ice, then head off.
“My shins hurt,” I complain. “Who knew there are muscles in the shins?”
“Anterior tibialis.”
I purse my lips and look up through my eyelashes as I unlace my skates. “Really? That’s good trivia.”
“Really. You need to stretch. I’ll show you.”
With his shoes on, he demonstrates. “Toe drag stretch.”
I follow what he does, feeling the stretch. “Thanks.”
We walk out. “Where to now?” he asks. “You done shopping?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go for a drive.”
We end up at a lighthouse. It’s breathtakingly beautiful, sitting atop the cliffs. The lighthouse isn’t open, but we wander around and explore the views of the ocean from up here. Then we stop at a Starbucks for coffees and head back to the hotel to get ready for our dinner out.
“Where are we going tonight?” I ask. “Will I be okay if I wear jeans?”
“It doesn’t matter what you wear.”
“Yes, it does.” I roll my eyes and teasingly say, “Men.”
He laughs. “Let me check. Everly sent me the name of the place.” He pulls out his phone. “It’s called Coastal Kitchen.” He swipes and taps, then shows me his phone with the website of the restaurant.
“Okay.” I nod, satisfied that it’s not some swanky place in Hollywood, or something.
“JP and Taylor live in Long Beach, so she was trying to find something in between there and Santa Monica.”
In our room, the light is blinking on the phone with a message. I point it out to Jax, who picks up the receiver and listens. He hangs up and looks at me. “The resort has some room openings. We can get you your own room now.”
“Oh.” As weird as it was at first sharing a room with Jax, we’ve kind of settled in. Mostly. The last two nights I’ve been intensely aware of him sleeping only inches away from me in that bed. Yes, it’s a big bed, but he’s a big man and takes up a lot of space.
There’s also the issue of money. I had no idea he was staying a resort this expensive when I impulsively begged to tag along with him. There’s no way I can pay five hundred dollars a night for the next…I mentally count…six nights. Holy shit.
“I’ll call the desk and see what’s available.” Jax picks up the phone again.
I sit at the small round table and wait, nibbling my bottom lip, listening to Jax. Eventually, he ends the conversation and hangs up.
I clear my throat. “So?”
“We’re going to move tonight.”
I blink. “What? We?”
“Yeah.” He rises and stretches. “The rooms are expensive here, but they have a suite that has a separate bedroom and a sofa bed in the living room.”
I swallow. “I’ll pay for half of it.”
“Phhhht. No, you won’t.”
“No, really, Jax. I don’t want to cost you more money.” I jump up and twist my fingers together. “It’s bad enough I made you bring me and we had to share this room the last few nights.”
“It’s not a big deal, Flynn. Pack your things while I go to the front desk and get the keys.”
I sink back down into the chair, my chin dipping. Shit. My chest tightens. I’m sure the suites are a thousand dollars a night, which doesn’t save me any money at all if I pay half. And I can’t let him spend that much money. I lift my head. “Let’s just stay here,” I say firmly. “This is working fine.”
He cocks his head and scrutinizes me. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah! It’s fine, right? And it’s a pain packing up and moving.”
“Yeah,” he says slowly. “It’s fine.”
11
Jax
I’m only doing it to save Molly money. I know she’s not enthusiastic about spending so much. I’d have no problem springing for a suite so we could each have a bed in separate rooms, but I also see she feels guilty about that. So we’ll stay put. It’s no big deal.
She spends a long time in the bathroom getting ready. I hope she’s not upset. When she finally emerges, her eyes are a bit pink and bright, confirming my suspicions. I guess I could say it serves her right for insisting on coming with me, but damn, I don’t want her to be sad. She’s got enough problems, with a lying, cheating fiancé.
Other than that, she looks amazing—jeans that show off her fantastic ass and long legs, a sexy, lacy cami and a loose cardigan over it. Her bright hair’s the usual mess of shoulder-length waves, her lips shiny. “Ready!”
I changed while she was in there, so I’m ready too, also wearing