6

Chapter 116 Lost Keys

"

Jax stopped by the clubhouse and grabbed a beer as he thought about his meeting with his mother. He was definitely feeling his love for Gemma fading away. He had spared her life; she could have shown him a little gratitude by staying the fuck away from him, Ava and TB.

By the time he got back to the house, he was feeling sore. Handling the big bike had taxed his ribs. It was going to be a few more weeks before he could go on a run.

Nothing escaped Ava's scrutiny. He didn't know how she knew it, but she picked up on the fact that he was sore. Maybe it was the Nurse Ava part of her, he thought ruefully.

"I knew it was too soon for you to be riding your bike," Ava scolded.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You will need to take pain medication tonight so you get a good night's sleep."

"I always get a good night's sleep with you," Jax said.

"That's all you're getting tonight is sleep," Ava replied tartly.

She was definitely in Nurse Ava mode and he figured that she was unlikely to be swayed into any unprofessional behavior.

They spent the next day in their office across from their bedroom studying law. Jax continued to review criminal cases TB had received since Jax's documentary and write up his opinion on future action. He thought he might get bored studying law, but the more he got into it, the more fascinated he was. Learn the rules and then learn how to bend and exploit them. It was a lot like an outlaw MC only without the fun fights and shootouts.

That afternoon, he told Ava he was going to check in on TM. He searched everywhere for the keys to his bike and failed to find them. Ava was watching some romance movie on TV while she was reading a romance novel. He had no idea how she could spend her time with that crap, but it made her happy so he couldn't complain.

"Ava, have you seen my bike keys? I can't find them."

"No," she said. "You can use my car. The keys are on the counter next to my handbag."

Her tone of voice was too innocent. Jax immediately suspected that she'd done something with his keys to keep him from riding his bike.

"You didn't hide my keys by any strange chance?"

"Maybe you woke up in the middle of the night, moved your keys somewhere and then went back to sleep. Kind of like sleep walking only with keys," she said without looking up from her book.

"Ava, where are my keys," Jax demanded.

Ava finally looked up from her book.

"I'm very smart, but I don't know everything," Ava said sweetly. "You could ask my phone and see if it knows."

"I'll look through your purse," he warned.

"Enjoy yourself," she said before returning to her book. Her lips turned up in the faintest of smiles before she regained control.

Jax looked through her purse and didn't find his keys. He didn't really expect to find them. It was too obvious. He spent a few minutes trying to find his keys, but his efforts were futile and he was convinced that Ava had hidden them. They could be anywhere in the room or the entire house.

Just to be on the safe side, he checked their office to see if she might have put them there. No keys there either.

This was the problem with women who thought for themselves and didn't do what they were told; they did shit they shouldn't. If a girl hid his keys at the clubhouse, he'd tell her to give her his damned keys or there was going to be trouble. The girl would have tripped all over herself to get him the keys. That wouldn't work with Ava.

Using physical force to get what he wanted was so much more effective than the more civilized approach. He'd get Gemma to stay the fuck out of his life if he could bounce her head off the walls a few times. Clay and JT both had to use force to keep Gemma in line from time to time. He was stuck with having to use strategy with her.

He couldn't use physical force on Ava either. Life was so much easier when you could just make a woman obey. Bikers were expected to keep their old ladies in live no matter what it took. He was impotent when it came to keeping Ava in line and Jax Teller was not an impotent man.

"I will search you if you don't hand over my keys," Jax said in a low growl designed to frighten Ava into compliance.

"Really?" Ava asked skeptically.

"Yeah."

Ava bit her top lip to keep from smiling. She carefully inserted the white index card she was using as a bookmark into her book, turned off the reading lamp and stood up. She turned her back to Jax, placed her hands on the wall and spread her legs.

"Go ahead."

Jax's face broke into a wide grin. Ava was kind of crazy, but this searching stuff might be interesting.

He moved his hands along her body expertly. He didn't find anything, but the method he was using was only for guns and knives. A key could be hidden in many places on her body. A more in depth search was needed.

"Find anything?" she asked, her hands still against the wall. She continued to bite her lip so she wouldn't grin at him. Getting the best of Jax was so much fun and it wasn't even that hard.

She hadn't counted on him wanting to search her. That just added to the fun. Feeling his hands sliding up and down her body always felt good.

"Of course not. I'll have to do a more in depth search," he said in her ear.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll search under your clothes. I may even remove them," he threatened.

Ava turned to face him.

"You're treating me like a criminal and I haven't even done anything," Ava protested.

"Welcome to my world," Jax said drily.

"I will give you consent to search me in more depth, but if you think you're taking my clothes off to search me, you're going to have to go first."

The sentence was barely out of Ava's mouth before Jax had his clothes off. If she thought telling him he had to take his clothes off was going to deter him, she didn't know him well.

She flipped off the TV so it the bedroom was dimly lit by afternoon light filtering in through the closed blinds.

It occurred to Jax that with both of them naked, it would be a prime opportunity for sex. Ava was always at her sweetest right after sex and he was sure she would tell him what she'd done with his keys then.

Jax slid his hands under Ava's T-shirt, stripped off her T-shirt and unhooked her bra in one smooth move.

"Now for the search," he said running his hands over her breasts. No key, but that had stopped being the point when he'd taken off his clothes.

"Want me to spread my legs?"

"Not standing up. I can't get your leggings off or you'll fall. We'll have to do it on the bed."

Ava climbed on the bed and allowed Jax to remove the rest of her clothes.

"See, I told you I don't have your keys," she said.

"Did you put them inside you?"

"No," Ava said with a grimace. "That's gross. I only allow two things inside me tampons and . . . you."

Jax liked the sound of that a lot. He covered her with his body.

"I am worried about your ri . . ." Jax kissed her before she could finish her sentence.

After he had Ava basking in the afterglow, he propped himself on an elbow.

"You can tell me what you did with my bike keys now. I promise I won't get mad."

"I don't have them."

"I want my keys in the morning," Jax said.

"Maybe if you give your brain a break until then, you'll remember where you put them."

Jax wasn't mad at Ava for taking his keys. Studying law was teaching him to think of all the different sides. She hadn't taken his keys to keep him from going to TM. She offered him her car. She didn't want him to take his bike because he'd overexerted himself. She was doing what a good old lady did—she was taking care of him. He wasn't going to fight with her today. If the keys didn't turn up tomorrow; he would deal with her then.

The next morning, he found his keys under his pillow. Ava told him that he must have been sleepwalking and put them there. Despite the wide-eyed innocent look on her face; he didn't buy it.

As much as he wanted Ava to obey him, he kind of liked the feisty crazy side to her. It kept things interesting. Maybe having an obedient old lady was overrated.

"

Author's Note: Big developments on the Gemma front next chapter.