Page 47 of Fighting Temptation (Men of Honor 1)
For the first time Jaxson looks over at Grace. Her grip has loosened a little on my arm now, realizing I know him and we have nothing to fear. I notice she’s quite shaken up though.
I narrow my eyes at him, “Jaxson this is my good friend Grace.”
“Shit! Uh I mean, nice to meet you. Sorry about that, but the damn woman doesn’t listen about locking her doors,” he says as an explanation while glaring at me.
Grace stares frozen for a few seconds, I watch her eyes roam Jaxson. There’s still some fear in her expression but also appreciation. I can’t help but smile at that. She waves at him shakily and clears her throat, “Um hello. Ah what was your name again?”
“Jaxson,” we both say at the same time.
Grace whips her head at me, “Jaxson?” she asks in shock, then she leans over and whispers, “the Jaxson?”
I guess Kayla left that part out this morning. I nod and tell her silently with my eyes that I’ll explain everything later, she gets the memo.
Jaxson interrupts our silent exchange, “Are you ready to go to the station or should I come back?”
Grace jumps in, “Oh no, I need to get to work, I just stopped in to check on Julia and give her this pie.”
I grab Grace’s arm, “Wait! Did you walk here or take a cab?” I know it’s one or the other, because she doesn’t own a car.
“I walked.”
“You walked here!?” Jaxson asks in exasperation.
“Um yes?” Grace says it as more of a question, looking nervous again.
“Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?”
I roll my eyes, “Jesus Jaxson, lay off. What are you the safety police?”
“Julia, you live in the damn country! She’s walking on a gravel road.”
“It’s not that far,” Grace says defensively.
Jaxson shakes his head, “Whatever. I’ll drive you back in and drop you off wherever it is you work.”
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.”
