Misbehaving(10)

I glanced down at his designer clothing and reminded myself that guys like him were so out of my league. I was looking for a local with some potential. That was as good as I was going to get. This guy looked like he would fit in perfectly in Beverly Hills. “Yeah, well, thanks for this and for the other night. I appreciate it,” I said, deciding that prolonging this conversation was pointless.

“You headed somewhere?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m going out. A friend of mine is in a band,” I explained.

Jason didn’t make a move to leave. What was he doing?

“They’re playing at a bar,” I continued.

“You meeting someone there?”

Um . . . what? Was he actually about to ask to go too? No. I had to be reading this wrong. “Uh, friends will be there, I’m sure.”

“But no guy? Or is the friend in the band the guy?”

He was asking me if I had a date. Wow. For the first time in my life I felt at a loss for words. I just stood there, awkwardly staring at him.

“It’s okay. Really. Don’t look so panicked. I’ll see you around,” he said, then turned and started back toward his Hummer.

He was leaving. I had to say something. “No, wait. I’m not . . . There isn’t a guy. I’m just going to listen to the band and see some friends. If you want to come . . .” I trailed off, still having a hard time believing he wanted to be seen with me.

He stopped and glanced back at me. “You sure?”

Yes! I managed to nod and not act like an idiot.

His grin was back. “I’ll drive.”

Taking a steadying breath, I walked toward him and realized I still had the baseball bat in my hand. “Oh.” I stopped and held it up. “I need to put this away.”

“You can put it in the Hummer until we get back,” he said, walking over to open my door for me.

This was a first. No one had ever opened a car door for me. Ever.

“Thank you,” I said, looking up at him and deciding that I could get used to this.

“For what?” he asked with a confused look on his face.

“For opening my door,” I replied.

His eyes went wide and he stared at me a second, then leaned forward. “Jess, if guys don’t open doors for you, then they aren’t worth your time. No need to thank me.” Then he leaned back and held out his hand to help me up into the Hummer.

I was pretty sure I understood the word “swoon” finally. I slipped my hand into his, and he closed his larger one around mine and then helped me up. It was higher than my truck, but my legs were as long as my momma’s. Still, I liked having him help me.

When I sat down, I noticed his eyes on my legs before he lifted his gaze to meet mine. “Sorry,” he said with a slight blush on his face. Then he closed the door and I had a moment to compose myself.

Had I ever seen a guy blush? Other than my high school history teacher who I’d had a crush on and had made sure to let him know it. I felt very underdressed. My sexy little outfit now seemed . . . kind of cheap. Jason opened the driver’s door and climbed in. His biceps flexed, capturing my complete attention. I wondered what his abs looked like.

“Where are we going?” he asked as he cranked the engine.

“It’s called Live Bay,” I told him. “Ever heard of it?”

Jason smirked. “Of course.”

JASON

This was probably a bad idea. I wasn’t ready to tell Jess who I was. From the stories I had heard about Jess, I knew she was a troublemaker. I had intended to return the bat and leave. Although the things the group had said about her were amusing as hell, I got the impression that once she knew my brother was Jax Stone, that would be the only thing she’d care about. I’d be on her radar but for all the wrong reasons. And I was only here for a month to get some alone time before school started back up.

Seeing her walk out of the house in that tiny skirt that hardly covered her ass and that tight T-shirt had made me forget exactly why I hadn’t been planning to pursue getting to know her better. All those legs had made me weak. Rock had acted so protective of her when everyone was talking about Jess, and I could see the concern in his eyes when he explained her actions. He knew a Jess none of them had been given a chance to get to know.

I wanted to know that Jess. Because the sexy, half-dressed one who liked to use her body to make men buckle at the knees was pretty damn hot. I needed more, though. I was curious. That was it.

“You’ve been to Live Bay before?” she asked.

I glanced over at her. “Yeah, once,” I admitted.

“Surprising. Normally, the island people don’t make it over to our hangouts.”