Hearts Incarcerated

Chapter 4

I was on my 5th coffee of the day, it had been a week since Jax's incident, and I was exhausted.

I had been seeing my regular patients as well as seeing Jax every day, and going to dinner twice with Leo.

My meeting with Penny was the following day and my stomach knotted at the thought, but Zeke opened the door and Jax walked in, allowing my thought pattern to take a turn.

I noticed his hands weren't cuffed as he took a seat.

"How are you feel-"

"Blue, don't do that, don't shrink me. Aren't we past that?"

"Jax, I am your shrink."

"Oh come on, Blue, ain't we friends yet?"

I raised a brow, "Well, yes, but-"

"Good. I don't want a session, I want you to tell me what it's like out there now."

I sat back, placing my pen on the desk, "Come over here, I'll get on the net and show you some things."

"Yeah?" he came over and leaned down over me, eyes glued to the computer screen.

I searched the simplest things and he even asked to look at a few videos on how to do certain jobs.

He was showing signs of the excitement of his release and my heart jumped for joy at the small progress we were making.

"You smell good, Blue."

"Jax, that's inappropriate and you know it."

He put a hand on my shoulder, still leaning over to look at the computer, "When I'm out, I would like to take you out, I've been saving the money I make from the prison jobs I do, I can take you somewhere fancy."

I sighed, I couldn't deny that he was gorgeous, but I was a professional and this was unprofessional, "Jax, you are my patient and that's-" I cleared my throat, he was a bit too close to me for this conversation, "It's unprofessional."

He smirked, crouching down, "So kissing you would right now wouldn't be a good idea?"

I turned my head away from him and stood, "I actually need to be somewhere soon."

He sauntered over, "You're so cute when you're flustered."

I took a step back, hitting the wall, "I am not flustered." What a blatant lie, any straight woman in this man's presents would be flustered, the way his eyes lit up when he smiled, the tattoos complimented by his honey-coloured skin, or the way his shirt clung to every muscle on his chest and arms. I shook my head.

"You know I can see you checking me out, right?" He asked with a c*cky grin on his face as he leaned over me, his arms resting against the wall on either side of my head.

I raised a brow, "Your charm won't get you anywhere."

"You sure about that, Blue?" his head dropped down to my ear and I swear I stopped breathing for a second, my heart threatening to beat right out of my chest.

"If you really don't want me to kiss you right now, I'll leave. Just tell me to go."

If only he knew just how badly I wanted to grab him and do unspeakable things to him.

What was wrong with me? I was usually so professional.

"Jax..."

His lips dropped to mine as he pushed me up against the wall, our tongues exploring, my hands automatically going around his body.

God damn, this man was an excellent kisser, his strong arms wrapped around my back sending tingles along my body.

He lifted me effortlessly as my legs wrapped around his waist, taking me over to place me on my desk.

Lust had taken over and I didn't care a damn that this was unprofessional.

His hand snaked up my shirt causing me to gasp, and just as his fingers reached my bra, there was a curt knock at the door.

Pushing him away, I jumped to my feet and attempted to straighten my shirt and hair, "Come in," I called, not even glancing back in his direction, extremely embarrassed by my behaviour.

Leo walked in, glancing between us, "Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you had a patient... Oh, Delton."

Jax stood dead still, I could see the anger in his eyes as he looked at the man who had put him behind bars.

"Leo, could you get Zeke, please? He needs to take Jax back."

He nodded and walked out, leaving me to let out a long breath, "Jax, I'm sorry, I should not-"

"Are you dating the cop?"

"No, we've seen each other a few times but no we are not together. Why am I even explaining this? Look, Jax-"

"Maybe you're explaining it because you were about to let me-"

"Jax. I should not have let that happen. It was wrong and-"

"It ain't wrong, Blue. We're attracted to each other."

"I am your shrink! You're in prison!" As the words left my mouth I regretted it, I should have known he would take it wrong.

His face fell, "Of course. Why would someone like you want to be with someone like me? Yeah. I know I'm beneath you, but-"

"Jax, no, that's not what I-"

The door opened and I broke off, watching him walk out with Zeke and hating myself for leaving it at that.

I needed to make him understand that I hadn't meant it like that, I had simply meant that it was wrong because he was a patient and of course he wanted me, I was probably the first woman he had spent so much time with within years.

"You okay?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine, Leo. I guess we should get going if we want to get to Penny."

×××

Penny stayed in a middle-class area, but her house was unkempt, the paint had begun pealing, the grass grew in patches.

Leo frowned in clear distaste as we approached the front door and I wondered if bringing him along had been the right choice.

I knocked twice before the door opened and a woman opened the door.

She was younger than I had expected, a cigarette in her mouth, her brown curls hung untidily in her face.

"Hi, I'm looking for Penny."

She eyed the both of us, "You that Hart girl that called?"

I nodded, "Yeah, that's me."

"Come in."

We followed her in and the first thing I noticed was the toys scattered everywhere, the second was the half-empty bottles of booze.

We followed her into the living room and took a seat opposite her.

She toyed with the hem of her shorts, "So, uh, what's this all about? You want a drink?"

I shook my head as she poured herself alcohol, "No thank you. Um, I work at a prison and one of my patients is your son, Jax."

She took a long swig of her drink, "Look, I was young and I was dumb, I got knocked up by my dealer and Jax came along. I didn't want a baby at that age, I was a teenager, a kid myself, but baby daddy wanted a child so I kept it. The biggest damn mistake I ever made. His dad is damn drunk, always has been. I left when Jax was five, but we went back and forth, you know?" she shrugged, "Tried to get him a good role model, but they were all dead beats. He started getting into trouble from a young age, juvie then jail."

"Okay. Well, he's trying to make a change, and I'm helping him. He has a little under a year before he gets released, he would need a place to go and someone who would sign on with-"

"No. I am not babying no thirty-year-old man. He can go to his daddy."

I sighed, trying hard not to lose it, "If he goes to his dad he may end up right back in prison. You have a chance to fix your relationship with your son, Penny."

"A son I never wanted. I got my babies I need to look after, I can't have some convict around them."

"Jax isn't just some convict! He is a good man and ye deserve a chance. How can you be so cold towards your own son!"

Leo put a hand on my thigh, "Indi, calm down."

I swatted it off, "No! Having shitty parents is part of the problem and now you have a chance to fix things and you don't even care!"

Penny stood, "I think you should leave."

"Gladly. Just make sure you don't screw up your other kids the way you did Jax." I stormed out, my blood boiling.

I was normally great at keeping my cool, but with Penny, I so badly wanted to smack her over the head with something.

Leo leaned against the car as he reached me, "I did not expect that outburst from a therapist."

"I hate people like her."

Leo chuckled, "Look what I got though."

He handed me a slip of paper with an address on, "What is this?"

"She gave me his dad's address after you stormed out."

I doubted it would be much help, but it was enough to give me a tiny bit of hope.

"You're the best! Let's go."