Race the Storm

Chapter 17

The burgers were actually pretty good. Willa popped another somewhat burnt fry into her mouth and eyed the women who had sat down beside Jax. Chewing obnoxiously, she watched as they kept taking glances at Jax. Honestly, besides possibly having intentions of stealing "her man," they seemed harmless. Who wouldn't be tempted to take a chance on Jax?

"I think you're safe," she said, reaching over and taking one of his less-crispy fries. Girlfriends did that to their real actual boyfriends, right? Yoinking things from their plates? It had been a long time since she had been in a relationship, and she had a feeling that Jax was in the same boat. Maybe that meant they could just make their own way in this extremely fake secret agent kind of dating scenario.

Jax mumbled something under his breath and nudged his plate closer so it was easier for her to borrow fries.

"Didn't catch that."

"Just stay sharp," he repeated, only a tiny bit louder than before.

Willa grinned. "Are you scared of them?"

His arched eyebrow of a response made her smile wider. No, probably not afraid, but apprehensive? She wondered if he dated much even before he was strong-armed into a don't-tell-anyone-or-we-kill-you black ops group.

Willa took a bite out of the burger, groaning happily as the combination of ingredients satisfied several cravings. It'd be even better with pimento cheese on it, but she was reasonable. She didn't expect to find that outside of the South.

"Glad someone's happy."

Willa rolled her eyes, turning toward Jax to retort as soon as she'd swallowed her mouthful of burger, but was surprised to see the sincerity on his face. She was used to a line like that getting delivered with utmost sarcasm, but he seemed genuinely glad she was happy with her food.

Swallowing first, she grinned widely at him. "Try yours, it'll make you happy too," she said, nudging him with her elbow. Hardly even had to lean over to do it, seeing as how crowded up on her he was.

"Mhmm." Grunt language. But he obediently took a bite, chewing reflexively. He didn't seem to have the same reaction she did, but he was Jax. You had to make allowances.

"It's good." Y'know what? She'd take that.

"Oooh, tomorrow, can we try that Navajo frybread taco place near the hotel?" Willa asked. Yes, her mind was constantly on food these days. At Jax's questioning look, she added defensively. "I keep seeing places like that and I want to try one before we leave the Southwest. It's on my roadtrip bucket list."

"You made a roadtrip bucket list?" he asked, taking a sip of his beer, "with stuff besides parks?"

"Of course," Willa scowled. "Since we can't just stop at parks or..." she glanced up to make sure the bartender wasn't near them, then continued, "obvious places, I started looking up random roadside attractions, must-eats, stuff like that."

Jax chuckled, his mood seemingly slowly recovering. "S'pose that can't hurt. Guess we need to pick up a disposable camera for you."

"Ooh, or one of those ones that prints a photo right away!"

"You mean like a Polaroid?" Jax asked doubtfully.

Smirking because she knew she was about to win this point, Willa leaned over to snag another of Jax's french fries. "Then we don't have to get the film developed and possibly leave traces of our location."

Tilting his head for a moment in thought, Jax then gave a crisp nod. "I think we can manage that."

Willa clapped her hands together in excitement, ignoring Jax's amused head shaking. This was like a dream come true, ignoring the part where she was pregnant and on the run from a top-secret government-funded experimental group.