Bent (16 page)

As he turned onto the highway, he placed a quick call to Amy Bryant to let her know he would be by late in the afternoon to pick up Caleb. He'd already talked to her this morning to ask her to keep an eye on Caleb a bit longer and gave her a brief account of the previous night's events. She assured him that it was fine and told him to take care of 'his girl' so she'd stick around. That made Micah laugh. If only Amy and Joel knew the full story, he wondered if they'd be as eager to see things work out between him and Julia.

In the passenger's seat next to him, Adam was also placing calls. He was trying to shuffle a few business meetings to give him more time in Brooklyn. Until his friend could come out to install the new security system, he wasn't comfortable leaving his sister home alone.

The phone calls continued in the front seat of the truck. Austin and Lizzie were going to come over so Austin could help with the locks while Lizzie relaxed and celebrated the fact that reunion planning was over. A few other friends were going to stop by to help finish replacing the front porch. With everything that had transpired since Friday, Micah was behind schedule on the remodel and wanted to get that back on track.

Julia smiled in the backseat as she realized how everyone was coming together to help her. She'd rather not need the protection but it was good to be close to people who cared so much about her. Living in cities, she hadn't known many people outside of her ex-husband's co-workers.

The fact that everyone knew everyone in town annoyed her when she was a teen. Now, it made her see that not only does everyone know everyone, they all help one another without expecting anything in return.

By the time they returned to the dilapidated house on Lincoln Street, the air was abuzz with the sounds of saws, hammers and various other power tools. Austin and three men Julia didn't know made quick work of the second half of the front porch and had moved on to taming the bushes surrounding the house.

Micah disappeared to the back deck to start putting together the housewarming gift he picked up for Julia, a new gas grill. She objected until he told her there was going to be a group of hungry men at the house by the time he got done with them. An impromptu barbecue was also not in Julia's plans for Sunday afternoon but as soon as they were home she began looking forward to a night with friends.

Lizzie busied herself in the kitchen cutting fruit and making a pasta salad while Adam and Carly ran to pick up brats and hamburgers. Annie disappeared for close to an hour, returning with a cooler fully stocked with beer and soda.

The feeling was surreal as Julia watched her friends retire to the backyard late in the afternoon. She'd always wanted to have gatherings like this one. Another brick in the wall around her heart was crumbling and she knew the more memories they built like this one, the harder it would be for her to move on like she'd promised herself she would.

As the evening wound down, Julia heard Caleb and Micah having a heated discussion behind the house. Adam had been unable to change a few of his meetings which meant he would have to drive home once everyone else was gone. Since neither of the men in her life was willing to have Julia stay home alone, they'd talked and decided that Micah and Caleb would stay at the house for a few nights. Unfortunately, this was not discussed with Caleb and he wasn't happy about being uprooted, no matter the time frame, so close to the start of the school year.

Julia reached for the sliding glass door to tell Micah she'd be fine when she saw Caleb crossing the deck, arms folded tightly across his chest. When she opened the door for him, he shot her an icy glare. She quickly stepped past him to find Micah.

"Hey, why don't you take him home? I'll be fine," Julia said burying her face into Micah's chest. She didn't want him to leave but what she wanted didn't matter if it meant problems between him and his son. They were going to have enough to face in the near future because of Karen and Julia refused to do anything to make it worse.

He gently placed his hands on either side of Julia's face drawing her eyes to meet his own. "No. He's not happy right now, but I know he'll be even more upset if something happened to you," he said planting kisses on her cheeks. "It's a lot for him to take in. Just know that he's not mad at you."

"I know, but he needs to be your priority right now," she said softly.

Micah shook his head, "I'll tell you the same thing I told him. This isn't open for discussion. You're not staying here by yourself. So, unless you want me to ask Gran if you can stay at the farm with us, we're going to be staying here."

She knew better than to fight him. If she tried, he would bring Adam into their conversation and there was no way to convince two well-meaning yet overprotective men to change their minds. Resigned to the fact that her independent life was slipping out of her grasp, Julia turned back to the house.

Chapter Eleven

If there was one good thing that came from everything that happened over the weekend, it was waking up in Micah's arms on Monday morning. It would have been even better if it hadn't been a ridiculous hour when the alarm on his cell phone started chirping. Julia rubbed her eyes and saw that, for the first time in the past two years, she was waking up at an hour that was so indecent that the sun wasn't even up.

"I swear, I might be forced to kick you out of my house," she grumbled as she curled into Micah's warmth.

A smile cracked on his face, "You'd kick me out?" he laughed, remembering the first morning he'd shown up to the house and had been torn apart for waking her up before nine.

"If you're going to get up this early every day, yes, I might." She wouldn't, of course, but she wondered if she should. She was far too comfortable feeling him occupy the other half of the bed. Once the alarm system was installed, Micah and Caleb would go home and she would once again feel the cold when she reached out in the middle of the night. The emptiness hadn't bothered her for the past few years, since her marriage had started to crumble. After only two nights spent sleeping next to Micah, the thought of waking up alone was crushing. This couldn't possibly be healthy.

"Hey, what's going on in there?" Micah asked, brushing the hair away from her face.

Julia huffed, "Nothing." She wasn't about to tell him everything that was going through her head.

"You're lying." He didn't push but she could tell he wanted to.

Why had she told him that they had to be one-hundred percent honest with each other at all times? That's right, because when she said that, she thought she was having the last conversation with him that she'd ever have. Now, she wished there was a way to tell him that there were times when not being ready to say something was okay. That not saying what was on her mind wasn't the same as lying.

She rolled onto her side, she felt every muscle of his glorious chest pressing against her through the thin cotton t-shirt she'd worn to bed. She giggled at the fact that he smelled like a combination of his natural smell and her mandarin mango bodywash.

He looked down at her through his droopy eyelids. "You confuse me, you know that?" His words were playful but she could hear that he was serious.

"What?" she asked trying to pull back from his strong embrace so she could better see his face.

His arms stayed tense, not allowing her to move. "One minute, you look like someone shot your puppy and the next minute you're laughing at me. What's that about?"

"You smell like a girl," she laughed. She was hoping the statement would deflect his attention from her sullen mood.

Strong fingers started sweetly stroking her back seconds before breaking into an assault on her ticklish sides, "So, you think I'm a girl now?" he joked. She hated being tickled and Micah knew that. This morning, it was just what she needed.

Moving her hand to his hip, she slid one leg between his, "Nope. I assure you I know that you're not a girl," she whispered. Her breathing quickened at the thought of all the ways he was pure man. She traced a single finger along the deep V at his waistline, retreating before she reached the most sensitive area. Against her thigh, she could feel his body responding to her touch. She repeated the gesture on the other side, allowing her hand to dip below the waistband of a pair of ridiculous sweatpants he kept in the truck.

Micah had planned on waking up early planning to surprise Julia with coffee and her iPad in bed. His hardening length told him that plan was on hold. Julia knew exactly what she was doing to him and he planned to show her what she was doing to him.

He wanted to torture her the same way she was him. And that's why he barely allowed his calloused hands to make contact with her sides as he ran his hands under the hem of her t-shirt. He knew his actions would be his own undoing as well but he wanted this to last. When his hands finally reached the bottom of her firm breast, he splayed his hands so just his thumb grazed her beaded nipple.

Unable to resist any longer, he lifted the shirt teasing on one nipple with his tongue while he rolled the other between his fingers. He blew gently on her sweet skin as he withdrew his mouth. She arched her back beneath him as his mouth trailed down her smooth stomach. By the time he reached down to remove her innocent cotton panties, there was no mistaking that she wanted him as much as his throbbing mid-section wanted her.

Just as he grabbed hold of the elastic waistband, they shot apart at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. "Welcome to parenthood," he groaned.

Julia froze at his words. Parenthood? How in the hell did she go from looking forward to finally living alone for a while to a level of domestic life she'd never envisioned for herself in just over a week? With only a few words, Micah had thrown a bucket of water on the fire that had been raging within her.

Faster than she had since she lived in the dorms, Julia threw on her t-shirt and reached for the nearest pair of shorts she could find. Before Micah had time to say another word, she locked the bathroom door behind her and slumped to the floor. She couldn't do this. She'd almost rather face Karen and her little thug friend than deal with this. Micah and Caleb could not stay another night.

After sitting on the cold bathroom floor for a few minutes, Julia reached to the pedestal sink for support as she stood. Her stomach sank as she stared at her thoroughly ravaged hair in the mirror. How could one of the most amazing nights of her life come crashing down in such spectacular fashion?

To say the air in the kitchen was thick with tension would be the understatement of the year. Julia's eyes darted around the room trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. Caleb sighed heavily and repeatedly in an attempt to show how displeased he was about waking up at Julia's house. Micah was desperately trying to figure out how to get out of the messes he'd created with the two people who meant more to him than anyone else.

As soon as he'd opened his mouth in the bedroom, he regretted the words that came out. How could he have made such a stupid statement? That's right, because he wasn't thinking with the proper head.

Parenthood was something he had years of experience with. Yes, interruptions were part of life but how could he expect Julia to embrace that? And then to actually say the word when they were both so aroused they couldn't see straight? That had to be one of the dumbest things he'd ever done and that was saying a lot. He was fairly certain the ache in his jeans was going to remind him just how badly he'd screwed up all morning.

"Hey buddy, we have to get going," Micah said grabbing his keys off the counter. He hated leaving things unresolved, in more ways than one, but he had an early morning meeting with a materials vendor.

Caleb looked at the clock and then glared at his father, "What am I supposed to do this early? If we were at home, I could just--"

Micah stopped Caleb before he could finish his thought. "Look bud, you know why we weren't home last night. I'm sorry, but I have a meeting that I can't miss, so we have to go."

Julia shifted in her chair, wishing to be anywhere besides caught in the middle of a stare-down between father and son. There was an entire disagreement taking place without a word being said and she was pretty sure it had to do with her. "I can take him," she said to Micah, more to break the silence than anything else. "I mean, if it's okay with you, Caleb." She didn't want to push herself on the boy.

"Yeah, sure," Caleb mumbled. Julia could tell he wasn't happy about the proposition and was only willing to go along with it because that meant he wouldn't have to be one of the first kids to school.

"Thank you," Micah said kissing the top of her head. After retrieving Caleb's backpack from the truck and giving Caleb a quick talk about being respectful and polite, Micah was gone.

The tension eased a bit once she was sitting across the table from Caleb without his father in the room. They didn't say anything to one another but at least neither of them were projecting their irritation towards Micah now that he was gone. Twenty minutes later, Caleb finished getting ready for school and packed away his sketchpad. They walked in silence to the car.

"They used to talk about you," he said, his eyes fixed on the road in front of the car.