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Chapter 553 Can't Call It Cheating. She Reminds Me of You

"

Scarlett was being more mysterious than usual. She mentioned something about a surprise that she wasn't sure he was going to like. He hoped she wasn't pregnant. He knew she took birth control pills every night, but nothing except abstinence was 100% effective.

He'd come around to being a father when he thought Wendy was pregnant with his kid, but he wasn't eager to start a family with Scarlett at least not yet. He wanted to enjoy the romance between just the two of them without adding a baby into the mix. If the surprise was a pregnancy, he would just have to suck it up and be a dad. The thought made him faintly queasy.

Work was slow so he took the afternoon off to read more of his father's manuscript. He decided he was going to surprise Scarlett by starting dinner. She was going to make spaghetti and meatballs with a container of sauce and meatballs she'd already taken from the freezer. As much as he loved spaghetti and meatballs, he had a craving for ribs. He was going to get the stuff for dinner, rub the ribs with the spice mix in the cupboard and throw them in the oven to cook low and slow while he read.

As he was about to grab a basket, he saw a tall, curvy young woman with dark almost black hair pushing a grocery cart. She stopped and picked up a package of sub sandwich rolls. He watched her for a few moments before approaching her. There was no way he was going to let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

"Hey Hotness," he said greeting her.

"Did you just call me hot mess?" she asked annoyance creeping into her honeyed Southern drawl.

"No. Hotness," he corrected, "because you are so damned sexy and beautiful. I'm Jax, vice president of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club. You new in town?"

"Yeah. My name's Tulsi King."

"Kind of like that new Taylor Sheridan show Tulsa King," Jax said.

"Gotta love the Taylorverse," she said. "He was on an actor on some show before he hit it big. Can't remember the name of it."

"It's not important."

"Veronica Mars," she said after a moment's thought.

"I don't think it was that, but I can't remember its name. So what are you up to, hotness?"

"I'm the president of my own fan club."

He grinned wolfishly. "Want a new member?"

"I'll give it some consideration," she drawled giving him a smile.

"How about we go into the bathroom here and get to know each better?" he suggested. She had dark glossy hair and red lips that gave him Snow White fantasies. All he could think about was having sex with this beautiful exotic woman.

"Isn't that what we're doing right here?" she asked, moving her cart back and forth flirtatiously.

"I was thinking something a little more . . . intimate," he said giving her body a long lingering look before looking into her eyes again.

She ran over his foot with her shopping cart.

"Oops. Sorry. I was thinking that a bathroom isn't really my style."

Jax looked down at the mark left on his white sneaker. It was a small price to pay, he told himself.

"Did you drive here? We could go somewhere secluded and maybe you let me join your fan club."

"I'm not sure," she said with a slight frown. "You seem like the kind of guy who might have a girlfriend."

"Naw," he said with a wide grin. "I am currently without one."

"I have a boyfriend," she said, "but he isn't up to . . . the task."

"The task?" Jax was sure this conversation was taking a sexual turn and he all for that.

"This boyfriend of whom I am thinking is very arrogant and thinks he's God's gift to women, but he's terrible in bed."

"Is that right?" Jax rocked back on his heels. This was getting good. "What's the problem?"

"His idea of foreplay is diving naked on top of me."

"Does he please you . . . once he gets going?"

She shook her head sadly.

"Never has, but I fake it every time so he doesn't have an ego driven melt down. I finish the job while he's in the bathroom."

Jax chuckled.

"How about you let me show you what it's like to be with a man who knows exactly how to please a woman?"

She ran over his foot with her cart again.

"Sorry. I get distracted thinking of all the inadequate sex."

This time it hurt more but he didn't say "Ow" or even "Ouch" because he was a strong tough outlaw biker who could take a shopping cart running over his foot without flinching or whining. He was just that kind of man.

"So let's go somewhere and get better acquainted and I can redeem myself as the inadequate lover you are describing, Scars."

Her lips curved into a big smile.

"I didn't say it was you. I said it was the boyfriend of whom I was thinking."

"That's a relief because I would hate to think I have been leaving you unfulfilled."

"You're Jax Teller. That's impossible," she said teasing him as she rested her hand on his chest. "I really thought I'd fooled you," she said, "and I was getting angrier and angrier by the second."

"I felt your wrath," Jax said ruefully looking down at his shoes.

"When did you know it was me?" she demanded.

"From the moment I saw you. Different hair color. Same body."

"I thought you recognized me but I wasn't sure, so I thought I'd try to fool you."

"And I decided to let you think I didn't recognize you." He took a lock of dark hair, winding it around his fingers. "Is this the surprise?" She nodded. "I love you no matter you're hair color, but damn I love the hair. It makes you look erotic, exotic and even more beautiful."

Scarlett flushed under the onslaught of compliments.

"There's just so much upkeep with blonde hair and the bleach fries my scalp," she explained. "I thought I'd change my hair back to its original color before my store opens. I never really felt like me as a blonde."

"I'm going to enjoy getting to know the real you," Jax said. "I was going to surprise you by making dinner. I was going to make ribs."

Scarlett looked at him with surprise.

"And what else were you going to make?" she asked skeptically.

"Those green beans sautéed in onions."

"Oh," she moaned softly. "You used the word sautéed. You have no idea how sexy that is."

Jax chuckled.

"I was going to make bread with that cheese-garlic spread in the fridge and have carrot cake for dessert."

"Wow," she said clearly impressed. "You did think this through. I had second thoughts on spaghetti and meatballs. I'm not feeling like pasta so I was going to make meatball subs with a bagged salad and tiramisu cake for dessert, but we could have that tomorrow. I would love for you to cook for me tonight."

"Glad to. Are you going back to the store?"

"No. Are you going back to work?"

"No. Why don't I get the ribs, the salad, green beans and onions. You get the cakes and bread and I'll meet you by the registers."

"We have frozen green beans and onions at home so you only need salad and ribs."

"OK. After all this grocery shopping and putting the ribs in the oven, I'm going to need a nap."

"I'm not tired at all."

"I need the kind of nap that doesn't involve sleep," he said pulling her close. "Gemma's friend Luann just saw us. Let's give her some gossip to give to Gemma," Jax said lowering his head to kiss her briefly on the lips. Luann caught his eye as she was about to leave and he nodded at her. "Let's hurry and get the hell out of here."

Jax figured that by the time he and Scarlett got back to her condo, Gemma would be told the news. Was it wrong to take pleasure in letting Gemma think he was cheating on Scarlett knowing how devastated she'd be when she discovered the truth?

"

Author's Note: This was a chapter I've had in mind almost since the beginning of the story. I needed Scarlett's psycho ex to be dead and Clay to realize that Scarlett isn't his kid and not the girl who saw him kill her mother before that could happen. I'm trying to play readers by getting you to think Jax is looking to cheat on Scarlett because he's worried about her being pregnant and Jax and Scarlett are trying to play each other. Or maybe I played myself by failing on all three levels.