Page 48 of The Last Second Chance
“Then why did Anthony show up here four seconds after I sat down next to Jax at the bar?”
Ellery shrugged her shoulders in her pink skull cardigan. “Maybe he just wanted a Diet Coke?” Her eyes lit up. “Trust me. The BC already had a conversation when Jax moved back. You two just aren’t meant to be. Now, Jax and Moon Beam Parker? I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing sparks from those two.”
“Jax and Moon Beam?” Joey felt her right eyelid start to twitch and pressed the palm of her hand over it.
“Don’t jinx it,” Ellery grinned. “It’s in the early stages. Just imagine how nice it’ll be to have Jax chasing someone else and finally giving you your space.”
“Yeah. Nice.”
“Well, I gotta go see a man about a basket of cheese fries. See ya around,” Ellery said cheerily as she strolled out the door.
“Nice.” Joey said again as the door closed. She stared grimly at her reflection, not liking the feeling of doom that settled in her belly.
Back at the bar, her spirits lifted slightly when she noticed Jax no longer had a newspaperman for a neighbor.
“Is Anthony still alive or do we need to dig a shallow grave?” Joey asked.
“He’ll live to write another day,” Jax promised, his gaze fixed to her face. “What’s wrong?”
Joey shrugged. “Nothing. Just hungry,” she said, reaching for the burger she no longer had any appetite for.
“I can still tell when you’re lying, Jojo,” Jax warned her.
She looked him in the eye and took a big bite. “Starving,” she said through a mouthful of meat and cheese and ketchup.
Jax shook his head and turned his attention to his plate. His knee pressed against her leg, the contact sending a zing through her veins.
“Do you do that on purpose?” Joey asked, dropping her burger on the plate.
“Do what?”
Joey looked down pointedly at their legs.
Jax grinned. “What do you think?”
“I think you do it on purpose to annoy me.”
Jax swiveled on his stool, pinning her knees between his legs. His hands rested on her thighs. “Or maybe it’s because I can’t stand to be so close to you and not touch you. Maybe when I’m touching you everything feels better for just a second until the next breath when I need more.”
Joey’s breath was caught in her throat.
“Does that answer your question?” he asked, his grip strong on her legs.
Joey wet her lips. “What do you think of Moon Beam Parker?”
12
Jax hadno idea what to wear to a movie club night, so he went for a step above farm wear with a clean pair of jeans, a white button down and a lightweight forest green sweater. He couldn’t find his loafers, wasn’t even sure if they’d made the trip from L.A., so he went with the pair of suede lace up boots he’d gotten from Willa, the owner of Blue Moon Boots.
He grabbed his dark wool coat out of the hall closet and yelled a good-bye to Carter and Summer in the kitchen.
“We’re not having sex this time,” his brother yelled back. “You’re allowed to come back.”
Jax made a show of stomping down the hall covering his eyes.
“I am entering the kitchen,” he shouted.
Carter beaned him with a dinner roll and Summer muttered something about never living things down as she loaded plates into the dishwasher. Valentina’s ears were visible over the island as she helped with the clean up by licking the dishes before they went into the washer.
