Page 145 of The Last Second Chance
He slammed into her again and Joey was dimly aware that the truck was probably rocking on its tires, but she didn’t care. Her entire world had shrunk to the cab of her pick-up. There was nowhere else she wanted to be.
“Fuck. Baby, I can’t hold on much longer.” It was the rawness in his voice that set her off. Joey reared up to capture his mouth just as he drove inside her again and she felt that delicious tightening of release. It hit her like an explosion.
“Come, Jax,” she gritted the words out. And on his next thrust she felt him lose himself in her. She felt him come buried inside her to the hilt. His shout—her name—rang in her ears as she came around him in fitful waves of dark pleasure.
They owned each other in the moment, in the night.
--------
By the timeJoey found her sweater in the dark and they defrosted the windows, the promise of steak had lost out to more immediate need. They settled on drive-thru tacos and Joey ate two of them while Jax drove home.
Exhaustion settled over her like a cloud and she fell asleep with a bag of nachos on her lap. She didn’t wake until Jax pulled up in front of her house. She could see Waffles’ silhouette frantically pawing at the glass of the sidelight next to the door.
“I should get in there,” she yawned.
“Yeah, I need to go let Valentina and Meatball out,” Jax said, scrubbing his hands over his face.
She could have asked him to come back, was going to, but something stopped her. Things still felt unsettled between them and spending the night together probably wasn’t a good idea.
“Bring the truck back tomorrow and I can run into town with you to pick up your car,” Joey decided.
She felt his gaze on her and didn’t turn to meet it. After a few seconds of silence he sighed.
“If that works for you.”
“Yeah, after feeding,” Joey nodded. She waited another beat, but still the invitation to spend the night wouldn’t come.
So she grabbed her nachos and opened the passenger door. “Congratulations on the whole uncle thing,” she said sliding out of the truck.
“Thanks, Joey.”
“There’s another taco in the bag for you,” she told him before shutting the door.
He waited until she walked into the house and shut the front door before driving away.
--------
The next afternoon, Jax pulled his Nova up to the painted brick ranch on the corner. It had navy trim and bright green ferns hanging from the rafters of the front porch. The postage stamp yard was neatly trimmed. He followed the concrete walkway up to the porch, planted his feet on the welcome mat, and stabbed his finger in the bell.
If last night in his lonely bed with his sad taco had told him anything, it was that as much as he and Joey wanted each other, there needed to be some kind of closure for her before they could move forward. And damnit, he was going to get it for her.
Forrest Greer answered the cheery yellow door wearing a New York Giants sweatshirt and a fierce frown. When he opened his mouth, Jax pushed the six-pack of beer he held into the man’s hands.
“You’ve had more than your say. It’s my turn. I’m going to marry your daughter and you need to fix things with her.”
Forrest turned a shade of fuchsia not often seen in nature.
“Before you say it, no. I’m not good enough for her. But no one is. I know that and you know that. I’d hate for her to end up with someone who thinks he is good enough for her. You and I have had a shitty ass relationship before now, but I love your daughter more than anything on this planet and I plan to spend the rest of my life earning my place next to her. That should count for something. You love her too, otherwise you wouldn’t act like such an overprotective ass all the time.”
The vein in Forrest’s forehead was throbbing, but Jax pressed on.
“Now, I haven’t asked her to marry me yet. I wanted to come to you first.”
He saw the triumphant gleam in Forrest’s eyes and laughed. “No. I’m not asking you for your permission. It’s not my style and right now Joey is more inclined to marry me just to piss you off more.”
“So why the hell are you here then?” Forrest grumbled, shifting the six-pack into one hand.
“You need to make things right with Joey. She needs you. She wants you to be proud of her, to treat her like an adult.”
