3
Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run
Chapter 111 Pin-up
Jax checked out Scarlett in her swimsuit. She looked like one of those old time pin-ups. He'd seen girls wear a whole lot less with string bikinis showing the whole butt and tops so skimpy they were almost transparent, but none of them looked sexier than Scarlett.
She was wearing a one piece black bathing suit with little bright green dots. It exposed just a bit of cleavage, but it was the way it accented her hour glass figure that made him think of a pin up. Her blonde hair was in a ponytail and her face had no make-up except for red lipstick.
"Better than before?" Scarlett asked.
"The ballet bathing suit was fun."
"Or funny," Scarlett said.
Scarlett's other bathing suit looked like a black leotard top with a short white tulle skirt wrapped around it. She confessed when she was little she wanted to take ballet classes but her mother refused. The bathing suit was the closest she was going to get to being a ballerina.
"What's with the lipstick?"
"Many years ago, I read in this magazine that it's common for women in Paris to wear no make-up except for red lipstick. I thought it was so cool and chic, so sometimes I do that."
"You look so beautiful."
"I think you're just saying all that stuff because you think it will keep me from braiding your beard and hair."
"I've found a way to keep you from braiding my hair and beard. Remember I told you I'd razor part of your eyebrow if you did it again."
"I was hoping that was a bluff."
"Are you really ready to take that chance?"
"No. I think you might actually be serious and I don't want to take chances. By the way, you told me that you didn't know how to braid. How did the braid get into your hair?"
"I had to take out so many braids, I eventually learned how to make them."
They filled a cooler with snacks and drinks and left it on the dock. Once Jax helped Tara into the floating lounge chair, he began to swim laps. Scarlett floated whatever way the current took her. Occasionally, she needed Jax's help to tow her back in.
Once Jax used his body to spin Scarlett's chair around in ever increasingly fast circles. She giggled and the world began to turn leaving her dizzy. Sometimes, he pretended to be a shark and would grab Scarlett's foot and pretend he was biting it. It was silly fun, something he didn't experience enough.
"I'm going to miss this place," Jax said. "I think this is the most relaxing time I've ever experienced."
"There's no reason we can spend time here. We can come up whenever you want to and after I open my store, I'm going to make sure the other person will cover for me."
"I really love the idea of coming back. I've never been this relaxed. That can mean only one thing—my mother is going to give me hell for being away for a few days."
"Jax, maybe you ought to take a look at your relationship with your mother. It seems as though she still expects you do what she tells you. You're an adult. You bear the consequences for all your bad decisions, so you might as well make the mistakes you want to make."
Jax insisted he would cook dinner. He cut pork chops into chunks and put them on skewers with pineapple from the pantry and grilled them. Scarlett helped by making rice.
Jax appreciated the calming effect this place had on him. He had also realized that he needed to set boundaries for his mother. He really had surrendered his life to his mother and it was long past time for them to have a talk about their relationship.
Whatever happened was bound to leave Gemma unhappy, but it was important to tell her that she was his mother and not his boss.