Page 81 of Against the Rules (Harts of Passion 1)

"What, sweetheart?"

She lifted her head. "That was amazing."

" You're amazing."

"You say the sweetest things, Jax. I would never have believed you were capable after the way you talked to me in your office the second time we met."

We readjusted our clothes and ourselves so she was back to sitting sideways on my lap, the blankets forming a personal cocoon. "I'm sorry about that time, Grace. I was a dick. I'm surprised you ever talked to me after that. I don't deserve you."

Her body shook against mine. "I don't think you gave me much choice, tracking me down at my church and getting a dinner invitation out of my mom," she said, clearly amused more than irritated.

I kissed the top of her head

poking out of our covers. "What can I say? I was a desperate man at that point. As for your mom, I can't take credit for that, but I was grateful to have any opportunity to spend with you." She started to speak, but whatever she was going to say was cut short by a giant yawn. "Let's get you back to bed. We should take a nap so we can have wake-up sex again." I pretended to bite her neck, reveling in the knowledge that her shivers had nothing to do with the early morning air, loving her laughter as she squirmed in my arms.

"As great as that sounds, can we put it off for a few more minutes? I want to watch the sun rise with you."

"Anything you want."

As the sky blossomed into an array of pink and orange streaks, I knew that my words carried more than just the promise of today's new start. They carried the promise of a future I'd once never believed in.

28

Grace

"No. Grace, tell me you didn't!"

"I can't believe you served him that!"

"Did he eat it?"

"Oh, my god, I'm going to pee myself!"

I'd just confessed to my sisters and besties what the special dinner was that I'd prepared for Jax during our getaway last weekend. They were the only ones who knew who the friend was in my "weekend-away-with-a-friend"—the story I texted my parents about my absence last weekend.

Jade's face broke out with a wicked grin. "You little devil, you. I never thought you'd actually use them when I snuck them into your bag." She narrowed her eyes at me and tapped her chin. "Maybe I've misjudged you all these years."

"Well," I commented as innocently as I could. "Once I saw them in there it kind of fit my 'cock' au vin dinner. And I might have had a couple of glasses of wine ahead of time which might have fueled my whim."

"I'd love to see what they look like." Angie laughed. "And I'd've given anything to have seen his face!"

Jade popped up from her seat, searched through the ginormous sack she called a handbag she'd left by the front door, and returned with a cellophane bag in her hand, filled with green, red, and white colored pasta and threw it on my coffee table. The other girls pounced like vultures, while I remained in my spot on the floor, giggling into my second glass of wine at their reactions.

"Oh, my god, they do look like tiny penises!" Maggie exclaimed. She tilted her head. "Or creepy clown faces if you look at them upside down." Everyone's head titled along with hers to see if she was right.

"Would that be peni in the plural?" Angie's brow furrowed.

Faith's face turned red, but even she was looking at the bag with a smirk.

"Hold it up to the camera. I want to see!" Laurel's voice demanded from the computer. I snatched up the bag and held it in front of the tiny camera. I longed for the day my sister could be here in person.

Her snort came through loud and clear. "Oh, my gosh, it's like you served him weenie linguine!" Maggie and I cracked our heads as we both fell forward laughing.

"Ow! That would probably hurt a lot more if this wasn't my third glass of wine," she said, giggling as we rubbed our heads.

"Grace, you really cooked those?" Faith's eyes were wide on me.

"I did, as a joke. Jax's face was priceless." I started laughing as memories of his look of admiration when he'd seen the elegant meal morphed into shock and maybe horror when he looked closer at the bowl of pasta.

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