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around, which included a couple of pairs of undies. “Uh, Uncle Clyde . . . I got to go.”

      “I mean it, baby girl, he’ll do good by you,” Clyde went on, and his words caused the flutter to return to my chest, more powerful than before. “You hear me?”

      “Yeah,” I whispered. “I hear you.”

      “Good. Call me in the morning. Okay?”

      “Will do.” I hung up and slowly entered the bedroom, my heart skipping around in my chest. I stopped just inside the door. “Jax, what are you doing?”

      “What does it look like?” He righted the mattress. “I doubt this was your idea of rearranging a room.”

      “No, but I can take care of it. You don’t—”

      “I am helping, so don’t argue with me about it.” He bent down and grabbed a sheet, tossing it toward me. “And I’m staying the night.”

      The sheet hit the floor. “What?”

      “I’m staying with you.” He went about fitting the other sheet to the mattress. “I can take the couch.” His thick lashes lifted, and his eyes were back to the warm brown. “Or I can stay in here . . .”

      I had no words.

      He took the other sheet from where it lay in a pile, and I just stood there as he finished the bed and went back to picking up the strewn-about clothes. As he grabbed a handful of colorful, silky items, I snapped out of it.

      I stormed over, snatching my undies out of his hand. “You’re not staying here.”

      “Then you’re coming to stay with me.”

      A minute went by before I could even process that. “I am not staying with you.”

      “And then I’m staying with you.” He started grabbing what was left of my clothes on the floor as I shoved my undies in a drawer. “This house isn’t safe, obviously, especially when you’re opening the door to random thugs—”

      “I’m not going to open the door again!” I shouted.

      Pausing while closing a dresser drawer, he straightened, and as he did so, his lips tipped up at one corner. “What are you wearing?”

      “What?” I glanced down at myself. The shirt was black, with a built-in bra, thank God, because I didn’t want to be all boobalicious, and the sleep shorts were a soft pink. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

      “Nothing.” Grinning, he closed the drawer. “Like the socks. It’s cute. You’re cute.”

      The socks were a blue and pink plaid, and they were cute. “Thanks,” I muttered, distracted by the pleasant buzz invading my thoughts. Which was bad. Very bad. Like very, very bad, because there didn’t need to be any buzzing of anything. I bitch-smacked the buzz into next week. “You’re not staying—”

      “Then you’re coming to my place? Awesome.”

      My temples began to pound. “I’m not going to your place.”

      Jax moved to the foot of the bed, near the mountain of pillows. That was one thing about Mom that never changed. She always had at least five pillows on a bed, and the pillows were never more than a month old. “Are you always so argumentative?”

      I squinted at him. “Are you always so bossy?”

      He cast a grin in my direction. “Honey, you haven’t seen bossy yet.”

      “Yay . . .” I blessed him with some unenthused jazz fingers.

      Smirking, he grabbed two pillows, and then rounded the bed. His long-legged pace carried him right to me, and he stopped only a few inches from my face. “You can tell me not to stay here all you want. Yell. Wiggle your fingers at me. Whatever. It’s not going to change anything because I seriously doubt you can make me leave this house. You get what I’m saying?”

      I felt my eyes widen. Yeah, I got what he was saying, and I didn’t like it, so I wondered if I kicked him in the balls, if that would help him get what I was saying.

      Jax tipped his chin down, and by doing so, his lips were within the same breathing space as mine. In spite of the irritation marching across my skin like an army of fire ants, my heart jumped in my chest. “I know deep down, you get why I’m here and why Clyde isn’t.”

      Uh. Actually, I didn’t. I started to tell him that, but then he went on.

      “I want to make sure you’re safe since you’re staying for . . . however long.” He shifted slightly, tilting his head to the side as he did. A heartbeat passed, and his eyes locked with mine. “And being here by yourself isn’t safe, so I’m going to make it safe for you.”

      A breath pushed out between my now-parted lips. An urge rose out of nowhere. My body wanted to lean into his. Damn. That was the strangest thing ever. Never before had I wanted to lean into a guy. I’d read about the need, but never really believed in it. But it would feel safe to lean on him and to be close. The desire rode me hard, and worse yet, I knew his body would be warm, and it would be hard in all the right and interesting places.

      Oh man, my thoughts were going down the wrong road—the pervy road—but I couldn’t stop it. Jax . . . he was beautiful in a way that seemed impossible, untouchable, and he also had great eyebrows. Seriously. Darker than his wavy hair. Naturally slanted. Striking. They were just eyebrows, but they were hot.

      But it was more than that.

      God Almighty, I might’ve just committed a cardinal sin just by thinking it, but he was like Cam 2.0.

      Because from what I knew about Jax, he was nice, really nice, which made him oh so very dangerous to my mental well-being, but I imagined going crazy for him would be a fun adventure.

      I just knew I probably wouldn’t recover from something like that.

      But I could almost feel his lips on mine. When he’d kissed me earlier, it had been brief and to prove a point, but I could feel them now.

      Something deep and warm stirred in his eyes, and I wondered if he knew what I was thinking. Oh God, I prayed to a chubby baby Jesus that he didn’t. His lashes lowered, and my lips tingled from the weight of his gaze.

      “Yeah, I think you’re starting to get me.” Then he swaggered past me into the living room.

      “I need an adult,” I muttered, slowly turning around to see him by the couch in the living room.

      “Oh, before I forget—”

      “Don’t change the subject!” I stomped my foot and was damn proud of it, too.

      He looked over his shoulder at me, brows raised. “Did you just stomp your foot?”

      Heat crept across my cheeks as I grumbled, “Maybe.”

      Jax’s lips twitched. “Cute.”

      “It’s not cute! And you’re not staying here. And I’m—”

      “And you’re going to give me a ride home tomorrow morning when you head to the bar,” he finished, stopping in front of the couch.

      “I’m not going . . .” My shriek faded off as his words sunk in. “What?”

      “I’m going to need a ride tomorrow,” he repeated, dropping the pillows against one arm of the couch. “I drove your car here. The windshield’s been fixed.”

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