Bailey snorted. “No, seriously. You haven’t been called yet?”
“Why would I be called?” Karlie asked, distractedly, trying to make sure her grades were up to date.
“You have a delivery waiting for you at the office.”
Karlie paused, blinking at the screen, but not seeing any of the numbers in front of her. She finally looked at Bailey and rolled her eyes at the smirk. “A delivery?”
“Now you’re interested?”
“Yes. You said a delivery. I never get anything here.”
Bailey shrugged. “Well, you did today.”
Karlie stared at her incredulously while Bailey leaned forward and grabbed a paperclip, twirling it in her fingers.
Her desk phone rang and Karlie jumped before picking it up. “This is Ms. Stewart.”
“There’s a delivery for you at the front,” Carla, one of the secretaries, said, smacking on her gum.
Karlie winced at the snapping sound that zinged through the phone receiver.
“Alright, I’ll be up in a minute.”
She hung up and met Bailey’s eyes. “So?”
“You want to come with me?”
“Hell yes!”
Karlie laughed and the two of them walked out of her classroom. Thoughts swirled through Karlie’s mind as they walked from the back of the school all the way to the front. They passed several teachers who looked at Karlie knowingly and a few winked at her as well.
They rounded the corner to the front and Karlie immediately saw the person standing there with whatever was sent to her.
“Hey,” she said, smiling. “I’m Karlie Stewart.”
He checked his receipt and nodded. “Awesome, I have a delivery here for you. I just need you to sign.”
“Ok,” she said, taking the receipt and scrawling her signature on it. “What is it?”
“It’s clam chowder and a turkey club from Common Ground. You know, the cafe downtown?”
Karlie nodded and accepted the bag. Common Ground was a popular coffee and food stop of hers in the summer or when she had the time to visit. It was small but homey and always full of people.
“Who sent this? And I didn’t realize Common Ground delivered.”
“There’s a note in the bag. I was told to tell you to read it if you asked about the person that sent it. As for the delivery, we’re starting up a local delivery business called Tasty Wheels. Here’s a card.”
Karlie took the offered card from him and glanced at it, noting they had a website and Facebook page. “Oh, that’s cool.”
“If you go to our website, you’ll see where we deliver to and from. Anyways, I need to run. Thanks!”
With a wave, the man jogged out the door and climbed into a truck with a lift kit.
“Who’s it from?” Bailey asked from behind her.
Karlie shrugged and started walking. Though Bailey didn’t say anything, Karlie could feel the weight of her stare on her back, and she knew that she was biding her time.
When they stepped into her classroom, Bailey burst. “Jax sent you the food, didn’t he?”
“What makes you think he sent it?” Karlie set the bag on her desk and pulled the still warm containers out.
Bailey snorted. “He’s been panting after you.”
Karlie rolled her eyes as she sat in her desk chair. “He has not been panting after me. Besides, why would he send me food? I’ve barely said five words to him.”
“Girl, please,” Bailey said, rolling her eyes. “That guy wants you.”
The desk Bailey sat in creaked as she shifted in her seat.
“Don’t girl please me,” Karlie opened the soup bowl. “Besides, you do not know that he wants me. As I said, we’ve barely spoken to each other.”
“And yet, he’s stared at you through his shows and flirted with you. And you stared and flirted back. Don’t even try to deny it.”
Karlie rolled her eyes and unwrapped her sandwich, ignoring Bailey’s words.
“Isn’t there a card in there or something?”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot the guy said something about it.”
Karlie stuck her hand in the plastic bag and grabbed the card. Her name was written in neat letters on the outside. She flipped it over and slipped the card out.
Harry told me you had a workday today and how much you like Common Ground. Hope I made a good choice for lunch. -Jax
“Well?” Bailey asked impatiently.
“Jax sent it.” Karlie sighed, bracing herself for Bailey’s gloating.
“I knew it! He’s totally into you!” Bailey crowed, pumping a fist in the air.
“He is not into me. He’s a player.”
“A player that sent you food. I wish I knew someone that would send me food.”
Karlie scoffed. She didn’t want to admit that she hoped Jax sending her something to eat meant something. That would give her hope and she wasn’t sure she could handle hope without follow through. Besides, she’d seen him at the shows with a flock of women around him. He was obviously more interested in the chase than he was in the person he was chasing.
“I don’t know why he sent me this—” Karlie started.
“I’m glad you admitted he sent them,” Bailey interrupted.
“I don’t know why he did,” Karlie continued, raising her voice slightly, “but it doesn’t matter.”
Bailey wrinkled her brow. “What do you mean, it doesn’t matter?”
“Exactly what I said: it doesn’t matter.”
Karlie glared at her soup and dipped her spoon in it. It was still hot enough that steam rose from it and she could smell the delicious spices they used. She slurped it off the spoon and closed her eyes as the flavors coated her tongue. It was creamy with a nice hint of spice and the flavor of the seafood was out of this world amazing. While it was hot as hell outside, there was just something about eating a good bowl of soup. It was comforting and she thought she might need that comfort with Bailey honing in on Karlie’s feelings toward Jax.
She sighed as she slurped a bit more soup into her mouth. It really was good.
“Are you done?”
“Done with what?” Karlie asked, another spoonful of soup frozen halfway to her mouth.
“Making love to your food.”
“I’m not making love to it.”
Bailey started laughing and Karlie looked at her incredulously. “Why are you laughing?”
Bailey couldn’t talk and clutched at her sides. Karlie glared at her and dropped her spoon into the soup, splashing some onto her desk. She grabbed a tissue and dabbed at the spill.
“It’s not funny,” she grumbled.
“It…so…is,” Bailey wheezed, trying to control her chortles.
Karlie huffed and tried to concentrate on her quickly cooling soup.
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t control myself.”
A few more laughs escaped Bailey before she continued. “It’s just, you’re so vehemently denying any sort of attraction to Jax. What is that saying? ‘Methinks the lady doth protest too much?’”
Karlie glared at Bailey.
“Your glare doesn’t change a damn thing about the truth I speak,” Bailey said, still wheezing slightly.
“Bailey, please. I am not interested in Jax in any way.”
Bailey leveled a stare at Karlie. “Girl, what is up here?”
Karlie studiously avoided Bailey’s stare, stirring her soup. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You know exactly what I mean. Don’t forget, I lived with you for four years and I know you better than you know yourself.”
Karlie wanted to disagree and defend herself, but she knew she’d be lying. Bailey did know her better than even herself at times; it’s why they were best friends. It just wasn’t serving her well at this point.
She sighed and leaned back in her chair, letting her head fall back to rest on the top. She stared, unseeing, at the ceiling as she mulled Bailey’s words over.
“Alright,
fine. I’m interested. He’s attractive.”
“I don’t think attractive is the right word here,” Bailey said in a sing-song voice, prodding Karlie.
Karlie huffed. “Fine, he’s sexy as hell. Happy?”
“Very. Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Karlie said, sitting up straight again and folding her arms on the desk.
“I want you to admit that you’re interested in Jax, who is obviously interested in you.”
“I’m not sure I can do that,” Karlie hedged.
“Why not?”
Karlie shrugged. “He’s a ladies’ man.”
“And?”
“And I’m not interested in getting involved with someone like that again.”
Bailey sighed and the desk creaked again. Karlie glanced at Bailey and saw that she was sitting forward, her elbows on her knees, fingers steepled in front of her face as she stared at Karlie hard enough she thought Bailey could see her soul.
“I get that you don’t want to get involved with someone like Rick again. He played you pretty badly. But what makes you think Jax is like that?”
“Have you seen him at the two shows we’ve been to?”
“Yeah, and?”
“He’s so flirtatious.”
“And? Is there a law against that? He’s single. He’s allowed to play the field,” Bailey said, not budging an inch.
Karlie tasted something sour in her mouth. She didn’t want to admit Bailey was right.
“Anyways,” Bailey continued, “what’s to say he isn’t interested in monogamy? You’ve only seen him twice when there were a gaggle of girls around. You don’t even really know him.”
Karlie’s jaw clenched. “That’s…true, I guess.”
“You guess?” Bailey scoffed. “You aren’t even giving him a chance.”
Karlie couldn’t meet Bailey’s gaze. The desk creaked one more time as Bailey stood. Karlie looked up and met Bailey’s eyes. “I don’t want you to let something good get away because you’re scared of something from your past. I don’t understand why you can’t just let yourself appreciate that he wanted to do something nice for you and that maybe he wants to get to know you a bit better.”
With that, Bailey left the classroom and Karlie was left to her thoughts. Though she knew what Bailey was saying was right, she didn’t want to dwell on it. She pushed it from her mind and turned her attention to her lunch. She was going to thoroughly enjoy the food.
Later that night, Karlie was sitting at a local cafe downtown picking at a BLT and homemade chips when Jax dropped into the chair across from her. She jerked, startled at his sudden arrival.
“You look down,” he said, snagging a chip off her plate.
Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out. Her eyes raked over him. It seemed his normal attire was similar to his concert wear. He wore the same ripped jeans and a t-shirt. She idly wondered if he was wearing the work boots too.
“If you don’t close your mouth, you'll catch a fly.”
She snapped her mouth shut and glared at him. He smiled in return. “Did you get the lunch I sent?”
“Yes.”
He looked at her expectantly. When she didn’t say anything, he said, “Isn’t it the polite thing to do when someone gives you something to say thank you?”
“Thank you,” she parroted back.
He cocked a brow at her. “You could sound a little more grateful.”
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair. He mimicked her leaning back, but where she was tense, he was relaxed. He flashed a lazy smile at her, propping an arm over the back of the chair and rocking back on two legs.
“Did you want something?”
“I wanted to make sure you got the food and ask you to join me for a date.”
“A date?”
“Yes, you know, one of those social things men and women do when they like someone.”
“I know what a date is,” she snapped. This entire conversation was throwing her and she couldn’t figure out how to get her footing.
“Just checking since you seem to be repeating what I say.”
Karlie shook her head and picked up her sandwich, taking a small bite so she could ignore Jax.
“So, what do you say?”
“About what?” she asked, playing dumb.
“That date?”
“Why would I go on a date with you?” She deadpanned before she popped a fry in her mouth and gave him a bland smile. If he was going to tease her, she was going to give as good as she got.
He smirked. “Maybe because you’re attracted to me and want to see where this goes.”
She snorted. “Please.”
Jax leaned forward and stared into her eyes. Karlie shivered at their intensity. His eyes seemed darker somehow, more serious. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was, but she knew he was done playing games.
“You can fight it and deny it all you want, but you’re attracted to me.” He seemed to be making sure she understood what he was saying. He wasn’t pussyfooting around about this.
Karlie flushed at his words. “You think highly of yourself.”
Jax smirked and sat back, suddenly relaxed again. “I do. But you can’t deny my words.”
Karlie opened her mouth to say something, but Jax cut her off, leaning forward again, placing his forearms on the table.
“You know how you can tell someone is attracted to you?” he asked, spearing her with his eyes again. “Their pupils. Humans have a natural reaction when they see someone they’re attracted to. The pupil will automatically widen, indicating their interest in the other person. Your pupils immediately dilated when you saw me.”
Karlie cleared her throat and grasped at her water glass, sucking it down to soothe her suddenly dry throat. Jax sat back in a relaxed posture again, eyeing her, waiting for her response.
“That doesn’t mean I’m interested in dating you.”
“I’ll admit that. But come on, live a little. It’s one date. Give me one date. If it tanks or you don’t have fun, I’ll leave you alone and never ask you out again.”
Karlie was tempted, so tempted, to give in. Having Jax’s undivided attention called to her. She wanted to know what it felt like to go on a date with a man who was so confident that he just oozed sexuality. What would it feel like to have that focused on her? She shivered at the thought.
“Alright.”
“Alright?”
“I’ll go out with you.”
A full smile, a genuine one, spread across his face. While she’d seen him smirk and grin at various points, they paled in comparison to the full-blown smile on his face now.
“Well now, I can work with that.”
Chapter Five
Karlie
“What the hell was I thinking?!” Karlie screeched into her phone as she flipped through the clothes in her closet, frantically trying to find something to wear on her date with Jax.
“Well, I’d have to know what you were talking about,” Bailey said.
“You’re my best friend; you should automatically know what I’m talking about.”
“For that to happen, we’d have to mind meld. So, why don’t you just tell me what’s got your panties in a wad.”
Karlie sighed, abandoning her clothes, and flopped on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
“I agreed to a date with Jax.”
All Karlie heard was Bailey’s breathing over the phone line. If she couldn’t hear it, she’d have thought Bailey hung up on her.
“Bailey?”
“Sorry, I’m just trying to make sure I heard you right,” she finally said.
“What do you think you heard?”
“That you agreed to a date with Jax.”
“You heard right.”
A series of garbled sounds that sounded like Bailey trying to talk came through the phone. “What the hell? When did this happen? When I left you earlier
you were all ‘He’s a ladies’ man’ and ‘I’m not interested in that.’”
Karlie shrugged, even though Bailey couldn’t see it. “Things change.”
“Obviously. What the fuck? What happened?”
“I went to Center Street Cafe—”
“You still go there?” Bailey asked, incredulous.
“—and Jax sat down across from me.”
“Did you maul him?”
Karlie huffed and started to second-guess calling Bailey. “Do you want to hear it or not?” she snapped.
“Fine, God. You’re touchy.”
“Because you keep interrupting me,” Karlie growled, frustrated. She sat up on her bed and ran her hand through her hair.
“Fine, fine. Continue.”
“He sat down across from me and over the course of the conversation, he asked me out. I said yes.”
“That’s it?”
Karlie winced as she lied. “Yep.”
“Hmmm…I’m not sure I believe that, but I’ll let you live in your fantasy world. What’s the problem?”
“Now I’m freaking out and trying to figure out what to wear.” She got off her bed to stand in front of her open closet.
“When is the date?”
“He texted me earlier and said he’d see me Saturday night at six. He’s going to pick me up.”
“You’re letting him get you?”
“Yeah. Is that a problem?” Karlie was suddenly nervous that she couldn’t do dating right anymore.
“It’s just not like you. Anyways, what’s making you freak out?”
“I don’t have anything to wear,” Karlie repeated.
“You have plenty to wear.”
“Let me rephrase then. I don’t have something to wear to dinner with one of the sexiest men I’ve ever seen.”
“I thought he was the sexiest,” Bailey said with a laugh.
“Whatever. Are you going to help me?”
“Do I need to come pick out an outfit?”
Karlie could hear the disgust in Bailey’s voice and laughed. “No. I was thinking we could go shopping after school tomorrow.”
“That’s like my second least favorite thing to do.”
“I know, I know,” Karlie said. “But I want to look my best and find an outfit that’ll knock his socks off. And I’d like my best friend there as moral support.”
Jax (Southern Sands Book 1) Page 4