Baker’s Law (19 page)

It was good to know she affected him as much as he affected her, because he tempted
her where she hadn’t let herself be tempted before. She hadn’t expected to find a
man who could turn her upside down and inside out to the point she was willing to
give up just about anything to experience it. With Jax, she was afraid she’d met that
match. The few times they’d kissed, and then on the golf course, he’d touched her
and made her lose all rhyme and reason. He caused her to act without thinking and
that was not something she was used to doing. She liked to be in control. Control
was her self-assurance. Jax’s reaction to her was more powerful than being in control.

She kissed up his neck again, then settled on his mouth. Clinging to his open shirt,
she leaned in until they were chest-to-chest. Her nipples rubbed the hairs on his
chest, sent a shiver down her spine at the delicious raspy sensation. Up and down,
back and forth she rubbed.

His hands slid down inside her panties. He shifted slightly, then his fingers found
her wet folds and circled her clit in slow, maddening circles. Marissa broke the kiss
and let her head fall back as tightness built in her.

Jax kissed her neck. His other hand found her breast and teased and tugged at her
already taut nipple.

She tried to rein in the sensation building in her, but it grew too fast and she’d
been reduced to panting as she fisted her hands in Jax’s shirt. She was almost at
the edge when Jax shifted his hand.

“Hey,” she barely eked out before he slid his finger deep inside her and pumped in
and out. Then he added a second finger and stretched her further. She moved her hips
to match the rhythm as she once again crested higher. Then all it took was the barest
touch back to her clit and she shattered.

Jax didn’t give her any time to think. He flipped her onto her back on the sofa and
his mouth crushed down on her. She was boneless, but she managed to reach up and undo
the button on his pants and ease the zipper down. She wasn’t going fast enough, though.
Jax pulled away from her and stood to kick off his shoes and shuck his pants and boxers.
He tossed his shirt away and stood over her beautifully naked.

Marissa could have just laid there and stared at him forever, but he was far too impatient
and grabbed the edges of her panties and had them off her in the barest of moments.
Then he joined her back on the sofa, holding himself above her with one arm.

His turquoise eyes darkened as his gaze skimmed her body. “You have no idea what you
do to me.”

“I think about the same as you do to me.” She ran her tongue across his lower lip.

Jax grabbed one of her legs and draped it over his hip. He moved closer and closer
until the tip of his penis nestled against her. He paused for a moment and pulled
back slightly. “No condom.”

For the first time, a nervous rumbled rolled through her chest. “You mean you didn’t
come over here prepared to ravish me?”

A throaty laughed shook his chest. “I can promise, it’s been on my mind from day one,
but no, I am not quite that prepared.”

Marissa cupped his cheek. “I’m on the pill, but we can stop if you want to.”

Jax’s gaze bore into hers. “I don’t want to stop.” He eased inside her slowly, inch
by glorious inch until he filled her completely.

Marissa sighed, more content than she could ever remember being. She slid her hands
up over his shoulders. She relished the feel of Jax’s skin against hers. There was
a rightness she hadn’t anticipated.

He nipped at her neck, then kissed the spot as he held steady. There he stayed for
a long moment before he rocked his hips into hers, slow and methodical at first, then
pumping harder and faster.

“God, Jax.” Marissa dug her nails into his back, dragged them down to his tight, firm
ass.

He slipped his hand between them and touched her again. She climbed immediately, not
long before she came again. Jax followed soon after. With one final shudder he laid
atop her, as boneless as she. After a few moments, he shifted. His weight wedged up
against the back of the sofa. He had to be uncomfortable. His large body hung off
the end. But Marissa was too mindless to care much.

She snuggled closer to him, let her eyelids droop. She could lay there forever.

The swirling air from the ceiling fan cooled their sweaty bodies. Goose bumps broke
out all over the parts of her that Jax didn’t cover. When she gave a shiver, he stirred
from his postcoital snooze. “You cold?”

“A little.”

Very ungracefully, he got up from the sofa, then held out his hand for her. He pulled
her to her feet and gave her a long, searing kiss.

Marissa broke free and stepped back far enough so he couldn’t pull her in for another.
“I need to, um, bathroom. Be right back.” She skirted the far end of the sofa to stay
out of his reach. “If you need to…tidy up, the first door on the right is the guest
bathroom.” She pointed down the short hallway.

She didn’t give him time to comment, but hurried up the stairs to her bedroom. She
rushed around the small bathroom and cleaned herself up. She had no regrets, but the
self-consciousness she hadn’t had earlier crept in and bit her squarely on the ass.
Not that Jax made her feel anything less than special. Hell, he’d given her the confidence
to initiate everything that had happened.

She grabbed another nightshirt from her dresser and slipped it on along with another
pair of panties. And for good measure, she pulled on an old pair of yoga pants. As
she reached for her door, the toilet downstairs flushed, and the sink came on. She
stood at the top of the stairs for a moment and gave him time to finish up his…tidying.

She reached the bottom of the stairs at the same instant Jax exited the bathroom.
He frowned, then waved his cell. “Did you ever look to see who was calling you?”

“No. Why?” She hurried past him to snatch up her cell from the coffee table.

“I just got a message from the station that the fire department was called out to
your shop.”

A chill snaked down her spine. Her shop? Hill?

Jax came up behind her and set his hand at the small of her back. The warmth was much
appreciated. And needed.

The euphoria from spectacular sex with Jax faded as a knot formed in her stomach.
She thumbed open her phone. There were three missed calls from Hill and two from a
number she didn’t recognize. Instead of listening to the messages, she immediately
called Hill.

Hill answered after the first ring. “I’ve been trying to reach you.”

“Sorry, I didn’t hear my phone.” She steadied her breath. “Are you okay?”

“There was a fire.”

“In the shop?”

“No, back behind. In the Dumpster.”

“Are you okay?” she asked again. He hadn’t answered her the first time.

“For the most part.”

Her stomach bottomed out. “What does that mean?”

“It’s no big deal.” His deep voice held no emotion, gave no clue as to what “no big
deal” entailed.

Marissa ran her shaking hand across her mouth. “Is the fire department still there?”

“Yes.”

“I’m on my way.” She ended the call and turned in a tight circle as she tried to focus
her brain on what she needed to do. “Keys. Keys.” She patted her pockets, but she
was wearing yoga pants, not the jeans she’d worn to work that day.

Jax grabbed her shoulders and stopped her. “I’ll drive you. You’re in no shape to
get behind the wheel.”

She wanted to argue but he was right.

“Why don’t you go grab a sweater? And some shoes.”

She nodded like a five-year-old being told what to do. When she returned to the living
room, Jax held her purse and her keys.

“These were sitting on your kitchen table.”

Marissa left out a slow breath. Right where she’d left them when she came in. “Thanks.”

She didn’t remember the drive to the shop, but the next thing she knew Jax had parked
his big truck next to a fire engine with its lights ablaze. Before they even got out,
a man approached them. He shook hands with Jax the moment he stepped from the truck.
She couldn’t hear what they were saying and frankly at the moment she didn’t care.
She wanted to get a look at Hill and make sure he was okay and then assess any damage
to the shop.

She scanned the small crowd. There were more people out on the street than she might
have expected for so late after all the stores were closed. Finally, at the corner
of the building, at the back of an ambulance, she spotted Hill talking to two paramedics.

When she got closer to the shop a man stepped forward. “Ma’am, you’re going to have
to go back over there.”

“This is mine.” She waved to the building. “I’m Marissa.” She pointed to the pink
letters embossed on the black background. “He’s my…” She pointed at Hill. “He’s mine,
too.”

The man eyed her for a moment, then waved her past. She didn’t hesitate, just ran
over to Hill and grabbed him up in her arms as if he’d been a part of her family from
day one rather than only a couple of weeks. Once she’d all but squeezed the life out
of him, she pushed him to arm’s length and looked him over. He was all in one piece
with the exception of a bandage on his right forearm.

“This doesn’t look like ‘no big deal.’” She motioned to the bandage. “Are you hurt
bad?”

“No ma’am,” one of the paramedics said from behind her.

She turned toward him. His face looked familiar. She was pretty sure he’d been in
the shop before. If her brain wasn’t so befuddled, she’d be able to recall his order
and then maybe his name.

“It’s a minor burn. He has the option of going on to the hospital if he wants to get
it looked at further.”

Marissa glanced up at Hill. His eyes had gone wide and he’d paled slightly. She held
a finger up to the paramedic then pulled Hill aside. “If you feel like you need to
go, I will pay for it. Don’t worry about the cost.” She stroked his other arm to soothe
him.

“It’s not that bad.”

Marissa held his gaze for a long moment to gauge if he was just putting up his bravado
or if he was okay. If he was hurt, she didn’t think he’d be able to hide it so well.
“Tell you what, I can take you up to one of the urgent care clinics tomorrow if you
think it needs some attention. How about that?”

Hill nodded and if anything looked relieved.

“I think we’re good,” she told Toby. She’d finally gotten a good look at his name
tag.

He asked her a few questions—she gave her address and phone number when they pressed
for Hill’s—and typed them into his little computer. When Toby and his partner left
she had a moment alone with Hill.

“What happened?”

“I was working on my calculus homework at your desk and I smelled something funky.
At first I thought maybe we’d left an oven on so I checked them all.” He glanced over
at Jax and the men from Station Four who were standing next to the fire engine. “I
started to forget about it but the smell had gotten stronger. I thought maybe another
business was on fire so I went out the back to check and I found the Dumpster on fire.”

“And your arm?”

He shrugged. “I tried to put it out.”

A frown and a smile warred in her face. “All by yourself?” So typical of Hill. There’s
a problem, he fixes it. Something needs to be taken care of, he does it. She shouldn’t
have expected any less from him.

Before she could say anything else to Hill, Jax and a fireman came over.

“Marissa, I’m gonna need to interview Hill about the fire.”

She frowned and stepped between Hill and Jax. “What?”

“It’s standard procedure,” he said almost apologetically.

He pulled Hill aside and the fireman steered her toward the back of the shop. “The
damage was contained to the Dumpster. Your shop may have a little smoke, but no water
damage.

“Thank you. Can you tell what started it?”

“Not at this moment, but an investigator will be out to look it over.”

“Can you guess?”

He eyed her for a long moment. “Typically fires like this are teenagers acting like…teenagers.”
He glanced to the front of the building.

“Hill didn’t do this.”

His gaze cut back to hers. “I didn’t say—”

“Is there anything else?” she crossed her arms over her chest.

“No ma’am.”

Marissa nodded and grabbed the handle of her back door. She left the fireman standing
there and went into the back of her shop. A smoky odor hung in the air in the back,
but it wasn’t, thankfully, horrible. She walked through the shop and sniffed her way
up to the front. The smell was much fainter around the seating area. In the morning,
she should be able to leave the front door open, bring in some fresh air and make
it unnoticeable.

From the front window she spotted Hill and Jax talking. Hill stood with his back and
shoulders ramrod straight. Jax had a little notebook in hand and took notes as they
spoke.

Her mind was running in twenty different directions. Her chest tightened and her shoulders
tensed. She pulled out a stool and sat down to take a few deep breaths. Nausea rolled
her stomach. She crossed her arms in front of her on the table and laid her head down
trying to control…anything. Even if that was only her breathing.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat with her head down on her arms, but someone set a
hand on her shoulder. “Marissa?”

She picked up her head to find both Hill and Jax staring down at her. Both frowned.
Jax pushed Hill to the side and moved in closer. “You okay?” Jax cupped her chin and
tilted her face up to his. “You don’t look so good.”

“You flatter me so.” She rolled her eyes but didn’t try to pull free. “I’m fine. I
just got as little…overwhelmed for a moment.” She sat up and his hand fell away. “Is
everything done?” She waved toward the window where a fire truck sat.

“They’re done.”

“And you?” She nodded to the notebook in his hand.

“Paul—”

“Hill,” Marissa and Hill said in unison.

“Hill,” he corrected himself, “answered all my questions.”