“Are you investigating? Fighting to find out more? Any litigation?” Dax asked.
She sighed a very heavy sigh. “Honestly? That’s all so exhausting. Battling the health insurance company is bad enough. I just… we just… go day to day. We try to make today as good as we can. Solve the problems right in front of us, and do the best we can.”
He nodded. “I get that. But if these companies are doing something that’s harming people, someone should be looking into it.”
“They do. They have. But he’s just one case.”
“There have to be others.”
“There probably are. But someone would have to get them all together and prove it.” She shrugged. “It’s just a lot for people like us to take on.”
Dax frowned. “People like you?”
“Regular people, Dax,” she said, fatigue obvious in her voice.
He wanted to take that away. He wanted her smiling and laughing and teasing him like she had been a little bit ago. This was why he didn’t go into this stuff. This was hard stuff. Real-life stuff. Video game stuff—like lopping heads off trolls—was a lot easier.
“Regular people deserve to have things turn out right for them too,” he said. He reached out and covered her hand with his, needing to touch her.
She didn’t pull away. Jane studied their hands as she said, “We do deserve it. It’s just harder to make happen.”
He had some things to look up. Some phone calls to make. He had no idea what he was getting into here, but if he couldn’t offer this woman anything else, he could definitely tell her that he wasn’t regular people. And if he was one of the kinds of non-regular ones that had things turn out right for him more often than the typical person—and he knew he was—then he wanted to help.
“Have you ever had anything you wanted to fix for someone that you couldn’t?” Jane asked him.
“Absolutely,” he said. “My mother is still in love with my asshole father and hasn’t moved on even after he chose his job over her and left us.”
Jane’s fingers slid between his, and she curled her hand in his. “Really?”
Fuck, he liked touching her. Even this much. “Yeah. She threw him out, but she didn’t get over him. They still talk. He still comes over. They even go out sometimes. She definitely never moved on.”
“She really loved him.”
“Guess so. Hell if I understand why, but it does seem that way.” He stroked his thumb over the back of Jane’s knuckles. “Do you ever wonder why your dad loves your stepmom?”
Jane shook her head. “No. He doesn’t love her.”
“No?”
“He decided not to love anyone after my mom. She took his heart with him when she died. That’s what he’s always said. But he likes Cassie—that’s my stepmom’s name. She makes him laugh. Or did. I guess. They never fought or anything. They did stuff together. I think they were good… companions? Friends maybe even.” Jane shrugged. “He’s just not good at being alone. He thought he would be bad at raising daughters on his own. So he always tried to have a woman around for us. If one didn’t last, he’d find a new one as soon as he could. I think part of his attraction to Cassie was that she’s very ‘girlie’ with the makeup and the hair and clothes and shoes. She had a daughter about Kelsey’s age. He thought we needed her.”
Dax was fascinated. With the story, with Jane, with everything about her. “So he did it for you and your sister.”
She rolled her eyes. “Some of it was for us, but he also really likes women. He doesn’t like being alone. He really doesn’t like sleeping alone, if you know what I mean.”
He chuckled. “I definitely know what you mean.”
Her hand was still in his. She squeezed it, seemingly subconsciously. “It’s what makes the nursing home so difficult though,” she said, her smile fading. “He’s alone there a lot. He doesn’t have that companionship from a pretty, younger woman like he’s always wanted. And he’s not at home for Kelsey. Me too, but definitely her to a greater extent. That all makes him a little nuts.”
Dax nodded. He doubted his father and Jane’s had much in common—except maybe the penchant for liking a beautiful woman beside them at night—but he couldn’t imagine his father dependent on other people for his basic daily functions and not being a fucking asshole about it.
“He’s the youngest one in the nursing home and… it just sucks,” Jane said with a sigh. “They try. The people there are so great, and they really try to make it as pleasant for him as they can but it’s just… what it is. There’s only so much any of us can do to make it better. The entire situation really just sucks no matter how much we try to improve it.”
“I’m really sorry, Jane,” he said sincerely. He was. He felt helpless. He hated that. He wanted this woman to smile, and in that moment, when they were surrounded by liquor and music and all the other things that made bars fun and the perfect places for flirtations, he couldn’t come up with a single thing to do or say that would make it better.
“Thanks,” she said simply. “I really am too.”
They sat looking at each other for a long moment. Then Dax said, “I’m really bad at this.”
“At what?”
“Being quiet.”
She laughed. “You don’t have to be quiet.”
“I have no idea what to say.”
She looked at him for a long moment. And Dax was pretty sure she understood that him not having something to say was very unusual. And meaningful in some way.
“You always try to say something? In every situation, right?”
“Definitely.” He studied her hand in his. Her fingernails were short and neat, unpolished. The least sparkly female fingernails he’d ever looked at up close. “I hated when my mom got quiet. She’s very outgoing. Happy. She can talk to anyone. Everywhere we go, she strikes up conversations with total strangers.”
Jane smiled, listening.
“But after my dad left, she’d have these periods where she’d just get quiet. She didn’t cry. She didn’t get mad and throw stuff. She never yelled at him. Even the day she told him to leave, she did it in this very normal tone of voice. But when she got quiet, it was… awful. When it happened, I was always trying to get her to talk and smile and laugh. Even if I could do it for short periods, I’d feel awesome. She would still have her quiet spells, but it was always important to me that I could bring her out of them. Not for good, of course, but at least I could distract her for a little while.”
“Kind of like a game of Ping-Pong or a coffee bar in the break room? At least it’s a little reprieve?” Jane asked.
He nodded. “A lot like that. She was how I got into gaming. Into designing and creating, I mean. I was into it as a player already, but I realized I wanted to create one because of her.”
“Really?” She looked sincerely interested.
“When people game, they… do it on purpose. They turn the game on. They pick up the controller. They’re looking for a distraction, to kill time, to get lost for a little while, maybe connect with others online… whatever. But they go to the game for whatever it is they need. And I can deliver that. Happily. They know what I’ve got, and I can give them that reprieve, as you call it. With my mom, I was always guessing. What would work best? A funny story? A movie? A magic trick? A… game of Ping-Pong?”
“You had a Ping-Pong table at your house?”
“We did.”
“Did she play with you?”
“Yep. Sometimes.”
Jane laughed. And Dax felt tension leave his shoulders. He really liked when she laughed. Especially when it was because of him.
“You want to know something awesome?” he asked.
“Absolutely.”
“My mom is a master warrior enchantress in Warriors of Easton.”
Jane gave him a puzzled frown even as she smiled. “Your mom plays your game?”
“She does,” he said. “A lot. I didn’t even know until she told me that she’d gotten to Master W
arrior level. Then she kept going. She’s good.”
“So you’re still able to give her that reprieve,” Jane said, her voice soft.
“Yeah. And now, it’s whenever she needs it and it’s like she comes to me.”
Jane squeezed his hand and shook her head. “God.”
“What?”
“Now every time I look at that cappuccino machine I’m going to melt a little and think about how you put that there so people could kind of come to you whenever they need to.”
He grinned. “That makes you melt a little, huh?”
She sighed as if annoyed by it but nodded. “It does. And now I’ll probably always think Ping-Pong is kind of sexy.”
He really, really liked her. “That’s awesome.”
“No,” she said. “It’s not. Because Ping-Pong is not sexy.”
He laughed and lifted her hand to his mouth without thinking. He brushed his lips over her knuckles, and their gazes clashed and held. The air suddenly got hot.
He had his lips against her skin. The skin on the back of her knuckles, but it was still skin.
“And now I think this might be an even worse idea, then, because you’re my boss,” she said, her voice soft.
“Why’s that?” He put her hand down but didn’t let go of her.
“Because I think a lot of my stuff is like your mom’s. Ongoing. Not something you can really fix. Something you can maybe give me temporary reprieves from but… I’m not sure that’s really enough. For you, I mean. Is it?”
It was a fair question. “First of all, I can definitely give you reprieves from it.” He gave her a wink. She smiled back. But he decided to be sincere with her. “Yes, it bugs me with my mom that I can’t fix things for good,” he admitted.
“Yeah. So maybe it’s better if you stick with girls who have needs you can fix easily.”
As if on cue, Riley set their pizza down on the table, causing them to both shift back and their fingers to slide apart. “Here you go.” She set down two plates and two sets of silverware as well.
“Like hunger,” Jane said with a wry smile.
Yeah, hunger was a good one. Dax shrugged and gave her a grin. “Hunger and horniness are two of my favorite things to fix.” And those were usually more than enough. In fact, those were a relief. They were easy, and yeah, fun for him too.
But this woman. Man, he really wanted to fix it all. Or at least try. Even the not fun parts.
“Well, good thing for you, most girls I know get both of those. On a pretty regular basis,” Jane said.
“Good thing for me,” he agreed.
She watched him for a moment then turned her attention to the pizza. She served up slices for each of them, and they dug in, chewing and swallowing before saying anything more.
“Damn, this is good,” he said.
“Right?” she asked with a smile. She took another bite, watching him now as she chewed. After she’d swallowed a second bite, she said, “With all the stuff in my life I can’t really fix, I guess I like the idea that guys have some similar easy-to-meet needs.”
He lifted an eyebrow and took another bite, waiting for her to go on.
“Hunger and horniness, I mean,” she said.
He nodded. “Yeah, I was following that.”
She laughed, and he felt that familiar warmth behind his breastbone.
“Men are very easy,” he said. “I’d say if you can take care of the hunger and horniness for them, you’ve taken care of eighty to eighty-eight percent of their needs.”
“Wow, eighty-eight percent. That’s very high and very specific.”
He shrugged. “The need for sports and, of course, showering, sleep, and bodily functions, taking up the rest.”
She grinned. “Well, that explains why my dad’s with Cassie. She’s a really good… cook.”
Dax laughed. “Yeah?”
“She actually is,” Jane said. “Surprisingly. She’s also gorgeous and ten years younger than him so… well, yeah, it all tracks.”
“And I’ve gotta say, you’ve got really good taste in pizza and cake pops,” Dax told her.
“Oh, so just leading you to food can meet the hunger need?” Jane asked. “No need to actually make it for you?”
“For sure. I mean, homemade is great, but when a guy’s hungry he’s just focused on getting… not hungry, you know?”
She nodded, her grin wide. “I totally know all about just needing to get un-hungry sometimes.”
“Yeah?” He took another bite. The pizza really was exceptional. “And with your great-food-in-Appleby knowledge, you’re pretty good at getting yourself un-hungry when you need to?”
No, they were not just talking about being hungry for food.
He loved it. He loved talking with this woman. He loved flirting with this woman. He loved eating with this woman.
He was starting to think he would love doing just about anything with this woman.
Of course, he had very specific ideas about some things he was positive he would love doing with her.
“Oh, Dax,” Jane said, her tone completely sincere. “I have never gone hungry for too long in this town.”
He almost choked on his bite of pizza. He gave her an appreciative look. “I have no doubt about that at all.”
At least the men here weren’t stupid.
They sat, grinning at each other and eating pizza, and Dax thought maybe he hadn’t had such a good time in too long to remember. And he played Ping-Pong. At work. And went to Comic-Con. That was definitely saying something. People at Comic-Con thought he was amazing. He had actual fans there.
He’d spent part of this evening talking about Jane’s sick father and how there was nothing Dax could do to fix that or even help with it. Yet he didn’t want this to end.
“So I just want you to know,” he said, after he’d polished off his second piece. And watched her and grinned at her like a seventh-grader with his first crush. “If you ever want to talk about your dad more, I’m happy to listen.”
She cocked her head. “Really? That doesn’t seem like your kind of thing.”
He nodded. “It’s not.”
“But you want to do that with me?”
“I do.”
“Huh.”
He watched her think about that. Maybe she’d figure out a reason for it other than that he was falling for her. Because that was about the only thing he could come up with.
“I guess I was expecting some more of the thing you are really good at doing.”
He thought about how to say this delicately. He gave her a half grin. “So the two needs I’m best at meeting both start with H.”
“Hunger and horniness,” she said.
“And the way I meet those needs both start with F. Feeding and—”
“Got it,” she said with a laugh.
He nodded. “And I’m really good at both. Like maybe not pizza and cake pop good, but I know some pretty great restaurants.”
“I’ll bet you do.”
They weren’t talking about the feeding part just then either.
“So you might need to be more specific about which of the things I do that I’m really good at that you thought I’d be doing for you.”
“Right. Well, I was referring to the D thing.”
His brows rose. “The D thing. That’s a little less… polite than I’m used to…”
“Distracting, Dax,” she said over a light laugh. “I was talking about how you’re really good at distracting people from their problems.”
“Oh right,” he said, nodding. “I am pretty good at that too. Maybe not as good as the F thing.”
“You mentioned the great restaurants.”
“Really great. And my very big… credit limit.”
“Right. That was a goes-without-saying thing,” she told him.
They did that silly grin-at-each-other-for-several-long-seconds thing. Then he said, “Nearly three percent of the ice in Antarctic glaciers is penguin urine.”
&nb
sp; She blinked at him.
He took a drink of cider.
“Really?” she finally said.
“Yep. Are you distracted?”
“Completely.”
He winked at her.
“That’s… interesting.”
“There’s more where that came from.” He knew tons of weird animal facts. For some reason.
“I guess I was expecting more of the flirtatious type of distraction,” she finally said. “Less of the animal urine type of distraction.”
“Oh.” That was good to know. “I can do that.” He paused. “I think.”
“You think? Haven’t you been flirting this whole time?”
“Sure. I mean, that’s talking-flirting,” he agreed. “But if you want sexy-flirting… I’m pretty sure I can pull that off too.”
“Why only pretty sure?” She looked genuinely confused.
He decided to be totally honest. They’d shared a lot tonight. He could tell her this. “I’m not sure I’ve ever sexy-flirted with a woman I really fucking liked. I’d rather sit here and talk over pizza than have you dress up in a fairy costume and tell me my staff really is magical.”
“Oh my God, please tell me that’s a gaming thing,” she asked, looking part fascinated and part horrified.
He nodded. “Comic-Con.”
“That really happened once?”
“Three times.”
“I... um… have no idea what to say.”
He grinned. “Exactly. And I bet you’ve never owned anything from Prada or Louis Vuitton.”
“I do know what those are,” she said. “But no.”
He nodded. “And if you did have an extra two thousand dollars, you’d do something great with it rather than buying a purse.”
“Purses cost two thousand dollars?” she demanded.
“At least.”
“That’s… that should be… illegal.” She shook her head. Then she took a breath. “But you can’t judge people because they spend money on purses. To them, two thousand dollars is like twenty bucks to me.”
He smiled at her. Not a sexy grin. Not an amused grin. A smile he knew was full of affection and admiration. “I like you. I respect the hell out of you. I think you’re a better person than any of the women I’ve ever dated. Not because of how they—and you—spend money, but just because of who you are. And that’s a little intimidating.”
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