Page 23 of Jax

The little smirk on my lips died, however, as I looked out over the open plains, the land that would all belong to me one day. My heritage. My burden.

Not even a second of silence passed before I felt her fingers tug on the sleeve of my shirt. “Why you lookin’ like that?”

“Like what?”

“You’re all wrinkly here.” Ronnie poked at my forehead, the creases under her fingertip ridged under the light pressure.

I reached up and caught her little hand, my own palm swallowing her thin, tanned fingers, looking at the short stubby nails and dirt beneath them. “You’re not going to be attracting any men with these kinds of hands, Ronnie.”

The little green eyes frowned for just a moment, and we both knew my conversation changer was a blatant attempt to drive her away from that topic. She opened her mouth, and I knew I hadn’t gotten away with it.

“I don’t need to attract any other men…,” Ronnie grumbled, gaze cast to the ground.

I couldn’t help the surprise on my face as I saw her look away, the lightest little blush on her face. She went along with it….

I smiled, feeling that crease between my eyes relax for the first time this evening. My grip tightened on her small palm as I tugged it to me.

“Why, little miss Ronnie,” I drawled. “Is there a fella you have your eye on?”

That little blush turned tomato red as she turned to look me directly in the eye. “No!”

She tugged on her arm, but I only held tighter as she fought against me. “Don’t tease me, Jackson!” she snapped, pushing at my lower back with flailing limbs.

“When you show me a face like that, Ronnie, you know I can’t help myself.”

Ronnie paused, as I admired the little face that was lit up even to her ears and she turned shyly away from me.

This little rebel acting shy?

How cute.

“You wanna tell me his name?”

“Never!” she squeaked, and while I had been distracted, a hard pinch came at my side, and damn if I didn’t drop her like fire.

“Ronnie!” I hissed as the girl scrambled to her feet and launched herself back into the shrubs.

I jumped to my feet.

“You’re gonna regret that!” I bellowed, grabbing my hat and jumping to my feet.

“You’ll have to catch me first,” she squealed through the loud crunching and snapping of twigs.

Trust me. I plan to.

* * *

“This thing is a piece of shit,” Hunter growled from beneath the body of Ronnie’s truck. He was clanking away on the underside while I manned the tools on the rolling stool.

“Probably because it’s older than a dinosaur.” My hand was fiddling with the key to the archaic thing. “It was her mom’s car. Ronnie inherited it when she turned sixteen and has been replacing the broken parts for the last ten years.”

Hunter snorted, his boots pushing him a little further under until he completely disappeared underneath.

He worked in silence as I surveyed the garage Hunter recently purchased. It wasn’t new, that was for sure. The cracked walls, plastered in dust, oil, and paint showed the years of work that had gone into it. There was a slight dent in the metal hangers; one worked, and the other didn’t. The two bays allowed access to concrete slabs with a couple old pieces you’d expect to find a mechanics shop, car lift in need of new electrical wiring, blow torch, tire changer, tool boxes, etc. He was still missing about a dozen other things before this place got operational, but it was a place to start.

In my perusing, I hadn’t noticed Hunter wheel himself back out from under the truck. Not until I felt the steel-capped boot kicking me in the shin.

“Shit, you bastard!” I hissed, rubbing my leg. “That hurt!”

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