Page 47 of One Good Crash

And if it wasn't? Well, Istillcouldn’t accept the money. I mean, jeez, his brotheralreadythought I was hooker. Accepting cash for a date seemed the perfect way to prove him right, especially if I fell into Jax's arms, and then into his bed.

But that wasn't going to happen, and not only because he hadn't asked. I wasn't big into one-night standsorjumping into bed with a guy I'd just met.

And this meant what, exactly?

I turned and looked vaguely toward the front door. I couldn’t see it from here, but I did know where it was.

Jax said, "If you think you're leaving, forget it."

"Actually," I admitted, "I don't know what I'm thinking."

"You never answered my question," he said. "What happened?"

"It was just that the party was over and…" I gave a useless shrug. "Well, I had to leave eventually, right?"

He studied my face. "There's something you're not telling me."

There was a lot I wasn't telling him. But unless I was ready to dump a bucketful of problems on his doorstep, I was determined to keep it that way. Lamely, I murmured, "It's just late. That's all."

"You're right," he said. "It is. So why don't you stay here tonight. We'll figure it out tomorrow, okay?"

I bit my lip. It was a really nice thought, and yet, I wasn't quite sure what he was offering me.

When I made no reply, he added, "I've got a guest room."

Relief – and the barest twinge of disappointment – coursed through me. I gave a nervous laugh. "Only one, huh? In a place like this? I'm surprised you don't have ten."

"Yeah, well." He glanced around. "There's not ten. But you're right, there's a few."

Stalling, I asked, "How many is a few?"

"If you want, I'll give you a tour." He smiled. "Tomorrow." And with that, he reached for my hand and gently tugged me from the chair. The blanket fell onto the floor, and I glanced back, wondering if I should fold it up or something.

After all, it felt pretty rude not to.

"Leave it," Jax said. "The cleaning crew will get it tomorrow."

"But—"

"And," he said, "there's fresh blankets in the bedroom. Now c'mon."

Chapter 20

He was right. Therewerefresh blankets, along with a queen size bed, a private bathroom, and huge windows that faced the rear of the house.

In the bathroom, I found fresh towels along with a basket of toiletries. The way it looked, the room had been pre-stocked with anything a surprise guest might need, well, except for clothes.

And Jax solved that problem, too.

After showing me to the room, he told me that he'd be returning in a few minutes with some clothes that I could borrow. True to his word, he returned five minutes later with a neat stack of folded clothing.

Burning with new embarrassment, I took the stack from his hands and thanked him yet again.

"Not a problem," he said. "If there's anything you need, just holler, alright?"

It was a funny thing to say, because with the size of the house, I probably would need to holler. And loudly, too. For all I knew, he'd be on a different floor entirely.

"Actually," I said, "I really do need my phone. You said it's here in the house?"