She finished getting dressed and walked to the side of the bed to retrieve her shoes. She almost slipped back into the bed when she looked down at the gorgeous sleeping man. She’d seen him naked the night before, but she’d hardly been in a position to ogle and appreciate. Marissa shook herself. She needed to get home. The last thing she wanted to do was take the walk of shame first thing in the morning in front of a teenager. She snatched up her sneakers, then hurried out of the bedroom before she talked herself out of leaving. In the living room she sat on the sofa to slip on her shoes and came nose-to-snout with Soldier. She bit back a solid yelp. She’d all but forgotten about the large dog. But he hadn’t forgotten about her. He pushed in closer to her until he was breathing on her neck.
“Get back, boy.” She pushed against him but he didn’t budge. She rubbed the top of his head and behind his ear, which only made him move in closer. Giving up on her shoes, Marissa used both hands and petted him, rubbed him and all but hugged him. “You are a cutie, aren’t you?” She bent her head close to his and hugged the shepherd to her.
When he was finally satisfied with her petting, he backed away and settled himself back onto his bed.
Marissa moaned before she could help herself. She even liked the man’s damned dog.
She tied her shoes and scooped up her purse. She gave one final glance back toward the bedroom. She needed to leave. She was so confused, she didn’t think her self-preservation could take staying there with Jax one moment longer. She made sure his front door locked as she snuck out.
She cut her lights before she even pulled into her driveway. Once in the house, she found her note right where she’d left it. She tore it up and tucked it down deep in the trash chiding herself every step of the way. She was being completely silly. She was a grown woman who had the right to do whatever the hell she wanted, with whomever she wanted. She didn’t have to answer to anyone.
The little speech didn’t stop her from tiptoeing up the stairs to her bedroom, though. Once in there, she didn’t even bother to undress, just lay atop her comforter sans her shoes and rehashed the night. For hours, despite being bone-weary—and damned good sex—tired she couldn’t do anything more than lie there and think. Think about Jax lying naked as she left. Jax plunging into her. Hell, even Jax holding her tenderly afterward, all of it left her more keyed up than when she’d driven over to his house in the middle of the night. She had it bad.
As dawn crept from behind her curtains, her gritty eyes fluttered slightly, finally ready to give up, but now she didn’t have time. She had to get up and get to the shop. She had the order for the bridal shower to work on, not to mention a birthday-party order she’d taken nearly a month earlier that was due the same day.
She rolled out of bed and peeled off her day-before clothes. She nearly gasped aloud when she remembered she’d left her panties behind. Memories of her night with Jax surfaced and threatened to slow her but she shoved them aside and hurried to the shower. When she was toweling off, something caught her attention in the mirror. She leaned in closely to focus on the reddish-brown blemish on her neck.
“A hickey.” Marissa slapped her hand to her mouth. After thirty-four years she’d gotten her first-ever hickey. From the captain of her high school football team—now the chief of the Oak Hollow police department—no less. A giggle threatened to burble up to the surface and she snorted through her closed fingers.
She hurried out to her dresser and grabbed one of her Sweets by Marissa tees. She pulled it on over her head, then sagged with a sigh of relief. The clothing covered up the love bite. She finished dressing and went to the kitchen to find Hill already at the table. He sat with a bowl of cereal in front of him.
“Oh hey,” he said around a mouthful of marshmallow cereal. He swallowed and waved to the table. “I, uh, I helped myself.” He sounded apologetic.
“Good. I’m glad you did.” Marissa tucked the tag of his shirt in as she walked to the fridge to hunt for something. But unless Jax was inside it, she didn’t think she’d find anything suitable. She banished the wayward thought from her mind. “Hill, I know that you don’t trust easily and you have no reason to believe me.” She closed the fridge and turned to the teen. “I want to help you. I am helping you. You are welcome to anything I can give you. If a roof over your head and food is the least I can do, please accept it and don’t get all weirded out. ’Kay?”
A sad smile tipped the corner of his mouth. “If my dad met you, he’d call you a bleeding heart. Then try to con you out of anything he could get.” Hill shook his head. “Some people are born to be parents, like you and my mom, and some should be sterilized the moment they can conceive.”
Marissa couldn’t help herself—she leaned over Hill and kissed the top of his head. “Every parent should have a kid like you.” She patted his shoulder when he nodded and then dug back into the marshmallow cereal.
“Sorry, no more mushy. How are you feeling this morning?” She grabbed the box and pulled out a handful of the cereal.
“Fine.” He glanced at the pristine white bandage covering his lower left arm. He lifted the bowl and drained the last dregs of milk before standing and moving to the sink. “I can do a little work before school to make up for yesterday.”
“If you feel up to it.” She dusted the crumbs from her hand. “I should be ready to go in ten minutes.”
Hill nodded and rinsed out his bowl.
As Marissa hurried back to her room to finish her hair she all but kicked herself for not letting Hill come back to her house sooner. He needed a bed, not a sofa, to sleep on. He needed breakfast. And routine.
They rode in silence to the shop. As she pulled up to the back door a thought popped into her head. “Do you know how to drive?”
He looked down. “No.”
“Would you like me to teach you?”
Hill paused in unbuckling his seat belt. “Why?”
“You need to learn how. Everyone should know how to drive.”
“Why would you do that for me?” He shook his head and got out of the SUV.
He broke her heart. At what point would he stop getting up after being beaten down? So far, Hill had showed remarkable resilience, but could there be a point when he would just lie down and let the world roll right over him? God, she hoped not. And she was determined to do all she could to make sure it didn’t happen.
Hill helped her set up before he had to head off for school. They fell into the rhythm they’d established since he started working for him. He got the huge bins of flour prepped for the morning baking while she get the two large coffee makers going. Then Hill went into the freezer and did a quick inventory. The morning work went smoothly and efficiently. She couldn’t quite remember how she’d managed before he’d been there. It surely had been lonelier.
Just before he took off for school, she tried once again to talk him into one more day at home to rest, but he’d hear none of it.
Hill left just before the store opened. Marissa had taken a few moments after he’d gone to get on her computer and look up what it would take for her to become Hill’s guardian. Legally. That was assuming he’d even want her to.
But whether it was her frazzled brain or just lack of knowledge on what to do, she’d had a hell of a time finding out anything. After nearly an hour of Google searches, she made a mental note to get in touch with a lawyer and maybe get it straightened out that way.
After she’d shut down her computer, though, nothing had gone smoothly. She’d burned the first batch of cupcakes, not paying attention to setting the timer—something she hadn’t done in years. Then she’d burned her hand when the oven mitt slipped and she caught her wrist on the oven rack. Now she was sporting a new burn, sleep-deprived and a tad more than grouchy.
She was about to give up and call it a day when the bell over her door jingled. Her sister Marlie, all decked out in a fuchsia form-fitting suit and cream lacy shirt strolled to the counter. “Hey ya. You look like—”
“Don’t y
ou dare say it.” She must be eons behind on her beauty sleep. Every person she’d come across recently told her how terrible she looked.
“Sorry.” Marlie wrinkled her nose. “Burn something?”
“Some cupcakes this morning.” She hadn’t told her sister—or anyone in her family—about the fire outside the shop. “Whatchya doing here?”
“I came to go over the schedule with you.”
“Schedule?”
“For Callie’s bridal shower. And wedding.”
Marissa stared goggle-eyed at her sister for a long moment. “Come again?”
“You agreed to help me.”
“With preparations. I came to the meeting and I am baking over six dozen cupcakes on short notice.” The oven dinged as if to prove her point. She’d been baking nonstop to get the quantity she needed for the shop, Callie’s wedding and the birthday party. Several times she’d cursed the missed opportunity to get the extra oven she’d been tempted to buy. But the back of the shop had limited space as it was. The extra appliance would have more than likely required a renovation to enlarge the back. That meant code-compliance meetings and more money than she was willing to shell out.
Marlie followed Marissa to the back. “You agreed to help. I didn’t specify what that meant.” She stuck out her lip in a pout as she had when they were young. It held just about as much weight.
Marissa stuck out her tongue in response. Then on a sigh she asked, “What do you need me to do?” It was futile not to give in to Marlie. She always had and always would.
Marlie went over the Saturday festivities, of course to be held at the country club.
“Are you sure Bunny will let me back in? The last time I was there with her she turned a few shades of green.” She pulled the cupcakes from the oven and set them on the cooling rack. She waved to the coffee maker to see if her sister was interested.
Marlie shook her head. “If Callie doesn’t mind, Bunny will keep her mouth shut. They have some weird power struggle going on right now.”
“Who’s winning?” The sisters walked back to the front of the store.
Marlie pulled another sheet of paper from her leather folder. “I’d say Callie, but I would never underestimate Bunny.” She shrugged. “So, for the wedding. It’s a week from Saturday. Do you have a dress?” Marlie glanced down at the sheet.
Marissa rolled her eyes. “I have at least one.” She leaned on the counter across from her sister and screwed up her face with a little bit of resentment that her sister didn’t think she could dress appropriately.
Marlie looked up a little confused. “No, sorry. Do you have a baby-blue dress? That’s what color the reception hall will be draped with. And we have to match—to blend in as unseen as possible. That was one thing that Bunny insisted on. Put her foot down and apparently threatened to pull funding for the whole shebang otherwise.”
“Funding? A wedding needs funding?”
Marlie gave a quick snort. “You don’t want to see the budget. You could open another shop. Or two, for what this is costing.” Marlie slid a sheet of paper across the counter. “Here’s a timeline for you. I really do appreciate you helping me with all this. With the Carlisle/Johnson wedding on my resume, I’ll be able to book bigger weddings.” Her eyes sparkled. Marlie had always loved planning parties. When she’d been engaged, she’d taken care of all the wedding planning.
Unfortunately her fiancé had died in a horrific car accident only three days before the ceremony. Marissa has worried about her sister, but she’d pulled through, though she hadn’t found—or tried to find—another man, but she’d managed to get on with her life.
“And Saturday, please wear something dressy and preferably pastel. It’s not formal, but you know how things go at the country club.” She tucked her leather folder into her briefcase. “Any questions?”
“How’d I let you talk me into this?”
“Because you love me and I’m your favorite sister.”
“You’re my only sister, brat.” Marissa walked around the counter and gave her twin a big bear hug. “I do love you.” She was once again reminded that despite the worries she and Marlie had had growing up, they’d had it a million times easier than Hill had. And even when there were bad times, she’d had Marlie to lean on.
“I love you, too.” Marlie gave her a quick squeeze. “What brought this on?”
Marissa needed to tell one of the Llewellyns what was going on in her life. She’d never kept a secret this big from her family. She opened her mouth to tell her sister, when the cell at her hip rang.
Marlie held up a slim finger. “This is Marlie.” She listened for a moment. “What do you mean the flowers are all wilted?” She dug through her bag and found a small red organizer. She tucked the phone at the crook of her neck as she pawed through the small book. “They didn’t have back-up generators? Gaw.” She found the page she was looking for and stuck her thumb in to hold the spot. She glanced over at her sister. “I have to handle this. You’ll call me if you need anything?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but turned and headed back out of the shop talking a mile a minute, making plans.
Marissa’s shoulders sagged. She made a mental note to call her dad after work. It’d been far too long since they’d had one of their heart-to-hearts. She could unload about Hill and if she was particularly brave she might even tell him about Jax.
Jax. She rubbed her hand over her face. What would he think when he woke to find her gone in the morning? If it had happened to her, she’d be hurt, angry. She’d run the gamut of “Why aren’t I enough to make you stay the night?”
Chapter Seventeen
Jax knocked his shin against an open file cabinet drawer. “Dammit guys, close things when you’re done with them.”
He slammed the drawer back closed. He’d slept well, better than he had probably since he’d gotten to Oak Hollow, only to awaken to a cold, empty bed. At first he half-expected—or at least hoped—Marissa would be in his kitchen, eating breakfast. But no such luck. She’d snuck out some time before dawn and hadn’t even bothered to leave him a note. Though he’d rolled over that one in his mind a million times. What was she supposed to say? Thanks for a great screw. See ya around. Yeah, that wouldn’t have sat any better with him.
He’d glowered at Soldier all morning. The damn beast would bark at his own shadow given the chance, but when Marissa had gotten up and left, the traitor hadn’t made a peep. He didn’t want to think about his dog’s reaction to the lady. Soldier was digging her as much as Jax was. Not that it mattered. It clearly wasn’t reciprocated, otherwise she’d have stayed, right? They butted heads on every other subject but they had chemistry. In bed they were damned good together. Do-it-all-over again and again, good. Neither could deny that fact, but was that all it was to her?
He wanted to feel cheap and used, but it’d been too spectacular for that. Damn, he was so confused.
It had put him in a foul mood all morning and set his day to a series of shitty and shittier moments. First he’d dropped his coffee mug—full of coffee—on the kitchen floor. It had shattered and spilled all over the terra-cotta tile, cracking the square it landed on. Then he’d barked at Ada when he came into work, something he’d never done before. He’d bent over backward apologizing to her, which she’d graciously accepted with a slight smirk, like she knew what had put him in a foul mood.
Hell, he wasn’t even sure what’d put him in a foul mood because he couldn’t say for sure that he’d asked Marissa to stay—so for him to get bent out of shape that she didn’t… If the roles had been reversed, would he have stayed the night with her, stayed to wake up with her in his arms?
“Chief?” Officer Garrett knocked on the door frame, interrupting his pity party.
“Yeah?”
“We just got a call that there’s a ruckus up at the high school. Some boys are fighting out past the football field.” He cleared his throat and stepped into the small office. “You said you wanted to be notified if anything came up i
nvolving teenagers. This seemed like a regular old fight, but I thought I’d tell you just the same.”
Jax rubbed his chin, hit the spot he’d cut shaving earlier and grimaced. “I’ll run out there.” He checked his utility belt—he wasn’t even sure if he’d dressed properly that morning. “Will you give Ada a head’s up on where I’m headed?”
Garrett snickered. “Still trying to avoid her evil eye? Teach you to yell at her,” the officer said as he left Jax’s office.
Jax made the short drive to the high school in no time. There’d been very few scuffles at the school since he’d been in office. It wasn’t unusual to have a few fights from time to time, but in light of the possibility that the break-ins in the downtown area might have been perpetrated by teens, he wanted to stay on top of any issues.
He pulled into the parking lot next to the football field. There weren’t any kids around at all. If there’d been a fight, it had cleared out pretty quickly.
Swinging the cruiser around, he drove to the front of the school. It wouldn’t hurt to go in and speak with the principal.
When he was buzzed in through the front door, a young woman with auburn hair was hurrying toward him. She was small, couldn’t be much over five feet tall. She wore a no-nonsense navy-blue skirt and a lighter blue top. Her short heels clicked on the linoleum floor.
“Chief Carlisle.” She outstretched her hand as she reached him. “How are you?” she asked with a polite smile, but just as quickly her mouth turned down and she frowned. “Is everything okay?”
Jax shook the petite woman’s hand. “Everything’s fine, I think. We got a call about a fight. It looks like it’s broken up but I just wanted to check in with the principal and make sure all was well in the school.”
The woman smiled. “That’d be me. Patti Head.”
Jax frowned. Why did that name sound so familiar?
“Callie and I were friends growing up.”
He nodded. “I remember you. The two of you would sneak into my room trying to spy on me, but you both giggled so much you wouldn’t last more than a couple of minutes.”
Baker’s Law Page 18