Jason's Princess: A King Brothers Story (9 page)

“You got it, big bro.” Josh clapped him on the shoulder and went to help Charlie with his homework.

Jason called a cab and headed to his house to get his truck and personal things for an overnight stay. It pissed him off that he was nervous about it. He definitely wasn’t looking forward to the fight he was going to have with Julie when he told her his plans. Sure, Jarod wanted him to ‘finagle an invitation’, but that was easier said than done and would never happen. So, he would do what he was good at; he would tell her he was staying. Period.

After collecting what he needed for a weekend stay…

Am I being optimistic or what?

… he made sure everything was locked up tight. Then he checked his messages. He had two hang ups with “unknown” in the caller I.D. Not wanting to miss the chance to catch the prank callers, he forwarded his landline number to his cell to see what would happen this weekend.

When he stepped through Julie’s front door with his bag, the phone in her house was ringing. Lauren picked it up and waited a beat, grimaced and hung up. She looked at him but didn’t speak. Another hang up.

“Where’s Charlie?”

“Shower. Josh left to get ready for his date with that Baxter troll.” Lauren rolled her eyes.

Laughing, Jason put his bag in the spare bedroom. He’d prefer to sleep in the same room with Julie, but he knew that would never fly. So he sucked it up, and lowered the futon in the spare room. It had a crap mattress that his back would not appreciate. He rummaged through her linen closet for some sheets and blankets to make up the bed. When he was finished, he put his toiletries in the hall bathroom next to Charlie’s stuff, who was now out of the shower.

He ignored the pleasant feeling coming over him seeing his stuff in her house.

Shaking off his odd mood, he sauntered back to the main living area. Lauren was fixing dinner; the smell made his stomach rumble. Charlie was kicked back in the recliner watching the fights. Julie was still curled up on the couch. He sat in the open spot on the end by her feet. He casually placed his hands around her feet and gave her lower legs a little rub. He’d woken her when he left, but she still needed to be roused a few more times in the next couple of hours. She would probably be cranky that she had slept so long. He wasn’t disappointed.

“You’re tickling me. Stop it,” she groused. He chuckled but didn’t release her. She blinked her eyes open.

“How’re you feeling?” he smiled.

“Like I got hit from behind and smashed my face into the steering wheel. How’re you feeling?” she grumbled.

Jason and Charlie laughed out loud at her crabbiness.

“Oh good, you’re awake.” Lauren floated into the living room and sat in the hard backed rocker. It was an old-fashioned, feminine contraption that Jason refused to sit in … ever.

Julie removed her feet from his hands and sat up, blinking her eyes and looking around a bit disoriented. He tried to steady her, but she deflected his helpful hands with a good swipe of her own.

“What time is it?”

“Five-thirty. Are you hungry?” Lauren asked, with motherly concern.

Julie shook her head no and began the tirade of how much she had to get done before Monday, and Jason lost it.

“For crying out loud, woman, give yourself a break! You were in a wreck today and your head is bashed. Forget about Monday because you are NOT going to my site. It’s too dangerous right now.”

“What do you mean I can’t go to the site on Monday? Jason, you said your dad wants me there. That’s my livelihood. I can’t miss work. I have bills to pay.”

“You can’t pay bills if you’re in the hospital or dead, Jujyfruit.”

“Yeah? And what about Charlie? I need to get groceries for the week or he won’t have any lunches. And I can’t buy groceries if I don’t have any money. And I won’t have any money if I CAN’T GO TO WORK!” Yelling must have hurt because she immediately grabbed her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

Feeling like a shit, he scooted closer to her and put his arm around her shoulder bringing her head down to him. “Hush now, babe. We’ll figure this out.” Even if it meant he had to lock her up in her room.

∼∼∼∼∼

Man, her head hurt. She rested her forehead against his warm, hard chest and breathed in his magical scent. It calmed her and helped her to think more rationally.

What was she going to do if he didn’t let her park her truck on the construction grounds? She would have to park her truck somewhere else; the site for the new shopping center was the perfect location for her. It was steady income and King Construction employed lots of people from her community. There weren’t many other projects going on in town with that many workers needing to be fed everyday.

She could move her truck to the downtown area, but the city demanded permits for those locations and those cost money. With Jason booting her off of his site, she would have to deal with the local bureaucracy and spend some of her savings to get set up. She didn’t even want to think about the time wasted to find a reliable location. Good grief, he was going to bankrupt her.

“I’m thinking of applying for a job at the diner bussing tables,” Charlie announced.

She looked over at her brother with wide eyes. “You’re what? No, Charlie, you need to focus on your school work. We’ve talked about this.”

“I know. But I hate that you work yourself to the bone for us, Sis. You shouldn’t have to do all of it. I’m perfectly capable of putting in a couple of hours a week at the diner. It would give me spending money and you wouldn’t have to give me an allowance.” He had put the foot of the recliner down. He now had his elbows on his knees, looking her square in the eye.

“I probably won’t get the job. Even though helping Julie in the truck and in the kitchen has given me some idea of how a real restaurant works, maybe it won’t be enough experience.”

“To bus tables? You don’t need any experience to bus tables, Charlie.” Lauren shook her head. “Is the ‘help wanted’ sign still up?”

“Yeah, at least it was yesterday.”

“Maybe you should go in and talk…”

“No, he shouldn’t!” Julie panicked as tears pricked her eyes. “He needs to be concentrating on his school work. When he has free time I want him to have fun with his friends. He doesn’t need a job right now. He’ll have plenty of time to work when he’s a grown man.” She wanted his last year to be the best, and full of memories like hers had been. She didn’t want him to have to enter the cold, hard world before he was ready. She knew how that world worked and she didn’t want him exposed to it just yet.

“Ok, let’s drop this subject for now. We can talk about it after you get something to eat,” Jason said.

“I have to use the restroom.” She needed an escape before they realized just how upset she was becoming.

She stood up, pushing Jason’s ever helpful hands away and stormed off to the small bathroom in the hallway. She opened the door and immediately saw more shaving equipment than Charlie owned.

What the hell?

After taking care of some rather urgent business she washed up and headed back out there to face the troops. Charlie was putting napkins and silverware on the table. Lauren was putting a bowl of salad in the middle, while Jason followed with some french bread. She glanced in the kitchen and saw the tell-tell signs of spaghetti noodles and meat sauce in two separate pots on the stove. Lauren had stacked the dinner plates next to them buffet style. It smelled heavenly. Her stomach rumbled so loud it rattled her teeth.

Chuckling, Charlie offered, “You can go first, Sis.”

Fine with her. She picked up a plate and loaded it up. Lauren’s spaghetti was the best. It was also the only thing her BFF knew how to make, so the recipe had obviously been perfected. Taking a seat at the table she added salad and a slice of soft, buttered french bread to her plate. Jason placed a large glass of iced tea in front of her with a lemon wedge on the glass.

Jason was being nice.

She admitted to herself that his behavior today, although aggravating at times, had been for her benefit. He had sacrificed his entire Saturday to take care of her and she had done nothing but snap at him…. or sleep on him.

Well heck,
she thought. She should probably apologize or at least thank him for helping her out today. And she would do that, right after she crammed more spaghetti in her face. She was really hungry.

Charlie sat in his normal spot across from her, Jason to her left and Lauren to her right. Her table only had four chairs. It was bar height so when Charlie had more friends over they would stand around it like they were at a pub. She had found it at a second hand store and she loved it. Jason was so big that when he put his feet on the foot rest of his chair his knee bumped with hers. She thought of moving over but felt the action would be insulting. Jason didn’t seem bothered by it so why make a big deal?

Looking at Charlie across from her, she noticed how handsome her brother was becoming, even with stitches in his forehead and an unshaven face. Frowning, those whiskers reminded her of something.

“What’s with the extra shaving kit if your not going to shave, Charlie?” she teased.

Looking truly puzzled, he squished his eyebrows together as he chewed the obscene amount of food in his mouth. When he was finally able to swallow, he asked, “What are you talking about?”

“She’s talking about my toiletries on your bathroom counter.” Jason was looking at her when he spoke.

“Your toiletries? Why are your things in my brother’s bathroom?” Her voice rose an octave and she starting to panic again, damn it. Why would he bring his personal stuff here?

“Because I’m staying here tonight. Josh had plans or it would be him. Jarod wants us to stick to you and that’s just what we are going to do.” He shoved another forkful of spaghetti in his mouth as if this was no big deal; as if he spent the night at her house all the time.

“No way, Jason. You are not spending the night here.”

“Yes I am.” He put his fork down and turned to face her. She could see Lauren in her peripheral, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. She would find no help from her BFF.

Witch
.

“
There is someone out there trying to hurt you. We don’t know how far this person will go. Until Jarod gets some more leads, my brothers and I are going to stick to you and Charlie like glue. There’s nothing to discuss. I made up the futon in your spare room, so you don’t have to wait on me. I live alone, I can take care of myself. And believe me, Jujyfruit, even if you tried to force me to leave you’d never get me out that door.”

His green eyes were like fire. He wasn’t asking her if he could say. He was telling her, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Before she could begin her debate, Lauren interrupted. “He’s right, Julie. Having Jason here will make me feel better, as well.” She gently squeezed Julie’s shoulder to soften her betrayal.

“Let him stay, Sis. We can have a game night or something while he’s here. You can school him in Monopoly like you do everyone else.” Charlie wiggled his eyebrows up and down, grinning ear to ear.

Shoulders slumped, she relented. “Fine. What’s for dessert?”

They all laughed and the atmosphere relaxed again.

Once dessert had been eaten and the dishes put away, Charlie got out the board game. Julie enjoyed the interaction with Jason. Usually when she kicked butt during a Monopoly game there was a lot of pouting and name calling. Jason seemed to take it all in stride. He even laughed out loud a few times. The phone rang twice while they played, no one being on the other end. Julie also noticed Jason answering his cell phone but never had a conversation with anyone. Maybe he was receiving a text from his current girlfriend. She wasn’t going to ask and he wasn’t sharing with the rest of the class.

Lauren stayed until almost midnight. She hugged everyone goodbye and threatened to kill Julie if she didn’t get some rest. Julie walked her friend to the door. “Thank you for staying today, making dinner and keeping us company. I really appreciate it.”

“You know I love you, Julie. Of course I was going to stay today. I’m coming over tomorrow too so by Monday you will be sick of my face.” She hugged Julie goodbye and walked to her car.

Julie watched her pull out of the driveway before she locked the door and flopped back onto the couch. Jason was there in the spot he had claimed the whole day; the end where she usually put her feet. He looked tired but comfortable, like a man would look at the end of a hard day before going to bed. His head was resting on the back of the couch and his stockinged feet were crossed at the ankles on her coffee table. The remote was in his hand and he had managed to get the fights back on the TV. His t-shirt was untucked and he had one of her throw pillows tucked at his side. The tattoos on his arm were colorful and ornate.

She swallowed a lump in her throat. She would never have a man share her home like this, especially a man like Jason. Her eyes began to water. She forced the tears to dry up before he noticed. She didn’t like being so emotional in front of people and contributed her lack of control to her cracked head.

Stupid steering wheel
.

Jason turned to her at that moment. His eyes were a brilliant green under heavy lids. His eyelashes were thick and she suffered a brief spat of jealousy over them. He reached over and grabbed her hand.

“Hey. You feeling alright? You need a pain pill?” He was gently rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand; it was surprisingly comforting.

She thought about it and yes, her head was killing her again. She gave him a small smile. “Yeah I should probably take one. I slept so much today that I probably won’t sleep tonight without taking another pill.”

She was about to get up when he beat her to it. “Hold on,” and he was up and in the kitchen before she could object. He was back in a flash with a bottle of water and a small white pill. She took her medicine like a good patient and handed the bottle back to him, but he shook his head.

“You need to drink that. I know it’s late but you really didn’t have enough water today.”

He sat back down on the couch, a little closer this time, and grabbed her hand. She didn’t know if it was the head injury, the medication or just plain loneliness but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him to let go or move. Tonight she would pretend that things were different between them. She would accept his comforting presence and in the morning when he left she would be feeling better. She would be able to get her errands ran and her preparations for the week ahead done. She wasn’t going to worry over where she was going to work or where the rent money was coming from.