Once I’d completed my part of the locking up process and setting the timer for the lights and we were locking my front door after setting the alarm, I got the answer to my question. I didn’t even have a flutter of nervousness or an ounce of doubt that he’d done it correctly.
I couldn’t say I knew Jinx well because we hadn’t spent that much time together yet, but from what I did know already, it was clear he was a protector who understood and worked instinctively with my hang-ups, always making sure he didn’t hit one of my triggers. Aside from the ten seconds of freak out that I’d had in the workshop the day I hadn’t known he was there, I’d only felt calm and secure around him.
After I’d put the keys away in the outside pocket of my purse and we were walking to the vehicle, I could feel Maddie’s eyes on me but purposefully avoided looking at her.
Not that it was a deterrent. No, Maddie wasn’t wired like that.
“Well now, look at you being all trusting and shit,” she whispered loudly. When I glared at her out of the corner of my eye, she just grinned widely at me. “It’s a good look on you, babe, that’s all. But it seems anything to do with Mr. Jordan Jinx is a good look on you.”
Not letting on that he’d heard us—even though there was no way he hadn’t, given what a loud cow she was—Jinx opened the passenger and back doors. Before I could even think about which one I was going to sit in, Maddie hopped into the back seat and did her seatbelt up, raising her eyebrow at me when she was done.
To be fair, it’s not like I was going to argue with her over it. It was just a damn seat.
The truck he was driving didn’t have one of those steps on it that helped people hoist themselves into the cab, and it was a wonder Maddie had managed to get in without having to put much effort into it.
The problem was, I might have some height on her, but she worked out three times a week and I didn’t. So, when I lifted my foot and placed it inside, then went to push up into the vehicle, I stalled and dropped back down again before I even got anywhere.
Shoot me now.
“Make sure you don’t rip your pants, Sienna,” Maddie snickered in the back. The glare I shot her was ruined by the backrest of the chair between us, though.
I knew Jinx was behind me, but he still murmured, “I’m going to put my hands on your waist to help you, okay?” not wanting to startle me.
I was sure he could see how red my face was thanks to the light inside the car, so I tilted my head down and nodded. “Thanks.”
Apparently my ass needed his help, because it felt like I was flying through the air on the next attempt into the vehicle. Not making a big deal out of it, he winked as he closed the door, then jogged around the front to get in behind the wheel.
Knowing she only had seconds, Maddie said quickly, “If only you worked out. That was pitiful, Blake.”
Just as I lifted my hand in the air, my middle finger extended, Jinx opened the door to get in, and his eyebrow raised when he saw what I was doing.
Shaking his head and chuckling, he did his belt up with one hand and started the engine with the other. Now, that wasn’t exactly a difficult move to make, but if I’d tried it, I’d have failed. He’d made it look so easy.
Once we were on the road, he said, “If you want to leave after an hour, just say the word. There’s no set amount of time that we have to be there, okay? You call the shots.”
“I appreciate that.”
Keeping his eyes on the road, he added, “I’ve got a table in the far right corner of the bar reserved for you so you can keep your eyes on the room.”
“He’s such a great guy,” Maddie sighed loudly in the back.
“He also has a name, and he can hear you,” I pointed out.
“Speaking of names,” she said as she leaned forward. “What’s up with the name Jinx? Are you hexed or something?”
Laughing, he took the turning into town. “Jinx by name, jinxed by nature. When I first joined, a bunch of weird shit happened when I was around, so people assumed I was jinxed. I got so sick of it that I got one of those smudge sticks and stood in the middle of the club, waving it around to get rid of any bad energy around me.”
“I can’t picture you holding a smudge stick and shooing out the bad juju,” Maddie said through her laughter. “Did it work?”