Honestly, with the way her naked body felt next to mine, I had to agree with her, but that also didn’t change my mind. “I know. It’s so very noble of you. I will be sure to make it up to you later.” I added in a wink that I was sure wasn’t anywhere near as sexy as hers for good measure.
Jax blushed again.That’s definitely new.I had never known Jax to get embarrassed, especially with women. It was empowering knowing thatIwas the one who had caused it to happen. It made me even more convinced that these feelings probably weren’t one-sided.Be patient, I reminded myself once again. If I was going to spill my heart to Jax, I wanted to make sure the chances of her breaking it were as close to zero as possible.
Jax recovered quickly and wiggled her eyebrows at me. “I can’t wait to find out what that means.” She held her hand out toward me. “But for now, we need to go check on our son.”
Definitely amnotgoing to overthink the fact that she called him our son. Nope. No big deal.
I took Jax's hand and followed her out of the room. She held onto mine tightly until we came to the stairs. Even thoughI figured it would happen, it didn’t stop the stab of sadness that hit my heart at the loss of her touch and the reminder that this wasn’t real. At least, not yet.
As soon as we made it downstairs, we found Speck in the kitchen with Jax’s parents. Right when he saw us, he got up from where he was lying in between her parents’ legs and ran over to us. I knelt down and immediately began to pet him, relief rushing through me that Jax was correct.
When I stood back up, both Bobby and Joy were smiling over at me. Bobby looked down at his watch and back at us. “I hope you girls can get ready fast. We’re already running behind, because you slept in.”
“Late night?” Joy asked.
Even though I knew she didn’t mean it in the same way I was taking it, I couldn’t stop my face from turning red. “Jax convinced me to go swimming with her. Your indoor pool is gorgeous, by the way.”
Shit. Did I just say too much? Were Jax’s parents going to figure out what happened between us?
Jax put an arm around me and pinched my side before letting her arm drop back down to her side. She had definitely just read me like a book. From the way she was looking at me, I could see in her eyes that I had nothing to worry about.
“Thank you,” Joy said, her smile never wavering. “I’m glad you two went in. It definitely doesn’t get enough attention now that Jax doesn’t live here anymore. We went from having dozens of kids over every weekend enjoying our pools to nothing. I’m so happy you’re here.”
Just like Jax, both of her parents had a way of making someone feel special. When they said things, it was easy to believe that they meant them. I already felt comfortable around them even after just meeting them for the first time the night before.
“And sorry about sleeping in.” I pointed at myself. “That was my fault. I’m not used to a ton of physical activity, and after swimming, I was exhausted.”
Jax snorted out a laugh beside me, and I smacked her playfully in return. They might not have figured it out yet, but I didn’t want Jax to give away that we were doing much more than swimming.
Joy narrowed her eyes at her daughter, but the smile remained on her face. “Be nice.”
Bobby laughed. “Yeah, not everyone was born with more energy than they know what to do with.”
Jax put her hands in the air and took a few steps back. “Fine. You’re right. I’m just worried that if last night tired out Carter, I don’t know how she’ll handle all of theactivitieswe have planned for today.”
I swore I could feel the blood moving through my veins from the excitement of this conversation. There was something exhilarating about having this secret conversation in front of Jax’s parents. “Don’t worry. I’ll be just fine. I won’t haveanytrouble completingallof the activities you have planned for me.”
My heart raced and my center throbbed as I thought about said activities. If the look on Jax’s face was anything to go by, she felt the exact same way.
“We better go get ready,” she said, a squeak to her voice that her parents might have missed but I certainly didn’t.
She practically ran out of the kitchen, and I followed closely behind her. She didn’t say another word until we were back in her room with the door shut behind us. She pushed me against it in the same way she had last night and kissed me hard. She shoved her tongue into my mouth as if she was desperate for air and this was the only way for her to get it. I let myself give in to the kiss and pulled Jax closer as my tongue collided with her.
When she pulled away, her chest was rising and falling rapidly and there was a fire in her eyes. “Who the hell are you?” she asked breathlessly.
I knew the smile that spread across my face was different than my usual smile. I could feel the confidence, bordering cockiness, to it. How could I not smile that way? I had surprised Jax in a way I never thought possible.
I put my hands on her waist and held her up against me. “That depends. Do you like it?”
Jax bobbed her head up and down. “I fucking love it.”
“In that case,” I pushed Jax away slightly and held my hand out toward her. “I’m Carter Miller-Cooper. Nice to meet you.”
Jax shook her head, her eyes glued to mine and a wide grin on her face as she did. “You never cease to amaze me, Miss Miller-Cooper.”
*
Somehow, Jax and I were able to keep our hands off of each other long enough to get ready for our ski trip. Even though I was dying to touch her in any way possible, I kept my hands to myself as we rode in the back of her parents’ car to the resort. Luckily, since I was hopeless at skiing, Jax had a lot of excuses to touch me while she patiently tried her best to teach me. By the time we went into the resort to eat lunch, we still hadn’t made it off of the beginner’s slope that was filled with kids much younger than me, but Jax didn’t seem to mind one bit.
