Fighting Temptation (Men Of Honor) (21 page)

Grace looks taken back and a little pissed, “No that’s alright. I enjoy walking.”

Jaxson glares at her, I decide to take pity on Grace, “Trust me Grace it’s an argument you won’t win. Just let us drive you back, we are headed that way anyways.”

“Alright, thank you,” she mumbles.

I grab two to-go cups and fill them both with the green smoothie for Grace and I, then hand one to her.

“Thanks,” she says smiling again.

We start walking to Jaxson’s truck when Grace grabs my arm stopping me. She leans in and whispers: “Wow Julia. You and Kayla weren’t kidding, the man is sexy. A little scary and arrogant, but damn sexy.”

I burst out laughing, “I know.”

Jaxson is at the front door now with his eyes narrowed waiting impatiently for us to follow, so we snap out of our giggling and get moving.

Once we pull up to the station Jaxson comes over and helps me out of the truck. He seems to be in a better mood since I promised him on the way here that I would start locking my doors at all times. My stomach twists with dread as we start towards the entrance. Jaxson notices and surprises me when he grabs my hand and links our fingers together. When I look up at him his gaze is warm and intense. He leans down kissing my forehead, “It will be alright Julia, you’re doing the right thing.”

I nod not feeling very convinced. As we enter through the front doors Jenny quickly stands and smiles flirtatiously at Jaxson.

“Hi Jaxson, miss me already?” I tense with jealousy. She looks down at our joined hands and glares at me, “Julia, what are you doing here?”

Before I can reply Jaxson jumps in, “That’s none of your business, we’re here to see Cooper.”

I smile and stand a little taller at the way Jaxson puts her in her place. She says nothing but keeps glaring at me. Then she points towards Coop’s office.

As we start walking to Coop’s office I can’t help but rib Jaxson, “Wow Jaxson you have been busy. First Gladys now Jenny.”

Jaxson quirks a brow at me, “Jealous Julia?”

I scoff, “Ya right…”

Before I can finish Deputy Wilkinson comes out of Coop’s office.

“Well hello Miss Julia, you’re looking lovely today,” he gives me a wink, something he always does when I have come in here; he’s the biggest flirt.

I feel Jaxson tense and I can’t help but feel smug. I rub it in just a little bit, “Why thank you Trevor, you’re not looking too bad yourself today either,” I wink back.

Jaxson growls and propels me forward, I smirk at his glare, “Jealous Jaxson?”

He shakes his head, “You’re pushing it Julia.”

I giggle as we walk into Cooper’s office.

“Hey!” Coop says looking exhausted.

“You look like shit,” Jaxson points out rudely.

Cooper grunts, “Thanks asshole.”

Seeing Cooper like this reminds me of how sad Kayla was yesterday. My heart squeezes hoping everything is alright between them.

“Hi Cooper. Thanks for driving my car home last night with Jaxson.”

“No problem.” He gets out of his chair and points for me to sit in it. When I do he puts a pile of papers in front of me. “I need you to fill all this out.”

I take a deep breath and put a hand to my stomach, feeling sick now. I try my best again to get out of doing this but Cooper and Jaxson won’t hear it.

“Trust me Julia when I say this is necessary.”

I sigh giving in, “I do trust you, I’m just scared this is going to make things worse, but I’ll do it.”

I reluctantly fill out the paperwork. A half hour later I get up and hand the papers to Cooper.

“It takes anywhere from 24-48 hours for this to process. I will speed it up as quickly as I can. You need to make sure you tell us right away if he tries to contact you after this. I mean it Julia.”

I nod silently, not looking at either of them.

We walk out of Coop’s office and I have a moment of panic when I see him hand the paperwork to Jenny. “I need you to fax this to the number attached right away.”

She looks down at it then looks up at me in shock, “You’re putting a restraining order on Wyatt Jennings? Aren’t you dating him?” she asks snottily.

My stomach twists at her outburst.

“Jenny, you have no right to ask questions. Do I need to remind you what your job is?” Cooper asks heatedly.

She swallows nervously, “No of course not. I understand.”

I shake my head and storm out of the station. Jaxson comes up from behind, spins me around and holds me tight. “Everybody is going to think what she just said,” I mumble sadly into his chest.

“Who gives a fuck what anyone else thinks? You did the right thing Julia.”

I shake my head, “Can you just take me home?”

“Ya come on,” he says slinging his arm around me.

We pull up to my house and Jaxson leaves his truck running which tells me he isn’t staying, much to my disappointment.

“What are you doing tonight?” he asks helping me from the truck.

“Nothing right now.”

He clears his throat, “Want to go out for supper?”

I can’t help but smile when he shifts nervously, “Ya, I’d like that.”

“I’ll pick you up at 6 ok?”

I nod then feel nervous with what I’m about to say, “You know Jaxson, you don’t have to stay at the hotel, you could stay here with me if you wanted to.” I see him tense and before he gets the wrong idea I rush to say, “I have more than enough room, I have three spare rooms.”

I know the answer before he even responds: “I don’t think that’s a good idea Julia.”

I look down feeling embarrassed, “Ok,” I say quietly. Then I shrug, acting like it’s no big deal, “Just thought I’d offer. I’ll see you at 6.”

I turn to leave when Jaxson wraps his arms around me from behind and pulls me back against him. He leans in putting his mouth close to my ear, “I appreciate the offer Julia, but the problem is, your bedroom door will do nothing to stop me from coming into your room at night and sinking into that sweet hot pussy of yours.”

Oh lord! My panties become soaked from his rough erotic whisper in my ear and before I can stop myself I push back against his erection and whimper from the contact. Jaxson groans at the same time and his grip tightens on my hips. “Be a good girl Julia and go into the house before I lose control and fuck you right here on your driveway.”

I try to move, I really do, but I’m completely rooted to my spot. He growls then quickly turns me around and crushes his lips roughly to my forehead, “I’ll be back at 6,” then he’s back in his truck before I get my feet moving. I walk quickly into the house and close the door, leaning my forehead against it. Holy crap! My back still burns hot from where he was pressed against me. I look at the lock on my door and I can’t stop the smile over-taking my face when I click it in place.

Later that afternoon as I’m folding and putting my laundry away I get a knock on the door. I look at the clock wondering if it’s Jaxson, but it’s way too early. I walk down and open the door to a crying Kayla.

“Kayla, what’s wrong?” I ask worriedly, pulling her in from outside. Tears are pouring down her face and her eyes are swollen telling me she’s been crying for a while. She’s hugging herself as if trying to keep warm. I usher her to my couch with my arm wrapped around her.

“Oh god Julia!” is all she manages to get out.

“Kayla what is it? You’re scaring me to death.”

She looks at me with devastation, “I’m pretty sure Cooper is cheating on me.”

“What!?” I ask in shock, “No! No way Kayla, he would never do something like that to you, he loves you.”

She shakes her head, “I have suspected something for a couple of weeks now, but I shut the thought down because, just like you, I thought he would never do that to me.” She takes a deep breath trying to get words out through her tears, “But I’ve caught him lying to me. The other night he called me at 6, told me he was working late at the station, I decided to surprise him and bring him supper. When I got there he wasn’t there, Jenny said he had left at 5. Julia he didn’t get home till 10 that night,” she starts crying harder and I rub her back trying to soothe her.

“Did you ask him where he was?”

“Ya, he said he got a call and had to go to Charleston to meet with their chief of police. I could tell he was lying but I dropped it because a small part of me hoped he was telling the truth.” She shakes her head and laughs but I can tell she finds none of it funny. “Then there are times where I hear him whispering on his cell phone and when I come walking up he quickly lets them go and hangs up. When I ask who he was talking to he gets all nervous and says no one or wrong number.”

I take a deep breath and try to absorb what she’s saying. That does seem suspicious, but this is Cooper, he is one of the most honest men I know. Before I can say anything, Kayla continues, “Then today, when he was in the shower, his cell phone rang from a number I had never seen before. It was from Charleston, when I answered I heard a gasp then the person hung up. So I called the number back a few minutes later from my cell, blocking my number, and a girl answered. When I didn’t say anything you know what she said?”

I shake my head scared to ask.

“She whispered… ‘Cooper is that you?’ She whispered it Julia! Like it was a secret.”

“What did you say?”

Kayla shakes her head, “Nothing, I couldn’t speak. I was frozen because my heart had just broken in two.” She starts sobbing again and I wrap my arms around her tight.

“Kayla you have to talk to Cooper about this. There has to be some explanation… “

“He’s meeting her this Friday at a motel on Highway I-90 between here and Charleston.”

“No!”

Kayla nods her head, “I scrolled through his text messages after and found the number. There wasn’t much, except that she looked forward to seeing him and what room number she would be in.”

“Oh my god!” I can’t believe this is happening, I never thought Cooper would do this in a million years. “Are you going to confront him?”

She straightens her back, “Damn straight, this Friday at the motel when I bust him and his whore!”

I suck in a sharp breath, “Oh Kayla, I am not sure that’s a good idea.”

“As much as it will hurt, I have to see it with my own eyes. If I ask him he will just lie to me like he has been for weeks.” She puts her hand to her stomach now, “God I can’t believe this happening, I can’t believe he is doing this to me. I thought we were going to get married and have babies Julia. We have been together for 7 years. How could he do this to me?”

She breaks down sobbing again and I can’t stop my own tears from falling. I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight, “I’m so sorry Kayla.”

I think back to seeing Cooper this morning, maybe that’s why he looked like shit today. Maybe the guilt is eating at him? Bastard! “I’ll come with you Friday.”

Kayla looks at me and gives me a sad smile, “I was hoping you would say that.”

“Of course, I would never let you go through this alone.”

“Thanks Jules,” she hugs me tightly, “I better get going. I work evenings this week and I need to make myself somewhat presentable.”

“Maybe you should take a few days off?”

She shakes her head, “No it’s good for me, it will keep me busy and away from Cooper.”

“Alright, call me if you need anything, I mean it Kayla.”

“I will, I’ll text you the details for Friday.”

We give each other one last hug then she’s out the door.

I sit down and try to absorb what just happened, my heart breaking for Kayla. How could Cooper do this?

A few minutes later I get another knock on my door. I get up quickly thinking it’s Kayla again. When I open the door my stomach drops… Oh shit! It’s Wyatt looking madder than hell, with his face black and blue from Jaxson’s fists.

“You’re putting a fucking restraining order on me!?”

My body spikes with anxiety, “I’m sorry, Cooper thought it was necessary.” I decide it’s best to leave Jaxson’s name out of it.

“How could you fucking do this to me, after everything we’ve been through.”

I step back in surprise, “This is why. Wyatt we had three dates, you act like what we had was serious.” I realize that was the wrong thing to say. He clenches his fists as if he’s going to hit something. I’m praying that something isn’t me.