Page 25 of Fighting Temptation (Men of Honor 1)
“Come in!”
Stiffening, I glare at the door. What the fuck? What the hell is wrong with her? She has no idea who’s at her door and she just yells at them to come in? Feeling pissed now, I let myself in and hear Julia yell from upstairs as I’m closing the door.
“I’m sorry, I must have got the time wrong. I thought you said 7:00. Go to the kitchen and grab yourself something to drink. I just need a few minutes, I’ll be right down.”
Hearing the sound of her voice after being gone so long stirs up emotions I haven’t felt in a long time.
Obviously she’s expecting someone. Glancing down at my watch I see it’s just after 6. Great, I have less than an hour to plead my case.
I walk straight ahead finding the kitchen and see cookies on the counter. They’re still on the baking sheet warm from the oven. Snatching one I pop the whole thing in my mouth and I want to groan at how good it is. Damn, Margaret taught her well. I take one more and go sit at the kitchen table.
I wonder if she’s expecting Kayla, maybe I can ask Coop to keep her with him. With that thought I grab my cell phone and start texting Cooper when I hear Julia come down the stairs. Standing up I take a deep breath and brace myself for the shit storm that’s about to hit.
I can’t believe I got the time wrong, I could have sworn he said 7:00. Thank goodness I started getting ready early. I looked down at myself, loving the new yellow strapless sundress I bought. It’s perfect for the hot weather we’ve been having. I walk down the stairs with the vase of flowers he sent me today and step into the kitchen with a smile. “Thanks so much for the flowers you…” I stop, every part of me freezing, including my breath. I stare at the person standing in my kitchen and swear I’m hallucinating.
“Hey Jules,” Jaxson’s gaze roams down my body as he leans comfortably against my kitchen counter with his arms crossed, looking arrogantly determined.
The vase slips from my shaking hands and shatters all over the floor by my feet, but I still don’t move, I can’t.
“Jaxson?” I ask quietly and unsure.
“Fuck! Don’t move!” he strides around my kitchen looking in my cabinets for something.
“What are you doing here?” I ask stunned. When I take a step toward him he rushes at me picking me up around my waist.
“Goddamn it! I said don’t move.”
I look down and see glass crunching under his boots.
“Where’s your broom?” he asks while setting me on the counter. When I don’t answer he grabs my bare calf lifting my foot to examine it. “Are you okay? Did you step in any?” Feeling his warm touch on my bare leg starts to snap me out of my shocked state.
Why is he here? Why now?
“Goddamn it Julia! Will you fucking answer me!? Are you hurt!?”
My gaze snaps to his and I shake my head. I open my mouth to say something then close it, not knowing where to start. I have so many emotions running through me right now. Relief, sadness and most of all, anger. Clearing my throat I try again and this time get words out, “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.”
I stare into his ice blue eyes that I haven’t seen in 6 long years and try to gauge any emotion from him. There’s something in his gaze that wasn’t there before, something harder. But I can’t see anything else- no remorse, no apology, nothing.
Feeling irritated now, I push him away and hop off the counter. Grabbing my broom from the pantry I start cleaning up the glass. He comes up behind me and tries to grab the broom, “I’ll do it.”
Not letting go I rip it back in my direction. “No! I’ll do it!” He backs off at my tone but I can tell he’s annoyed. I turn back sweeping, “Did Cooper not give you my message a year ago?” I ask coolly.
I feel him staring at my back when I lean over, sweeping the glass up in the dust pan.
“Ya he did,” he says, clearly not caring.
Walking past him to the trash I dump the glass in and notice cookies missing off the baking sheet. I turn and glare at him, “If you think I wasn’t serious Jaxson then you’re very mistaken.”
“Come on Julia,” he says as if I’m being irrational.
“No, you come on! How dare you think after what happened a year ago that you can waltz right into my house like nothing is wrong and eat my cookies.” I point at the missing cookies on the baking sheet, “These are for someone else, not you!” I know I sound childish but I’m so damn mad that I don’t care.
“Actually, I didn’t just waltz into your house, you fucking invited me in, not even knowing who was at your door. What the hell is wrong with you? I could have been anyone.”
“Obviously I thought you were someone else. Believe me Jaxson if I knew it was you I wouldn’t have invited you in.” I give him an extra hard glare hoping to hide the lie.
“I don’t give a shit if you were expecting someone or not, don’t ever do that again Julia,” he commands pointing his finger at me.
Oh the nerve I slap his finger away when I really want to slap the arrogance right off his sexy face. “Just who the hell do you think you are? You have no say on how I answer my door Jaxson. You have no say in anything I do in my life. Not anymore. So you can take your arrogant ass and get out of my house!” I go to storm past him but he grabs my arm and pulls me to him so his face is only inches from mine.
“I don’t think so baby. We have unfinished business and you’re not going anywhere until you hear me out.”
