Mackenzie watched Jax mingle with the other club members around the pool table and started up a conversation with Jessie. They talked about Charming and where to go shopping before the conversation inevitably turned to the men.
"So what made you start working here? You're a great bartender, but you're only customers are the guys and their girls." Mackenzie said, sipping slowly on a soda. Jessie shrugged as she looked around the room.
"I grew up in Charming and always had a thing for bad boys. I tried out other jobs and other bars, but I always spent my free time here, trying to snag a son." Mackenzie raised her eyebrows with intrigue. Jessie laughed and shook her head, "Son as in a Son of Anarchy. Anyways, after a while Gemma offered me the job and I've been here ever since." Jessie went back to wiping off the bar after she passed out a couple of beers to Tig.
"So did you?" Mackenzie asked curiously. Jessie looked at her blankly. "Did you snag a son, as you put it." She clarified. Jessie stopped cleaning and rested her elbows on the bar and scowled.
"Not really. I mean I've hooked up with a couple of 'em but nothing really ever came of it. It's fine though. I guess I don't have to be worried about being tied down." Jessie sighed and tried to smile. "What about you? Everyone knows you hooked up with Jax." Mackenzie blushed deeply and pulled at her hair. She'd never been a one-night stand kind of girl, but from what Jessie had told her about the club, she wondered exactly where she and Jax were headed. "Look, just go with it and have fun. He's a heart breaker, so just don't get in over your head too fast. He loves family, especially his son, but you've got to get lucky and work hard to earn your place." Mackenzie coughed and choked on a piece of ice.
"Jax has a son?" Mackenzie asked Jessie in a hushed whisper. Jessie laughed and put a hand on her hip. She stared at Mackenzie for a few seconds and shook her head.
"Girl, you act like I just told you he had eight kids and a wife at home. Able is Jax and his ex wife's boy, but she's not in the picture." Jessie motioned to her inner elbow like she was shooting up. Mackenzie nodded and looked back over at Jax.
"It's not that, I just didn't really see him as someone that had a family at home. He seems so care free." She said, spinning her ice around with a straw as she thought about it. Jessie just shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"Mackenzie, that man is about as far from care free as you can get. It's part of the club life. They fight to live and live to fight." With that, Jessie went back to the stock room and left Mackenzie there with her soda.
The room became much quieter as the guys went into a separate room with huge, leather covered doors. Most of the women took that as a cue and left out. Mackenzie wasn't really sure what to do, so she settled on getting some air and walked out to the garage lot. She found a picnic table and climbed on top of it and took a seat. No sooner had she sat down, Gemma walked over and folded her arms across her chest.
"I see you're still here. Did Jax talk to you, officer?" She spat at Mackenzie. Gemma's eyes bore into her as she pursed her lips.
"I'm not a cop anymore, Gemma. I haven't been for a while. We talked and I'm going to stay around for now." Mackenzie said with a overly sweet smile and layered on her Texas drawl. Gemma rolled her eyes and leaned in close.
"If I so much as even smell a rat, I'm coming for you." She hissed into Mackenzie's face. Then, she pulled back and smiled, sending a shiver down Mackenzie's spine. "You and Jax are coming to dinner tomorrow." With that, she turned on her heel and left, getting into a black suv and pulling out of the lot.
Mackenzie was just pulling out a cigarette when she heard the clubhouse doors swing open. The guys looked serious as they walked briskly to their bikes. Jax saw Mackenzie and paused for a minute.
"We've got to take care of something." He said vaguely, looking away as he tossed his burning smoke onto the ground. "I'll call you on our way back." He leaned down and kissed Mackenzie on the cheek swiftly and joined the others. The air was filled with the roar of motorcycles as they rolled out.
She finished her cigarette and headed back inside, suddenly aware of how tired she was. She went back into Jax's room and curled up under the covers. Before she had a chance to wonder what exactly they had to take care of, she passed out.
Mackenzie's sleep was anything but peaceful as she tossed and turned fighting her demons in her sleep. She woke up swinging to someone's hand on her shoulder. Her fist connected hard with Jax's jaw. He grabbed her arms and pinned them down until she caught her breath, only the reaching up and rubbing his jaw.
"Damn, you put some force behind that one." Jax said with a weak smile. Mackenzie scrambled to sit up and started to apologize. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'll just talk to you to wake you up next time." Mackenzie laid back and stared at the ceiling.
"Why exactly is there blood all over your shirt?" She asked, not looking away from the bikini clad poster girl hanging above her. Jax took off his shirt and threw it into a pile of clothes in the corner. "It's nothing." He said, leaning over her, his hair falling into his face.
Mackenzie knew better than to believe that for even an instant, but his naked chest was intoxicating. His words from their previous conversation rang in her ears as she pulled him down onto her mouth, "All I know how to do is Outlaw." What seemed like an hour later, Mackenzie was sitting up in bed as Jax slept, one hand under his pillow on the gun she knew was there. She looked over and saw a laptop sitting on the desk and slowly climbed out of bed.
Logging on as a guest, she pulled up her email account and started checking for any correspondence about the sale of her condo. There were dozens of emails from Bryan that she deleted without even opening, but nothing from her real estate agent. She rolled her eyes and signed out before closing the laptop and getting back in bed. Jax shifted slightly as she laid her head on his chest.
Hundreds of miles away in a Texas police station, a detective heard a ping on his computer. He rolled over to check the alert and quickly dialed his captain. Mackenzie Bradshaw had just accessed her computer in a small town outside of Sacramento, California.