4

Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

Chapter 201 Pay Up

Scarlett wanted to tell Jax that she was part man just to see the look on his face, but when he added that she would have to prove it, he made that impossible.

"Do you really think I could possibly be part man?"

"You seem strangely reluctant to show me your body."

"Reluctant? I'm not a stripper or a porn star. Taking my clothes off and letting a man see my body is something that I keep private."

"Really?" Jax studied her as though he were picturing what she would look like under the towel.

Scarlett felt her body grow warm under his piercing gaze. This was bad. He was standing too close to her. The towel may have covered up all her private areas, but she was still naked. She was terrified, not of him so much as of herself.

She had a crazy irrational fear that her towel would accidentally drop. If that happened, her humiliation would be complete. She held her arms tightly at her sides to keep her towel from budging.

"Answer my question."

"I was born a girl and I am a complete girl."

"That's a relief," Jax said. He ran his hands up her arms sending shivers up her spine. "Your skin . . ." Jax broke off as his right hand reached her collar bone. His fingers traced it getting close to the top of her breast.

"What's wrong with my skin?" Scarlett demanded startled. "Did being in the bathtub so long do something to it?"

"You have the softest, smoothest, most amazing skin I've ever touched."

Scarlett's face flushed and she caught her breath, knocked completely off guard by his comment.

"I think you've touched enough of it."

"OK," Jax said, grinning. He dropped his hands to his sides.

"I told you that you didn't need to loofah my skin with your beard."

"You know that had nothing to do with the feel of your skin and everything to do with sex and touching you?"

"I figured that out eventually," she whispered.

"Hurry and get dressed," Jax said gruffly. "I want payment."

Jax left the bathroom shutting the door behind him. Scarlett felt like she'd dodged a bullet. She shut her eyes. She wanted to run away. If there had been a door that led outside, she would have taken it and just walked slowly and painfully away into the night. This was a new kind of fear.

Before, fear had always been about danger and survival. Her fear now was completely different, but no less real. Getting emotionally involved with Jax would not end well. He was going to crush her emotionally. She couldn't let herself get emotionally involved with him. Her brain needed to get her emotions under control.

She tried to focus on how happy she was not to be trapped in the bathtub. At least that humiliation was over. She just had to deal with Jax. Kissing him wasn't the problem; stopping was going to be tricky.

She dressed with difficulty. Her muscles had tensed up from being in the confined space of the bathtub for so long despite the muscle relaxers she'd taken.

She kept reliving the humiliation of having to be pulled out of the bathtub. She reminded herself that this was just a temporary problem with her back. A couple of months of physiotherapy and she'd be back to normal. She'd also vowed not only to Jax but to herself that she would never take a bath again.

She scrubbed her make-up off and decided against putting on more. Her back hurt just standing. She needed to sit down, but first she had to pay the price for getting stuck in the bathtub.

Jax was in the living room looking through her DVD collection when she walked into the room. He gave her an appraising look.

"How do you feel?"

"Really stiff."

Jax laughed.

"I know that feeling well, but I'm guessing we're talking about two different things."

Scarlett shook her head.

"Such charm," she said.

Her brain was back firmly in control of her mind and body. That momentary fear was gone. Her emotions were a roller coaster, but this was the straight stretch when the ride ends. She was going to get through the night without any more humiliation.

"Pay up."

"What are you going to do if I don't? Put me back in the bathtub?"

"OK. You want to play hard? How's this? I'll tell everyone how I had to rescue you naked from the bathtub. I'll leave out the part about the towels and I'll embellish the story with sex stuff."

He hit her with the Jax Teller killer smile. Her brain held on to its control. He wasn't going to make her weak in the knees this time. She would not fall drooling at his feet.

He walked towards her and her resolve began to waiver. That was a lot of testosterone heading her way. He was just so damned sexy.

"I wasn't going to not pay up," she said quickly, desperate to maintain control. "I just wanted to find out what you would do. You are kind of mean."

"Mean? If I were mean, I wouldn't have given you the towels."

"OK. You're right. You were wonderful and kind."

"You aren't going to get out of kissing me by trying to sweet talk me."

"Why would I even want to?"

"Remember, I expect you to be very grateful."

Scarlett took a step closer to Jax and ran her hand up the front of his T-shirt. She leaned in, her hand resting lightly on his chest, stood on tiptoe and then just as her lips touched his, his phone alerted him that he had a text message or email.

Jax swore softly under his breath.

"Temporary time out."

Jax walked into the bedroom to grab his phone from his cut just as Scarlett's phone rang in the living room. It was Hale.

"Is something wrong?" Scarlett asked instantly worried.

"Is Jax with you? He should hear this too."

"I'm right here," Jax said.

Scarlett turned the speakerphone on.