"Me?"
"What do you want to do, Sadie? It isn't about your job; it is about mine. If you don't go back, I could lose mine for taking your spot. I think he has already picked up on my protecting you. If you go or not, your job is secure...for now." I sighed and reached for the tray holding the dessert. I wouldn't jeopardize someone else's job to help myself out. "I'l do it." Without another word, I headed back down the hal al by myself.
Once I entered, steel blue eyes met mine and he smiled. "Ah, so he did let you come alone. I wondered if I would be seeing him instead." I didn't want to smile at his comment but I did. I sat his dessert down in front of him and took my place. "Do you speak?" he asked.
"Yes." Marcus had spoken for me al night. "We don't normal y have young female employees. How did you get through Mary?" "I am mature for my age." He only nodded and took a bite of some sort of chocolate cake with more chocolate oozing out of the inside. After he chewed and swal owed, he looked back at me. I turned to stare out the window at the waves crashing against the shore.
"How old are you?"
"Seventeen." I hoped my simple reply would end his interrogation.
"How did you know I lived here?" His question caught me off guard and I met his gaze. "It is hard to miss the photos of you as I dust and mop." He frowned. "You applied for this job not knowing I lived here?" I realized he assumed a fan squeezed through the cracks of his security and he wanted to know how I did it.
"My mother has been cleaning here for two months. However, her pregnancy has progressed and she sent me in her place. I proved my worth, and Ms. Mary kept me. My being here has nothing to do with you, sir, but has everything to do with the fact I want to eat and pay the rent." I knew I sounded annoyed, but I was annoyed, and I couldn't help it.
He nodded and stood up. "I am sorry. When I saw you, and you were young and wel ...attractive, I thought the only reason someone like you would be working here would be to get close to me. I deal with females quite a bit, and my assuming you were working here to get near me wasn't fair. Please forgive me." I swallowed the lump in my throat. I felt this job slipping out of my hands, but I would not cry. "I understand," I managed to get out.
A boyish smile tugged at his lips, and he nodded his head toward the door. "I guess I should have figured you were taken by the possessiveness of the other server tonight. I stared at you more than I should have, but I kept waiting for you to ask for my autograph or slip your number to me on a napkin." I raised my eyebrows in surprise.
He shrugged. "Those things are a way of life for me. I just expect it." I smiled back at him this time. He wasn't as bad as I'd made him out to be. He wasn't about to fire me. "I am here to do my job, sir, and nothing more." "Do me a favor and don't cal me 'sir.' I am just two years older than you." I took the plate, careful not to touch his hands, and stepped back. "Okay," I replied, hoping I could leave.
"So, is he your boyfriend?" He caught me off guard with his question, and I halted in my tracks.
"Who? Marcus?" A crooked grin appeared on his face. He was hard not to stare at. "If Marcus is the guy who seemed quite determined to make sure you made no mistakes tonight, then yes."
"No, he is...he is a friend." It was strange saying those words. I'd never cal ed anyone a friend in my life. Jax smiled and leaned down to whisper close to my ear. "I hope someday soon you wil consider me a friend as wel . I don't have very many of those." My face grew hot, and my skin tingled at his nearness. His warm breath on my skin made it hard to form words. I swal owed hard, trying to focus on his comment and not swooning at his feet like some crazy lunatic. "I only have one," I blurted out like an idiot.
Jax frowned. "I find that hard to believe" I shrugged. "I don't have time for friends." Jax stepped forward, opened the door for me, and smiled. "Wel , I hope we can find some time in your busy schedule because I happen to be in need of a friend myself.... Someone who doesn't care who I am.... Someone who doesn't laugh at my jokes when they're not funny. If I'm not mistaken, you could care less about the fact I am on the cover of Rol ing Stone magazine this month, and on the bedroom wal s of every teenage girl in America." His comment seemed to ease my momentary lapse of common sense from his nearness, and I shook my head. "Not every teenage girl in America. You have never been on my walls. So, I guess you're right, I don't care." I walked away, leaving him standing behind me.
Chapter Three
Marcus waited on me in the kitchen, drinking sweet tea and talking to Ms. Mary. He stood when he saw me. "Well, how did it go?"
"He thought I was a fan who slid through the cracks and wanted to know how I did it. I informed him I had replaced my mother because of her pregnancy, I wasn't a fan, and I didn't realize this house belonged to him when I took the job." Marcus frowned. "How did he take your explanation?"
"I don't think there will be any problem now he knows I am not a crazy fan about to slip him my number on a dinner napkin. I doubt he notices my existence from now on." Marcus raised his eyebrows as if he didn't believe me.
Ms. Mary walked forward and took the tray from my hands. "Good, I knew you were going to work out just fine. Now, go change out of your uniform and head on home. You won't be expected in until seven in the morning."
I hurried to the laundry room to change. Once I changed back into my own clothing, I headed for the door. Ms. Mary hummed while she cleaned, and Marcus stood leaning against the door waiting.
"It's late, did you drive or walk?" he asked when I got to the door. "I rode my bike." He opened the door, and we walked out into the night together. "Let me put it in the bed of my truck and take you home." He genuinely seemed worried about me.
"Okay, thank you."
* * * *
Once we were both in the truck, I relaxed and leaned back on his worn leather seats. "So, how long have you worked at the Stone Mansion?" He looked over at me. "I just started last summer. I only work summers here. I'm a local, but I am currently attending the University of Alabama. This is a summer job for me."
"It's obviously just a summer job for me too. I will begin my senior year this fall. We just moved here from Tennessee." We sat in silence for a few minutes, and I watched out the window as families walked down the sidewalks still in their beach clothing. I'd never seen the beach before we moved here. I couldn't help but be fascinated catching glimpses of the waves crashing on the sandy shore.
"You seem so much older than a senior in high school. In fact, you're more mature than most girls I go to school with." I smiled to myself, If he only knew. But tonight wasn't the night to unload my life on someone who just might turn out to be a real friend. "I know. I have always been an old woman in a kid's body. It drives my mother crazy."
"I wouldn't call you an old woman, just more mature than the average seventeen year old girl." The normal teenage girls laughed and flirted on the side of the streets. Summer romance wasn't something I understood, but apparently it was a very big thing around here. The girls here referred to the tourists as the summer boys. I didn't real y get it or understand it, but then again I wasn't normal.
Marcus turned to me. "Did I hurt your feelings? I didn't mean to if I did. It was a compliment, real y. I get tired of the silliness and shallowness of girls. You're like a breath of fresh air." I turned my head back in his direction and smiled. He really was a nice guy. I wished my insides got al warm and tingly when he stared at me, but apparently my body only reserved that response for teen rock stars, and the thought I might be shallow made me feel sick inside.
"Thank you, I have never been complimented on my strange personality before." He frowned and shook his head. "I wouldn't call you strange...more refreshingly unique." I laughed at his attempt to make it sound better.