Beautifully Shattered (The Beautifully Series Book 1) (6 page)

Nodding, he says
sternly, “Eat all of the food.”

Before I realize what
I’m doing, words spill out of my mouth. “Do you think I should
call him?”

His grip on his fork
tightens. “Who?”

Well
if he wants to play dumb . . .
“The hot doctor who
rescued me.”

He chokes on his food.
Miraculously, my next bite of hash-browns taste better than it did a
second ago. Must be because Jax isn’t as in control of his feelings
as he would like to be.

“Maybe we can
double?” he asks.

And just like that I
lose my appetite.
Don’t do it,
I repeat in my head as I eye my bowl of fruit. I snatch a few pieces
and throw them at his handsome face.

I shrug. “Whoops.”

He stops eating and
glares at the fruit scattered on him. When he finally looks back at
me, I laugh. He’s biting his cheeks to keep from smiling, his
emerald eyes sparkle with excitement. Even with fruit in his lap,
covering his expensive suit pants, he’s still ridiculously hot.

In a movement so fast
that I don’t even see it coming, Jax has my platter of food on the
floor, and in the next second he dumps a glass of water all over my
head. That’s the exact second I know I will kill Jaxon Chandler.

I wipe my wet hair out
of my face angrily. “Ahhhhh I’m going to kill you! I can’t
believe you just did that!”

The ice cold water
drips down my hair and down my back. I’m now freezing and my shirt
is practically see-through. Spotting a few ice-cubes on me, I fling
one at him but he ducks out of the way. I hate his fast reflexes.

“Relax, Ads it’s
just a little water, it won’t kill you.”

Jax has the balls to
chuckle then sit back down on the couch and eat like he didn’t just
dump water on me. WATER! The nerve this man has sometimes! Gah, I
want to scratch his eyes out in his sleep.

“A little water, Jax?
Are you kidding me? You dumped your ENTIRE glass of water on me!” I
scream at the soon to be dead man.

Jax waves his hand at
my little outburst. “Calm down, Ads.”

I flick my orange juice
at him. Wrong move, it splatters all over my suede couch. I groan,
thinking how long it’s going to take to clean. My gaze wanders to
Jax’s perfect, orange-juice-free face. Not good. I know that evil
twinkle in his eyes, it’s an expression that I have gotten very
familiar with over the years.

“I swear, Jax, you
better not! I’m hurt and I swear if you even think about it, my
revenge will b—” I’m not able to finish my rant before he
scoops me up and throws me over his shoulder.

Hitting his back I
start yelling at him, but does The God even listen to me? Nope.
Instead he smacks my backside so hard I’m sure I now have a clear
imprint of his hand. My heart-rate picks up the second I realize
we’re in my bedroom. That intense pull I always feel towards him
comes back in a huge wave, as if it’s going to devour me. My heart
beats so loudly I’m positive that he can hear it.

As Jax walks past my
bed, I quickly realize what he has planned. I smack his toned butt as
hard as I can manage in this position. Jax lets a growl escape his
throat that I’m sure is supposed to be a warning, but all it
manages to do is excite me. When he opens my bathroom door, I squeal
and try with no avail to get down from his iron-like hold on me.
Finally reaching his destination, he turns on the shower. I scream
and hit his back harder with each smack, but it doesn’t even faze
him, he just smacks my now very red butt again.

HARD!

Holy-hotness I might
have a bruise, but I don’t think that I have ever been so instantly
wet before in my life. Oblivious to how turned on I am, Jax just
laughs as he steps into the cold shower with me on his shoulder.

He quickly repositions
me so that now I am cradled in one of his arms, while his other hand
grabs the shower head and drenches me in cold water. This is the
moment that I despise playful Jax! The water is freezing!

I start fighting his
hold more once the shock wears off. I manage to capture the shower
head so that I can soak him, too. After a few seconds Jax laughs in a
way that lets me know that my turn is over and he quickly yanks the
shower head out of my hands and begins a new war of making me as
soaked as he possibly can.

Vindictive jerk!

Just because I laughed
at him, he carried me into
my
shower and decided to soak me with
cold
water. He couldn’t even turn it to hot. The fact that I’m injured
angers me more because I can’t retaliate. We’re both dripping and
our soggy clothes cling to our bodies, outlining
everything
.

My attire leaves
nothing to the imagination. And Jax . . . he looks like the Greek-God
that is feeling gracious enough to show his presence to us mere
mortals. All of a sudden, he takes in my near-naked appearance as if
he just realized the same thing I did. His eyes change from playful
to hunger. It’s all consuming, he’s all consuming. That pull
surrounds us, so thick I can almost taste it.

Suddenly I am no longer
freezing. I’m shaking, but it’s not from the cold. When he sees
me shiver, he places the shower head back and turns the water hot. I
slowly slide down his body when he unwraps his arms around me. His
hands go to my hips to steady me while I stand on one leg. He is so
close to me that my breasts press into his hard chest.

Hot water pours over
the both of us, as steam fills the air. I hold my breath . . .
neither of us makes a move. He watches me, waiting, his eyes locked
onto mine.
Devour me, Jax.
With
such slowness that he’s barely moving, Jax lifts one hand from my
hip to my face, and traces my jawline back and forth with his
fingertip.

“Ads.” Jax uses his
nickname for me as if it’s the most pleasant name he’s ever
uttered, but I can still hear the pain laced in his voice.

I notice the abrupt
change in the air around us and in him. He’s no longer looking at
me with such hunger that I can taste his need. He’s now the
tortured man that always stops us from being together again. I know
that this is over.

“Use me to support
your weight so you can get out of your clothes and finish your shower
while I bring your crutches in. I’ll help you out when you’re
done.”

With the moment long
gone, he turns his head away from me. As fast as I can manage, I
strip out of my clothes and once Jax is sure that I don’t need any
further assistance, he steps out of the shower and grabs a towel. I
don’t attempt to stop him as he leaves.

Glancing around my
abundant closet, I finger the hanger holding my work clothes. I shake
my head while I think of all the reasons it’s a bad idea. Jax will
be pissed, he’ll tell Logan . . . I can’t think of anything else.
Two, just two reasons why I shouldn’t pull the red shirt that has
Sweet Tooth
embroidered over the right breast off its hanger. Thinking about
sitting on the couch next to him, wanting him but knowing he will
never give into us again, is too much. I smile wickedly as I drop the
towel. I don’t need a babysitter. Jax can be mad all he likes.

After getting dressed
as quickly as possible, I hobble back to my bed to retrieve my phone
only to realize that it’s still in the living room. So much for
sneaking out of here to decorate cakes. I huff in exasperation. This
isn’t going to go over well at all.

He seems to have no
care in the world as he reads something on his iPad. He hears me,
it’s impossible not to with my wood floors, but he ignores me.
Good. Hopefully I can swipe my phone off the table and leave before
he notices. I bite my lip as I try to bend down for my phone. I avoid
him entirely as I straighten back up. As I turn around to leave, I
exhale.

“You don’t think
you’re going to work do you?” he asks, startling me. “I already
called in for you.”

I glare over my
shoulder at him. “Last time I checked, you’re not my father and
I’m a big girl. I don’t want nor need you calling into work for
me.”

He shrugs. “Either
way, you’re not going in.”

“Watch me.”

I don’t even make it
a step before he’s behind me. He runs his nose through my wet hair
and speaks so close to my ear that his lips brush against my skin.
“You know I can’t let you go.”

Right. Because of
Logan. “Well, tell my dear brother that I’ll be fine doing
nothing but decorating.” I turn my head so my nose nearly touches
his. “My butt will be firmly attached to the stool the entire
time.”

“No.”

The way he says it
leaves no room for discussion. This new feisty person I woke up to is
steaming. I will not be told no by Jaxon Chandler anymore. I’ve
heard that word from him one too many times.

I open my mouth to tell
him exactly that, but he’s already sitting on the couch again. What
a jerk! He honestly thinks I’m just going to bow down to him. Well,
why would he think any differently? All I’ve been doing for the
past six years is rolling over and going along with whatever is
demanded of me. Am I ready to put up a fight? Is right here, right
now, the time for me to say enough and do what I want? Yes. Because
if I’m locked in here with Jax, I won’t be held responsible for
what comes out of my mouth, or worse, my actions.

I bite down on my lip
as I put weight on my sprained ankle. Wow, one night isn’t enough
time for it to heal. I don’t use the crutches, I’m making a point
here. When I reach the door, I turn to face him. He’s seething. His
jaw is so tight I wouldn’t be surprised if he snapped it.

“You have two
options. Lie to Logan and say I’m here with you, or come with me.”

He runs his hand
through his fohawk while he grinds his teeth. Okay, so I admit maybe
walking on my injured ankle wasn’t the best way to prove that I’m
ready to be taken seriously.

“I can just keep you
here against your will,” he bluffs.

I smirk at him while
opening the door. “You can, but you won’t. Besides, if you come
with me I’ll make your favorite.”

When he sighs in
defeat, I know I won. “Carrot cake cupcakes?”

“Even with brown
bunny ears as decoration.” I almost smile at the memory from when
we were younger.

He sits up and slides
his feet into his black chucks. It’s only then that I realize that
he’s changed. Obviously he’s changed; his suit was dripping wet.
He’s in a red Flash T-shirt and black jeans. Him and his
superheroes. He’s always been fascinated by the comics, never
realizing that once upon a time he was my hero.

He points at the
crutches as he meets me at the door. “You can either use those, or
I’ll be carrying you. Don’t you dare pull a stunt like that
again.”

I mock salute him. “Yes
sir.”

The bell chimes as Jax
holds open the bakery door for me. Sam glances up from the register
and frowns when he sees me. The bakery is almost empty. I knew it
would be. There’s one couple sitting at the red iron table to the
left of the door. After lunch, usually the only customers are the
ones putting in an order for a party. It’s my favorite time to
bake.

“I was told you were
on bed rest,” Sam says in the fatherly tone he’s mastered from
being a dad for two months.

I nod in Jax’s
direction. “Is it okay if my shadow is back there with me?”

Once he finishes up
with the last customer, Sam turns his attention back on me. His frown
deepens. “Adalynn, as much as I need your help today, I can’t
have you working like that. Besides, Clark is going to kill me if he
finds out.”

I give Sam my best
puppy dog eyes. It’s the same face I gave him two years ago when I
applied for the job he wasn’t offering. To this day, I believe my
winning personality and my superb baking skills are the only reason
he took a chance on someone without references or cooking experience.
Apparently, baking for your family doesn’t cut it in the baking
world. Who knew?

He watches me lead Jax
behind the counter to the back room. I’m thankful that Jax has
chosen for the first time in his life to stay quiet. I search the
room for the white apron with my name on it. Sam appears with my
missing apron.

“Clark washed it.”
He grins whenever he mentions his adorable better half. The twins
they adopted earlier this year are so lucky to have such caring
parents.

I accept it and tie it
into place around my waist. “Does this mean I’m working?”

He peers at Jax. “Does
this mean you’re going to make sure she doesn’t break anything
else?”

“I won’t take my
eyes off her.”

It seems like Sam
mutters, “I bet,” under his breath but I’m not sure. “Create
something new,” he tells me.

I can’t help but beam
at him. This is my favorite part about working here, creating
something new, something different, that will make your taste buds
come to life. The very first time I told a customer that I could
invent a cake that wasn’t on the menu, I thought Sam would have a
stroke. Granted, once he took the first bite, he was sold. Now, two
years later I have free rein of the kitchen. Sam works the customers,
Clark handles the business along with their adjacent restaurant, and
I do my magic. It’s perfect and I love it. I can’t wait for Jax
to witness it, too.