4

Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

Chapter 87 Floated

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I POSTED TWO CHAPTERS CHAPTER 83 HAUNTED AND CHAPTER 84 FAVORED AT THE SAME TIME. I THINK SOME READERS MAY HAVE MISSED READING CHAPTER 84. SINCE I'M WRITING THIS SO IT'S MORE LIKE THE SCENES IN A TV SHOW, I USE SHORT CHAPTERS. I AM GOING TO POST MORE THAN ONE CHAPTER AT A TIME MORE OFTEN BECAUSE SOME OF THE CHAPTERS ARE SO SHORT. I WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW SO YOU WOULD BE LOOKING FOR IT.

SOMETHING ALSO HAPPENED ON THIS SITE WHEN I POSTED CHAPTER 86 BRAIDED AND IT DIDN'T GO TO THE TOP OF THE STORIES LIST, SO READERS MAY NOT HAVE NOTICED THAT A NEW CHAPTER WAS POSTED.

Scarlett sized up Jax as the guy that has girls throwing themselves at him all the time. She stood out by not throwing herself at him and being playful. She doubted that many of the clubhouse girls would have dared to braid Jax's hair while he slept. It had been so hard to keep from laughing while she was doing it.

"Scarlett, you're a naughty girl and naughty girls get punished."

"Really?" she asked with a grin. "Tell me more."

She'd been looking out at the lake, but she'd turned to face him when he walked onto the screened patio.

He put his coffee cup down on the table and walked up to her. For a moment, she was worried. One of these days, she was going to go too far, but braiding a guy's hair when he was sleeping was really pretty minor.

"Let me show you," he said his voice silky.

Scarlett looked at Jax apprehensively as he walked up to her. He wrapped his arms around her with her back against him.

"Since you're injured, I can't throw you in the lake."

"You would throw me in the lake for some harmless little braids?" she demanded indignantly.

The look in his eyes almost dissolved her bones. She wasn't sure she would have been able to stand if his arms weren't holding her. No man had ever turned her into pudding before.

"I've come up with something better."

"OK. So this is my warning, right?"

"The more you talk, the more you get yourself in trouble."

"Oh, hell," Scarlett said looking into Jax's eyes. "How about a sincere apology?"

"You would never be able to make a sincere apology."

"You're probably right," Scarlett said with a sigh. "I guess I'm just going to get punished."

The talking had restored Scarlett so she felt less like she was melting. That changed when Jax began to brush her lips along her neck. He'd come up with a punishment worse than throwing her in the lake—kissing her neck softly and seductively.

There was something odd about his lips. They sent little electrical sparks when he brushed them against her neck. Her bones had done the melting thing again. She caught her breath and tried to keep her body from overheating.

When he bragged that he was going to make her burn for him, she never dreamed that he could have been telling the truth. After he released her, she had to stand clutching his arm for a few moments before she could walk away from him. He gave her a satisfied little smile as though he knew his effect on her.

Scarlett remembered they had pool toys and life jackets in a shed next to the dock. She explained to Jax that she needed a life jacket because she couldn't kick her legs. If she ended up in the water, she wasn't sure how well she would be able to swim.

Scarlett found a pool float that looked like a lounge chair that would let her float around the lake while sitting up. Jax held the pool chair while she used her arms to pull herself into the chair. She floated in the lake and used her arms to maneuver.

Jax tried to trick her by diving below the pool chair and tickling her toes, so she'd think fish were chewing on them. Scarlett wasn't fooled. Jax spent most of his time floating around on an inner tube.

The lake got afternoon shade from all the trees, so Jax and Scarlett were able to spend most of the afternoon floating around the little cove without frying their skin.

Jax had to swim Scarlett and the pool chair back to the lake's shore when they decided to go inside. They raided the freezer for dinner. Jax insisted on barbequing hamburgers until Scarlett pointed out that it was dark outside and they would get eaten up by mosquitoes. She suggested they barbeque lunch tomorrow instead.

He still cooked the hamburgers. Scarlett got the potato salad from the sandwich to go with the hamburgers, set the table and poured the iced teas. She liked the feel of working with Jax.

The day had been filled with fun and laughter. It had been a long time since she'd had such a good time. It was nice to forget the past for a little while.

They settled into bed to watch DVDs before falling asleep.

"I've been thinking about what happened earlier. About the whole concept of punishment," Scarlett said.

"You want to try the sincere apology now?"

"No, I think your understanding of it may be flawed. Punishment is supposed to deter the person being punished not reward the behavior."

Scarlett gave Jax a victorious smile before closing her eyes to sleep.