8 Jax
After they finished eating their pie—both pieces along with the full scoop of ice cream, in his case at least—they hung up
their aprons and walked to the front of the store.
Gracie was sitting at the reception counter, thanking customers as they left, and Cora stopped to talk to her.
“Thanks for a fun evening. I really enjoyed the class.”
“My pleasure,” Gracie said. “I hope we see you again.”
“Thanks, Gracie.” He held a hand up in a wave as he used his other arm to open the front door.
She gave him a nod of acknowledgment along with a look of unbridled judgment. With a slight What-do-you-do? shrug, he joined Cora on the sidewalk outside.
“I guess you were right after all,” he said.
“Naturally.” She dug through her purse and pulled out her keys. “But to which specific occasion were you referring?”
“You can’t trust a person who doesn’t eat dessert.” He couldn’t help the hint of a grin. “I don’t know if food can make you
happy, but after eating that, I’m not unhappy.”
She chuckled, causing the cutest little crinkle lines to form around her eyes. “Right? Dessert is seriously the best part
of the meal.”
“Agreed.” For a brief moment he was distracted by how attractive she was. And not just externally. She was funny and witty
and sometimes infuriating but mostly... “It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date with someone where I had this
much fun.”
He didn’t actually mean to say that last part out loud, but now that it was out there, he might as well own it. It was true after all.
His statement seemed to catch her off guard too, and there was a flash of vulnerability in her normally controlled exterior.
It was the same look she had when she tasted the pie for the first time. There was something about it that intrigued him.
Although, if he were being totally honest, there was a lot about her that intrigued him.
“Agreed. It was...” She paused as if searching for the right word. “Unexpected.”
Not the normal response he got after a date. He arched an eyebrow. “In a good way?”
She seemed to consider that for a second. “Hard to say. I’ll let you know after Friday.” She shot him a look that sent an
electric bolt zinging through him, which was absolutely unexpected.
“I’m looking forward to it.” And he meant it.
“Until then.” She held his gaze for a second, then turned to walk toward the parking garage.
He watched her go, hands still tucked into his pockets.
“Who is she?”
The singsong words broke his reverie, and he turned to see Chef Gracie standing next to him.
“Cora. You met her.” Although he knew that wasn’t what she was asking.
“Yeah, I did.” She looked over at him with an accusatory stare. “But who is she?”
“Don’t you have people inside you need to attend to?” Was he avoiding answering the question? Maybe. But did that mean he
was totally enthralled with his slightly-infuriating-but-mostly-intriguing-witty-and-beautiful AI match?
Okay, yes it did. But he still wasn’t ready to talk through it with Gracie.
“The only two left inside are the young parents on a date night who will likely sit in there until I kick them out. So from now until I need to lock up, I have nothing to do but stand out here and find out about the mystery girl who captivated Jax Verona.”
“I’m not captivated.” Interested? Maybe. Entertained? Sure. But definitely not captivated. He didn’t get captivated.
“Hmm.” She crossed her arms and studied him. Her furrowed brow said she wasn’t buying it.
He matched her cross-armed stance, except he switched out her skeptical expression for his own confident one. “Maybe I was
really excited about the pie.”
“Maybe.”
He could’ve kept denying her claim—which was bogus, by the way—except another thought occurred to him. If he was going to pull off this charade and prove to his uncle
that he could be in a committed relationship, he needed to convince the world that this was a committed relationship. Which
meant he needed to appear smitten, right? Because people in that kind of relationship were smitten.
And in a town where the official language was gossip, here was his chance to start building the story in the rumor mill.
“She was pretty great, though, huh?” He relaxed his stance and even allowed what he hoped was a dreamy look.
“She seemed to keep your attention.”
“I’m seeing her again on Friday.”
“Two dates?” Gracie let out a low whistle. “She is special.”
Instead of answering, he just smiled.
Gracie raised a skeptical brow. “Is she aware of your two-date rule?”
“Maybe I’m not going to put a limit on it this time. Maybe we’ll see where it goes.”
She sucked in a fake gasp. “Jax Verona? In a real relationship?”
It was a fair comment. Up until one day ago it would’ve been his response, too. But here they were.
“I don’t know.” He gave a little shrug. “This one feels different.”
There was a little more truth in that statement than he’d like to admit. Being with Cora did feel different and he was looking forward to Friday. He’d hit the jackpot with this match. If he had to spend his summer dating someone, at least he knew they’d have fun together.
But that didn’t mean tonight had changed his thoughts on forever. He had the same stance he’d always had. Maybe it worked
for some people, but not for him. Too many unknown factors. Too many things outside his control. Too many ways to get hurt.
In his opinion, as a man who’d spent the majority of his adult career evaluating risk for a living, falling in love wasn’t
worth the risk.
That’s why he’d instituted the two-date rule to begin with. The max number of dates he went on with any woman would be two.
No more. He’d wanted to be up front about his intentions so everyone was on the same page. Falling in love would never be
part of the deal. For anyone involved. He preferred to keep things fun. Light. Unattached.
But he’d said it before, and he’d say it again. If he needed to make the entire world think he’d changed his views on love
and commitment to get the job that should’ve been his anyway—the job he was made for—he’d do it. And apparently that task
started with convincing Gracie Blakely.
“Well, this one I’m going to have to see to believe,” Gracie said.
Jax didn’t say anything. He just gave the same slight shrug with the same dreamy look.
Challenge accepted.
And he liked the prospect of facing this challenge with Cora. She wasn’t like the women he usually dated. He didn’t know how
to describe her other than she was...
Unexpected.