My body stiffened even more. Whiskey. God, I hated whiskey, but I really wasn’t thinking about my mom. I couldn’t imagine the kind of things that kept him awake at night.

“Even when I came here, it was a whiskey and . . . well, anyway, the point is, I’ve spent many nights and days regretting what I did. But what you did last night and even though you feel like shit right now, you didn’t do a damn thing you need to regret.”

Deep in my chest, my heart clenched as our eyes locked. “What . . . what else did you do?”

Something flickered over his features, and he shook his head. “Let’s get going.”

I frowned at the abrupt change of topic. “Where?”

“Taking you to Waffle House.”

“You don’t have to carry me!”

He grinned down at me. “And you don’t have to shout.”

“Put me down!” I shouted again, making my own temples pound.

Ignoring me, he headed for the door and then stopped, backtracking to the kitchen. “Grab your keys and sunglasses. You’re going to need both.”

I glared at him and he grinned at me. “Jax, come on.”

He lowered his head, speaking in a low voice that caused my toes to curl. “Honey, you can argue and shout all you want, but I’m still going to carry your ass out to that truck, put you in it, and we’re going to Waffle House, and you will eat fried eggs, bacon, and a goddamn waffle.”

My eyes narrowed. God, he was freaking high-handed.

There was a sparkle to his deep brown eyes. “And maybe even a slice of apple pie, if you’re a good girl and you stop arguing with me.”

“I’ve never had apple pie,” I blurted out.

Standing in the middle of the kitchen, cradling me in his arms like I weighed nothing—and I most definitely weighed something—his mouth dropped open. “You’ve never had apple pie?”

“No.”

His brows rose. “Why?”

“I don’t know. Just never tried it.”

“That’s so . . . so un-American,” he said, and I rolled my eyes. “Are you a terrorist?”

“Dear God,” I muttered and started to wiggle to get free.

Jax tightened his arms. “Honey, you kill me. Really, you do. Never been drunk. Never been to the beach. Never had an apple pie? We’ve already scratched one of those things off, and we’re about to mark off another one.”

I figured this was not a good moment to share the fact that I’d never been to a Waffle House, either.

His grin was back, and there was something utterly disarming about it. “Stick with me, babe, and I’ll change your life.”

Katie’s words rushed over me. Your life is going to change. I stopped thinking, at least for a little while, and I stopped fighting. I reached over, grabbing my keys and my sunglasses. I slipped the latter on.

What Jax didn’t know was that he’d changed my life already, even if it was just a little bit, but what he did knowingly do was carry me out of the house, put me in his truck, and drive my ass to Waffle House.