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Chapter 78 Zipper

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Jax had a great time on the air boat on his swamp tour, but Ava was right to skip the trip. She would have been miserable. It was hot, even more humid than the streets of New Orleans which was hard to imagine, filthy, filled with bugs, snakes and alligators. He'd loved it, but the one woman on the boat he was on was loudly miserable and even screamed at every snake and alligator. There had been a lot of screaming until she'd finally grown too hoarse to scream. It hadn't come too soon for everyone's ears.

Strangely, he found himself missing Ava. She was funny, endlessly curious about new things and he enjoyed her company. He wasn't used to being around girls much outside of sex, so finding a woman interesting and good company was a surprise. The even bigger surprise was that woman was Ava.

It was easy getting along with her now that they had quit trying to anger the other one. They were actually having adult conversations about their relationship too. He suspected that if he hadn't put so much sexual pressure on Ava at the beginning, they would have had sex by now. Strange to think you had to seduce your old lady to get her to have sex with you, but that was what he was dealing with. It wasn't exactly something he could ask his brothers about. They would never believe him anyway.

After they each had their separate day out, they ate dinner together at Brennan's where they had Bananas Foster. It was an amazing combination of bananas, brown sugar, butter, rum and banana liqueur that was poured flaming over vanilla ice cream.

Afterwards they took a taxi to a club that played Cajun music. Ava instantly fell in love with the music as he had. She easily picked up the dancing style. It took him a few more minutes, but he was coordinated and knew how to use his body.

The sensation of dancing with Ava to that strange accordion heavy music was something he would never forget. She'd looked sexy as hell. She'd pulled her heavy russet hair into a messy pony tail with some loose strands around her face. The grass green dress she wore fit her like a glove. It didn't show any skin, but the way it clung to her body before flaring out into a skirt made him remember how good she'd looked in her swim suit. It was short and when she twirled it fanned out revealing a pair of matching shorts. Every man's eyes were on her.

When they played slower songs and he held her close, she'd give him a look with those blue-green eyes of hers and it made him catch his breath.

He didn't know what it felt like to fall in love, but he suspected that his feelings for Ava might be moving in that direction. He was OK with that. They were going to be stuck together for almost three years; it might as well be a pleasant three years.

Jax didn't worry about getting his heart broken. He was a tough guy. Heart break couldn't be as bad as some of the things he'd been through. He sure as hell wasn't going to act like a moping pussy like Juice when his latest relationship crashed and burned.

The bar where they were drinking and dancing was air conditioned, but Ava found herself feeling hot. It wasn't completely from the activity on the dance floor. Jax was looking better and better to her all the time. For all his sex talk in the early days, he had knocked it off and was a perfect gentleman. He was Hallmark caliber. She was stunned by how well behaved he was being.

She also noticed that he was careful about his drinking only drinking half a drink before switching to a Coke and finishing that Coke before he had another half drink. She knew he was doing that so he would be able to take care of her if she got really drunk.

The way he took care of her when she was with him made her feel treasured. She'd never felt like that before with anyone. And he was big enough and strong enough to take care of any physical danger. She'd never dated a guy like that. The guys she went out with would probably try to slap the other guy and then run leaving her to her fate. She didn't think Jax would ever do that. Toxic masculinity had its uses.

When they got back to their hotel room, Ava was just a little drunk. Maybe that was why she gave in to an impulse.

"Could you help me with my zipper?" Ava asked. "I think it's stuck."

Jax could always be counted on to aid a woman when she needed help out of her clothes. He was just that kind of guy.

Ava turned around with her back to Jax.. The zipper ran from the top of her dress to her lower back.

"Sure," Jax said. His fingers slowly unzipped her dress finding no evidence of a stuck zipper. "Doesn't seem stuck."

"Must be me."

"Uh-huh."

He put his hands on her hips and began to kiss her neck with kisses that felt like fire to Ava. She closed her eyes and felt herself melt against him. She wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to resist him. His hands slid around her waist under her dress as he continued to kiss her neck. She caught her breath.

"Thanks," she said brightly pulling away from him. Quickly she grabbed her long T-shirt nightgown and fled to the safety of the bathroom.

Jax chuckled ruefully. So close. That was OK. He was starting to enjoy the chase.

Ava's heart was pounding hard as she shut and locked the bathroom door. There was just something about Jax that scared the hell out of her. She didn't know what it was, she just knew that the way he made her feel wasn't normal for her.

She wondered if he knew she'd lied about her zipper being stuck. She'd just wanted to feel his hands on her starting to undress her. She was playing with fire and it wouldn't be long before her resistance crumbled.