Page 30 of Beach Bum Billion-Heiress
"Mission accomplished, babe. I'm surprised." I stopped moving, waiting for her to realize this couldn't be fixed with a quick fuck against my wall.
Her hands quit pulling and her eyes lost their frenzied haze. She dropped her head and pressed a kiss to my chest.
"I'm sorry," she whispered into my skin.
I pulled her head back up by her soft hair, the lust flaring back to life in her eyes.
"I know. Let's talk about this later, okay?" I placed a quick kiss on her lips and then let her slide down to the floor. She gave one last regretful look to the only part of my body still completely happy with her and oblivious to the tension between us.
I think we'd just had our first fight and we weren't even officially dating. Yet.
* * *
By the time I made it downstairs appropriately dressed for the community event that was happening in my parking lot, the walls to the building had been power washed and the doors and windows taped off.
A dozen familiar faces greeted me as they bustled around working on various projects. One lady even handed me a donut before she snapped on some gloves and started cleaning out the weeds and trash from the parking lot. Everywhere I looked, there were happy faces, like repairs and clean-up were the ideal thing to do on an early Sunday morning.
Esa and her gaggle of girls pulled up and added a layer of chaos that seemed fitting. Not quite sure how the Beach Squad got involved with Sage, I left them alone, needing some time to cool off about Sage going behind my back. I had no idea what was going on or how I felt about it, but I had to admit, the place did need some work. I'd been planning to tackle quite a few of these items soon, but I was waiting to save just a bit more money. To have the community I'd grown up in come out and help me on their own dime was a weird mix of wonderful and embarrassing.
The mayor came by with a couple huge buckets of paint, letting me know with a pat on the shoulder that they'd been donated by the local hardware store. I must have looked a little shell-shocked since he pulled me aside once the buckets were unloaded from his truck.
"You got a hell of a girl there, Jax." His bushy eyebrows waggled and I wondered just what he thought Sage was to me.
"Um, yes sir, Sage is impressive, for sure."
"You know, I helped your Dad when he built The Surf Shack years ago. We were just kids then. Had no idea what we were doing. Surprised the whole building didn't just crumble down around us after a few years." He chuckled, shaking his head. "Your Dad was a stubborn son of a bitch. He had a dream to build something to bring this community together. Do you know he brought in more celebrities and surf competitions than any other event or store in HB for decades?"
I shook my head, enjoying hearing stories about my father, even if it poked at the pain that still resided in my chest any time I thought of him. "No, I didn't know that."
"Back then, HB was a tiny little town with no money. Your Dad gave people a reason to visit, to spend money here at other local businesses. You could say the town owes him for his kindness when it was needed the most. Maybe today is just a small way the community can pay him back, even if he's not here to see it himself."
I got another friendly pound on the back and then he was gone, off to supervise the paint job that was starting on the east wall.
I studied the asphalt at my feet, hand running through my hair as I ran through what he'd imparted. Maybe what the mayor said was accurate. Maybe this wasn't a case of charity for the poor son who couldn't keep his father's business afloat. Maybe this was just a community wanting to help out as a form of gratitude. I couldn't stop them now, Sage had made sure that train left the station. Didn't mean I was happy about it, or with Sage for orchestrating this behind my back, but I had to admit, the help did lift some of the weight off my shoulders.
A loud cacophony of voices pierced my thoughts. I looked up to find the Beach Squad girls all hugging Sage, who had just come down from my apartment. They looked like old friends, which was crazy since I knew they'd just met Sage a few days ago. But then again, I'd known Sage not much longer than they had and I'd had her in my bed all night, the taste of her still on my tongue, the sound of her moans permanently recorded in my brain.
I watched her talk to each of them, laughing at their jokes, looking just like one of them. She didn't look like she'd just rolled from my bed, having begged me to give her what she needed. Or having spent the last few days orchestrating a million dollar deal that would make new jobs for the community and raise the property values of everyone in the neighborhood. I wasn't quite sure who she was and that left me feeling oddly adrift.
The woman could work a room, that's for damn sure. She left the girls and had a kind word for every person now working on my shop. They lit up at her praise, loving her already, trusting her immediately. I wanted to do the same, but I'd been burned before. I'd need more than a night in my bed and some pithy praise to trust her fully.
As if she could read my thoughts, she turned her gaze to me, her smile slipping a bit. But my girl was no coward. She squared her shoulders and walked over, her easy gait sexy in all its confidence. I clenched my jaw and resolved to focus on the conversation that needed to be had. If we had any chance of moving forward, we needed to talk more and touch less.
"Can you just yell at me now so we can get that part over with?" She stood a foot away from me, her eyes wary.
I crossed my arms over my chest. "Yell at you? Why would I yell at you, Sage?"
When she frowned, she got this adorable little wrinkle in the middle of her forehead. "Well, for starters, I didn't run this whole building improvement thing by you first. And then once it was set up, I forgot to tell you about it ahead of time. And because my little project interrupted our morning together...?" She trailed off, her eyes darting away from me for a second before coming back.
I nodded slowly. "Yep, those are all really good reasons to be mad. But mostly it's just that you didn't talk to me about this little project of yours before setting it in motion. Do you like it when you father doesn't ask for your opinion on something before doing it? Do you like having your control taken away?"
Her shoulders drooped and her eyes filled with tears. I wanted her to understand why I was upset, but I didn't want her completely demoralized either. What she'd done was nice when it was all said and done, it just should have been run by me first. No need to cry over it.
I took a step forward and tried to pull her into my arms, but she pushed away just far enough that she could look me in the eye.
"Jax, I'm sorry. I hate when my father does that and now I've done it to you. I honestly thought it would be a sweet gesture, but I totally see why you feel the way you do. I won't do it again."
"Okay." I tried to pull her in again, but she pushed away, surprisingly strong for her thin arms.
