Chapter Eight:

For the next two weeks, every time I wasn't at the shop I was either with Gemma or at Jax's house. Sometimes it was just Larry, Abel and I. Other times Gemma would spend the day. But my favourite was when Jax was home and we'd spend time together, two people slowly falling in love, a little boy and his four-legged best friend.

It was six o'clock and I'd just finished work, planning on going to the house to spend a few hours with Abel before Larry and I left for the evening, when the sight at my car made me pause.

"What are you doin' here?" I leaned up and gave him a kiss hello.

Jax's arms banded around my waist and he gave me the smile that left me weak at the knees. "Gemma is taking both of our kids for the night."

"Why?" I frowned in confusion.

He chuckled. "Because I'm taking my girl on a date."

I was full of excited nerves the whole drive back to my house, and every time I looked at Jax riding behind me in my review mirror, giddy butterflies would swarm through my stomach.

He'd never been to my house before and, just the same as his mother had done, he looked around with interest when I invited him in. I saw his lips tug up when he walked over to the wall and ran his fingers over the photographs that made up the most important memories of my life hanging up on the wall.

"So, uh, what are we doin' tonight?" I asked. "I need to know what to dress in."

Jax didn't move but looked across the room at me with warm eyes. "I'm not telling you what we're doing, babe. Just dress in something you can ride in."

I took a shower that probably lasted too long, trying to settle my nervous butterflies and let the hot water soothe my aching muscles. Then I did my makeup, added winged eyeliner, and pulled on my favourite jumpsuit.

It was a burnt orange colour with yellow and pink flowers that hung off my shoulders and it looked like a dress so much that I hadn't known that it wasn't until I'd gotten it home from the store and tried it on the first time.

Jax sucked in a breath when I walked into the room and I took that as a good sign that he liked what he saw. "You look beautiful, babe."

"You look good, too." I noted that he'd changed into a nicer pair of jeans and a button-down shirt, Kutte still on his chest. "Where did you get your clothes?"

"I had them in my saddlebag. I packed them before I came to get you." He smiled with a light blush on his cheeks and then held out his hand. "You ready?"

We walked out to his bike with his fingers entwined with mine and he looked over at me. "You ever been on the back of a bike?"

I shook my head no and he got a look on his face that was clear he was pleased with the information. "Don't worry about it, it's easy. Just hold on tight and lean when I lean."

For all the planning he'd done with extra clothes, he hadn't packed an extra helmet, so he just handed me his and strapped it underneath my chin, then rolled his eyes when I asked if we should just take my car.

The ride was euphoric. For the first street I gripped him like my life depended on it, but then the air whipping past my face and the freedom of it all brought me out of my worried daze and I relaxed. Jax must have noticed because he took his hand off the handlebars for long enough to give my palm a quick squeeze, then revved the throttle and pushed the speed limits.

"Did you like it?" He asked when he'd pulled up on the Main Street and helped me get off the bike.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and shook out my mess of hair, but I knew that my cheeks were flushed and my eyes were bright. "Oh my god, I can't believe I've been stuck in a car my whole life!"

Jax kissed the top of my forehead where my hairline began and squeezed my waist tightly for a second before he stepped back and took my hand. "Come on, darlin, we've got reservations."

The restaurant Jax picked was a quaint little joint that offered Mexican and privacy, the perfect combination to get me sucked in on a date.

"I remember you said that your mom made you tacos on Saturday." He nodded to the waitress to signal we were ready to order our drinks. "I thought I'd try and keep that tradition alive."

Jax ordered us two Coronas and I waited until the brunette walked away to reply. "Who would've thought that the big bad biker President had a soft heart under all that leather?"

"Don't tell anyone, no one else knows." He winked and pushed my beer over to me. "Do you know what you want to order?"

I looked over the menu again. "Why don't we just get the large share platter and we can have a bit of each?"

"That's for four people." He commented.

Laughter poured from my lips. "It's alright, Jackson. When it comes to tacos, I'm sure I can eat three people's worth."

"I cannot believe you just ate twelve tacos." Jax was still watching me like he was waiting for me to spontaneously combust. "You're tiny, where does it even go?"

I shrugged my shoulders and grinned. "Don't question it, otherwise Jesus will realise how fast my metabolism is and take it away from me."

He chuckled, but then his face got serious. "You really do have faith, don't you?"

"I'm from Georgia, I kind of have to." I mumbled and peeled the label off my beer. "It's different at home, it's like this ... shimmer in the air at our church. I still go to the church in town on Sundays and when I'm havin' a bad day, but it's not the same as back home."

Jax nodded in understanding. "Aren't you worried that Jesus would frown on you being with someone like me?"

"Someone like you?" I looked away from the glass bottle to the beautiful man sitting across from me, looking nervous. "No. Not at all. I think that He brings people together for a reason, and He must have known that I needed you. I needed a kind, caring, sweet man who is the best daddy he could be and has the largest heart of anybody I know, whether he shows it to the world or not."

He jumped to his feet and bent over the table to attack my mouth, patrons and onlookers be damned. Jax had a hand placed on the back of my head so there was no chance of moving away, and I felt my arms wrap around his neck out of reflex rather than anything else since I couldn't think or breathe or do anything other than kiss him back.

"You're outta this world, darlin." He pulled back and placed a single, sweet kiss on my lips before he sat back in his chair. "God, whoever, whatever brought you to me? I'm thankful."

"Have you always wanted to be President?" I asked quietly when the waitress bought us another beer.

Jax nodded instantly. "My dad made the club, I've always known it was what I wanted to do."

"I'm sorry about John." I leant forward and took his hand. "Gemma told me."

"It's okay. Long time ago." Jax shrugged but I saw the glimmer in his eyes dim slightly. "Okay, Ellie. Tell me, what are your plans for the future?"

His question took me off guard and I tilted my head to the side. "My future regardin' you and I, or my future in general."

"The next ten years, including Abel and I." He chuckled at my surprised look. "Oh, and your deranged dog, of course."

I knew he was only trying to ease the mood so I let his comment about Larry slide. "Isn't it a bit too early for me to be pourin' out my dreams and where I hope we go in the future?"

"Okay, I'll go first." Jax completely ignored my question. "So, your house is only a rental and mine is tied to my past. I'm thinking we buy a three bedroom house together, since we're still young enough that we can have another kid one day if we want one."

My heart stopped beating in my chest, then returned in full force. Jax and I had known each other for two months, but only started dating two weeks prior to the conversation, and I hadn't expected him to be so blunt about the extent of where we were headed in his mind.

"It has to have a big backyard." I finally choked out, then chugged half the bottle of beer in front of me. "We'll need enough space to build Abel a cubby house for when he gets angry at us and needs some space. And for Larry to run around and play."

Jax thought about it for a long moment, nodding his head. "And a double-garage so we can park the cage and my bike if there's a storm."

I laughed at the situation and shook my head. "So, what timeline are we lookin' at here? Two year-"

"Six months." He smirked at me when I choked again. "The one thing you need to know about me darlin, is that when I know what I want? I don't waste time pretending that I don't."

My eyes zeroed in on the President patch on his Kutte. "But we haven't even had sex, Jax. What if I'm terrible at it and you decide you don't want to do all this stuff with me?"

Jax laughed loudly and squeezed my hand overtop of the table. "Baby, with chemistry like ours? Ain't no way that you're going to be terrible at sex."

When I stayed quiet he lowered his voice and looked at me with kind eyes. "I'm assuming you've never had sex before?"

"No." I shook my head and avoided eye contact at all costs. "Our town was pretty set on waitin' til marriage, and I haven't dated since I got here, I've been too focused on the shop. I know it's odd, a twenty-three year old virgin."

Jax ran his thumb over my knuckles and waited for me to look at him before he answered. "Not odd, babe. You still want to wait for marriage?"

I shook my head no again. "I never thought it was all that important as long as you were with the right person."

"Good." He grinned. "Cause I think I'm gonna have to meet your pops and ask him if I can marry you before I ask, and I don't think he'd appreciate that if we've only been dating for two months."

"Two months?" I raised an eyebrow.

Jax rolled his eyes. "Yeah, babe. The start of it was slow, but you were still mine. Come on, let's get out of here, we've got a movie to get to."

We held hands as we stepped out into the warm breeze and I looked at him. "The Prince of Charming is my own Prince Charming."

"Hey, I'm all about the fairy tale, baby."