Read Online Jaxson's Song by Angie West - Free Book Online

standing in front of
him. “You didn’t notice?”
    Kate shrugged and stared
up at him. “In the south, the power is always going out. You get
used to it.”
    Jaxson didn’t want to get
used to it. Any of it. Not the heat or the shit weather, damn sure
not these godforsaken wigs. He watched Kate’s chest rise and fall
as she inhaled, and then she took the final step that brought her
toe to toe with him and he couldn’t think at all.
    “ So…” Small, white teeth briefly clamped down on her full
bottom lip, but then her head came up and she regarded him in the
cool stillness of the bedroom. “Do you need help?”
    “ I…” He shook his head and tried to block out the warmth
emanating from her body. Jaxson quickly found out that by taking
small, shallow breaths, he could—mostly—block out the cross between
cotton candy and caramel that was Kate’s scent. “No.” His mouth
snapped shut and he took a step back. “Just hit the light on your
way out, will you?”
    “ Uh…oh, okay, yeah,” she stammered, blinking
rapidly.
    Jaxson turned his back to
her and faced the nightstand, fingers only a little unsteady as he
once again began to work the long pins out from around the edge of
the wig, just like his aunt had shown him.
    They weren’t coming out.
He bit back another string of curses as he tried to get a grip on
one of the long pins, only to find it was hopelessly entangled in
both the thickly woven backing of the hair piece and the wig cap.
He gave it up for the moment as a lost cause, moving on to the pin
next to it. He managed to yank that one out and flung it onto the
dresser as he heard the tell-tale click-click-click of the light
switch across the room. Kate’s voice rang out a second
later.
    “ It’s not coming on.”
    Jaxson grunted. “Bulb must
have blown.” He tugged at another pin. “Just leave the bathroom
door open, then.”
    When silence was the only
response, he figured Kate had left to go back to her own room. He
jumped a foot in the air when smooth, cool fingers pressed against
his shoulder.
    “ Here. Let me help.”
    He turned to face her, and
long moments passed while he stared down at her pixie face. She
seemed hesitant again, unsure of herself, maybe unsure of him. He
inhaled, then cursed himself an instant later when her scent filled
his senses. “Most of the pins are stuck,” he heard himself
say.
    Her fingers moved
skillfully over the same pin he’d had no luck with, and in less
than sixty seconds Kate had extracted it from the wig
cap.
    “ Okay. I’m impressed,” he grudgingly admitted, a ghost of a
smile curving his lips. Kate deposited the pin in the hand that
Jaxson held, palm up, between their bodies, and went to work on the
next one.
    “ I used to do Lilly’s hair,” she murmured, dropping another
pin into his waiting hand.
    “ Your sister?” he asked, distracted and struggling to form a
coherent response as Kate leaned up on tip-toe in order to reach
the pins and fastenings behind his left ear.
    “ Hmmm.” She nodded. “Besides, I’m a nurse.”
    He wasn’t sure what that
had to do with anything, but he held his breath when she leaned
forward.
    “ Oh, wow, this is really stuck.”
    Smooth, cool strands of
her hair brushed against Jaxson’s chin; his gut clenched and he
closed his eyes, fought hard for control. Oh, yeah, he was
definitely getting hot for his neighbor. And that was just flat out
stupid. Idiotic. His life was a tangled fucking mess. He didn’t
even know her.
    “ Got it.” She pulled back, triumphant, the final pin in hand.
Her eyes became wide, serious, violet orbs. The teasing laughter in
her tone faded and her hand skimmed the side of his face as she
reached up and pulled the wig from his head. “You have dark hair,”
she murmured.
    The hair pins fell
soundlessly to the plush, navy blue carpet. Jaxson brought both
hands up and as if it had a mind of its own, one hand slid up to
cup the side of Kate’s face, mirroring her own