Page 7 of Triple the Danger

“She wants to talk to you,” Rogue grunted at him. “And the other one came along because apparently she thinks I’m going to scare her.”

Jax snickered at that, and ignored the angry glare Rogue sent his way. Instead, he focused on Saylor. “I assume you were hoping it would be a quick fix and then you’d be on your way?” he asked her.

“Yes. Why is it going to take a week, exactly?” she asked, her tone curious but slightly stressed.

“You’ve got an old car here that needs a bit more than just the cooling system looked at,” he explained. “The engine is on its last legs, and there are a handful of smaller issues that need to be addressed. Truthfully, the whole thing needs to be junked. The biggest job will be the engine. I’m your engine guy, but in these older cars, it takes time, and I’ll need to order some parts since we don’t have them all in stock. We have suppliers that can get things to us next day, but then I need to work on it and that takes time.”

“Would it be better to junk it and get a new one?” she asked bluntly.

Jax shrugged. “It could be, but many newer cars aren’t as reliable as the older ones. More electronics to break. You could get another junker, I suppose, but you’ll run into the same problem eventually, and you might not get so lucky next time to land right on a mechanic’s doorstep. Or to deal with one so nice and handsome as myself,” he added with a wink. Esme scoffed behind her, and Razor snickered.

Saylor didn’t seem to notice or care about his attempt at flirtation, and just asked, “Are there any good car lots around for me to check out? I have plans, I don’t know if I can wait around a week.”

There was something in her voice, in that part of her statement, that only added to his certainty that she was running from something. Still, he replied, “There is, but it’s a Friday, and the one in town closes at two, which was half an hour ago. So the soonest you’ll be able to get to one is maybe tomorrow if they decide to open, or Monday if they don’t.”

She looked away from him, contemplating. He could see the wheels turning in her head, trying to decide what to do. Then she said, “I need to make a call,” and headed toward the reception door without looking back. Esme followed her, but the rest of them stayed put.

“Alright, yeah, she’s running from something,” Rogue huffed in irritation as soon as the door shut. Then he looked at Jax and added, “And before you go trying to get your dick wet with her, have Code run a background check. Any shit coming our way, we want to be aware of.”

Being VP, Rogue had the pull to order him around, but Jax shook his head. “If she wants to tell us, then she can. And I’m not looking to wet my anything, I’m just trying to help her out.” Razor and Rogue gave him yeah-right looks, and he flipped them off. “Just because a woman is attractive doesn’t mean my dick pulls at her like a magnet.”

Razor scoffed. “Dude, we both know you’re full of shit. The amount of tail you’ve been with, that argument isn’t flying.”

Jax ignored him and turned to clean up his bench. Until Saylor came back in, he wasn’t working on anything else, so might as well get shit tidied. Most of his brothers didn’t realize how much he needed his space to be clean and well-kept. It was a habit growing up, and some shrink would probably tell him it was his way of keeping his life in order when everything else around him was in constant chaos. As far as he was concerned, he wanted his shit left where it was supposed to be so he could easily find it. He didn’t have OCD, but it irked him when Razor or Rogue took shit from his bench and then put it back in random places. He usually let things go, but on his bad days, he’d tell them to fuck off. Today was a good day, so he just calmly put everything back in its rightful place.

After about ten minutes, and his area cleaned up, Saylor and Esme came back in, and Saylor looked annoyed but resigned. “You said a week?” she asked him curtly.

He arched a brow in surprise at her tone, but nodded. “I’ll order the parts today and get it done by next Friday. The parts should be here tomorrow or Monday at the latest, since they don't deliver on Sunday. And I’ve already cleared it that this job will be the only one I work on. So you might luck out, and I get done faster if things go well.”

“I don’t suppose you could give me an estimate for how much it’ll cost?”

“I can do that now,” he offered, “and Esme can type it all up and give it to you.” Esme nodded when he looked to her for confirmation.

“It looks like I don’t have much choice,” Saylor sighed. “So, yeah, if you can do that, I’d appreciate that.” Then she turned and followed Esme back to the reception area, and he trailed behind her. His gaze dipped down to her ass, taking in the firm globes, and he had to force himself to look away. Damn, he wanted to sink his teeth into her and see what happened.

When they walked into the reception area, he grabbed the pad of paper that Esme handed him and then moved to take the chair beside Saylor and got to work writing. He bit back a smile when he saw her arch a brow and look at him, but he kept working. Normally he liked to sit on the edge of Esme’s desk and do this, but yeah, this was a much better option today. Not to mention, with Esme’s mood earlier, he wouldn’t put it past her to stab him with a pen or something.

No one said anything as he worked, and when he was finally finished, he stood and handed the pad to Esme, then he turned to Saylor. “The safest thing to do is leave your car in the shop until it’s fixed, so I’m afraid you’re going to be without it for a few days.”

She sighed, and he saw her shoulders tighten ever so slightly. He would have missed it if he wasn’t looking straight at her. “Then I guess I better find a hotel to stay at. Are there any close by? Or even a rental car company I could check out, so I’m not stuck in my room the entire time?”

“There’s one at the car dealership, but as I said, they’re closed,” Jax told her with a wry smile. She huffed out an annoyed breath. “I can take you there tomorrow when they’re open, so you’re not stranded.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Saylor argued. “If you just tell me where it is, I can get a cab or walk from whatever hotel I end up at. Which is another thing I need to look at finding.”

“Or, you can stay in the apartment over the warehouse,” Rogue grunted. Jax managed to hide his surprise. Normally that wasn’t offered to anyone outside the brothers, or Royal. “Place is empty, and no one will bother you. Then Jax can take you to find a car and hotel room tomorrow.”

Saylor’s face was one of suspicion. “You either want me close to keep tabs on me, or you’re being far too generous to someone you don’t know,” she finally said, the tone of her voice matching the look on her face.

“They’re big on rescuing women,” Esme butted in, rolling her eyes for dramatic effect, making Saylor turn to look at her. “I was running from my ex, and they all but forced me to hide away here until I was safe. Big hero complexes with this group. They don’t mean anything else, other than they want to offer it and take a bit of the worry off your shoulders, even if it’s just for the night. And they’re right, no one will bother you up there, and then it’s handy for Jax to take you into town tomorrow. If it makes you feel safer, I’m just down the road, along with some other Old Ladies, and we have two female former military badasses around too that will make sure no one messes with you.”

Saylor arched a brow at that. “Something tells me you’re not going to be much help tonight,” she said with a smirk. Esme grinned wickedly and shrugged. Jax wasn’t sure what that was about, but clearly Esme did. Saylor turned and looked back at him, and then at Razor and Rogue for a moment, before finally looking back at Jax once more. He held her gaze, careful to keep his entire demeanor calm and unconcerned. He didn’t want her to feel pressured into anything. If she really wanted to go into town, he’d take her, but the idea of her being closer was a hell of a lot better. Finally, after another few silent seconds, she sighed and said, “You’re sure your President isn’t going to have a problem with me staying here? Especially not knowing who I am?”

“Only if you try to shoot at me like my woman did when I walked through the door,” a deep voice drawled, making everyone turn to see Savage, their President, coming inside. Just like with Rogue, most were intimidated by their six-five leader, who sported pure muscle, dark hair, and a dark stare that could cut a person to the quick. Though that never worked on the women, no matter how much he tried. Jax glanced at Saylor, who was watching Savage cautiously, but she didn’t look all that frightened.

“Do you enter without knocking?” Saylor asked him as she tilted her head back to stare up at him. “I mean, if you do that, it’s kind of your own fault, don’t you think?”

Esme snickered, and Razor outright laughed. Jax grinned, as Savage narrowed his eyes at Saylor. Rogue just sighed and turned away, clearly done with the whole conversation. “You’re going to cause trouble, I can already tell,” Savage predicted, hands going to his hips.

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