“I’ll be right back,” Jax says, leaving the table to go get our sandwiches. When he comes back, he sets my sandwich down in front of me and my mouth begins to water from the smell of grilled chicken, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil. Then he mumbles, “Here, sweetheart,” to Hope.
He takes her grilled cheese and cuts it into small pieces, which should be sweet, but I find myself snapping, “I’m her mom; I can do that,” while attempting to take the knife out of his hand.
“You just eat,” he says softly, but I still hear the bite in his tone as he finishes cutting it up for her. Sitting there for the rest of lunch, I can feel Jax’s stare boring into me from across the table, but I don’t look at him. I either focus on Hope, or my sandwich, which should have tasted amazing, but instead, I don’t even enjoy it.
When we get to Jax’s truck and I have Hope buckled in, I can once again feel myself fighting tears.
“Bye, Mama,” Hope sings.
Giving her a kiss and hug, I fight myself from telling her I will see in a little while, and settle with telling her, “I love you, Angel baby. Be good, okay?”
“Okay, Mama.” She grins.
Shutting the door, I squeak when Jax takes my hand, pulls me to the back of his truck, and pushes me up against the tailgate, crowding my body with his and lowering his face towards mine.
“I don’t know what the fuck is going on in your head right now, Ellie, but I’m telling you this. You are mine, and Hope is mine. I don’t give a fuck how hard you try to push me away; it’s not going to happen. We have happened, and I’m not taking a step back, so deal with whatever fucked up shit you have going on in your head and get over it. Tonight, we’re having dinner then spending time with my cousin. After that, I’m taking you home and eating your * until you beg me to stop, and then I’m going to keep going until you apologize for your shit today,” he snarls then his head ducks, and his mouth latches onto my neck. I feel him pull the skin there into his mouth so hard that I cry out and my legs get weak.
Wrapping my hands around his shoulders, I hold on to keep from falling, when he lifts his mouth away from my neck and kisses me softly. “See you at seven,” he says, leading me to the sidewalk. Then he places another kiss on my mouth before going to his truck and getting in behind the wheel. Opening and closing my mouth, I stand there on the sidewalk, watching as he pulls away, then turn around and go into the salon.
“You have a hickey,” Kim whispers, covering her mouth while using her free had to point at my neck. Looking in the mirror, I take a deep breath and grit my teeth. Not only do I have a hickey, but I have a huge, dark purple hickey that will likely never go away.
“So classy,” I hear Mellissa say from the chair she’s in across the salon, and without thinking, I turn and look at her, mouthing, Jealous, before pulling out my concealer from my bag and covering the damn thing up.
Chapter 7
Jax
“Hey, you,” Ashlyn greets quietly with her eyes on Hope in my arms as she opens the door to our parents’ house. “Mom and Dad are out back.”
“I’ll be out in a minute. I’m going to lay her down; she passed out in the truck on the way over here,” I tell her, and she follows me down the hall toward my old room, which mom turned into a guest room as soon as I moved out.
Settling Hope on the bed and covering her with a blanket, I press a kiss to her forehead then follow Ashlyn out of the room, asking, “What are you doing here?”
Ashlyn is a receptionist for our family dentist. She got the job a few years ago when she started going to dental school. “Got off work early and just wanted to stop by.” She shrugs, but I can tell it’s something else from the look in her eyes.
“What happened?” I repeat.
“You know you’re annoying right?” she asks, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and taking a sip.