Page 70 of Sweet Temptation (Men of Honor 2)
Resting my forehead against his, I close my eyes and try to stop my tears from falling, but one slips free. Sawyer wipes it away with his thumb affectionately. “Your moment should be that week in Iraq,” I choke out sadly.
“No, baby. I’d live through that all over again if it meant keeping you safe.”
More tears fall and I shake my head trying to stop their flow. Before my sobs can break free, Sawyer flips us so I’m on my back and he’s on top. I wrap my arms around him and bring him as close as I can, his face buries in my neck. “Every thing is going to be good now, Grace, you’ll see.”
I can’t believe how lucky I am to have met this man. I desperately want to tell him how much I love him, but I don’t want to freak him out, so instead I say, “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Sawyer.”
He leans back and looks down at me, his expression soft, “Same here, Cupcake… I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to me too.”
He watches me while I think about his words for a minute before he bursts out laughing. I slap him on the shoulder. “Leave it to you to ruin another romantic moment.”
“Don’t worry, baby, I’ll make it up to you, right now,” he says with a dirty grin. And boy does he ever.
The next afternoon I pull up to Jaxson and Julia’s to see Jaxson pushing Julia on the swing, with the dog running circles around them.
Jaxson looks pissed as he waves his hands around, yelling about something.
“Oh my gosh, my baby!” Grace cries and jumps out of the truck before I even come to a complete stop.
“Jesus Christ, woman…”
She ignores me and bolts towards Chuckie, who runs to meet her halfway. Grace falls to her knees, hugging and kissing the fucking thing as if she has been fucking gone three years, not three days.
As I make my way over to them, the dog runs to me also and rubs against my leg, which makes me feel like a prick. Bending down, I give him a pat on the head.
“Thank you so much for watchin’ him for me you guys,” Grace says, giving both Jaxson and Julia a hug. Jaxson returns her hug but still looks pissed about something.
“No problem, Grace. Did you have a good time meeting Sawyer’s family?” Julia asks.
Grace smiles at me, beaming with happiness. Which makes me pretty fucking happy too.
“Yes, I did. Sawyer’s family is wonderful.”
“That’s great. Chuckie was very well behaved.” Jaxson grunts, making her look like a liar.
“Uh oh. What happened? Was he not good?” Grace asks, worriedly.
Julia glares at Jaxson. “He was perfect. Jax is just grumpy today.”
“What are you spazzing about now?” I ask.
“She!” he points at Julia angrily, “and Susan are fucking allowing Anna to bring her fucking boyfriend overnight to my fucking house for Thanks-fucking-giving!”
“Really?” I reply, shocked. Jesus, that was brave of Julia.
“Yes, fucking really! And if that’s not bad enough then I find out she invites Ray fucking Jennings too!”
Okay, even I agree that is fucked up! Not only because the guy is Wyatt’s dad but the guy is also an arrogant prick.
Julia glares at Jaxson, looking like one pissed-off pregnant chick. “First off, Jaxson, it’s OUR house…”
“Whatever, same shit…”
“Secondly,” she continues, not letting him interrupt her, “if her parents are okay with it, then we will be too…”
“There is no fucking way Bill is okay with this.”
“It’s not like they’re sleeping in the same room for heaven’s sakes.”
“You’re goddamn right they won’t be!” Jaxson looks over at me now, “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to rig that fucker’s door shut. I’ll be fucking alerted immediately if anyone goes in or out of that fucking room.”
“What happens if he needs to use the bathroom?” Grace asks cautiously. “He can piss out the fucking window!”
Grace covers her mouth, muffling her laugh. Julia doesn’t care about covering hers and lets it out freely.
“This is not fucking funny!”
Julia rolls her eyes. “Jaxson, you’re being ridiculous, and if you’re not careful you will push Anna away,” she adds seriously.
“Okay so what about Jennings?” I ask Julia. I’m dying to hear why the hell she would do that.
She shifts nervously, “I invited him because he has no family, and no one should be alone on Thanksgiving. Including him. But it doesn’t matter anyways, he politely declined knowing how Jaxson feels about him.” She pauses, looking down at the ground, then swallows thickly, “I was just trying to be nice.”
Well shit! I feel like an asshole now.
Guilt washes over Jaxson’s hard expression. Grace walks closer to her and rubs her back. “Well I think it was awful nice of you to ask. And I agree, no one should be alone on Thanksgivin’… Right guys?” she glares over at Jaxson and me, wanting us to agree.
“Yup,” I agree quickly, not wanting my Cupcake pissed at me for anything.
“Fuck. Come here Jules.” Jaxson pulls her to him, wrapping her in his arms.
“I just feel bad for him is all,” she says softly in his chest.
I guess it’s true what they say about pregnant chicks crying over everything.
“I know, it’s fine, baby. Thanksgiving will be good, don’t worry.” He kisses her forehead, trying to smooth things over.
A minute later Julia steps back and looks over at Grace. “We’re having it on the Sunday. I’m hoping y’all will be able to come?”
“We would love to. Thanks for invitin’ us. I’ll bring the pies.”
Julia smiles happily again, her earlier upset already forgotten. Shit, that was fast.
“We should get going, Cupcake. I still need to stop by the apartment to grab some more stuff.” Nodding, Grace leans down, grabbing Chuckie’s leash. Then hugs Julia, thanking her again for watching the dog.
Jaxson walks over to me with a smirk, “Make sure you take the cork out of the dog’s ass when you get home,” he mumbles quietly.
I look over at him, stunned for a second then we’re both busting a gut. “What?” Grace asks, her and Julia staring at us in confusion. “Nothing,” we both reply at the same time.
