13 Cora
Three days later, Cora pulled up to a nondescript condo building on the other side of town, which didn’t look anything like
where she imagined Jax lived. In her mind, he lived in a fancy oceanfront penthouse, decorated in a style that could best
be described as “bachelor pad–chic.”
But this building was nothing like that. For starters, it wasn’t on the beach but across the street from the water. And from
what she could tell, there was no penthouse. There seemed to be modest-sized condos spread out on three floors.
She figured it was still pretty nice and probably had a great ocean view. It just wasn’t what she expected, which seemed par
for the course when it came to Jax. Every time she peeled back one of his layers, she got another surprise.
Still, her first instinct was to double-check the address to make sure she was in the right place. But before she got the
chance, she saw Jax standing in front of the building with a coffee in each hand.
He was wearing exactly what she’d told him to wear for today’s activities: jeans, a T-shirt, running shoes and a baseball
cap.
Okay, she hadn’t told him to wear the baseball cap, but she had to admit he looked good in it. It gave him a playful, boyish
charm that made her feel all fluttery, which was irritating. She didn’t need to feel all fluttery when she was trying to get
this guy to dump her. She didn’t want to feel fluttery at all. Nonsense emotions like that only clouded good judgment. Bianca
was a living testament to that.
Still, he was handsome. And since she couldn’t deny that fact, she stated it to herself and moved on.
He walked over to her car and leaned in the open passenger window.
“Morning, sunshine.” He reached through the window and held out one of the coffees. “Flat white with oat milk, brown sugar
and a dash of cinnamon.”
She kept her gaze locked with his as she took the drink. “How do you know my coffee order?”
He shot her a mysterious smirk that reengaged the flutters. “I have my ways.”
She took a sip as he climbed in the car. It was perhaps the best flat white she’d ever tasted. “Did you have me followed,
or is this part of your logistical consultant, tough-guy stuff?”
He looked amused. “You think I’m a tough guy?”
“No. I think you’re a mediocre baker who needs to practice his dink shot. But you do have what some might consider a tough-guy
job. I mean, if babysitting works of art qualifies as tough.” She took a second sip of her divine drink and had to force herself
not to moan.
“I think I made a pretty good claim for why that job required expertise.” He took a sip of his own coffee. “Looks like you
finally found your lost luggage.” He gestured in the general direction of her outfit.
She looked down at the overalls she’d picked up for this particular event. “Found? Yes. In possession of? No. Its latest stop
on its tour of the US is Dallas, where it is awaiting a new flight after its last one had to make a medical emergency landing.”
She gave a this-is-ridiculous shake of her head.
“It might be faster to drive there and pick it up yourself.”
Cora chuckled. “You’re not wrong. In the meantime, I’m getting to support local business.” She gave her overalls strap a tug
to illustrate.
“Silver linings.” He fastened his seat belt. “So, where are we headed?”
“To do a little manual labor.” She glanced sideways to gauge his reaction. “How are you with power tools?”
“A lot more proficient than I am at returning your serve.” He sipped his own coffee, looking as confident as always.
“Not a high bar there,” she said, then went on with the description of their date.
“We’re building beds. It’s an organization I’ve worked with back at home that provides beds for kids who don’t have one of their own.
There’s a chapter in the next town over that serves this area.
Since I’m in Sunnyside for the month and have some extra time, I thought it would be a great way to give back. ”
“Sounds like a great organization. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of them before.”
“I think this chapter is fairly new, but they already have a lot of requests for beds, and today is the day to build them.”
“Can’t wait.”
Neither could she. Because along with participating in one of her favorite charities, today was the day she was getting Jax
to bolt.
She had to admit, she was surprised the pickleball win and over-focus on work didn’t do the trick, but maybe she had underestimated
his determination to find love. Plus, there was the whole baby bird thing that kind of redeemed the date. It was hard to walk
away angry after looking at adorable animals in their natural habitat. So here she was for Round Three.
Also, she’d decided that admiring adorable animals was strictly forbidden on this date. Or maybe ever again. She needed to
stay focused. She shifted the car into Drive and switched the playlist to her sister’s horrible indie emo rap music. Technically,
bad taste in music wasn’t on the list of why men didn’t hang around, but she figured it couldn’t hurt.
“I know this is still over a week away, but mark off the last week of the month on your calendar. Chris and the girls will
be in town, and we’ll have a lot of activities planned. Basically, we’ll be cramming an entire summer into one week. It’ll
be awesome.”
Awesome seemed overkill, but she needed whatever it took to sell it.
“Who are ‘Chris and the girls’?” Jax asked, confused.
“My sister’s husband.” She shot him a reprimanding look, as if he should’ve remembered every single family member she’d ever
mentioned. And possibly even the ones she hadn’t.
“Of course, Savannah’s husband. And Genevieve and...” He paused as if searching for the right name. “Julia?”
Well, look at that. Someone had been paying attention. “Juliette.”
“Sounds like a big family reunion.” She couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or conversational, because her focus was on
the traffic. Or maybe it was because she was trying to not be sarcastic, which she assumed would be his go-to reaction, too.
“It’ll be a packed week,” she said, hoping to up his anxiety. “Tons to do.”
“And you want me to be part of it?” His question was authentic, almost careful, as if he really wanted to know what his part
was in all of this.
“Of course! We’re dating, so it’s kind of expected, right?” Normally it would take a lot more than two and a half dates for
Cora to classify a relationship as “dating,” and the kind of family commitment she was talking about would be way down the
line. They could’ve been dating a year, and she still wouldn’t be sure he needed to be involved in family events. But that
was beside the point. The point was it would happen eventually. Probably.
“Okay.” There was hesitation in his voice, which was good. That’s what she was going for. “What kind of family fun is on the
agenda?”
“I haven’t seen the official schedule, but I hear Stingray Cove is a must-do. Beach days, of course.” She looked at him. “Family
pickleball tournament. But you’ll be paired with me, so you don’t have to be too concerned about that. Although you might
want to work on your serve.”
“Naturally.” He nodded as if there wasn’t a question about that.
To be fair, he had a nice serve. Under different circumstances, they might’ve had a lot of fun on the pickleball court together.
“And of course, we’ll have to make dinner for everyone one night. It’s our vacation tradition. Everyone cooks.” She gave a
dramatic pause to pretend she was thinking. “Fair warning, my sisters can be a little judgy about food. But that’s okay, you
can cook. Right?” She shot him an accusing glance to punctuate her point.
“I did make a great blueberry pie,” he tossed back playfully.
“That was my mom’s specialty, so don’t go there. It wouldn’t go over well.” Was that a little harsh? Probably. But she was
trying to up the family drama.
And also, blueberry pie at cooking class was one thing. But blueberry pie at the beach house? That was something entirely
more tender. It’s not like she wouldn’t ever go there. But not right now. And certainly not with him.
So maybe she didn’t need to fake all the family drama.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He paused, honestly looking remorseful. “Now I feel extra honored that I got to make blueberry
pie with you. Although I would’ve enjoyed trying your mom’s. She sounds like she was an amazing woman.”
Before she could even help herself, the tenderness in his voice swelled a wave of nostalgia that swept through her, and tears
stung her eyes. “She was.”
For half a second she was lost in a memory of her mom laughing on the deck. Of all the happy moments that happened in that
tiny two-bedroom cottage on the beach. Of a life that seemed to be perfect.
Wait a second.
Did he just make her lose her focus? Oh, he was good. He didn’t get his reputation of town playboy for nothing.
Before she let herself get swept away, she shook off the nostalgia. He might be good, but she was better. And there was way
more at stake here than simply winning a bet. Her baby sister’s heart was on the line.
Okay, fine, a good portion was about winning, but that didn’t make Bianca’s heart thing any less important.
All that to say, it was time to focus on the plan. No more letting herself get distracted by Jax’s hypnotic looks...
Antics. She meant antics .
She adjusted her grip on the steering wheel and refocused her conversation. “While we’re on the subject of topics to avoid,
do not bring up Bianca’s upcoming wedding.” She widened her eyes in a look of horror.
Jax nodded once. “Good to know. Anything else I should avoid?”
“Everything regarding last Christmas.”
“What happened last Christmas?” His tone was genuinely curious.
She shot him some side-eye. “You do not want to know. And if the subject comes up, you should run.”
He laughed, but she kept her serious expression. “I’m not kidding.”
He shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable. “Oh, okay.”
Good. This seemed to be working. “But other than that, you should be fine. I mean, Savannah’s a bit of a wild card. Just know
that she’s judgy and high-strung. Don’t take it personally, that’s just who she is.”
Jax nodded. “Bring my A game in the kitchen. Avoid the taboo topics. Don’t get offended by judgmental sister. I think I can
handle this.”
“But back to the more pressing topic,” she said as they pulled into a gravel parking lot in front of a big warehouse-style
building. The large warehouse doors were opened. Different workstations were set up just outside the warehouse with people
already getting started cutting and drilling. “What was the verdict on you and power tools again?”
“Like I said before, baby. I got this.” Every bit of his Gatsby-style swagger returned. “Let’s go.”
After they checked in and got a quick rundown of the process, they were issued safety gear and assigned a job.
“You two will be working in sanding today,” the lead volunteer told them as he walked them over to one of the outdoor workstations
where long tables held several handheld electric sanders all lined up and ready to go. “It’s one of our most important steps
in the process, but it’s also one of the longest. We sure appreciate the help.”
Sanding also happened to be the loudest station, which was perfect for Cora’s plan. She stuck a foam earplug in one ear and
smiled at the lead volunteer. “We’re happy to do it.”
“Then I’ll leave you to it.” He walked away and left Jax and Cora standing on either side of the table.
She tucked in the other earplug right as Jax’s twinkling eyes looked over the table at her. “Are you ready to see just how smooth I can be?” He held up his sander, hitting the On button to give the machine an extra whirr.
It took all her effort not to laugh. Seriously? This was the guy who caused random flutters? For the record, her heart was
ridiculous.
She pointed to her ears. “I can’t hear you.” Her voice was at least two decibels louder than necessary to exaggerate the action
of the earplugs. Then she pointed to the pile of wooden boards that would eventually make up the headboards of the beds. “We’d
better get to work.”
She powered up her own sander as if to demonstrate. Then she grabbed the first board and got started on the dual project of
sanding headboards and ignoring her date.
For the next thirty minutes she did her best to focus on sanding and to avoid any sort of eye contact with Jax, which was
not as easy as she would’ve thought.
He kept throwing flirty glances in her direction and made comments that were just funny enough to make her want to laugh.
She didn’t, of course. The few times she knew he’d seen her paying attention, she wrinkled her face up and looked at him with
a confused What? expression, then pointed to the earplugs in her ears.
But the truth was, he was funny. And the more time she spent with him, the more she started to realize he wasn’t as arrogant
as she’d thought. He was really kind and incredibly thoughtful.
He worked hard, carefully checking there wasn’t a rough spot where a child might get a splinter. He was friendly to everyone
around him, helping to do this and that. Answering questions. Making friends.
They were about forty-five minutes and three boards into their shift when the lead volunteer walked over to their sanding
table. “We need one person to help work the drill press. Any takers?”
It was the perfect excuse to widen the space between them, which was all part of her master plan. Her hand shot up in the
air instantly. “I can do it!”
“Great. Thanks. Come with me.”
She looked at Jax. “You don’t mind, do you? I’d love to get more experience on some of the other machines, and the drill press
is the one thing I’ve never done when I’ve volunteered back home.”
He smiled. “Not at all, go ahead.”
“You’ll be fine on your own, right?” She passed the board she’d been working on across the table. “And do you mind finishing
this for me?”
“Absolutely. I’ve got Jamie here and the rest of the Honor Club to keep me company.” He nodded at the teenage boy on his other
side wearing a local high school service organization T-shirt.
“Great. You boys have fun. I’ll check on you later.” She gave him a nod, then followed the lead volunteer to the heavy machinery
section on the far side of the outdoor work area.
All in all, things were going according to plan. She had Jax exactly where she wanted him.
Although she had to admit, she was enjoying her time with him a lot more than she’d thought she would. He was...
Well, it didn’t matter. The next step on her plan was watching him walk away. After she learned how to use this massive drill
press, of course.