Chapter 4
Jolie
Things are awkward and uncomfortable, but I need this job. I’ve been without work for far too long and my landlord already told me to have my stuff out of there tonight. If Erica knew, she would want me to come stay with her, but I won’t. Of course Tucker refuses to help—I’m no longer his problem. And my parents have no clue how bad things are for me.
I was horrified last night to discover that Dax and I had once again crossed paths. At the same time, I felt so happy to see him. He is so different, completely different from the guy just fifteen years before. My eyes flit over to him as he drives us to the restaurant. He scowls as he drives easily through the streets. His tattooed hands clutch the steering wheel tightly. I am completely mesmerized at his beautifully colored body. Thoughts from last night come to mind and I clench my thighs together.
I see his eyes glance over at my bare thighs that are further exposed sitting in his low car. Knowing he’s looking at me has my heart pounding furiously. Thankfully, he pulls into the restaurant before I do something regrettable—like touch myself. He’s like a magnet to me. I’ll never be able to fight against the pull he has over me.
“Mexican?” I ask softly. His eyes meet mine and for a brief moment, his guard is down. He’s Dax. Not Slate. He smiles shyly at me.
“It’s still your favorite, right?” he asks.
“Still is,” I agree. He winks at me before getting out of the car and I want to melt in my seat. Maybe we can try to work through this. But my heart sinks when I get out and he’s back to his usual angry self.
“We need to hurry, I have a client at two.” He storms off ahead of me and is in the restaurant while I quickly follow after him. Once we’re seated and have ordered our food, we sit awkwardly in silence as we eat our chips and queso.
“Erica’s tattoo looks really great. You’re good at what you do,” I say trying to break the silence up some. My heart melts some more when I see the familiar twinkle in them, but he steels his demeanor again as he says his next words.
“Thanks to you for sending me to prison. I learned everything I know from a guy named Squid,” he bites out at me.
My eyes fill with tears, but it’s not at his nasty remark. It’s what’s past him. Stabbing pains possess my heart as I watch a woman walk by. She’s carrying a newborn infant and my brain is heading for meltdown mode. Frantically, I dig through my purse while never peeling my eyes from the baby. When my hands find the cool surface of my compact, I shakily pop it open and dump a handful of the pills into my palm. I’m trying to make sense of how many I should take when I’m assaulted by Dax’s nearness as he scoots into the booth beside me and grabs a hold of my hand.
“Jolie, what are you doing?” he asks gently, almost concerned.
My eyes frantically search for the woman and when I don’t see her, I shake madly. I try to pull my hand from his grasp, but he holds tightly.
“I need my pills,” I manage to choke out.
“I get that. What are they for? How many are you supposed to have?” he asks, still gripping my hand.
“When I have an episode, I’m to take two,” I whisper as I feel tears streaming down my cheeks. He frowns, but plucks two pills from the case. Setting them in my palm, he closes the case and slides it back in my purse. My hands are still shaking, so he brings my soda to me and guides the straw to my lips. I set the pills on my tongue and sip them down with my drink. Closing my eyes, I try to block out the pain. The greatest pain I’ve ever known.
“Do you know them?” he asks quietly.
With my eyes still closed, I shake my head no. His hand rests on my thigh and I snap my eyes open.
“Why the meltdown, Jolie?” The concerned look in his eyes breaks my heart. I don’t deserve his compassion.
“It’s nothing,” I try. His hand squeezes my thigh and I shiver.
“Baby girl, it’s something,” he says. The fact that he’s called me baby girl again only adds to my heartache. Sighing, I resign myself to tell him. Only Tucker knows what happened and he wasn’t exactly comforting. In fact, he put a final nail in the coffin by serving me with divorce papers.
“Six months ago, I lost my—” I choke out. He squeezes my thigh once again to urge me to finish. “I lost my baby. It hurts to see babies, okay. It guts me, Dax.”
“Slate,” he growls, but slides an arm around me and pulls me to him. I melt into the side of his body and try to get lost in his scent. He smells different than I remember but it is still intoxicating nonetheless.
We sit quietly while he holds me until our food arrives. In a surprising move, he kisses my hair but moves out of the booth to go back on the opposite side. I nearly burst into tears again from his loss but fight wildly to contain my hysterics, and instead focus on the delicious aromas of my fajitas.
Lunch was quiet as was the trip to the office supply store. It wasn’t until we pulled back into the parking lot of the shop that the silence was broken. A tow truck was chaining my car up.
“No!” I shriek and scramble out of the car before we’ve even rolled to a stop.
“You can’t take my car,” I yell as I swat at the man controlling the chains.
“Lady, you don’t pay your payment, the bank takes it away,” he snaps, annoyed.
I’m about to attack him when two strong arms drag me away. “Let me go! He can’t take my car! You don’t understand!”
“Jolie, calm the fuck down and get back inside. You’re causing a scene!” Dax orders as he drags me away from my car. I try to escape, but his grip is tight as he all but carries me into the shop. He ignores the stares of everyone as he hauls me into his office and slams the door shut.
“Want to tell me what the fuck is going on?” he growls, arms still gripped tightly around me. We both know that the moment he lets me go, I’ll bolt out the door.
“Dax, you don’t understand. I have to be out of my place tonight. After work I was going to load up my clothes and what few belongings I had in my car. I was going to have to sleep in my fucking car and now they took that too!” I screech at him.
While trying to wriggle out of his grasp, I cause us both to stumble to the floor. Scrambling away from him on my hands and knees, I’m halted when he grabs my ankle and yanks me to him, successfully giving me carpet burn along the way. Flipping me over onto my back, he pins me with his large body. When I go to fight him off, he grabs my hands easily in one hand and holds them above my head.
“Jolie, you need to calm the fuck down. You’re losing you’re shit,” he growls and brings his face close to mine. For a minute, I can’t breathe with him invading my senses. He smells good and I know for a fact he tastes good.
“You need me to calm you down?” he asks as he rubs his nose against mine.
I whimper and nod, because I want nothing more than him inside of me in that moment. With amazing skill, he pulls out his wallet from his back pocket and retrieves a condom, all the while holding me with the other hand.
Involuntarily, I raise my hips to him with need. “If I let you go sweet girl, are you going to run away?”
I shake my head no. He releases me so he can undo his pants and pull on a condom. Reaching over, he locks the door before making his way back over to me. With both hands, he pushes my skirt up and slides my panties off. Seconds later, he’s positioned himself over me and teases my entrance with the tip of his cock.
“Fuck me, Slate,” I order. His eyes darken at the use of his nickname and he rewards me by slamming into me. My ass is rubbing across the carpet as he plows into me, but I welcome the burn. Briefly, I think of how nice it would feel for him to slap my ass. Tucker wasn’t into that sort of thing and called me a “freaky bitch” for even suggesting it.
“Stay with me,” he growls and pulls my chin so he can kiss me. When his lips meet mine, I am once again enveloped in all that is him. My orgasm crashes unexpectedly and I ride out the aftershocks until I feel him release his climax.
“God, sweet girl,” he says against my lips. He pecks me quickly before standing to pull up his pants. Tossing me a box of tissues, he exits the office while I lay on the floor wondering just how much more fucked up my life can get.