Simply Irresistible

Chapter 10

Two days later, Jax was in his home office plowing through paperwork. He’d put together the bid for Lucky Harbor resort and emailed it off to Maddie. He’d handled all his city council duties, but being Lucky Harbor’s mayor for his second term now was a relatively easy position to manage and didn’t take much of his time. He was signing accounts-payable checks that his part-time office worker Jeanne handed to him one at a time.

“Electric bill,” she said, standing over him like a mother hen, even though they were the same age. Her headband had reindeer antlers with bells on them that jangled with every bossy statement she uttered. “Gas bill,” she said, bells jingling. “Visa bill. And here’s my paycheck. Thanks for the raise.”

He slid her a look, and she laughed. “Kidding. You already pay me too much. Oh, and here’s the bill for those supplies you sent over to the Patterson family. Nice of you to do that, since they lost everything in the fire. So… who’s the woman?”

Jax pushed all the checks back at her. “What woman?”

“The one you were kissing on the pier the other night.”

He arched a brow, and she grinned. “Oh, come on. You can’t be surprised that I know.”

“Call me naive, but I’m surprised.”

She shook her head, like You poor, stupid man. She gave him that look a lot. He put up with it because she ran his office with a calm efficiency that was a relief to him. He hated office work.

Jeanne was flipping through the checks, putting them in some mysterious order that worked for her. “Jake told his sister, who told Carrie at the grocery store, and I happened to run into my sister today when I was loading up your refrigerator. And by the way, you were down to an apple and a piece of leftover pizza. I also found what looked to be a science experiment growing in a Tupperware container. I made an executive decision and tossed it. How do you live like that?”

“It’s called takeout. What did you put in my refrigerator?”

“Fruit, cheese, beer, and a loaded pizza.”

“I love you.”

She laughed. “If that was true, you’d tell me about the woman.”

He smiled but kept silent. Mostly because it would drive her crazy, but also because he didn’t feel like sharing. Truth was, he’d been thinking about Maddie for two days now, and not as a future client. He thought about strangling whoever’d hurt her. He thought about how in spite of that hurt, she’d seemed so honest and artless-not like the women in his past. She was obviously afraid but doing her damnedest to move forward. He admired that.

He’d also given a lot of thought-a lot-to how she’d looked after he’d kissed her: ruffled and baffled and turned on. It was a good look for her. So was how she’d looked when she’d opened the door to him, sleepy and hung over, no bra, just a very thin T-shirt, the one that invited the general public to bite her.

Christ, he’d wanted to do just that.

“Rumor has it,” Jeanne said, shoving another check under his nose. “She’s Phoebe’s middle daughter. She was at the hardware store today, and Anderson rang her up. He said she was pretty and sweet, and even though she knocked over his entire display of five-gallon paint cans, she got a big thumbs-up. Oh, and because she has a nice rack, he asked her out.”

Jax’s pen went still. “What?”

“Hey, I didn’t see the rack myself, I’m just passing on the information.” Her smile went sly. “Betcha you want to know if she said yes.”

He said nothing, and she grinned. “You want to know.”

“I don’t gossip. I’m a guy.”

“You so want to know.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I-” Fuck. He pinched the bridge of his nose because yeah, he did. He wanted to know. “You used to be so sweet and meek.”

“That was back in the days when your badass scowl used to do it for me.” Delighted at whatever she saw in his face, she waggled a brow. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but first you have to tell me how you met her, and how it is that you were kissing her on her first night in town, and if you plan to fight Anderson for the rights to her rack.”

“Jeanne,” he said in warning.

“Use that tough-guy voice all you want. I’m not married to you. I don’t have to cave so that you’ll keep my feet-and other parts-warm at night.” With that, she scooped up all the signed checks and sashayed out of his office, humming “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

“You know where I’ll be,” she called back. “Sitting at my desk working my fingers to the bone. Oh, and I’m decorating your place for Christmas, so be afraid. Very afraid. Anytime you want to come up with some answers for me, I’ll be happy to do the same.”

Shit. Shaking his head, he turned to something new, drawing up plans for a new client in Portland who wanted a handmade front door with cherry overlay and stained glass. It would take weeks to construct and was the perfect job for when the weather went bad, which it always did for about a month after Christmas. He needed work for when the weather went bad-not for his bank account, which was plenty flush-but so that he wouldn’t be stuck with nothing to do but think.

Though all he could think at the moment was that Anderson had asked Maddie out.

He could hear Jeanne in the front room, talking to her computer. He’d gone to high school with her and had even briefly dated her-if one could really call it dating when all you did was climb the bluffs and make out. When he’d gone off to USC, she’d married Lucky Harbor’s high school quarterback and given him three kids. She was still happily married but bored beyond tears. So when Jax had come back to town five years ago, she’d shown up on his doorstep one day and announced that she was his new, perfect, part-time office assistant. Perfect because she had no interest in his money or his bed.

Which was a lie. She’d been harping on his heart and soul, trying to save him, ever since she’d demanded the assistant position. Not that he had much of a heart and soul left after he’d detonated both in his last job practicing law. He’d talked himself into embracing the lifestyle: the big salary, the corner office, the penthouse condo, the trophy fiancée. And he’d reaped the benefits, plenty of them.

The firm he’d worked for had been the best of the best at getting people acquitted of their white-collar crimes. It was a multibillion-dollar industry, and Jax had been good at it. Good at twisting the facts, good at misdirecting, good at getting their clients off with their crime of choice, even when it meant that innocent people paid the price.

Jax’s discontent over that had started small and slowly grown. And then came to a head when the wife of one of their clients had paid the ultimate price.

With her life.

Her husband had been guilty as hell, and Jax had known it. Hell, everyone had known it. Yet Jax had gotten the man acquitted of embezzling from his wife’s family, a family with known mob connections, so there’d been little sympathy for either side.

Except for the wife. She’d grown up as a pawn, and she’d been married off as a pawn. She’d never known life as anything else. An increasingly disenchanted Jax had known her enough to understand that when this went down, in all likelihood her assets would be confiscated and she’d be left penniless and alone. Unable to live with that, he’d broken attorney-client privilege to warn her, but instead of heeding his advice and taking off for parts unknown, she killed herself.

Forced to face his own part in her self-destruction, not to mention just how ethically indecent he’d become, Jax had quit. His fiancée left him shortly after. Game over. He’d left Seattle without looking back. Alone, unsettled, even angry, he’d somehow ended up back in Lucky Harbor.

The last place he’d been happy.

That had been five years ago. Sawyer had come back to town, as well, and after a wild, misspent youth had become a Lucky Harbor sheriff, of all things. Ford was around, in between sailing ventures that’d included the world-class circuit. The three of them had gravitated together as if they’d never been apart.

His first year back, Jax had lived on Ford’s second sailboat in the marina. He’d practiced a little law here and there, for friends only, and he’d hated it. So he’d gone back to basics, which for him had been building things with his own hands. As he’d worked on getting over himself, he’d designed and built the house he’d always wanted. He did what he could to give back to the community that had welcomed him without question, including somehow, surprisingly, being elected mayor two terms running.

He was jarred out of his musings when his father strode into his office and immediately set Jax on edge with nothing more than his stick-up-his-ass gait and ridiculously expensive suit. They hadn’t spent much time together, mostly because his father was still good and furious over what he saw as Jax’s failure in Seattle.

“Got a case for you.” His father tossed down the file.

This wasn’t surprising. His father often felt the need to manipulate his son’s emotions. Which was ironic, since Jax had been trained by the man himself that emotions and business never mix. Hell, in their little family of two, emotions didn’t even exist. “You haven’t spoken to me since I refused to represent that charming Fortune 500 sex offender you brought me last time. That was three months ago. Now you walk in here like you own the place and toss me yet another case I don’t want. I’m too busy for this, Dad. Jeanne and I have billings to go over-”

“He said I should go home,” Jeanne said softly from the doorway. “I’m done for the day anyway,” she said in silent apology, jerking her head toward his father, indicating that they should try to talk.

Fat chance.

Jax didn’t often feel his temper stir. It took a lot, especially these days, but his father could boil his blood like no other. “Still minding your own business, I see,” he said when Jeanne had left.

“Get over yourself, son. This is a simple, open-and-shut case.”

Everything in Jackson Cullen’s world was open-and-shut-as long as he got his way. “If it’s so simple, you take it.”

“No, they want someone young, an up-and-comer.”

“I’ve up and come. And gone,” Jax reminded him. “Now if you could do the same…” He gestured to the door.

“Jesus Christ, Jax. It’s been five years since you let your job go. You let your fiancée go, too. Time to stop feeling sorry for yourself and get back on the horse.”

Jax shoved the file back across his desk and stood up. “Get out.”

“You’re not listening. Elizabeth Weston is thirty, loaded, beautiful, and her daddy’s going to be the next state governor.”

“Which matters why?”

“She’s looking to settle down. You’ll do.”

He choked out a laugh. “Now you’re whoring me out? Not that this surprises me.”

“What, you’re not seeing anyone, are you?”

Was he? He’d like to say hell, yes, but the facts were simple. He was guessing Maddie’s ex had been an attorney, and a real asshole, to boot. When she learned about Jax’s past, she’d run for the hills. Even if he somehow managed to show her that he’d changed, he doubted she’d understand his morally and emotionally bankrupt history. He wouldn’t expect her to.

Hell, just being a man was a strike against him. She wasn’t in a place to trust any person with a Y chromosome.

“A wife like Elizabeth will be an asset when you take over my practice,” his father said.

“I’ve told you, I’m not taking over your practice.”

“You’re a Cullen. You’re my only son. You have to take over the practice. I spent the past thirty-five years building it for you.”

“You built it for you,” Jax corrected. “Come on, Dad, doesn’t this ever get old? You bullying me, me refusing to be bullied. Hire an associate and be done with it.”

“This is asinine.” Jaw tight, his father scooped up the file and moved stiffly to the door. “No one can disappoint me quite the way you can.”

Ditto. “Dismiss Jeanne or interfere with my work again, and you won’t be welcome back.”

When the front door slammed, Jax picked up a paperweight on his desk and flung it against the wall, where it shattered. There. Marginally better. And it seemed that he and his father had something in common, after all-sometimes Jax disappointed himself, too.

He was still struggling with his own temper when Ford strode into the office and kicked Jax’s feet off his desk. “Get up. Water’s calm. Wind’s kicking. We’re going sailing.”

“Not in the mood.”

“I’m looking for a first mate, not a sex partner. Besides, you need some tranquility.”

Jax slid him a look. “Tranquility? A big word for you, isn’t it?”

“What? The bar’s been slow. I’ve been reading.”

“You didn’t get that word out of Penthouse Forum.”

“Hey, I read other stuff.” He paused. “Sometimes. Now get up. Jeanne’s got the afternoon off, and so do you.”

He looked at the one person who knew his entire sor-did story and didn’t seem to blame Jax for being an ass-hole. “How do you know Jeanne’s got the afternoon off?”

Ford didn’t answer.

“Shit,” Jax said. “She called you.”

“A little bit,” Ford admitted. “She wanted me to give you a hug.”

“Fuck off.”

“Figured you’d say that. Also figured you’d be needing to get out.”

Which is how Jax ended up on the water on Ford’s thirty-two-foot Beneteau. It was late in the year for a leisurely sail. Far too late. Most sailing enthusiasts had long ago winterized their boats, but Ford being Ford, he never let a little thing like winter slow him down. He always thrived on pushing the envelope, and not just in sailing.

They were rewarded by an unexpected cold, hard wind that took their breath and every ounce of questionable talent they owned. The swells rose to nearly eight feet, ensuring that their planned easygoing few hours turned into an all-out work-their-asses-off-fest just to stay alive, much less afloat.

“Christ,” Ford breathed when they’d made it back to the slip. He slumped against the hull, head back. “I sailed the West Indies and nearly died three times. That was nothing compared to this. What were you thinking, letting me take us out there?”

Jax didn’t have the energy to kick Ford’s ass, so he slid down the hull next to him and mirrored his pose, his every muscle quivering with exhaustion and overuse, even his brain. “Forgot what a drama queen you are.”

Ford choked out a laugh. “If I could move, I’d make you eat that statement.”

“You and what army?”

“Fuck you,” Ford said companionably. “And when were you going to tell me about Maddie? I have to hear about some supposedly hot kiss on the pier from Jeanne, who heard it from-”

“I know this story, thanks.” And in tune to Ford’s soft laugh, Jax thunked his head back against the hull and closed his eyes. He wondered what she was doing right now, if she was working at the inn. He knew everyone, himself included, had found Phoebe fun and free-spirited, but having met her daughters now, Jax found himself angered at how Phoebe had neglected them.

Maddie deserved better. They all did.

“Did you know that Anderson asked Maddie out?” Ford asked.

“Yes!”

“Hell, man, sailing’s supposed to relax you.”

Jax was relaxed. He was easygoing and laid-back. It’d taken him five long years to get there. He no longer let things stack up on his shoulders until he was ready to crumple. He no longer kept secrets for a living, his clients’ or his own, secrets that had the ability to burn holes in the lining of his stomach.

So why hadn’t he told Maddie that he’d been a lawyer?

Because he was a dumbass.

And a chicken, to boot.

And because you know she’d stop looking at you like you’re a superhero…

Oh, yeah, that.

Maddie and her sisters spent their days going through the inn and marina, each for different reasons. Chloe was bored. Tara didn’t want to miss anything of resale value. But for Maddie, it was about sentiment and about learning how the inn could run. She’d hoped to have everything computerized by now, but she’d spent most of her time digging her way through just to see what she had to work with.

On the second day, she headed into town with a list of errands. When she saw Lucille out in front of the art gallery, she pulled over. Lucille was thrilled for the company and after hugging Maddie hello said, “I hear you’ve been kissing our Jax on the pier.”

“Oh. Well, I-”

“You’ve picked the cream of the crop with that one, honey. Did you know he lent me the money to help my granddaughter stay in college? Don’t let the motorcycle, tattoos, and aloofness fool you; he’s a sweet, caring young man.”

Maddie hadn’t found him aloof. Big and bad and intimidating, maybe. Sexy as hell, certainly. And-Wait. Tattoos? He had tattoos? Just thinking of ink on that body of his had heat slashing through hers.

“Come in, come in,” Lucille said. “I just put up my Christmas decorations. And I have tea. And brandy.”

She wasn’t sure what it said about her that she was tempted. “I’m on a mission for Tara, running some errands, but thank you.”

“Going back to the hardware store?” Lucille cocked her head. “Heard Anderson asked you out.”

Maddie had gone yesterday to get some organizational supplies. The guy behind the counter had been wearing a Santa hat, and was extremely cute and extremely funny, but she’d left with only her supplies, gently turning down the date.

She’d given up men.

Or she was trying. “Does everyone know everything around here?”

“Well, we don’t know which guy you’re going to date, Anderson or Jax. But if you could tell me, I’ll be real popular tonight at bingo,” she said hopefully.

Maddie’s next stop was the pier for another shake, which she needed bad.

She smiled at the familiar guy behind the counter. “Lance, right? Straight chocolate this time.”

He smiled and nodded. He was in his early twenties, small boned, and had a voice like he was speaking through gravel.

He told her that he had cystic fibrosis. He had family in Portland, but he lived here in Lucky Harbor with his brother, priding himself on his independence in spite of a disease that was slowly ravaging his young body.

Listening to him, Maddie decided she had nothing, absolutely nothing, to complain about in her life. And on the way back to her car, she stared up at the looming Ferris wheel.

Had her mother ever ridden it? From all that she’d read on Phoebe’s “recipe” cards, Maddie had to believe her mom had lived her life fast, and just a little bit recklessly.

Chloe was a chip off the old block.

Tara hid her wild side, but she had traveled far and wide, as well, and she had a lot of life experiences under her belt.

Maddie… not so much. Sure, she’d lived in Los Angeles, but that was because her father had brought her there. Those adventures she’d had on movie sets were because of him, not because she’d had some deep yearning for the profession.

She’d fallen into it. She’d fallen or been dragged into just about everything she’d ever done.

Including the inn.

No, she decided. This was going to be different. She was going to make this adventure her own. Nodding, she walked along, listening to the rough surf slap at the pier. The slats of wood beneath her feet had spaces between them, and in the light of day that gave her vertigo and a fear of falling through.

“The trick is not to look at your feet when you walk.”

Maddie turned toward the voice and found a woman busy nailing a sign to a post. Appearing to be about Maddie’s age, she was petite and pretty, with dark waves of hair falling down her back. She wore hip-hugging pin-striped trousers and a business jacket fit for her toned figure, looking cool and composed and far too professional to be standing on a pier with a hammer and nails in her manicured hands.

“If you look straight out to the horizon,” she told Maddie, “You won’t feel like you’re going to fall.” Looking quite comfortable with the hammer in spite of her outfit, she pounded a last nail into the sign, which read:

Lucky Harbor’s Annual Shrimp Feed

this Saturday at 6:00

The Biggest and Bestest in the State:

Dinner, Dancing, and

Kissing The Mayor -Don’t Miss it!

“You’re new.” Smiling, the woman thrust out a hand. “I’m Sandy. Town clerk and manager. I also run the library.” She smiled. “You know, you look like your momma.”

“You knew her?”

“Everyone knew her. Be sure to bring your sisters to the feed. Here.” Reaching into the bag at her feet, she pulled out a round of what looked like raffle tickets. She tore off a long strip of them and handed it over. “On the house. A welcome-to-town present.”

“What are these for?”

“The guessing tank. You write how many shrimp you think’ll get dragged in on the shrimp boat parade that night. Winner gets to kiss Jax when he comes in off the jet ski leading the boat parade.”

Maddie blinked. “Jax? Jax Cullen?”

“The one and only.”

“Why does the winner get to kiss Jax?”

“Besides the fact that he is one fine man?” Sandy grinned. “Because someone always gets to kiss the mayor. We like to torture our own here. Especially someone as popular as Jax. Before Jax, it was me, actually. I was mayor for three terms. I got lucky one year-a board member won the raffle and he was a cutie pie. Couldn’t kiss for beans, though. The other years I had to kiss frogs.”

“But mayor?” Maddie shook her head. “Jax is a contractor. He restores things.”

“He’s a man of many talents.” Sandy said this with a secret little smile, and Maddie knew a moment of horror.

Oh, God. “He’s your boyfriend.” She’d kissed another woman’s boyfriend.

“No,” Sandy said with a sigh. “Much to my utter dismay-and not for lack of trying-Jax and I are just friends.” She dropped her hammer into her bag and smiled. “See you at the feed. Oh, and are you going to hand out coupons for the inn? Phoebe did that last year, and it was a big success.”

“It was?” How was that even possible? The place was a complete wreck.

Seeing Maddie’s expression, Sandy smiled. “Yeah, probably she didn’t charge them, but the point is, she could have. She was a wonderful lady, your momma, but not much for business. Maybe she didn’t mention that.”

No, Phoebe hadn’t mentioned that. Phoebe hadn’t mentioned much of anything. “I’ll talk to my sisters about it, but the inn won’t be reopened until…” Well, maybe never, but since she was done with negativity, she said, “Hopefully right after the new year.”

Sandy nodded. “Can’t wait to see what you do in the way of updating and modernizing. The whole town is buzzing about it.”

“How does anyone even know we’re doing anything?”

“Well, you’ve asked Jax for a bid. Jeanne had lunch with Tracy, her best friend, who told Carla, my sister-in-law, who’s the local newspaper reporter. Lucky Harbor prides itself on keeping up with the news, and you three are big news.”

Maddie tried to wrap her mind around the thought that she was news. Maddie Moore, assistant to the assistant, was news. “We’re not really that interesting.”

“Are you kidding? Three new women in town, running the inn? It’s the biggest news this month. Well, maybe not quite as big as the upcoming shrimp feed, or watching Jax freeze his most excellent butt off leading the parade, but big enough.” She smiled. “Okay, I’m off to hang more signs. See you!”

“See you,” Maddie said softly and sipped her shake. She wanted to think about all Sandy had mentioned. She needed to wrap her head around the Lucky Harbor grapevine, the possibility that people were excited to have her in town, and the inn, but her brain kept stuttering on one thing.

Jax-the mayor!-and his most excellent butt.