Page 183 of One Good Crash

"You want the whole story?"

Wordlessly, I nodded.

"That night," he began, "I'm sitting in Jaden's car, waiting at one of our warehouses for him to catch up, and I see this limo fly by and then veer off to the side. The thing screeches to a stop, and the back door opens. A split-second later, I see the most beautiful girl bolt out, like she's making a break for it."

Listening, I felt a rush of heat, but I couldn't tell if it was due to embarrassment or something in his voice, something incredibly tender. Whatever it was, it was making me feel warm all over.

Jax continued. "And this girl, she looks scared, and I'm thinking, I don't want her to be scared. And I sure as hell don't want anything bad to happen. And I'm just about to head over there when I see the driver's door fly open."

I blinked. "Did it really?Ididn't see it."

"Yeah, because you were looking the other way. But the driver leans out, and something in his look, well, I didn't like it."

I didn't like the look either. Oh sure, I hadn't seen itthattime, but Ihadseen his expression in the rear-view mirror when I'd slid aside the glass to tell him that I was about to be sick.

He'd been annoyed, and not just a little.

Now, Jax was saying, "But I'm a long ways off, on foot anyway."

Listening to him, I was utterly mesmerized. I knew how the story ended, but the beginning was something new. When he said nothing more, I asked, "So, what did you do?"

"You saw what I did." He gave me a rueful smile. "I floored it."

At the simple explanation, I almost laughed out loud. I couldn’t resist teasing him, at least a little. "You were awful close."

"To you? Nah. Sure, I cut it closer than I liked, but I'll tell you one thing, the driver was back inside before he knew what hit him." Jax paused. "Or, almost hit him, if you wanna get technical."

Now, I did laugh. But the laughter didn't last, because I suddenly recalled what happened afterward. "But then you crashed. I felt so bad. I still do." I searched his gaze. "And you could've been hurt."

"Nah. I was ready. 'Cause like I said, it was no accident."

"So what are you saying? You crashed on purpose? Why would you do that?"

"Why not?" he said. "It worked, right?"

"But the car—"

"…is just a car," he said. "And we owned the van, so…" He gave a loose shrug and didn't bother finishing the sentence.

I tried to think. "But when you came up to talk to us, you were so calm."

"Yeah, because I didn't want to scare you. And you want the truth?"

I felt myself nod.

"You were so fucking beautiful, it took my breath away."

I smiled. It was such a lovely thing to say, and I reallydidappreciate it. And yet, I couldn’t help but recall what Morgan had told me on his front doorstep. "Thanks. That's really nice, but…"

"But what?"

I forced a laugh. "Well, I’m no pediatrician."

"And that matters, why?"

"Well, I know that you like women who are…" I made little air quotes. "…'accomplished', I guess."

"And you're not?"