Jude
I mash my finger against the speed setting of my treadmill, cranking it up even higher, in a feeble attempt to clear my head.
It’s no use, though. I’ve been working out like a dog for almost three hours now, and I still can’t get her off of my fucking mind. I hate this feeling. This is why I live my life the way that I do, never allowing anyone in. This is why I keep women at an arm’s length and don’t fuck them in my own bed.
I’m not even safe from her in my own home, anymore, and that’s the real kicker here. Her scent is still all over my bedroom. On my sheets, in my shower, and inked into my fucking soul.
Fuck.
My hand slams against the emergency stop, and as the treadmill slows, I hit my hands against my knees, gulping air into my lungs as fast as I can, aimlessly trying to get a grip.
But it’s no use. Willow Anderson has officially wrecked me, and now, she’s going to marry another man. I’m not upset over that part. I mean, not really. I know that it’s the best thing for her. Can you actually imagine me, trying to have a relationship with her? It would never work out.
I’d lose my best friend, for one, even though, if he ever finds out what Willow and I did, I’m going to lose him anyways. But that’s not the main thing keeping me away from her. It’s the fact that I know that being with me would wreck her. I am what I am, I can admit that about myself. I’m a flirt, I’m a womanizer, and at no point have I ever claimed to be a relationship guy.
I did that once, and that shit blew up right in my face. My ex stormed out of my life with her finger in the air and hatred for me in her heart. I humiliated her with rumors of cheating, which were very close to not being rumors, by the way, and in return, I gave her a broken heart.
I couldn’t live with myself if I ever hurt Willow, which is exactly what would happen if I let her in. It’s precisely why I need to stay away from her. BJ just happened to swoop in and give me a reason to keep my distance, even though, I’ve been secretly fantasizing about killing the guy.
It’s a complex situation, alright?
I’ve just about refilled my lungs with air, when my phone rings. Glancing down at it, I frown.
“Hello?”
“Jude, hey.” Jose sounds about ready to snap. “I hate to bother you, but ah, we have a bit of a situation here. Do you think you can come by?”
“Does anyone have anything to say for themselves?” Never before in the history of knowing these women, have they ever been this quiet. They all sit, prim and properly at the dining room table, some of them sipping hot tea, others enjoying a cup of coffee. They look like innocent old women right now, which is a fucking joke. Martha even brought her knitting supplies with her to our meeting to really sell the sweet little old lady act. Too bad, I’m not buying it.
I know better. Poor Jose sits in the corner, looking as white as the late winter snow falling outside. He isn’t even making eye contact with anyone. I wouldn’t be surprised if after this meeting is over, he decides to hang up his stethoscope and move on to an easier job.
Fuck, anything would be easier than this. Taming lions would be a fucking cake walk compared to this shit show.
“Prostitution is illegal.” I cross my arms and cast my scorned gaze along each woman in front of me. “It’s illegal to be the giver, and it’s illegal to be the taker. Now, does anyone want to tell me anything at all about what went on here last night?”
Stone cold silence falls around us. My glare only deepens.
“So, no one has any information about the attempted prostitution, that occurred right here, in this room, just last night?”
Martha glances up, feigning surprise, which is bullshit. Before I called this meeting, I watched the recordings of last night. The security system that I had installed when I built this place is top of the line, with camera’s in almost every room of the clubhouse. I did it as a safety feature back then to make the women feel safe. It’s almost comical now, because the only people here who need to be kept safe are Jose and myself.
These women. Fuck. I fear for anyone who crosses them. So, while Martha tries to look like a sweet old, concerned woman, I already know that she was one of the ringleaders. I saw that woman moving her body in ways that I’ve never seen before, trying to shove dollar bills down the G-string of the poor guy just trying to make a few bucks. I also witnessed Gigi, my sweet Gigi, bite the man’s ass.
She bit him.
Frankly, I’m appalled, and, I’ve done some pretty dirty things in my life. It takes a lot to get me going, and yet, here we are.
“The strippers could sue you all.” I run my hand through my hair for about the hundredth time today. At this point, I’m going to go bald before I even turn thirty. Balding is going to drop my hotness level way down, which would be a shame. Thanks a lot, ladies.
“If there were strippers here, which no one is attesting to, Juju,” Gigi starts, keeping her eyes focused down on the floor, “they wouldn’t sue, because they would have been nice young men. And accusing strippers of being prostitutes is a party foul. They don’t like to be called that. They are just performers, not special performers.” She clears her throat, and I just about lose my mind.
“Gigi.” My arm drops from my hair, flopping loudly at my side. “You’re right, they are dancers. But you changed the game when you propositioned them for sex.”
“It’s true.” Jose sounds completely deflated, his voice hardly above a whisper. “They were not happy about being propositioned, Gigi. And the one that you bit, well, you broke his skin. We had to pay for his ER visit. That’s just not ok.”
“Snitches get stitches.” Gigi motions her finger across her neck, glaring at Jose. He immediately clams up and hangs his head.
What in the fuck is going on here?
I’m about to lay into them. And I mean, really give it to them. I’m already on edge this morning, dealing with my own shit. The last thing that I need to be dealing with is twenty elderly women, who up and decided to purchase three strippers in an attempt to have sex with them. There are so many things wrong here, that I don’t even know where to begin. But just as I start, the front door opens, causing everyone’s attention to shift.
“Dr. Willow!” Irma hops to her feet, waving wildly. “Perfect timing. Are you here to finish up with us? Because as luck would have it, we are all available right now. Aren’t we, girls?”
“No one’s available right now!” My voice booms loudly in the room, causing everyone’s attention to snap back to me. I never raise my voice, and I certainly never yell. Willow just stares at me with wide eyes, but the women, well damn. They finally take notice of me and listen.
“We’re sorry, Jude, alright?” Martha throws her hands up. “We didn’t intend for things to get that out of hand, but, they did.”
“Yeah, it was a whoopsie moment.” Gigi smiles sweetly at me, which only makes me grunt. The devil herself has a really sweet face when she wants it to be.
“Oh, no.” Willow’s face explodes into a smile. “What did you guys do? Your leader looks pretty angry.” As her eyes shift towards me, my anger starts to dissipate like a popped balloon. She looks so beautiful, that I can’t even find it in me to keep holding onto my anger.
That’s the thing about Willow, the thing that I think might just be my most favorite part about her. She looks the most beautiful, when she’s just like this. Hair piled high into a messy bun on the top of her head, in a pair of leggings and a hoodie without a stitch of makeup on.
I mean, of course, she looked stunning last night, dressed to the nines with her hair and makeup done, but that part of her doesn’t hold a candle to the natural beauty that is just her.
And as cliché as it is, the sight of her takes my fucking breath away. However, not quite as much as the giant diamond that sits on her finger.
“Oh, crap.” Willow’s attention turns to Jose, who looks absolutely terrible, in his seat in the corner of the room. “Is he ok?”
Jose answers no, a
t the same time that all twenty women say yes. She immediately bursts out laughing.
“Ok, well, I’m not sure what I walked in on, but Jose looks like he’s been put through the ringer. I think he needs the rest of the day off.” At that, Jose’s entire demeanor changes. He glances up at her, a little bit of color returning to his cheeks. “Doctor’s orders.” She winks at him, but then immediately returns her eyes to me. “As the owner of this place, you should really help the poor guy out. He looks terrible.”
She stares at me with knowing eyes. I’m just about to really lose my shit on these women, and demand to know who spilled the beans about me, when Jose finally speaks at a level that everyone can hear.
“Yes, he does.” Jose nods his head, and slowly rises to his feet. “He needs more than a day off, Dr. Willow. He needs a week, maybe a month. He also needs vodka, to clear the images engrained in here.” As he taps his head, Gigi shrugs.
“Might be true.” I just glare at her.
“It is true. You women have abused this poor man. He’s here to help you, and you treat him like a circus act!”
While the women contemplate my words, I turn to Willow. “Who do you still need to speak to?”
She lists the remaining three women, who get an angry point from me and a thumb jerk in Willow’s direction.
The rest of the women try to stand, but I immediately squash their plans.
“Sit. No one is leaving until we all agree on a punishment.”
Gigi grumbles, and Martha rolls her eyes. But as they sit, the rest of the women follow suit.
“Get comfortable, ladies. I have a feeling this may take a while.”
I hole myself in my office after my meeting with the women, which did not go well, as if I had any inclination that it would. There was a lot of cussing, a few middle fingers thrown up at me, and a whole lot of pissed off old lady looks.
I punished them by canceling the casino bus trip that they had planned for the end of the month. If I can’t trust them to behave at home, there’s no way in hell that they’ll be able to keep it together on a Greyhound bus, or inside of a casino. It’d be the elderly version of girls gone wild, that much, I’m sure of.
After I punished them, they all ganged up on me and decided to toss a few punishments my way. Irma told me that she was revoking my nickname of Juju, because nicknames belong to people that are nice. Martha informed me that I will never be rewarded with her famous pecan pie, and Gigi just told me that I sucked at life.
And to be honest, I’m seriously starting to believe her. I’m at my fucking wits end with these chicks, and the giant rock that blinds me every time that Willow moves her left hand isn’t helping things, either. I finally gave up and locked myself in here. For the last hour, I’ve had complete and utter peace, which is unfortunately, interrupted by a knock on the door.
I have to take a moment and count to three before opening it, because one more cross look from anyone here, and I actually might lose my shit. As much as it knocks the wind out of my lungs, I’m relieved when I see that it’s Willow.
“You look like hell, Masters.” Her eyes widen as I fling the door open. “You might look even worse than Jose did earlier.” I really fucking doubt that. Jose had a front row seat for the stripping/prostitution attempt. That guy looked like he was toast.
“Are you ok?”
“Do I fucking look ok, Willow? Damn. Question the obvious, much?”
She immediately frowns and crosses her arms.
“You don’t need to be an ass to me, Jude. I didn’t try to proposition a stripper to sleep with me. I’m just here to help.”
“Jesus.” I run my hand down my face as I fall back into my seat. I can’t stand any more today. I’m officially fucking spent. “It sounds so terrible to even hear that. I can’t believe the nerve of these ladies sometimes. And then, for them to just lie about it. I think that pissed me off the most.”
“Relatable.” She plops down into the chair across from mine, and as she crosses her legs, she narrows her eyes at me. “I also hate being lied to.”
She doesn’t say anything else, she just stares at me, into my soul, actually. I hate how easily Willow can crack my hard outer core. She’s the only person that I’ve ever met who can see past my shitty exterior and get a glimpse of the heart buried underneath all of the muscle and tattoos.
“Look…”
“No.” She holds up her hand, interrupting the sorry excuse that was about to leave my mouth. “Don’t give me any of your crap, Jude. You lied to me, and that wasn’t cool. Why didn’t you just tell me that you owned this place? It’s not a bad thing, not even close. In fact, it’s actually really…”
“Speaking of lying, why didn’t you tell me that you were still close enough to your ex that he was going to randomly show up and put your engagement ring back on your finger, Willow? Because a little warning in that department would have been fucking nice.”
I can change the subject like a motherfucker.
“Wait, what?” She looks both confused and annoyed. It’s a ridiculously cute look on her, so I immediately turn my eyes away from hers. “You think that I knew BJ was going to show up last night? I didn’t, obviously. I mean, had I thought that he was going to propose, I wouldn’t have…”
Slept with me. She doesn’t need to say it, I already know that is what was about to leave her mouth. That’s what should leave her mouth, after all. Willow never had any damn business hooking up with a guy like me in the first place.
“Jude, wait…” Don’t look at me like that, Willow. Don’t let those beautiful eyes look sad over me.
“It’s all good though, babe.” I hate how arrogant my words sound, but there’s no turning back now. “I just hope that Blow Job can measure up in bed. I mean, I’m pretty sure I’ve wrecked you for any other man, so good luck getting off with his boring dick.”
Hook, line…
“Fuck you, Jude.” Sinker. “You actually think that you wrecked me? Please.” Pissed off Willow might actually be the hottest version of her that I’ve seen. I seriously hate myself right now. “You think way too highly of yourself.”
“Kind of hard not to, when women can’t stop praising my skills.”
“I’ve never praised your skills.” Lies, Willow. I was there, too. “And the only thing that you wrecked was my self-esteem, because I don’t usually stoop this low, yet, here we are. And for the record, we’re not in middle school anymore. Making fun of someone’s name just makes you look stupid.”
“Says the woman about to marry a guy who calls himself the same two initials of blowjob.”
She stares hard at me. I man up and stare right back. The tension in the room rises, to the point that it becomes hard to breathe.
“You know, I was actually questioning my decision to keep this ring on. I never said yes to him, by the way. At least, not this time. It just didn’t feel right, because of you. I thought for a fleeting moment, that it was because I actually had feelings for you.”
I still. I didn’t expect this type of honesty. She doesn’t give me the chance to say a word, though. She just continues to fire at me, her eyes blazing as fury erupts inside of them. “Now I realize, it was just my morals talking. I only felt guilty because I had sex with you, and had a ring placed on my finger the same day. I’m making the right decision, and I’m done letting a jackass like you make me question myself.”
She doesn’t say anything else. Not that she needs to. The picture flying off of my wall and crashing onto the floor as the door slams shut is really all that needed to be said.
16
Willow
I roll onto my side and face BJ, who is staring at me with shock written all over his face.
“Hold off? Until we’re married? Willow, for real?” He stares at me, waiting for me to tell him that I’m joking, growing more and more pale as he realizes that I’m actually serious. “Babe, that is very traditional of you, but don’t you think that’s a bit silly? We’ve already had sex
.”
It might be silly, but even still, I can’t bring myself to sleep with him right now. Last night, after he slipped my ring back on my finger, he tried to take me inside to my bedroom. The second that he put the moves on me, I claimed that I was on my period. Of course, he was disappointed, but BJ has never been one to want to mess with me when Aunt Flo is in town. I always found it unfortunate, because for some reason unbeknownst to me, I am the horniest person alive during that week. But of course, I understood, because frankly, period sex is pretty gross.
I bet Jude would sleep with you during shark week.
Of course, he would. Jude’s a freak.
I immediately push all thoughts of Jude out of my head and focus on my fiancé.
“I know that we have, but it would really mean a lot to me if we waited.”
Silence falls around us. BJ studies me, trying to find the real answer hidden in my eyes, but I don’t let that happen. I’ve got a damn good poker face.
“Does this have anything to do with the person that you slept with?”
While I have a good poker face, I’ve never been a good liar, and I’ve always had a guilty conscious. I couldn’t rightfully keep the fact that I slept with another man during our split away from BJ. I would have felt guilt over it for the rest of my life. So last night, as we laid here, in this bed and planned our future, I had to tell him what I had done.
I didn’t give him details, and to my surprise, he didn’t want to know his name. Thank God for small favors, right? I also didn’t feel the need to mention how many times it happened, or that the sex was amazing. I simply made it sound like a normal rebound, that meant nothing to me.
Which is mostly true.
Lies, bitch.
“Absolutely not. It’s because I want our wedding night to be special. Just imagine how amazing the sex would be, our first time as husband and wife, if we wait for it.” I lean into his broad chest, breathing him in deeply. It feels so good to be this close to him. He’s always had a calming effect on me, since the very first day that I met him, day one of medical school.
No Touch Zone (Saints of Love Book 2) Page 11