Chapter Four:
Besides the mess and clutter that came from a busy household, it only took a quarter of an hour to clean up the kitchen and looked as good as new by the time that I was done tidying.
I'd made meatloaf with baked vegetables for dinner and had made Diane sauce from scratch after Abel had given me puppy-dog-eyes that gave Larry's a run for his money, then stored it all in the fridge so that it would be ready for them whenever Jax got home.
Over the hours that we'd spent together alone, I had learnt a lot about the young boy. My guess on his age had been spot on and, even though he hadn't said it directly, the little boy did hold the weight of the world on his slim shoulders.
Gemma hadn't mentioned what time he should have a nap if he had one at all, so when his eyes got heavy and he let out a loud yawn I scooted onto the couch with him and pulled him into a hug. I wasn't sure if I was trying to offer him comfort to get him to rest, or if I was trying to give myself peace of mind that, if only for a tiny second, the little boy was okay and wasn't worrying about things he was too young to worry about.
I was lost in my train of thought on what I could do to make the little boy - who was cuddled up in his single-bed with my dog by his side - happy. I had experience with children, sure; nearly all of my friends had married their high school sweethearts as soon as we graduated and had settled down into family life quite quickly, as almost everybody did in my small hometown. Before I'd left and moved to Charming, I'd been their on-call babysitter, running whenever anybody needed me and trying to be in two places at once for the sake of making everybody happy.
My hands were drying the tools that I'd used to make their dinner, brain a million miles away, when I was cornered.
"Who are you?"
The voice made me jump and I spun around, teatowel in my hand as I let out a small squeak of surprise. "Holy hell, you scared the crap outta me!"
Standing across the kitchen from me with a raised eyebrow and arms folded across his muscular chest was the most gorgeous creature that God had ever created to walk on His green earth.
His shaggy blonde hair hung down to just on top of his shoulders so that the strands brushed the white shirt he was wearing, but he had it slicked back with product so that it stayed out of his beautiful, albeit tired, face. His beard was unkept and on the longer side, the kind of unruly and untamed that my daddy would have hated if he'd been there to see it.
His eyes were the kind of baby-blue that showed off all of his emotions and promised to get me into trouble if I let them draw me in too deep, and I looked away from them so that he didn't pin me to my spot with just a look.
His shoulders were large and square, waist thick with muscle and I ran my eyes from his blue jeans with a chain around his hip up to the white shirt covering his top half. Clothing should be illegal when it came to the god walking among us mortals. Apart from the Kutte on his chest. He could definitely keep that.
Jesus would be so ashamed of the thoughts going through my head right now.
"Darlin'?" The laughter in his voice tore my out of my face and I snapped my eyes up to meet his. "Who are you?"
A heated blush spread over my cheeks and I coughed uncomfortably at being caught out staring. "I'm Ellie."
The blonde nodded a few times, arms still folded across his chest and I failed to not stare at the muscles bulging as his hands clenched. "Okay, Ellie that I've never met, what are you doing in my house?"
Even though the words weren't the friendliest and kind of sounded like I was being interrogated, his tone was still light and I wanted to moan when he said my name. It was like his tongue was caressing the syllables.
I wiped my hands on the teatowel that I'd been using to dry the dishes, then my nerves kicked in and I started to ramble the same way I did whenever I was uncomfortable. "Gemma invited me over to spend the day with her, but she had to run out and do some things so I said that I'd mind Abel while she did them. He's havin' a nap, and I've cooked y'all dinner because I wasn't sure what time you'd get home tonight, Gemma said that the clubhouse had become a little stressful. Oh, and there's a load of laundry that needs to be hung out, as well."
When his expression didn't change, I cringed. "I hope you don't mind."
"I'm Jax." He didn't comment on whether or not he minded me invading his personal space and cooking dinner, and I took that as my cue to depart.
My fingers ran over the front pockets of my jeans to ensure that I still had my phone and my keys, and I nodded towards the closed refridgerator. "It's only meatloaf and baked veggies, but I made enough of it that you've got a couple days worth in the freezer. Oh, and Abel said that he liked Diane sauce so I made some of that to go on top of the potatoes."
Jax's blue eyes squinted slightly while he looked over my face like he was trying to figure something out. "You made me dinner?"
"No, I made Abel dinner." I grinned. "I just happened to make enough for you to eat, and have some left over so you don't have to worry about making dinner when you can't be bothered. None of that store-bought frozen crap that they pass off as meals, I almost had a heart attack when Abel said that's what he thought y'all would be havin' for dinner."
Jax's lips lifted into a grin that made me weak in the knees and I confirmed with myself that I needed to get out. The man was sex on a stick, and that was dangerous. "But you made enough for me."
"Just being friendly. Showin' off my Georgia hospitality the way that mama taught me." I waved my hand nonchalantly and then tilted my head towards the door behind me. "Anyhow, I better get goin'."
He went to speak but I'd already fled from the room and pulled the front door shut behind me. I'd just reached my car when I realised my mistake and cringed. "Crap."
Jax pulled the door open when I knocked softly and grinned at me. "Forget something, darlin'?"
"My dog."
He frowned and raised his eyebrow at the same time. "Excuse me?"
"My dog." I repeated again and pointed down the hall. "My dog is asleep cuddled up next to Abel right now."
Jax chuckled like he wasn't sure what to make of my statement, but followed me down the hallway to the bedroom that I'd put Abel to sleep in and had to hold in his laughter at the sight of Abel and Larry curled around each other, faces next to each other on Abel's Spider-Man pillowcase.
I tapped Larry lightly to get him to wake up, put my fingertip to my lips and then pointed to the floor. He did his best but, at his size it was like trying to pry away a horse and he managed to wake Abel up when he hopped down onto the floor.
Larry looked at me in what I assumed was apology and I rubbed my hand over his forehead before I pointed two fingers at the door. He followed my instructions and plodded happily from the room towards the front door, pausing only for a moment to look up at the stranger who was watching me.
Abel peaked an eye open and frowned. "Ellie? Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, honey." I stroked my fingers through his hair. "I've got to get goin'. But remember what I said, okay? Any time you want to see Larry, you just let me know and I'll bring him over, or you can come and spend the day at my house."
Abel's cheeks pulled up into a grin that was a spitting image of his father's and I felt sorry for the girls around him when he became a little older, he was going to break a lot of hearts. "Thank you."
He leant up in bed just enough to hug me for long enough that I wanted to question whether or not he was okay, but I cupped his face and kissed his forehead instead of voicing my concerns. There was something about the boy that had managed to draw me in, and I wanted to keep him safe from things that I didn't even comprehend.
When I'd gotten him back to sleep by lightly humming and stroking his hair, I turned to find Jax's eyes studying me, an expression that I didn't know how to read on his face.
He followed me outside and opened the door of my car for me, chuckling when Larry jumped in and climbed over to the passenger's seat. "Just showing off my Charming hospitality."
"You're charmin', that's positive, but you already knew that." I teased. "I'm sorry if I overstepped any boundaries, I should have gotten Gemma to call you and make sure it was okay before she left. On the upside, you're raisin' a good kid there, Jax. You're lucky I didn't steal him for myself."
Jax grinned. A full, teeth showing, heart melting, no question grin. "Are you always this nice or are you just trying to make a good impression?"
"Are you always so suspect of women who cook you and your child dinner?" I shot back.
He shrugged his shoulders in what was meant to be a nonchalant way, but it looked forced when he looked across the road rather than at me. "I don't know, I haven't had a woman cook for me in a long time. Besides ma, but she's done that my whole life."
I stored the information away in the back of my brain for another time so I didn't come outright and ask him how long he hadn't had a woman to cook for him. It was something that I didn't need to know and was none of my business.
"Well, Happy and Koz said that family dinners are the best, so I understand why you'd want her to cook for you." I chuckled.
Jax raised a blonde eyebrow and leant against my car with his hands on the roof. "How do you know Happy and Kozik?"
"They're my clients." When the question in his eyes didn't diminish I answered again. "I do their tattoos."
Shock was evident on his beautiful face when he looked at me through the window, eyes trailing over my exposed skin where I had no tattoos to be seen and he shook his head. "So you're the owner of Impulse Tattoos? No wonder my men are going there. When they find out it's you, my whole club is going to start going to your shop and I'll have no one left at the clubhouse."
"Don't worry, Pres." I patted the President patch on his Kutte. "Koz comes to the shop, but Happy comes to my house at random hours of the night, so you'll always have at least him there. My next door neighbour thinks we're havin' the longest love affair in Charmin' history thanks to his late night visits."
He choked on air and I laughed. "It's okay. Keeps the old bat on her toes and she's stopped tryin' to get me over for cups of tea. Regular tea, not the sweet tea, or I'd kick Hap to the curb and be over there drinkin' it up."
"Darlin', you are going to be trouble for me. I can tell it now."
The way he called me darlin' made me want to die and jump him at the same time, so I just smiled silently until he stopped leaning and tapped the roof twice.
He waited in the driveway and watched me go until I turned the corner and disappeared from view.