Authors: Tessa Dayne
“So you love her, huh?” he asked, turning his attentions back to Jonas. “Can you provide for her, give her the children she wants? Do you have children already that will take your attention and affections from her and her children?”
“My son, Ian, is turning seventeen. My ex-wife has custody, though I see him as often as I can.”
“An ex-wife that I suppose you see a lot?”
“We remained friends through the years. It was an amicable divorce,” Jonas said.
“
Will you buy her some fancy-shmancy house and then go gallivantin’ all over the world, with a girl in every city, leaving her alone to pine for an ounce of your attention?”
“I don’t know what kind of house we will have. Whatever Paige would like, I guess. I do have a ranch in Wyoming and I would like to have a place somewhere warm, someday. My family home is in New York. So I am all over the place.”
“Do you do those fancy drugs, that smack or crack, whatever they are calling it nowadays? You going to get her hooked on drugs and booze like all those high-fallutin’ Hollywood types people like you hang out with?” William Harper asked, leaning forward in his chair, his wrinkled face red with anger.
Jonas stood, his hands balled into fists at his side, his chest heaving. Anger coursed through him, making his blood boil. He knew he was making a mountain out of a molehill, but hearing Paige’s father question him and his intentions, knowing that he was associating him with the worst of his profession, made his temperature rise. “I am offended by your accusations, sir. I do not do drugs. I do not have women on the side. I love my son and my family, but I also love Paige. I want her in my life.”
Paige’s father leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest. “Well, I guess you will do…for now. But if you hurt her…”
Jonas felt Paige’s hand slip into his and he squeezed her fingers gently. “I do love her and I want her to be my wife. I would like your blessings, sir.”
“Seeing as how she already has a ring on her finger, I guess I can’t withhold my blessing, but I warn you son, do not hurt my little girl. I will make your life a living hell.”
Jonas looked down at Paige, and smiled at her. “Yes sir, I mean no sir…I mean…I would never hurt her intentionally. Thank you, it means a lot, to both of us.”
William grunted and leaned back in his chair. He wasn’t sure he liked this young man, though he liked that he had spunk and that he stood up to him when he tried to intimidate him.
“Now Paige, tell me what’s been going on. I have seen those papers at the market, and I know there’s no shred of truth in those headlines,” William said, reaching for his glass of iced tea.
~*~
Chapter
Three
~*~
Jonas slipped into the kitchen, crossed to the stove and wrapped his arms around Paige’s waist. He nuzzled the back of her neck, breathing in the floral perfume that she wore. The afternoon was shaping up to be a day out of the twilight zone. Her father had ignored him, harassed him, baited him, insulted him and then given them his blessing. It was all too weird.
“How are you holding up?” Paige asked, patting the hand that rested on her stomach.
“I’m about all in but my shoe strings. I feel like I’ve been on a roller coaster.”
“That’s my father for you. I’m sorry he was so rough on you,” she said, stirring the spaghetti sauce she was making.
“I’m okay. Not that he went easy on you either. Having to tell him about Darren and his mistress couldn’t have been easy.”
“I’m fine. I couldn’t lie to him any more than we could lie to your family. All I need to do now is to tell him about the baby.”
“And I just have to face your brothers.”
“They aren’t half as bad as Daddy. You’ll be okay,” she said, turning to kiss him.
A commotion in the living room caused them to pull apart. The door to the kitchen swung open and a man about Jonas’s age entered the room. Jonas imagined that this was what William Harper had looked like thirty years ago.
“You must be Jonas.”
Jonas nodded. The man was tall, taller than he was at any rate, with broad shoulders and dark hair. His grey eyes leveled at him and Jonas felt like he was under the microscope once again.
“Marcus, Joanie’s brother,” he said, offering his hand.
Jonas shook his hand and turned his head to look at Paige. “Joanie?”
Paige gave them both a look, her nose scrunched up in distaste. Of all the nicknames she had gathered over the years, that was the one she hated the most. Yet, both her brothers used it.
“Buzz off, Marcus. I hate that name and you know it,” she growled, turning back to making dinner.
“Come on little sis. You know I love you,” he said, popping her on the butt with his hand.
“Did you bring the entire crew with you?” Paige asked, stirring the spaghetti sauce.
“Of course I did. I hope there’s enough food. Ryan was bringing the girls too.”
“I cooked, Marcus. Of course, there’s enough food. There’s enough here to feed a small army.”
“You got yourself a catch there, Jonas. No one cooks like my little sister. Not even my wife,” he said patting his flat stomach.
“Don’t let Maria hear you say that,” Paige warned, seeing the object of their discussion in the doorway.
Jonas caught the look she had in her eyes and averted his gaze enough to see a woman of Hispanic descent in the doorway. She was short, curvy and very beautiful. Her dark hair flowed softly over her shoulders, her brown eyes sparkled with mischief and she smiled slyly, knowing that Paige was aware of her presence. This was obviously Maria and Paige was letting her brother hang himself. Jonas nearly let the cat out of the bag by snickering. Biting his lip, he kept silent long enough to let Marcus continue.
“No, seriously, Joanie. You are a much better cook than Maria is. All she makes is that Spanish food. I get such heartburn sometimes…it’s all too spicy for me. I love coming home and having the meals you make.”
“Oh…is that right?” Maria said from the doorway, her hands on her hips. “Just remember that Marcus, the next time you come home bellowing ‘what’s for dinner, woman!’ and see just what you get! Dios mio! Hijo de puta!”
“Damn it, Maria! You know I didn’t mean anything! I was just placating my sister! Come back here!” Marcus called, chasing after his wife.
Paige waited until they left the kitchen before she burst out laughing, laughing so hard, tears rolled down her face. “Oh that was priceless.”
“That was cruel, Paige,” Jonas said trying to keep a straight face.
“He deserved it. Besides, Maria knows he’s only kidding. They have had this argument from the time they started dating. I think they argue about it, just so they can have an excuse to make up.”
“Ah…so you were giving him an excuse, were you?”
“Of course,” Paige said, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
“What’s going on? Marcus just brushed by me without saying a word.”
Paige glanced up and found Ryan, staring dumbfounded at her. Chuckling, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “Just getting even with him for calling me ‘Joanie’ once again. And don’t you start, or your next!” she warned.
Ryan drew his finger across his lips and twisted it at the end. “Not one word, I promise. So, is this the man Dad’s ranting over?” Ryan asked, turning to Jonas.
“Jonas…my brother, Ryan Harper. Ryan, Jonas Barnett.”
Jonas shook hands with her brother, another exact replica of William Harper as he imagined he had been all those years ago, tall, with broad shoulders, dark hair and startling grey eyes.
“I’ve seen plenty of your movies, man. Nice to meet you,” Ryan said. “So how did you meet our Joanie here?”
Paige gave him the look of death, but Ryan just laughed, pulling Jonas out of the kitchen for a round of twenty questions. Jonas threw Paige a look over his shoulder, but all she did was smile at him and shrug.
~*~
The rest of the afternoon passed pleasantly. The entire Harper clan was there, a loud, rambunctious bunch. Jonas liked the entire family, and thought he fit in as well as could be expected. It had been rough meeting Paige’s father, at first, but after the initial round of interrogations, he seemed to have passed the test.
Marcus and Ryan had been easier to win over. All being close to the same age, the three of them had a lot in common. Maria had been on his and Paige’s side from the very beginning, welcoming him to the family with a wide smile and a big bear hug. The teens had been the easiest. They had all seen
The Rising
trilogy and they spent the entire afternoon grilling him about the movies.
Ryan’s girls had wanted to know all about Eddie Wilson and Oliver Billings, two of his younger co-stars in
The Rising
. The three boys were more interested in the fighting scenes. Overall, he had survived the encounter of meeting her family. True, they were different from his family, but it was obvious they loved each other. That was all that mattered to him.
After dinner, the entire family sat in the living room, exchanging Christmas presents. Jonas sat beside Paige on the couch, his arm draped over her shoulder as she passed out her gifts. He enjoyed seeing the smile each one brought to her face as she watched the recipient unwrap her gift.
The teens thanked Paige for their gifts, then left, having plans with some of the other kids in the neighborhood. She looked around the living room at her brothers and Maria wanting them to share in her news.
“I have an announcement to make. Dad already knows, and I want the rest of you to know too. Jonas and I are getting married.”
Marcus looked at her, disappointment crossing his face. “The articles in the paper, they’re true? You met Jonas years ago. You’ve been carrying on an affair with two men for months. How could you embarrass and humiliate this family?”
Paige blanched, all the color draining from her face. Beside her, she could feel Jonas tense and she dug her fingers into his arm.
“Marcus William Harper! You will apologize to your sister right now or so help me…” William bellowed, rising to his feet to tower over his son.
Paige sighed, looking down into her lap. “No, Dad, it’s okay. I lied to the reporters, Marcus. Darren was cheating, not me. Jonas and I concocted the story to protect me and the baby from the scrutiny of the paparazzi.”
“Paige, I’m sorry. I…I…was out of line. I take it Darren doesn’t know the baby is his.”
“No, he doesn’t know. And I don’t know if I am going to tell him,” Paige said, placing a hand on her stomach.
“He deserves to know he’s going to be a father, Paige. You have to tell him,” William said, sitting back in his chair.