Page 81 of One Good Crash
"Darla? The 'little redhead' in the flapper costume?"
With a tight nod, Jax went on to tell me that Darla had borrowed the house for last night's event – some high-dollar charity thing to benefit a local sea-life preservation effort.
Before I could stop myself, I'd already asked, "How much were tickets?"
"Per couple?" He gave a casual shrug. "Five grand."
"Five thousand?" I swallowed. "Dollars? You're kidding, right?"
"No."
"But I didn't pay," I said.
"Right. Because you were my date."
I gave him a look. "Don't you mean girlfriend?" Just saying the word reminded me of Morgan, thatothergirl who claimed to be his girlfriend. If she hated me then, she probably wanted to murder me now.
Unless I was mistaken, I'd just been offeredherjob. And Istillcouldn’t decide if I felt satisfied or guilty. But that was a dilemma for another time.
Returning to the topic at-hand, I asked, "But why would Dominic, a guy you describe as a total scumbag, be interested in saving any sea-life?"
"Because he isn't," Jax said. "What he's interested in, is trolling for new clients." His jaw clenched. "And maybe some fresh talent along the way."
I muttered, "Well, at least you didn't call me meat."
When he made no reply, I stood. "So, do you want to interview Allienow?Or do you need a few minutes to prepare?"
"Sit," he said. "I'm not done."
I almost groaned out loud. "What? There's more?"
He nodded.
"But earlier, you stopped talking, like you'd reached the end."
"I stopped talking," he said, "because I wanted to give you some time to process the first part before I got to the second."
My stomach lurched. Honestly, I wasn't sure how much more I could take. In desperation, I reached out and picked up the watch. Already, we were at the nine-minute mark.
Jax said, "Yeah. I've got a minute left, and I intend to use it."
Just great.Not only was he a mind-reader, he apparently had some uncanny sense of timing, too.
I had to remind myself that this was for Allie. So with a sigh, I sat back down and mentally started counting off the seconds.
I'd barely gotten to three when he said something that caught me completely off-guard. "You're very beautiful. You know that, right?"
"I, um…"Yes. I did know. It wasn't that I was conceited, but I wasn't blind to the fact that my mom was totally gorgeous, and I was the spitting image of her. Weakly, I managed to say, "Uh, thanks."
"So, youdoknow?"
Oh, God. He wanted me to admit it?"What am I supposed to say? Yes? That would make me kind of conceited, don't you think?"
"No," he said. "It would make you smart."
"And conceited."
"Fuck that."
