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Chapter 64 Tricked

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Jax staggered to the bathroom once, thought there might be something strange going on with his face and promptly forgot about it by the time he returned to bed. For her part, Ava spent a few sleepless hours in agony wondering how she should play it when Jax discovered the gum embedded in his beard. She was debating between concern and glee. She decided since she'd told him that she didn't like facial hair, he would be suspicious if she expressed worry. Glee it was then.

Ava woke up, got dressed, did her hair and make-up and wondered how long Jax would be asleep. She checked that he was still breathing and then she decided to call the concierge about arranging for a motorcycle and helmets for tomorrow. She didn't think Jax would be fit to ride until the next day. The concierge told her she'd make some calls and get back to her with the arrangements.

She decided that they could hang around the resort and maybe go to a different place for dinner and maybe some dancing. She'd been too focused on getting Jax drunk last night to think about dancing. She made dinner reservations at Kona's Seafood Grotto. There was a club inside and they could go dancing there.

Jax's eyes finally fluttered open.

"Did I get hit by a truck?"

"No," Ava said laughing.

"I've never had booze hit me so hard."

"You're not used to drinking all the Hawaiian cocktails."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it," Jax said skeptically.

He discovered he had gum in his mouth. That was a first. He'd never fallen asleep with gum in his mouth. He didn't think he'd ever been that drunk before either and there's a first time for everything.

His face felt different. He reached up to touch his cheek. That felt OK. His fingers moved downward and found something he thought might be . . . gum. He jumped out of bed and raced into the bathroom to look into the mirror.

"No!" Jax said groaning.

Son of a bitch, he thought. His perfectly maintained beard was full of this bright green gum. What the hell was going on? He took the gum out of his mouth. It was also that same bright green that was in his beard. He could hear Ava laughing in the bedroom.

"What the hell happened to me?" he demanded returning from the bathroom.

"You were really drunk and stumbling around. I managed to get you back to the hotel room in a golf cart. I told you it was a ride at Disneyland. You were so drunk, I think you believed me," Ava said giggling.

"And?" Jax said impatiently.

"You get really clumsy when you're drunk. You insisted on brushing your teeth, but there was no way you could manage it and you wouldn't go to sleep until you brushed your teeth. Your commitment to oral hygiene is impressive."

"Ava," Jax said, a warning note in his voice, "get to the point."

"I suggested chewing a piece of gum instead. You grabbed the gum and shoved the whole pack into your mouth and started to chew it. I expressed concern that you were behaving recklessly. You insisted I leave my other pack on the bedside table. You must have fallen asleep and the gum fell out of your mouth and onto your beard. I mean I really don't know because I fell asleep."

Ava was trying to gauge if Jax suspected that she could have put the gum in his beard, but he seemed to be buying her story.

The gum was deeply embedded in his beard at the root level. It wouldn't be enough to just trim the edges off his beard; he was facing a complete shave just as Ava had planned.

"I hardly ever chew gum."

"You were really drunk. Fortunately, I was only mildly buzzed."

"Mildly buzzed, huh?"

Jax knew there was no way Ava managed to out drink him. She must have cheated. He watched her drink. She must have paid off the waitress to bring her drinks with low or no alcohol. He didn't blame her. Part of being an outlaw meant playing outside the rules. She may have cheated but it was on him for not figuring it out until this morning. Ava was smarter than he'd given her credit for and she'd successfully tricked him. He did have a certain amount of grudging admiration for her.

"What can I say?" she asked with a smile. "I'm a great drinker. I've got proof that you got drunk first."

Jax looked at her and Ava knew that he suspected that she'd tricked him. She should have anticipated that.

"Oh, I'm willing to concede I was the first to get drunk. I'm just amazed at your ability to hold your liquor."

"I'm a woman of many talents."

"I'm going to have to shave my whole beard off."

Jax wasn't a pussy. His beard would grow back and he didn't have a large beard like Bobby, so it wasn't the end of the world. He wondered if Ava could have had a hand in putting the gum in his beard, but he did wake up with gum in his mouth. It was plausible that it could have been an accident, but Ava wasn't a fan of his facial hair; he could see her doing it to him.

Again, he was just going to have to be a man about the whole thing and shave. As far as Ava went, he would make damned sure that he never got drunk around her again. She was dangerous. He was lucky she hadn't cut his balls off.

"There's a barber shop here. You could get a nice professional shave."

"That's a good idea."

"Don't sound so surprised. I actually do have them."

"I'm discovering that you're a woman of many talents," Jax said.

Ava realized that Jax knew that she had tricked him, but he wasn't confronting her about it because he would have to admit that she'd out played him. He couldn't do that and keep his ego intact. She'd gotten away with her deception.

He might suspect that she'd put the gum in his beard, but he had no way of proving it and if he suspected her, he would accuse her of it. No, she had accomplished her mission flawlessly.

"I'm going to jump in the shower and then go down to the barber shop."

"OK. I called the concierge about renting a motorcycle and she's working on it."

"You don't have to call around yourself?"

"No, the concierge helps make arrangements for hotel guests and you tip her for her services and she's also paid by the hotel."

"Thanks. I'm surprised you still want to go on the bike trip."

"It sounds like fun. I told her that we want to do the trip tomorrow. I thought you might need a day to recover so I booked a table at my favorite restaurant at the resort and thought we could go dancing later."

Jax was shocked that Ava had actually taken the initiative for making plans. He was surprised to find that he liked this side to her.

"I'm perfectly fine to ride today, but tomorrow is OK."

"Well, I'm going to take another hula lesson."

Jax looked at the bedside table's clock and saw that he'd slept past lunch.

"What time's dinner?"

"Reservation's at nine. They have these little carts with all different foods all over the resort. I thought we could wander around and eat when my lesson's over and after you've had your shave."

That was another good plan of Ava's. His getting drunk seemed to have brought out a new side to Ava.

"OK. I'll call you when I'm done and we can meet on the patio near where I met you yesterday."

"Sounds great," Ava said. "I'm going to head to my lesson in a few minutes."

Jax grabbed his clothes and walked into the bathroom. He left the door ajar. Ava wondered if he his dislike of closed doors was a prison thing or if he just wanted to give her the opportunity to see his naked muscular body.

She tiptoed to the door, not to check him out, but to hear what he had to say when he discovered the gum in his hair. She'd been merciful and only put a little gum on some of the ends. She didn't want his hair chopped off. She just wanted his hair cut a little shorter so it was less shaggy.

"Oh, fucking hell. Gum in my hair too," Jax exclaimed.

Ava laughed silently. This was the best day ever since Jax got out of prison. She'd gotten all the payback she was owed for him unlocking the bathroom door and trying to see her naked.

She went to the desk to get her room card. Jax had emptied his pockets on the desk sometime yesterday and there was a slip of paper among the change, pocket knife and his room card. Ava glanced at the paper and saw that it had a girl's name and phone number on it. She took a picture of the paper with her phone and left for her hula lesson.

Ava wondered if Jax had left the slip of paper where she could easily find it to make her jealous. That sounded like something he would do. Well, she had a plan for that little slip of paper and the slut that had given it to him. And she wasn't even the least little bit jealous. Really.

"

Author's Note: Glad you are still reading Grace.