Hold Me Until Midnight

by Christina Phillips

  He unlocked the door. Cooper stood there, pulling his helmet off. “What the hell are you doing here?” He was in no mood for Cooper’s brand of humor right now.

  “Looking for you.” Cooper pushed past him and Jackson gritted his teeth before he slammed the door shut. “I was on my way to the Ashford’s but saw your car as I was passing.”

  “You were on your way where?” Jackson stared at his brother in disbelief.

  “If you don’t answer your cell, how the fuck else can I get hold of you?”

  Far as he knew, Cooper had called him once today. He hadn’t bothered replying to the subsequent text since he’d been late getting to Scarlett’s.

  “You’d never get through the gates.” And neither would he anymore.

  Cooper grinned. “Sure I would. My legendary charm works wonders.”

  It wasn’t worth arguing that point. “Don’t tell me Alex sent you.” His older brother might still be pissed with him for not showing up to their gran’s, but it wasn’t like him to grind an ax when the moment had passed.

  “Nah. I need a favor. I’ve had an emergency job come up this week. Can you cover for me?”

  “If I’m free.”

  “You are. I checked.”

  Jackson didn’t feel that deserved any response, and took a long swallow of beer. Cooper didn’t take the hint, and instead a frown crossed his face.

  “What’re you doing here anyway?”

  “What’s it look like?” He turned and made his way back to the office. Cooper once again didn’t take the hint and followed him.

  “Scarlett Ashford dump you?” Cooper leaned against the wall and grinned, as though he’d just cracked a joke.

  Jackson’s grip tightened around the bottle. “Don’t go there.” His voice was harsh. Scarlett had no need to dump him. His actions had done that without her needing to say anything.

  Cooper’s smirk faded. “What happened?”

  “Don’t start. Alex told me weeks ago what a fucking dick I am.”

  “Course you’re a fucking dick. But I’m not Alex. And I’ve never heard you talk about a girl the way you did about Scarlett the other day.”

  Jackson stared at his brother. “I didn’t say anything about her.”

  “You basically said you were seeing her. As in seeing her.”

  “Whatever. I’m not seeing her anymore.”

  “Family gave her the ultimatum, huh?”

  Jackson slung his brother an irritated look. He’d always known the Ashfords didn’t think he was good enough for Scarlett. But it was something else knowing his brother thought the same.

  “They didn’t have to. I lost my temper. Hit one of the bastards. I think it’s safe to say that’s the end of Scarlett and me.”

  “You hit her dad?” Cooper sounded torn between admiration and disbelief.

  “Of course I didn’t hit her dad. It was some dickwad who couldn’t keep his hands to himself.”

  “And Scarlett dumped your ass for that?”

  No she hadn’t. He hadn’t given her the chance.

  “Are we done?” He waved his beer in the direction of the door. Cooper ignored him.

  “You haven’t been in a fight in over eight years. You have shit timing, bro.”

  “Thanks for pointing out the fucking obvious.”

  Cooper put his helmet on the desk. “When was the last time you got into a fight over a girl?”

  He’d never been in a fight over a girl. If a girl wanted that kind of attention then she could move on to the next mug.

  Jackson glared at his brother. “What’s your point?”

  “You really care about Scarlett Ashford.”

  “Give me a break.” He growled the words as denial thundered through his brain. But what was the point. He did care about Scarlett. But if Cooper laughed, then God help him. “The jerk was hurting her.”

  The smug expression on his brother’s face faded. “Okay. I get that.”

  There was a silence. Jackson stared at his beer, but it had lost its appeal. “I didn’t want her to see that side of me, Coop.”

  “You had reason. Back then and now.”

  Jackson rocked the base of the beer bottle on his desk. “He’s a mouthy bastard. If I had the words… but I don’t. I never have. You talk a lot of shit but at least that keeps you out of trouble.”

  “Not always.”

  Jackson knew what Cooper was thinking about. “You were just a kid. Our dad was a prick.” Jackson heaved a sigh. “We’re so fucked up.”

  “Speak for yourself.” Cooper offered him a half-grin. “There’s no chance she’ll take you back? When she’s had time to cool off?”

  Jackson focused on the toe of his boot. “She didn’t dump me. I walked out of there. She didn’t try and stop me.” Of course she hadn’t. Why would she? She’d probably been thanking God for her lucky escape.

  “So you’re not finished.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Good as.” Jackson pushed himself to his feet and prowled the length of the small office. “She won’t take me back now.”

  “How do you know?”

  Jackson rounded on his brother, ready to give him a right mouthful, but Cooper wasn’t grinning. He was frowning. That was so unlike Cooper, who sailed through life, treating it as a joke.

  “What we had wasn’t serious. We both knew that.” Yeah, he’d been damn sure to lay out the ground rules, hadn’t he? And then he’d been the one who wanted to change them.

  “If this wasn’t serious, why’ve you spent the last five minutes banging on about it?”

  Fuck that. “I haven’t been banging on about anything.”

  “Seems to me,” Cooper said, “you’re in love with Scarlett Ashford.”

  Cooper’s accusation hit him right in the gut. He gave a mocking laugh to cover his shock. “Don’t be a dick. Of course I’m not in love.” Shit, he might’ve fallen for Scarlett but that wasn’t love.

  “Yeah. Keep telling yourself that.”

  It wasn’t love. The words sounded hollow.

  What was love anyway? He had no idea. But the thought of not seeing Scarlett again made his chest ache.

  It was more than just sex. Why bother to deny it. He might as well be honest with himself, now, when it was too late to matter, because he’d never get the chance to tell her.

  Just like he’d never get the chance to tell her that, after so many years of beating himself up over what had happened to Cooper, he’d finally accepted that it wasn’t his fault, because Scarlett had forced him to face the truth of that night.

  He gripped the edge of his desk with both hands and hunched his shoulders. “Shit.”

  Cooper slapped his back. “What’re you going to do about it?”

  He couldn’t go back to Marshall Ashford’s mansion. No way would they let him back in. They’d probably call the cops on him, if they hadn’t already. “I shouldn’t have bailed.”

  He should’ve stayed and faced the shit storm, tried to make Scarlett understand that wasn’t who he was anymore. Fuck, he’d even apologize to that piece of shit Saunders if it meant Scarlett would give him a second chance.

  “Guess not.” Cooper sounded too damn cheerful, and Jackson glared at him. “You need a ride?”

  No way did he want a ride with Cooper. But if he copped a DUI that would really go down well in his plans to try and win back Scarlett.

  He followed Cooper outside. His heart slammed into his throat. Scarlett was walking toward him.

  He stared at her, speechless. She looked so out of place in her designer dress and spiky heels. Not like the time he’d brought her to see his dojo when he’d deluded himself that she fitted into his life just fine.

  She’d always been out of his league. He’d just never wanted to face it before.

  “Jackson.” She smiled at him, but it wasn’t one of the smiles that lit up her face. She glanced at Cooper, who was doing a bad job of trying not to stare at her. “Is this a bad time?”

  He cleare
d his throat. “No.” It was all he could manage. What the hell was she doing here? To warn him he could expect a ball-breaking lawsuit to land in his mailbox? Right now that probability was the least of his worries.

  “Great timing,” Cooper said, finally dragging his gaze from Scarlett. “Catch you later, J.” He sauntered toward his bike.

  “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  Jackson shrugged. “You didn’t. That was just Cooper.”

  He watched Scarlett take a deep breath, as though she needed courage to face him. Disgust coiled through him that Scarlett, of all people, should be afraid of him.

  “I know you probably don’t want to see me right now.”

  Was she crazy? Why would she think that?

  “But I’d like to try and sort things out with you.”

  He was the one who needed to sort things out. He thought he’d have time on the way to the Ashford mansion to dig up the words he needed, but life was never that easy.

  But at least here he didn’t have her entire family watching him grovel. “Sure.” He pushed the door open and waved her in.

  “I just wanted to say…” Her voice trailed away. He folded his arms and leaned back against the door. He was afraid if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands to himself. And if Scarlett pushed him away in disgust, the look on her face would haunt him forever. “The thing is—”

  “No.” Shit, this was hard. He didn’t even know what to say, let alone how to say it. “Listen to me. There’s something I have to tell you.”

  “Please don’t, Jackson. Let me say what I have to first.”

  Every muscle in his body tensed. Just because she hadn’t burst through the door raging in fury didn’t mean she wasn’t mad as hell. Scarlett didn’t rant or physically attack. But she’d cut Saunders down to size with a few well-chosen words, and he had the feeling she hadn’t even been trying very hard.

  He’d rather she tried to scratch out his eyes than tell him what she thought of him. At least scratches would heal in time.

  “Fine.” He shrugged to show he didn’t give a damn about anything she might say. Inside he died a little more.

  If this is love, it sucks.

  “Okay.” From the corner of his eye he saw her flex her fingers in a nervous gesture. Did she think he’d ever hurt her? He’d cut off his hand before he raised it against her.

  If she’s so afraid of me, why did she come here alone?

  “I’m sorry.”

  Her words penetrated his throbbing head, and he stared at her. She was sorry? What was she talking about? She swallowed, and looked as though she was about to bolt from the room. But she didn’t. She stood her ground and held his gaze.

  After a few agonizing moments, it occurred to him she was waiting for him to reply. He didn’t have a fucking clue what to say.

  “What?” It was a croak and far from eloquent.

  She licked her lips. “For putting you in that position. It was my fault. I’m sorry.”

  He had no idea what she was apologizing for. “What was your fault?”

  “If I’d had the guts to tell Edward to back off weeks ago, none of that today would’ve happened.”

  That didn’t make any sense at all. “I was the one who hit the bastard, Scarlett. I knew damn well he was punching all my buttons, trying to get me to lose my temper. But I still fell for it.”

  “If you hadn’t hit him, I’m pretty sure I would have.”

  He gave a bitter laugh. “No, you wouldn’t. You weren’t dragged up in the gutter like I was.”

  Silence greeted his comment. Scarlett didn’t move but she gave him a weird look, as though she’d never seen him before.

  “Well,” she said at last, just when the silence became unbearable. “Edward won’t be pulling any more tricks like that in the future, that’s for sure.”

  He didn’t need to. Saunders had achieved his goal of getting Jackson out of Scarlett’s life.

  “Bet your dad’s happy.” He couldn’t help the bitterness in his voice. It didn’t make it any easier knowing this was all his own damn fault.

  “Why would you say that?”

  “He’s always wanted you to get together with Saunders. You told me that yourself the night of the wedding.”

  “No I didn’t.” She sounded confused. “Oh…”

  Before he could respond she reached out to lightly touch him, and he saw her arm. Bruises were forming where Saunders had grabbed hold of her earlier and a black rage twisted through him. I hope I broke that bastard’s nose. He only wished he’d smashed a few of those thousand dollar teeth as well.

  “I thought Dad wanted me to be with a man like Edward.” She drew her hand back from his arm, as though she had just realized what she was doing. “I guess I was wrong about that.”

  “No, I don’t think you were wrong about that.” She didn’t know about the visit Marshall Ashford had paid him. And she never would. “I can’t even blame him for not wanting you to be with me. If I had a daughter I wouldn’t want her to take up with someone like me either.”

  To his disbelief Scarlett smiled. “I wouldn’t let that bother you. My mom’s dad didn’t want her to take up with my dad, and look how that turned out.”

  Why was she telling him that? What did that have to do with anything?

  But she obviously expected some kind of answer. “Hardly the same.” Jackson might no longer live in the gutter, but he was light years away from being a billionaire with a finger in every pie in town.

  “Thirty-five years ago my dad and uncle were only just starting out. My grandfather, on the other hand, was a big deal in Hollywood. He might have been a terrible husband but he doted on my mom. He threatened to cut all ties with her if she disobeyed him.” Scarlett frowned, as though something had just occurred to her. “She told him to go ahead, and walked out of his house with my dad.”

  Jackson couldn’t see Scarlett ever doing that to her father. Not for him, anyway. But she was obviously trying to prove a point. Problem was, he had no idea what that point might be.

  “That’s got nothing to do what happened today.”

  “I know. I was just trying to show you that my dad wasn’t always…” Scarlett hesitated and then took a deep breath. “I thought you blamed me for what happened with Edward. I wanted to apologize and ask you if—if we couldn’t try and work it out between us. But now I’m just not sure what you think. Jackson, why did you leave like that?”

  She wanted to work things out between them? After what he’d done in front of her father?

  Relief rolled through him. He hadn’t even needed to grovel for Scarlett to be willing to give him another chance.

  “It was either that or wait until your father’s heavies slung me off the property.” That was one indignity he’d never be able to live down. But it wasn’t the whole truth. He didn’t want to tell her the rest. There wasn’t any need because she had come to him, and she didn’t think he was a no hope loser who couldn’t keep his temper in check. But deep in his gut he knew he had to. “I didn’t think you’d want me to hang around after you saw my true colors.”

  “I thought you left because you’d finally seen my true colors.”

  “Are you crazy?” All the things she’d said over the last few minutes finally made sense. “Nothing that happened today was your fault. It was between Saunders and me. I was on my way back to your dad’s when you turned up.”

  “You were?”

  “I needed to see you. I know I shouldn’t have hit him.” He glanced at her bruised arm, and the anger stirred again. “But you know what? If he ever hurt you again I’d do the same.”

  She took a step toward him. “So you didn’t break up with me?”

  He couldn’t believe this conversation. He speared his fingers through her hair and forced her head back. Her lips parted and her palms flattened against his chest.

  God, it felt good.

  “Of course I didn’t break up with you.” He tried to focus, but it was h
ard when all he wanted to do was take her up against the door. “But where’s this going, babe? What kind of future can we have?”

  “Do you want a future with me?”

  What kind of dumb question was that? Of course he wanted a future with her.

  He wanted forever.

  “Do you?” His voice was guarded. Just because Scarlett hadn’t ditched him didn’t mean she wanted them to get serious. Not the way he wanted them to.

  Silence stretched between them. She wasn’t going to answer him. And that gave him all the answer he needed.

  And then she whispered one word. “Yes.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Jackson bent his head. Nothing else mattered but having Scarlett in his arms again. But before they even kissed, reality intruded.

  “You might change your mind once the shit starts flying.”

  “I can handle shit.” She gave a twisted smile. “You don’t mean literally, I hope.”

  “Saunders won’t take this lying down.” He had a double ax to grind now. Not only had Jackson assaulted him, he had also lost the fight to win Scarlett.

  “Ah.” For some reason Scarlett looked guilty. “I’m pretty sure he won’t be pressing charges against you.”

  Her earlier comment echoed through his mind. Edward won’t be pulling any more tricks like that in the future, that’s for sure. But why would Saunders back off when he had the perfect excuse to crush Jackson into the ground?

  “Why’s that?”

  “I might have threatened to expose his unethical business practices to the media.”

  She’d done what? “You threatened him?” He wasn’t sure he could wrap his head around that.

  “Yes. I know it was pretty low, but the thing is, if he wants to play dirty when it comes to you, then so will I.”

  For a moment he was speechless. Scarlett had threatened Saunders—for him?

  He cleared his throat. “I don’t want you getting involved in my battles.” But that didn’t stop the warm glow inside him.

  “I know.” She patted her fingers against his chest. “It wasn’t just for your benefit. I did it for me as well. He had it coming.”