole thing had her spooked.
He looked at his plate before giving her a lopsided smile. “Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood.”
Tossing him a tiny smile, she said, “I appreciate that.”
Before she could tell him about the balloons, he said, “Maybe you brushed the tire against the curb and something poked into it.”
She hadn’t thought of that. Maybe he was right. Maybe there was a reasonable explanation for the flat tire. Feeling marginally better, when she thought about the
balloons, her distress returned. She softly sighed. “There was something else.”
His eyebrows lowered. “What?”
“I, uh,” she began, “I got a delivery of balloons at the salon.”
He tilted his head. “Okay.”
“They were condolence balloons.”
“What are condolence balloons?”
Remembering the shock she’d felt when she’d realized what the balloons said, Autumn clenched her jaw as she took a moment to get her emotions under control. “They’re balloons that have messages of condolence printed on them. Things like In loving memory or Forever in our hearts or We will miss you and love you always.” She quoted the exact words. They were easy to remember. They were engraved in her mind.
Jax recoiled slightly. “Oh.”
His reaction convinced Autumn that he had nothing to do with it. Not sure why she’d even considered that, nonetheless she felt relieved.
He leaned forward, his expression intense. “Who would send those to you?”
“I don’t know. That’s what’s kind of freaking me out.”
Jax couldn’t imagine how upsetting that must have been.
“Do you think…” He didn’t want to make her more upset, but he had to ask. “Do you think the balloons were…in reference… to your husband?”
Red blotches appeared on her cheeks. “I can only assume that they were.”
Instantly hating whoever had done this, Jax was overwhelmed with the need to protect her, a feeling he’d never had before toward a woman. He reached out and took her hand in his. She’d been through enough. She didn’t need someone vandalizing her car and sending her reminders of her husband’s death.
Wanting to figure this out, he said, “Do you have any idea why someone would send you condolence balloons?”
She shook her head. “No. No idea at all.”
“Did he have any enemies?”
Again, she shook her head. “Not that I know of.”
“What did he do? For a living?”
“He worked in a law office. He was a clerk. He didn’t interact with the clients or anything.”
Jax nodded, but he was wracking his brain trying to come up with an explanation. She’d already said she didn’t know of any unhappy salon customers, but clearly there was someone who was trying to get to her, to upset her. She was so gentle and sweet, Jax couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt her. But really, what did he know? He’d known her less than a week.
He didn’t want to offend her, but… “And there’s no one you know of who would want to…hurt you?”
Her forehead creased. “Not that I know of. Do you think someone hates me? Why? I didn’t do anything.”
Now he’d upset her more. Great job.
Gently squeezing her hand, he said, “We’ll figure this out. Together. I won’t…I won’t let anything happen to you.” How he would manage that he had no idea. But he couldn’t seem to stop himself from saying it.
“How?” Worry framed her mouth.
“Look. Maybe this is all just some big misunderstanding. Maybe the flat tire was from brushing against the curb. If it was a small hole you could have done it miles away and you’d sill make it home—”
She pulled her hand from his, hope and doubt etched on her face. “And the balloons?”
“Maybe someone just heard about your husband and wanted to send their condolences.” That sounded lame even to him.
“But there was no note, and the balloon place said the person who ordered the balloons didn’t put down their name.”
Desperate now to come up with something reasonable, no matter how implausible, Jax waved his hands as he spoke. “Maybe it was an old…I don’t know…an old friend of yours. And she didn’t want to leave her name.”
Autumn tilted her head down. “That makes no sense, Jax, but I appreciate the effort.”
One side of his mouth quirked up. “Okay. How about this. How about we finish eating, and then we watch a movie and not think about balloons or tires.”
Autumn didn’t want to think about the tire or the balloons either. Nodding, she smiled. “That sounds like a good idea.”
Jax laughed. “I’m full of good ideas, you know.”
“Really? Like what?”
“Oh, you want to test me already? All right.” His gaze slid to the side like he was flipping through his mental file of great ideas. Then he looked at her with raised eyebrows and opened his mouth. After a moment he closed his mouth. “I got nothin’.”
Autumn burst out laughing. This man was so good for her. Her mood was ten times brighter than it had been when she’d walked through her door. “That’s okay. Let’s eat our enchiladas before they’re completely cold and then we can pick out a movie.”
They chatted as they ate, and when they were done, Jax helped Autumn clean up, insisting that he was an expert at efficiently loading the dishwasher.
“Okay,” Autumn said as she stepped back to watch, a skeptical smile on her face. To her surprise, he did seem to know what he was doing. “How did you gain this expertise?”
He placed a glass on the top rack, then turned to her. “Growing up, I was responsible for cleaning the kitchen at least three times a week. And whatever wouldn’t fit in the dishwasher had to be washed by hand.” He chuckled. “Believe me, efficiency wasn’t just a nice idea, it was a necessity.”
Quirking an eyebrow, Autumn said, “And look how it’s paying off now. I’m all impressed.”
“You should be.”
She softly laughed. “The fact that I’m standing here watching you do all the work makes me all kinds of impressed. No joke.”
He put the last dish inside, then closed the door. “No need to run it yet. There’s tons of room left.”
“Plus after we eat our popcorn we’ll want to add the bowls.”
That caught his attention. “Popcorn?”
“Of course. We can’t watch a movie without popcorn, can we?”
“No we cannot.” He glanced around before facing Autumn. “If you have any of those muffins around, maybe we can have a couple of those too.”
“Jax. Did I not feed you enough dinner?” He was a large man, and Autumn could only imagine how many calories he needed to consume each day.
A self-conscious expression crossed his face. “I just like your muffins.”
“You’re still hungry, aren’t you?”
A sheepish smile curved his mouth. “I can always eat.”
Autumn went to her freezer and took out several muffins, putting them in the microwave and setting it to defrost. Then she opened her pantry and took out a bag of sweetened popcorn and a bag of regular popcorn, both ready to eat. Then she took out two bowls, one huge and one small. She turned to Jax with a smirk, then handed him the huge bowl.
He chuckled. “Uh, okay.”
“Really. Have as much as you want.” When the muffins were thawed, she placed three on a plate for Jax and held it out to him.
Grinning, he took it from her.
Once they had their snacks, they went into the living room. Sasha followed them, laying on her pet bed in the corner. Autumn sat on the couch, but Jax just stood there watching her. Raising her eyebrows in question, she patted the space beside her.
“What about your magic lips, Angel Muffin? Is it safe for me to sit so close to you?”
Shaking her head with a smile, Autumn looked at Jax’s handsome face. “It’s safe.” Wow. She hadn’t smiled and laughed this much in ages. It felt so good. And it was all due to Jax Cordova, star football player for the Sacramento Vipers. Her heart thumped with a longing to keep Jax in her life always.
Startled to realize the walls around her heart were crumbling faster than she’d thought possible, Autumn felt the additional emotion of fear. Because now her heart was vulnerable. If Jax walked away from her, she would be crushed.
There was only one thing she could do to prevent that. She had to protect herself and protect her heart. She had to slow down this falling in
love that she couldn’t seem to stop.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jax sat next to Autumn, smiling at her reaction to his comment. Seeing her happy made him happy. Never before had he so badly wanted to bring a woman joy. Of course, when it came to Autumn there were many things that were new to him.
He took a bite of a warm muffin and moaned as his taste buds—and his stomach—rejoiced. “These are even better warm.”
Autumn laughed. “Glad you like them.”
Even more, he liked sitting beside her in her cozy living room. His gaze went to Sasha, whose eyes were closed. The sense of home he felt nearly overwhelmed him. He loved it.
“What movie do you want to watch?” Autumn asked as she pulled up a streaming service and began scrolling through the options.
As long as she was beside him, he didn’t care what they watched. “You pick.”
Her lips twitched up. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. These muffins are lulling me into a mellow mood. I’ll watch whatever you want.”
“Okay.”
She selected a romantic comedy. Not his normal movie choice, but he settled against the cushions as the movie began and finished off the muffins. After only a few minutes he realized he was more focused on Autumn and how close she was than on the movie. Their thighs touched, and though she held perfectly still, it was as if electricity was arcing between them. Not able to stop himself, he turned his head and stared at her profile. Her auburn hair lay softly across her shoulder, but he could still see the curve of her eyelashes and the way her nose turned up slightly at the tip. And that mouth. He knew what that mouth felt like pressed against his. Her lips were magical. At least to him.
She turned to look at him, a smile on her face. “What?”
Grinning, he said, “Just enjoying the movie.”
Pass Interference (Fair Catch Series, Book Four) Page 12