Page 34 of Signed, SEALed, Delivered

When his eyes recovered from their three sixty, they came to rest in direct alignment with my own. I smiled brightly and blew him a quick kiss, giving a slight wave as I headed in the direction of the front door.

“Ah, hell no. You better deliver that kiss." Zach possessed a commanding voice; one I imagine rang proud and true for his men during their missions. Now, it filled the room and silenced any conversations. With just a hint of embarrassment and more joy than sorrow, I fulfilled his request. I crossed the floor and kissed him soundly on his lips.

Being with Zach had brought out a boldness I never knew I possessed. After his bare handed catch of the football, any childhood instruction on public displays of affection went right out the door. I had since become quite brazen in initiating contact between us. This was new territory for me, a frontier I couldn't wait to explore and conquer.

"Is this your sister?"My head turned on its own toward the voice belonging to lady who was now not only half naked, but by the hands resting on her bare hips, irritated. Add in the harsh tone of her words and her irritation was clear. I was ready to simply bid Zach a quick goodbye and be on my way. However, Zach being Zach, he wasn't going to settle for what I had planned

"Fuck no, she ain't my sister!” Closing the distance between us with purpose, he pulled me flush against him. “She's the goddamn mother of my unborn children." His voice was elevated and brash, his grip on my hips tightening to a slightly painful level and yet it was, shockingly, erotic. He never let go of my body as he began to usher her out of his chair. "Now take your skinny ass out of here."

The poor blonde was more shocked than anything and I wanted to feel bad for her, but again he was bringing out a new person in me. One who didn't have to smooth out everything or worry about what would get back to my mother's judgmental ears.

The blonde and her friends scurried out the door, gone long before the seat they occupied was cold from lack of body heat. Zach pulled me closer to his body, his hand keeping my hip captive, now rested securely along my right ass cheek. It was bold and brazen, and I couldn't get enough.

"Any of you other motherfucker's got a problem with me kissing my girl?"The remaining men shook their heads, no one daring to disagree with him. I felt his body vibrate with a satisfied chuckle, then he buried his face in my neck and hair. Closing my eyes, I enjoyed the feel of this man who was wrapped around me; the smell of his clean shirt, his deodorant, and the salve he used on the new tattoo Jason had given him.

When the shop first opened and the media came inside, they found a calm Zach sitting in Jason's chair. Zach wanted a symbol of the new chapter in his life, a representation of everything new in his world. So he had Jason place a Phoenix on his right shoulder, its significance evident to everyone—a new beginning.

The vibrating of my phone was like an alarm on reality. I pulled away from Zach, knowing it was still working hours for me. Zach knew how seriously I took my job and didn't stop me. One glance at the screen however, told me the giant Jason and I had tried to ignore was now awake. Placing my hand on Zach’s chest, I closed my eyes and braced myself for the wrath I was certain would come. Zach sat in his chair, pulling me into his lap.

"Hello, Mother. I wasn't expecting your call." When I was a little girl, my mother hired a lady to come instruct me on how to properly address someone. We spent several sessions on how to answer a telephone. I gripped Zach's shirt tighter the second the words left my lips, knowing they were all wrong and improper.

"Kennedy, it seems you have been slacking on your social skills. Perhaps we should rethink this new venture you have set upon." Even if I thought long and hard for several days, I don't think I could remember the last time my mother said a kind word about anything I did or said, unless it was to place her in a better light.

"I'm sorry, Mother, but I am trying to conduct a business meeting and have a client. Can I phone you back later?" My voice was fake and I hated the sound of it. I got the feeling it bothered Zach as well, as his hands left my body and found their way to the back of his neck.

"Really, Kennedy? Is this the same client from the deplorable display your father showed me on one of his sports channels? Or could this be the client whom Buffy Thompson saw you kissing in the middle of a public street where everyone could see?"

Had this conversation occurred a month ago, I would have been so embarrassed. I would have excused myself from Zach's presence, caught the first cab I could find, and then cried all the way to my parents estate. That wasn't the case today. No, today I was a different person, one who now craved life. One who wanted everything to change, experience all the adventure and danger it had to offer. To be like the people I had read about, tossing pride and expectations aside and just living in the moment. Moving out of Zach's lap, I turned to face him, raising my left leg and gliding my foot over his jean clad legs, I came to rest with my cotton-covered core over the leather of his belt. His smirk came to life, the one I loved so much and truly believed he saved only for me.

"Yes, Mother, the very same client. However, today, I'm not only kissing him in public, but I'm straddling his lap, leaving only a thin layer of clothing between us." My eyes were lost in his, my own smirk, which I did save just for him, was on display for his enjoyment. My fingers traced the edge of his collar, watching this Adam's apple bob with the shifting of his hips. "I’m also enjoying the sight of his ink covered arms and the vibrations of his motorcycle as we fly down the street at dangerous speeds."

I knew my mother said something in anger and distaste back to me, but I was too lost in Zach to care what it was. So lost, I didn't protest as he took my phone and tossed it behind him. I knew there would be a fall out from that phone call, yet being here in this moment, with all of my walls lying in ruin around us, I felt like I was living for the very first time.

The bell announced the opening of the front door, reminding us we really did have to leave the world we had created and go back to being responsible adults. With a final kiss, I rose from his lap. As if the phone call wasn't enough, the tiny girl who had caused so much heartache stood inside the door providing the perfect cap to the day. I looked to Jason who was now headed in her direction.

"What do you want?"

Living with my brother, I've had the opportunity to see him in many different situations. I've watched as he took on a bully who tried to shove him in gym class. Cheered for him as he broke the school running record for most yardage during the homecoming football game. Defied my father in denying his place at his firm. Now, I will witness him confront the woman who toyed with him, broke him down, and then had him believing her lies.

Hannah was a beautiful woman. Her family’s money and regular appointments with the country's top plastic surgeons had insured that. Her cold and evil heart was the only original part on her and she perfected it well. Her walk was rehearsed, calculated, and purposeful. She used whatever measures available to her to get where and what she wanted. For the longest time, she wanted my brother. Everything changed when he chose to open this shop, instead of the door to the corner office in our father's firm.

Zach moved from his chair as if he was going to intercede, but I knew Jason needed closure. He needed to show Hannah he had moved on and the hold she once held over him was broken, replaced with the love of a girl who deserved him. One who would make him happy no matter what his occupation. I placed my hand in the center of Zach's chest, instructing him to let it be, sit back and be a spectator this time.

"Is this anyway to address the woman you love?”

Etiquette ruled me to remain silent, “let the adults have a conversation, Kennedy.” Living in the moment, however, allowed me to snort, causing Zach to pull me into his chest, a protective cage he created with his arms wrapped around my middle.

Hannah had no inkling of the man who stood before her. A man who rose from disappointment and heartbreak, earning new battle scars and life lessons. The man Hannah had left cold and bleeding died, leaving a new and improved version that now stood proudly in his place. He was loved and respected by those he chose to surround himself with.

"The woman I love isn't in this room, unless you're referring to the love between a brother and sister. Although, everyone knows that isn't what you're referring to." Jason’s voice was calm as he turned his attention away from the she-devil standing before him, cleaning his station with pride and determination.

"Jassie, I was wrong."

Clearly she was wrong, in more ways than just creating a situation that caused Jason to break things off with her. My brother was never one quick to anger, a quality I wanted to find in the man I gave my heart to. But as the expression goes, everyone has their breaking point and by the look of Jason, she had pushed him to his.

"My name is Jason, not Jase or Jassie or any of the other ridiculous names you degraded me with while we were together." All those years of resentment came bubbling to the surface. Resentment for sitting back and letting her be cruel, for doing what our father asked of him, and dating her only to please our parents. He needed this, a cleansing of sorts. I prayed he and Zach kept something stiff to drink hidden around here somewhere as I suspected he would need it soon.

"Actually, your name is daddy."

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