“What?” he guffawed, his hands dropping to the armrest.
Harry nodded. “It makes sense. You seemed a bit off last night, but I chalked it up to being tired. Then this morning, the smoking and asking about her. You actually like her.”
Jax scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Please.”
Harry smiled wide. “It’s cool. I understand if you don’t want to admit it to yourself. I mean, you haven’t been serious about anyone since, what was her name? Missy? Mindy?”
“Melissa.”
Harry snapped his fingers. “Yes! Melissa. You haven’t been serious since her.”
“I’m not serious about Karlie.”
Harry shook his head and leaned forward. “Deny all you want, man. But, you’ve got that love-struck look around you. Let me guess, she didn’t give you the time of day, did she?”
Jax glared at Harry, not wanting to admit that he was right about Karlie’s apparent lack of interest. He was used to women falling over themselves to talk to him. Karlie hadn’t done that though. She chatted with him and then walked off when that group of girls arrived. Maybe his pride was just hurt.
“Don’t worry,” Harry said, pulling Jax from his thoughts. “Your secret is safe with me. I’ll even catch up with her and Bailey, see if they’re up to joining us at Whiskey Dick’s.”
“I still can’t get over the fact we’re going to play a place called Whiskey Dick’s,” Jax said shaking his head.
Harry shrugged. “It’s the south, what’d you expect?”
Jax sighed. “I guess I’ll go do some work then.”
Harry shook his head. “You mean you’ll look like you’re doing work, but you won’t be doing anything useful.”
Jax shrugged. “Does it matter?”
Harry laughed. “With you, no.”
With a wave, Jax stood and walked down the hall, turning into his office after telling Della hello. She was a bit older, and she only worked part-time. He and Harry considered her the office mom. She constantly cooked them food and made sure they were taken care of for the holidays. It was nice to be treated with that type of motherly instinct when his parents lived a few hours away.
His chair creaked as he settled into it, and a slow smile spread across his face as he thought about Karlie. Though he didn’t know for sure that she’d go the following night, he had a good feeling about seeing her again. And he planned to make sure she didn’t walk away so nonchalantly this time.
Chapter Three
Jax
Jax grinned as he peeked through the curtain to the right of the stage. Whiskey Dick’s was packed, which usually promised a good night of drinks and girls. That wasn’t what was making him smile so hard though. Karlie was sitting to the side at a high-top table with her friend Bailey. He couldn’t see everything she was wearing, but he could see enough.
Her scoop-neck shirt allowed him to see a shadow of her cleavage. When she had turned earlier, he'd thought he’d have to roll his tongue back in his mouth. There was no backside to the shirt and her gorgeous back was bare for his, and others’, viewing pleasure.
“What are you looking at?” Harry whispered in his ear.
Jax jumped, his shoulder hitting Harry in the chin and making his teeth snap together.
“Shit! What the fuck?” Harry asked, rubbing his jaw. “Am I bleeding?”
Jax looked at Harry’s mouth briefly before turning back to the crowd out front. “You’re fine. That’s what you get for startling me.”
“You didn’t answer my question. What’s got your attention?”
Jax shrugged. He felt Harry behind him again and assumed he was scanning the bar also.
“Oh, I see,” Harry said, chuckling. “Eyeing your lady?”
“She’s not my lady.” Jax stepped back and walked to the green room.
“Tomato, tom-ah-to. You want her to be your lady.” Harry followed him into the room.
“Dude, drop it.”
“I’ll drop it when you admit your feelings.”
“When did you turn into a chick?” Jax snagged a long neck from the cooler the venue provided and took a big gulp.
“About the time you decided you were interested in Karlie.”
“What are y’all jabbering about over there?” Veronica asked from her spot on the couch.
“Jax losing his man card,” Harry sniggered as he turned a metal folding chair around and straddled it.
Jax glared at him as he perched on the armrest of the couch while Veronica laughed. “Oh, do tell! Jax is interested in being a one-woman man?”
“No,” Jax said as Harry said, “Yes.”
Veronica chortled. “Y’all kill me.”
A knock on the door stopped any further conversation. The stage manager stuck his head in. “Y’all are on in five.”
“Where’s everyone else?” Jax asked, chugging the rest of his beer.
“Probably already on stage,” Harry said.
With a nod, the three of them trooped to the stage and the crowd cheered as they appeared. Jax grinned at them as he strapped his guitar to his body and started tuning it. His eyes scanned the crowd again and came to rest on Karlie. She was staring at him and he winked. He smirked at the blush that suffused her cheeks.
“Hello, Whiskey Dick’s!” Harry said, causing the crowd to cheer even louder.
Jax turned his attention to Harry and the band, already running through the set for the night in his mind.
Bentley tapped out a three count and they launched into their first song of the night, “Gimme Three Steps” by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Jax lost himself in the music, playing the chords and improvising in a few places when he thought it called for it, and the set flew by. By the time they took their first break of the night, the front of the stage was three deep with women trying to get the band’s attention. Jax smirked as he set his guitar on the stand by his amp. He scanned the crowd again but didn’t see Karlie. His brow furrowed, but he shook it off as he made his way back to the green room where he guzzled a bottle of water.
He ignored the chatter of his bandmates as he went through the second and final set of the night. It wasn’t until Harry tapped him on the shoulder that he realized they needed to go back on.
He immediately scanned the crowd as he strapped his guitar back on. Karlie was now standing at the bar, talking to some guy with long hair in a man bun. He scowled at the pair of them and immediately jerked his eyes down to his guitar. He didn’t need to let Karlie seep into his mind when he had a set to play. She wasn’t anything special and he needed to remember that.
He nodded to Harry who launched into the first song of the set “Sweet Home Alabama.” Like their set from Gunner Falls Jam, the crowd immediately started singing along with him and Veronica. The energy was electric and it stayed that way as they finished their set with their signature rendition of “Wagon Wheel.”
When the last notes faded, girls crowded the bottom of the stage, calling his and Harry’s names out. He shot them a smile and a wink, making them titter while he packed his gear. He pushed Karlie and his weird infatuation with her from his mind while he geared up to find his willing partner for the night.
“Ladies,” he crooned as he went to the edge of the stage and hopped down. They crowded around him, complimenting him on his playing, his outfit, anything they saw fit. Several hands touched his torso and arms, trying to pull his attention their way.
He soaked up the attention they lavished on him, smirking and nodding at the right moments, already thinking of the fun to be had later that night.
“Hey, Jax!”
He jerked his head to where Harry was sitting and saw him at a high top with Karlie and Bailey, waving at him to come over. With a smile to the girls, he walked over and joined them, ordering a beer from a passing waitress as he settled onto one of the stools.
“Hey girls,” he said with a smile, trying hard not to stare at Karlie.
It was one thing to stare at her while playing, but another to s
it next to her. And it was obvious his idea of not dwelling on her wasn’t going to work when she was so close. He was close enough to her he could smell a light hint of something sweet and floral wafting from her. Every so often, when she tossed her hair over her shoulder just right, it would brush his arm and raise gooseflesh.
The only problem? She wasn’t looking at him. If he was a betting man, he might bet she was doing that on purpose.
“Y’all sounded good tonight.” Bailey sipped her drink and looked between Harry and Jax.
Jax’s eyes pinged between the Bailey and Harry and he was certain they would be doing the dirty later. “Thanks,” he said. He accepted his beer from the waitress and turned to Karlie. “What did you think?”
“Y’all were good,” she replied.
She wouldn’t meet his eyes as she sipped her drink. He glanced around the dimly lit bar and didn’t see anything that was holding her attention.
“So, you enjoyed it?”
He nudged her knee with his own, startling her. Her eyes snapped to his and he raised his eyebrows. She sighed and twirled her glass on the table. “Yeah, I enjoyed it.”
“Are you sure? You don’t sound too enthusiastic.”
He looked down at the label on his drink, slowly picking at the edge of it and before peeling it off.
“Yeah, it was great. Y’all have a great sound and you’re obviously very popular.”
He narrowed his eyes a bit at her words. On the surface, they were flattering. They were a popular band and they were growing steadily more popular. Yet, there was something about her tone—slightly terse and flat—that made him believe she didn’t mean it in a complimentary way.
Jax shrugged, sulking now. He glanced at Harry and saw he was in deep conversation with Bailey. She was practically sitting in his lap, her body tilted to his and rubbing his arm. He then flicked his eyes to Karlie and saw her chewing her lip, staring at him. Upon meeting her eyes, she looked away again and fidgeted with the glass on the table.
He sighed and quickly finished the rest of his beer before he slammed it on the table, making Karlie flinch, and stood. “Well, I guess I’ll see ya around.”
Harry and Bailey didn’t say anything as he pulled his wallet out to pay. He slid some money on the table and took a step away. He glanced at Karlie, who was looking down at her drink, and shook his head. This infatuation wasn’t worth anything. He walked off and swore he’d push Karlie from his mind.
On Sunday, Jax decided to drive to see his parents'. His father was out of town, but his mom, June, sounded thrilled he’d be coming by.
“Ma! I’m home!” he shouted as he stepped through the front door. Even though he didn’t have to, it was something he’d done since he was in high school and he couldn’t bear to break that tradition. It was kind of their thing now.
“I’m in the kitchen!” his mom yelled back.
He smiled as he walked down the hall and into his parents’ kitchen. Coming home was always like going back in time. While his parents had kept the house in good shape, it was still outdated. The house was built in the 70s and, minus replacing the harvest gold carpet with hardwood and painting the dark wood cabinets white, the house still looked the same as it had when he was a boy.
Shag rugs and thin wood paneling ruled the house. Each was featured in most rooms. No matter how much he tried to convince them to replace it, they wouldn’t budge and said they liked the character it added to the house. At least he was able to convince them to paint some of it, changing rooms that used to be dark and dingy into rooms that were now a bit lighter.
His mom stood over the stove—another newer purchase, a 6-burner gas appliance—stirring something wonderful smelling in a large pot. He leaned down to kiss her on her cheek, which she tilted up in offering. He stepped back and let his eyes look over her. She'd had a few health scares a few years before, so he always took stock each time he saw her. Her hair, once the same pale blonde as his, was now starting to turn gray. If anything, the natural gray highlights in her hair made her look more beautiful. Her eyes still held the same sparkle they always had and matched his perfectly.
“You been eatin’?” she asked, glancing at him over her shoulder.
He smiled as he leaned on the island. “You know the answer to that one.”
She chuckled. “I guess you’re still eatin’ like it’s your last meal then?”
“You’d be right. You got any tea?” he asked, wishing he’d checked before sitting down.
“In the fridge.”
Jax snagged a glass out of the cabinet and opened the old, humming Frigidaire to see the pitcher of sweet tea. He didn’t drink it unless he came home because it just didn’t taste the same anywhere else.
“What you been gettin’ up to?” she asked.
Jax shrugged as he poured himself a glass, placed the pitcher back into the fridge and shut the door.
“Playing gigs and working at the warehouse.”
“How’s the music goin’?”
Jax sat at the counter and took a sip of tea. “Not too bad. We’ve got a pretty regular line up of bars and hotels that ask us to play.”
“That’s good,” she said, nodding.
Jax and his parents were no strangers to gigs in cities that weren’t home. Growing up, his parents played together at local bars and hotels, sometimes allowing themselves to be enticed to larger cities for a weekend series. He would tag along most weekends, staying in the green room backstage and eventually joining them on stage when he was old enough.
Those were some of his best memories. Since he'd started playing more seriously, his parents tried to come see his shows when they could. He would give anything to play on stage with them again.
“We’ve got a few gigs coming up in Raleigh if you want me to give you the info. I thought you and Dad might want to come.” He watched his mom carefully. His parents loved to visit his shows, but not if the drive was too far.
“Sure, let me know and I’ll talk to your dad about it.”
She tapped the spoon on the edge of the pot and placed it on the spoon rest. She turned and scrutinized him, her eyes slowly working over his body. He squirmed under her frank appraisal. “What’s on your mind, shug?”
Jax shrugged and didn’t say anything.
“You got that look about you that reminds me of when you and Melissa started going steady.”
Jax winced at the reminder of his failed marriage to his high school sweetheart. That was definitely a time in his life he didn’t want to revisit.
His mom chuckled. “So, it’s a woman then?”
Jax nodded and refused to meet her eye.
“Trying to avoid the questions won’t make this any better for you. You know I’ll get it out of you one way or another.”
Jax ran his finger through the condensation on his tea glass, trying to put off spilling his guts even more. He sighed, resigned and bit the bullet. “I met this girl.”
“I already know that. Tell me something I don’t know.”
Jax huffed out a laugh. “She won’t give me the time of day.”
His mom laughed, clutching her sides and doubling over.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, mildly offended by her reaction.
“I knew you would run into this problem one day.”
He shifted on his chair, stiffening slightly. “What do you mean?”
His mother sighed and moved to the island, reaching across to clasp one of his hands in her own. “Honey, you’ve always been a ladies’ man. Even marrying Melissa didn’t stop that. Women flock to you because you’re you. Just because she doesn’t fawn over you doesn’t mean she isn’t into you.”
Jax rolled his eyes. “Please, she’s not interested.”
“But you are?” His mom looked at him knowingly.
He shrugged.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed about. You’re bound to be interested in someone seriously at some point. What makes you think she doesn’t like you?”
; “Everything. I sat with her, her best friend Bailey, and Harry last night. She wouldn’t even talk to me.”
“Are you sure she wasn’t just nervous?” His mom cocked a brow at him.
“Nervous?”
“Yeah, maybe she was intimidated.”
Jax scoffed, but his mind turned to the night before. Could Karlie have been nervous? He remembered the flush covering her cheeks and that she had seemed tense as well.
“I guess she could have been nervous,” he conceded.
His mom snorted and shook her head. “Could have been?”
“Yeah. She was tense. I remember meeting eyes with her and she would usually flush and look away.”
“What else?” she asked as she turned back to the pot, picking the spoon up to give it a stir.
Jax sighed. “She wouldn’t meet my eyes when talking and she definitely didn’t look comfortable. I chalked it up to her not wanting to talk to me.”
His mom chuckled and looked at him over her shoulder. “You might be a ladies’ man, but you have a lot to learn about women, Jax.”
Jax thought his mother’s words over. They made sense. While he was known as a ladies’ man, he wasn’t quite sure how to talk to one for an extended time. If he was around a woman, it was because he wanted to sleep with her or she was someone’s significant other. He never had to seek out a woman or her attention. It just happened, and he was okay with that. Less work for him.
“Now, stop sulking and come help me finish lunch,” his mom said, snapping him from his thoughts.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jax said, finishing the last of his tea.
He pushed Karlie from his mind, deciding he’d think it all over on the ride home once he finished his visit.
Chapter Four
Karlie
“You’ve got a secret admirer,” Bailey told Karlie as she collapsed into one of the empty student desks. It was midday on the teacher workday that following Wednesday.
Karlie glanced at her before turning her attention back to the grades on her screen. “I doubt that.”
Jax (Southern Sands Book 1) Page 3