4

Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

Chapter 257 Relationship Terms

"

Jax took her to dinner at the same steak restaurant that she had taken him to the night she passed out in her motel room. Over steaks, she told him that she was going to lease Jacob Hale's condo. He was moving out next week. Before she moved in, he was going to paint the condo and get it cleaned.

Part of the deal that made the condo so attractive to her was that she was leasing it furnished. He was taking all his personal belongings and leaving all the furniture except his bed. There was an upstairs bedroom that he used as an office. When Scarlett was able to walk and climb stairs more easily, she was going to switch the furniture so her bedroom would be upstairs. It had a large sliding glass door in the bedroom with a great view of the artificial lake and a balcony.

Jax knew where the condo was located along the path where they were going to walk tonight. That was another thing about Charming, he knew where everyone lived or if he didn't, he could find out in a few minutes. He agreed it was perfect. The condos were gated giving Scarlett some added security and it was only a few minutes from his house.

The conversation was light and casual. Scarlett hoped that maybe they could move on like Wednesday's car ambush conversation had never happened. Deep down inside, she didn't think she would be that lucky, but at least Jax seemed like he was in a good mood.

Her father had helped her see that Jax wasn't being unreasonable. He was just being more honest than most men. Decker also told Scarlett to be honest with Jax. It still didn't feel like honesty was a good strategy. It scared her. She wanted to run away. Honesty just seemed like the wrong thing to do, but her father seemed confident that this approach would work.

They walked around the lake and sat down on one of the numerous benches. Jax sat next to her his leg against hers. He took her hand in his almost as though he were going to hold onto her and make sure they talked this time.

"OK. Talk," he said with a faint smile.

"Are you holding me prisoner?"

"Maybe. At least I know you can't run out on me again."

Scarlett's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Did you talk to my father?"

"No, I didn't," Jax said chuckling. "Should I?"

"No, but I may have to call him if I need more advice. My dad agreed with you that if I am truly never going to sleep with you, there isn't any point in staying together. My view was you should spend time with me because you enjoy my company and not because you just want to have sex with me."

"Scars, I told you that I wasn't just with you for sex," Jax said gently.

"I know. It's like me telling you I wouldn't sleep with you because you had sex with too many girls. My dad made me realize that I was just using that as an excuse to not get close to you. It could have been anything. I just needed a reason to keep you at a distant."

"Your father is actually encouraging you to sleep with me?"

"No, he wants me to lose my fear of getting close to someone and then the rest is between us."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I thought you could help me," she said softly.

"How can I help you?"

Jax was still holding tight to Scarlett's hand.

"Can you be patient a little longer?"

She looked at him anxiously.

"Yeah, I can do that."

"There's just one more thing. Getting close scares me a lot. I don't even know why. I just get scared and then I want to run or push you away. It isn't you or anything that you're done. It's me."

"You're afraid to trust me."

She nodded.

"That's true. I can't get closer to you if you're still with other girls. I mean I won't. Either we try to build a relationship between us or we don't want to do that or even try."

Scarlett made herself take a breath. She was so nervous that he would refuse. This was what she really wanted from Jax. She wanted them to be exclusive because that was the only way she would feel secure enough to get close to him.

Jax released her hand and ran his hand over his beard pretending to give the matter some thought.

"I wouldn't have to worry about you with other men?"

"Do you really think I'm that kind of girl?"

"No, I kind of like how private you are. How long before you're ready? Ten years?"

"Not funny."

"How long do you think is reasonable?"

"Two months."

"That's fair enough. What happens after we get closer? Can we see other people then?"

Scarlett looked at Jax shocked and hurt by this suggestion. He had taken her again and she tried to pull it free.

"How can you think that once we get close I would be OK if you went back to sleeping around?"

"Hey, Scarlett," Jax said tightening his grip on her hand. "I was kidding."

"If you're with me, I don't want any other girl putting her hands on you."

"Me too. I only want my hands on you. We'll see where our relationship takes us."
Jax leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Jax, I don't give second chances for cheating or hitting. If either happens, we're be done," Scarlett said.

"I get it. Just because I was with a lot of women, doesn't mean I can't be faithful. I think I slept with a lot of girls as my way of not getting close to a girl."

"Do you want to stay over?" she asked almost shyly.

"You would have crushed my heart to dust if you hadn't asked me,"

Scarlett laughed. She had followed her father's advice and she got exactly what she wanted—she and Jax were exclusive. Now that they had that as a foundation to their relationship she thought it would be easier to ease her fears of getting close to him. Their future together as a couple was never brighter.