Cherry waggled her eyebrows again. “The guy was good-looking in school. Now he’s an outstandingly fine specimen. I wonder if I should have some sort of ‘emergency’ myself. See what his, um, response time is.” She laughed herself silly until the waitress approached, then sobered enough to order food for the both of them—a Cobb salad for her and the meatloaf special for Marissa, the same meal they’d eaten a thousand times before; there was something satisfying in routine, especially when Marissa’s day had started off as anything but.
Marissa glanced back over to Jax’s table several times and every time he caught her at it, he smiled. She had to make herself not look again and eventually managed to relax into the evening with her dearest friend. Halfway through dinner, though, Cherry was called to the back to deal with a vendor.
A moment later, Jax slid into the booth with her. “How are you?”
The bite of potatoes Marissa had just stuffed into her mouth threatened to choke her. Luckily she managed to swallow without gulping too loudly, or needing CPR, though mouth-to-mouth with the chief… She had to shake herself before she could answer. “Fine, Chief. Yourself?”
A slow smile quirked up the corner of his gorgeous mouth. “I’m off duty. You can call me Jax.”
Marissa dropped her fork onto the edge of the plate knowing there was no way she could take another bite in front of the man. What, was she sixteen again? She gave herself a quick pep talk. You’re a grown woman who owns her own business. He’s just a regular man. Talk to him like any old customer. She settled her arms on the edge of the table and leaned forward. “Are you really ever off duty?
Am I? Jax smiled wider at her question. “No, I guess not.” She hadn’t changed her clothes since he’d seen her earlier in the morning but her hair was down around her shoulders. For a brief moment he imagined that hair floating around his as she lay atop him. He shifted and cleared his throat. “Any other troubles at your shop?”
“Nothing worth mentioning. I saw a cruiser go by. Thanks for that.” She ran her finger over the edge of her water glass, and then tilted it toward herself.
He started to rise. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your dinner.”
She set the glass upright, reached out and set her hand on his forearm. “You’re not. Interrupting me, that is. Stay for a minute. I’m finished.” Just as quickly as she’d touched him, she pulled her hand back and pushed her plate to the side. “I bet your mom is glad to have you home.”
Jax shrugged. His mom dithered between giving him the cold shoulder to making so many demands of his time he had to screen his calls from her. “Bunny is Bunny.”
Marissa’s eyebrows lifted quickly. “I can only imagine. Did she throw you a big gala event for a homecoming?”
There was a hint of derision in her voice. Bunny rubbed many people the wrong way.
“Believe it or not, no big gala. For which I am grateful.” He drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “But I’ve also been crazy busy since I took over for Chief Kendal.”
“How has the change in jobs gone? Actually, I don’t know what you did before you came home. Maybe it’s not such a change.”
It was still weird to be “home,” but that wasn’t what she’d asked. “I was a detective in Austin. Same type of job more or less. Way more responsibilities now, though. And lots of paperwork. Probably easier than owning your own company.” He leaned his elbows onto the table. “Have you always baked?” What a stupid question. Jax all but groaned and wanted to kick himself in the ass.
Marissa gazed at him for a long moment and didn’t answer at first. Then she said, “I’m sorry. It’s just a little surreal to be sitting here with you. Chatting.” She shook her head.
Jax chuckled. “Why?”
“I don’t know. We didn’t exactly know each other in school.” She ducked her head for a moment. “What did you ask me?” She waved off the trip down memory lane. “Have I always baked? For pleasure, sure. I didn’t get into the business end of it until just a few years ago. I was working in an office and it just wasn’t fun.” She shrugged. “I needed a change and voilà, my shop was born.”
The waitress came and cleared the table.
“That’s got to be scary.” Jax leaned closer. “Starting something from the ground up can’t be easy.”
“There were days when I didn’t think it would work. And days when I was so tired I didn’t know if it was worth it. But it’s gotten better and it’s all mine and I love doing it.” Marissa’s eyes lit up. “Now I can’t even imagine not baking every day.”
The waitress came back and set a single dish in the middle of the table with two spoons. It had a thick slice of chocolate cake with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Marissa picked up the spoon and scooped a bite, barely taking her eyes off him. “The best part is coming up with new recipes. I like experimenting and playing around with ingredients.” She licked a small speck from the spoon and waved it at Jax. “It’s fun to try new combinations or toppings. I like paring up flavors you might not think to use.”
“It doesn’t hurt—” he picked up a spoon and followed suit “—that the food tastes fantastic.”
A smile creased her mouth. “You tried the cupcakes I gave you?” She scooped up another bite and ate. “The orange one,” she said after she swallowed, “is new.” She scrunched up her nose. “I wasn’t sure at first.” She scooped half a spoonful of cake and half ice cream and took a bite.
His dick got hard as he watched her lips close over the spoon.
“It kept coming out way too sweet,” she said, snapping him from his fantasy of her savoring him the same way.
“What?” He shifted slightly to ease the constriction of his jeans.
She frowned for a moment. “The orange crème. When I first started working on it, it took me a while to get the right balance of orange and vanilla without it practically giving you cavities.”
“I think you found your balance. It was good. Reminded me of the orange-vanilla ice creams from when I was kid.”
She rewarded him with the biggest smile yet. “That’s what I was going for.” She tilted her head to the side. “Would you be interested in trying another flavor? I’ve been working on a maple and bacon cupcake. Something a little different for the men who come in.”
“Maple and bacon. In a cupcake?”
She laughed. She had a musical lilt to her voice when she laughed. It went straight to Jax’s gut.
“It’s not as gross as it probably sounds, I promise.”
Jax’s phone vibrated. He didn’t want to look at it, and he was off duty, but like Marissa had said, he was never truly off duty. If something came up, he had to go in. He glanced at the screen. Ada, the dispatcher, had texted him. One of the stores downtown had a break-in and the two other officers on duty were out on other calls.
“Thanks for letting me cut in on your dessert.” He waved his cell at her. “Unfortunately, duty calls.”
“Oh sure.” She licked at a bit of chocolate from the corner of her mouth.
Jax fought off a moan as he stood.
She waved the spoon at him. “Be safe.”
Marissa blinked several times at Jax’s departing back. “Be safe.” How stupid was that to say to a cop? The chief, no less. She looked down at the plate in front of her. She’d never even realized there was food in front of her. And she’d eaten half of it. In front of Jax.
Cherry slid back into her seat.
“Where