Page 8 of The Quit List
“Sure you are,” Jaxon says in this soothing, pitying tone that one might use to placate a petulant three-year-old.
Keith is not placated. He points from me to Jaxon. “Whatever this little circus is, I’m out!”
“Bye, Keith,” I tell him, feeling genuinely happy for the first time in what feels like days as he flounces towards the exit.
As soon as the intricate oak front doors shut behind Keith (unfortunately not hitting him on the way out), I turn to Jaxon, eyes wide. “Um… Thank you for that.”
“Don’t mention it, soulmate.” Jaxon throws me a wink and I go red.
He then gives me a quick once-over, like he’s checking that I’m okay, and apparently satisfied with what he sees, he removes his big, warm hand from my back and sits in the chair opposite mine without being invited. He swipes a wine glass off the empty table next to us and begins filling it with my wine.
“Please, help yourself,” I say dryly.
“Thank you,” he replies with a smirk, totally unruffled as he takes a sip.
I assess him as he assesses the red wine, taking in his familiar-not-familiar features.
Who the hell is this guy?
“Nice company you keep,” Jaxon adds.
Which is rude. Accurate, maybe. But still rude.
I choose to ignore his taunt, raise a brow at him. “Who are you and how did you know my name?”
“Like I said, I’m Jaxon. Jaxon Grainger. But you can call me Jax.” Call-Me-Jax clocks my confused expression, then jerks a thumb towards the bar along the far wall. “Bartender. Usually found lurking in the back corner. And I know your name because I saw it on your credit card receipt.”
Ah, the bartender. Makes sense that he looks familiar now.
I’m not quite sure why I’ve apparently chosen the Full Moon Bar & Bistro as my go-to date location. Maybe because they have deep-fried brie on the menu (which I obviously looked at online well before date number one). And once I started coming here, it simply never occurred to me to go somewhere else.
I like that I can eliminate an extra worry-factor every time I meet with someone new. I already know where the bathrooms are, what’s on the menu, and what the staff wear so I don’t accidentally dress in a way that I could be mistaken for one of the waitresses (this is based on date number four, which went downhill spectacularly fast after he started hitting on one of the actual waitresses right in front of me).
“Oh.” I turn my head to see the rest of the bar staff watching us with unabashed stares. “Assuming it’s not in your job description to come to the aid of customers on terrible dates?”
“I can honestly say that I’d never seen a truly terrible date until tonight.” Jax lifts his gray eyes to meet mine. “At that point, it wasn’t so much ‘job description’ as much as it was ‘humanitarian obligation.’”
I should feel prickled by this, but something about Jax’s mild expression—the way his tone is jokey but not mocking—makes me smile instead.
“Really?” I blink at him innocently. “I thought Keith was the poster-child for the perfect gentleman.”
“That guy was for sure on the sex offender list.”
I laugh at this, surprised by the sudden, unexpected turn this night has taken. Jaxon is… funny. Like, actually funny. And easy on the eyes. I’m not usually into guys with beards—Dylan was always clean-shaven and smooth-faced. But I gotta say, this guy’s short, neatly-kept beard just adds to his sex-on-legs appearance. “You want me to draw up a little ‘Wanted’ sketch for you to tape to the doors so he never returns?”
Jax takes a glug of his—my—wine, then sets the glass down on the table. “Absolutely, I do. It’s a fundamental part of my job to keep my patrons, both present and future, safe from creeps. Bartender with a cause, over here.”
“My hero,” I joke.
“What made you go out with that guy, anyway? Was it a blind date or something?”
“More like a dating app match gone wrong.”
“And you matched with him because…”
“He had all his teeth and didn’t send me dick pics?”
This draws a laugh from him—deep and throaty and slightly rough, like sandpaper—which, in turn, sets off an unexpected glow of pride, deep in my belly. It’s nice to make someone laugh. Keith didn’t think anything I said was funny.
