Fighting Temptation (Men Of Honor)

by LYNN, K. C.

  Grams snickers at my embarrassment, “Come here honey,” she hugs me tight, thankfully on my good side. She gasps when she leans in to kiss my cheek.

  “Julia, what on earth happened to you?” she asks looking at my stitches.

  “I had a little fall last night Grams, but I’m fine, it’s nothing to worry about.”

  I glare at Jaxson when he grunts, making me look like a liar.

  “Julia Sinclair. What aren’t you telling me?”

  I let out a frustrated breath. I guess she’s going to hear about it sooner or later. Nothing stays quiet in this town. “I had a minor altercation with Wyatt is all.”

  “Wyatt did this to you?” she asks in outrage, “I knew that boy was trouble, he has always rubbed me the wrong way, same with his father.” She looks over at Jaxson, “Did you kick his ass?”

  “Grams!” I scold her, Jaxson doesn’t need any further encouragement.

  “Damn straight and I’m not done with him either.”

  “Good boy!” She says patting his shoulder. I roll my eyes frustrated at the both of them.

  “Really Grams, it was just a misunderstanding. I need to use the ladies room. I’ll be back.” I mumble as I quickly walk away.

  I watch Julia walk away and know she’s pissed that I made Margaret aware of what happened.

  “Come on honey, have a seat,” Margaret takes me over to a table. When I sit down she surprises me by slapping me on the back of my head.

  “That’s for hurting Julia mister,” she says shaking her finger in my face.

  Shit! I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy with her. I clear my throat and try to explain it to her. “I’m really sorry I hurt her, but trust me when I say it was for the best. She wouldn’t have been able to handle seeing me like I was.”

  Margaret puts her hand over mine affectionately, “I’ve told you before Jaxson, she’s stronger than you think she is. You hurt her bad when you sent her away like that. I worried she was never gonna come out of it.”

  My chest constricts with guilt, “I’ll make it up to her.”

  “I know you will honey, but I’m warning you it isn’t going to be easy.”

  “I know, but I won’t stop until she forgives me.”

  “Good!” she says patting me on the back, “and while you’re asking for forgiveness you may as well tell her you love her.” I snap my gaze to hers while panic seizes my chest. “Oh don’t look at me like that. I’ve always known you love her Jaxson. I’ve waited a long time for you to come to terms with it, but you’re a little slow on the up-take honey,” she says snickering.

  I shake my head, “She deserves better than me Margaret. She needs someone who can love her the way she deserves. I don’t know how to love, it’s something I was never around.”

  “Jaxson, love isn’t always something you learn, it’s something that you feel. And I know you feel it, I can see it in your eyes every time you look at her.”

  “I’m really messed up Margaret, even more so after what happened in Iraq.” I’m uncomfortable admitting this to her but I’m trying to get her to understand.

  “Oh honey!” she says with tears in her eyes, “if you would let her, she could help heal you Jaxson. I don’t know anyone else who will love Julia or protect her more than you. Just look what happened with that no good scoundrel Wyatt,” she says angrily.

  My body tightens with anger when I’m reminded about last night. I’m pissed at myself, knowing if I had been here in the first place none of it would have happened. I always thought I was doing the right thing by staying away but look at the mess that’s happened.

  Margaret snaps me out of my thoughts when she touches the side of my face, “Jaxson, all I’m saying is for once think with your heart, not your head. See where that leads you.”

  We get interrupted when one of the staff comes walking up to us.

  “Hi Margaret, is this your grandson?” the girl smiles at me flirtatiously, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

  “No! He’s Julia’s man, now get out of here!” Margaret says harshly, surprising the hell out of me.

  She glares fire at the girl’s retreating back, “That girl is a hussy. You should see some of the stockings she wears with her uniform.”

  The lady amuses the shit out of me. I look away trying to hide my grin when I see Julia making her way over to us. She’s so fucking beautiful it hurts just to look at her; mainly because I have to force my dick to stay down whenever I’m around her. I can tell by the way she’s walking she’s in pain, but trying to hide it.

  I lean over when she sits in the chair next to me, “Are you doing ok? I brought your pain medication in case you needed to take some.”

  She shakes her head, “I’m ok, but thank you though.”

  Before I have a chance to argue with her she leans over and brings up the present she brought, handing it to Margaret, “Happy Birthday Grams.”

  “Julia! I tell you every year not to get me anything.”

  Julia rolls her eyes, “And every year I do, so stop your fussin’ and open it.”

  Margaret pulls out a big black book from the gift bag. She opens it and gasps, tears immediately starting to form. “Oh Julia, this is so beautiful, thank you!”

  “You’re welcome Grams. I’m glad you like it.”

  When Margaret finishes leafing through the pages she hands it to me. The book is her life story, filled with pictures of her and her husband, Julia and her mom. I’ve seen pictures of Julia’s mom before and am always taken aback by her beauty. Julia looks so much like her.

  Julia takes the book and flips to a page, “That’s my Pappi, right after he got out of the Navy,” she says pointing to a picture of him.

  “Wasn’t he handsome?” Margaret asks me. I nod awkwardly because it’s kinda weird for me to agree. Julia chuckles at my discomfort. “The man took my breath away whenever he walked into a room. No matter how long we were together I never got tired of looking at him. I miss him dearly.” Julia leans over grabbing her hand affectionately. “He would have liked you Jaxson. I told you this before and I mean it, you’re a lot like him. I knew the moment I met you, you were right for my Julia.”

  Jesus the woman doesn’t hold back anymore does she?

  Julia lets out a snort, letting go of her hand, “Give it a rest Grams.”

  Before Margaret can say anything else two elderly ladies come up to sit with us. They’re both wearing big smiles while they eye me with curiosity.

  “Margaret, who is this boy and where have you been hiding him?”

  “This is Julia’s Jaxson,” Margaret replies happily.

  “He is not my anything!” I can’t help but chuckle at Julia’s growl. She looks over and glares at me.

  “Why not? He’s handsome Julia. You have to hold on tight to men like him,” one says, winking at me.

  Ok, that’s a little uncomfortable.

  Julia smiles when she notices my discomfort and puts her arm around my shoulder, “Well Gladys, looks like it’s your lucky day, because it just so happens that Jaxson here is single.”

  I glare at her, what the hell is she up to?

  “Oh really?” Gladys says eyeing me like I’m a fucking treat or something.

  “Yup and I promise to bring him here more often for ya. I should bring him on your dance nights, he loves to dance Gladys.”

  Oh she’s going to fucking pay for this. She damn well knows I hate to dance. I look over at Margaret hoping she will help me, but she just looks amused as hell.

  “You like to dance?” Gladys asks excitedly.

  “Uh, actually no.” Her face drops making me feel like a dick. Jesus! I never thought the day would come that I’d have to worry about hurting an old lady’s feelings by shutting her down. “It’s just that I’m not a very good dancer is all.”

  Her face lights back up, “Oh honey, don’t you worry. I can dance well enough for the both of us,” she says giving me another wink.

  Jesus, is this lady for real?r />
  Julia grabs the side of my face now, “Oh don’t listen to him, Jaxson’s just being modest. Believe me this guy has some killer moves.”

  That’s it! I grab the back of her head and kiss the fucking smirk right off her face.

  “Atta boy Jaxson,” Margaret cheers.

  Julia gasps when my lips land on hers and it makes my dick painfully hard. She’s frozen at first and does nothing to kiss me back. But when I lick her lips she moans and opens for me. I plunge my tongue in her mouth and become intoxicated with her taste.

  Fuck me! She tastes even better than I remember.

  “Oh my!” someone says at the table, making me remember we aren’t alone. I pull back slowly and stare at Julia’s heavy lidded gaze. Shit! I just meant to press a hard kiss to her mouth, not maul her in front of everyone. Julia’s gaze starts to tighten with anger but it doesn’t hide the need I see in them.

  “What the hell are you doing?” she whispers harshly, pushing me away.

  “What? I was just demonstrating some of my killer moves you were telling them about.”

  Margaret snickers, “Come on you two, food’s ready.” The three of them get up and start making their way to the food table.

  “Wow! I gotta tell you, I’d like to see what that guy is packing.”

  What the fuck! Did I just hear that right?

  “Don’t you ever do that again Jaxson,” Julia says angrily, shoving her finger in my face.

  I grab her wrist and pull her to me, “Then next time think twice before you play games with me. When you challenge me like that, Julia, all it does is make my dick hard. I thought you learned that in your room this morning.”

  “You are so infuriating,” she glares at me with a mixture of anger and lust.

  “Admit it Julia, you liked it and you want more,” I know I shouldn’t push her anymore but I can’t resist.

  She looks down at my hard dick through my jeans and smirks, “You seem to be the one affected Jaxson.”

  “Don’t tell me that if I shoved my hand up that dress of yours right now I wouldn’t find your panties soaked.”

  Her eyes flare with heat but she tries to hide it behind her smirk, “I guess that’s something you will never find out,” then she stands and adds, “Take your time to settle down before you come and get your food.” She walks away but looks over her shoulder smugly at me. It makes me want to take her to the bathroom and show her just who’s in control.

  Shit! The woman is testing my limits and I haven’t even been around her for 24 hours. Clearly it’s going to be harder to restrain myself than I thought. I need to keep a clear head, I’m trying to fix the mess I made, not screw it up more. I look over at her in line and stare at her ass when she bends over to grab something for Margaret.

  I’m so fucked!

  The drive home is filled with silence. We left shortly after eating, I wanted to get out of there from Gram’s knowing smirk. I shift in my seat feeling restless and cross my legs to try and stop the throbbing that’s happening between them. I need to change my panties they are so wet. I’m pathetic! Why does he have to have this strong of an effect on me? It doesn’t help that it’s been a long time since I had an orgasm. Justin is the only person I have slept with other than Jaxson. That was almost 2 years ago, and for the man being a med student he had absolutely no idea where a woman’s clitoris was located, or maybe he just didn’t care. I dated him for 9 months in hopes of getting over Jaxson. It didn’t work of course, but at least I wasn’t alone, the company was nice.

  I get pulled from my thoughts when we pull up to my house and see Cooper’s truck out front.

  “He’s here already?”

  “I texted him and told him we were on our way back.”

  I’m a little annoyed by this since I told him I would call Cooper when I got home. Cooper gets out when we do and I’m happy to see Kayla follow behind him.

  “Hey, how are you feeling?” she asks coming up and hugging me.

  “Not too bad, my ribs are sore today but my head feels better, surprisingly.”

  “Good,” she gives me a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Before I can ask her about it Cooper breaks in.

  “Can we talk about last night Julia?”

  “Sure come in,” I take them in the house and get everyone a drink then we sit down together at the table.

  Coop lets out breath, “Ok tell me what went down last night. Jennings is saying it was an accident and he’s demanding for me to arrest Jaxson for assault.”

  Panic seizes my chest.

  “It was kind of an accident… or not,” I shake my head in confusion, “I don’t know Cooper, I have never seen him like that before. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. He was so angry when we left.” I relay the rest of the events from that evening, up to when I told Wyatt I no longer wanted to see him. I feel Jaxson tense when I tell them about Wyatt grabbing me and calling me a cock-tease. I pause and take a breath, “He said he was going to show me how good we could be together. I knew he was going to kiss me. I started screaming and tried to pull away. When you guys showed up he finally let me go and I fell.”

  I look over nervously at Jaxson. He’s looking straight ahead, his expression hard as stone. His hands are clenched in fists and you can feel the anger rolling off him in waves.

  I look away wearily, “The thing is Cooper, I have no idea what he’s talking about when he said that I’ve been playing head games with him. I’ve barely had any contact with him. That was only the third date we ever had. I ran into him once in a while when I was going to school and it was by chance when I would come back to town. He would always ask me out and I always politely declined. It wasn’t till a few months after I got back from Germany that I ran into him again, and when he asked that time I said ok,” I shrug feeling guilty now, knowing I should have kept declining.

  Kayla leans over and grabs my hand, “You didn’t do anything wrong, so don’t you dare blame yourself for any of this.”

  Cooper breaks in, “Julia, you have grounds to press charges. You wouldn’t have fallen and gotten hurt if he hadn’t forced you there to begin with.”

  I glance at Jaxson nervously again. He narrows his eyes as if he knows what I’m going to say next.

  “I’m not pressing charges,” I say quietly.

  “Fuck that!” Jaxson slams his fist on the table making me jump, “yes you are!”

  “Don’t yell at her like that!”

  “Kayla stay out of it!” Cooper says sternly.

  “Then you tell him too, this is Julia’s decision and hers alone! I will not let her be bullied into anything.” Kayla and Cooper are glaring at each other, you could cut the tension with a knife it’s so thick.

  I drop my head in my hands. Lord this is all my fault.

  “Julia, I think you should reconsider,” Cooper says more calmly.

  “She doesn’t want to fucking press charges because of me. She thinks if she doesn’t then he won’t, but you’re wrong baby.” Jaxson’s tone softens and he turns my face towards him. “If he wants to press charges he will, no matter what you do. Don’t let him get away with this Julia.”

  I swallow thickly and hold my tears at bay, “I don’t want anything to happen to you because of this.” I turn and look at Cooper now, “Couldn’t you talk to him Cooper? Tell Wyatt that I’ll drop the charges against him if he drops his against Jaxson?”

  “No!”

  I ignore Jaxson and continue talking to Cooper, “Trust me, Wyatt won’t want me pressing charges, especially right now. He told me his dad is running for Mayor. With the campaign starting up soon he won’t want bad publicity.”

  Surprise flashes in Cooper’s gaze, “He said his old man was running for Mayor?” I nod. “Fuck that’s the last thing we need… You’re right though, it’s leverage.”

  “Goddamn it I said no! I don’t give a fuck what happens to me. She’s pressing charges!”

  “Well I do care and it’s my decision!”


  Jaxson stands up, shoving his chair into the wall, and starts pacing.

  “Look just calm down. Julia’s right, it’s something that we can try.” Cooper puts up his hand to silence Jaxson’s protest then turns to me, “I think you need to consider putting a restraining order on him at the very least.”

  I look at him in shock, “A restraining order?”

  “The guy thinks he’s in love with you, Julia. If you have had as much contact as you say you have then that shit’s not normal.”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary Cooper, I think putting a restraining order on him will just make the situation worse in the end.”

  “Listen Julia, when I questioned him, the shit he said made me nervous. He’s not right in the head, I’m telling you, you need this. I have no doubt he will not leave you alone unless you do.”

  “I’ll fucking kill him if he goes anywhere near her,” Jaxson says with terrifying calmness.

  “Jesus! I did not just hear you say that!” Cooper says, distressed.

  I drop my head in my arms, “I just want this over with.” Kayla gets up, moving beside me and rubs my back. “Ok,” I mumble under my arms. I lift my head so they can hear me better. “I’ll put a restraining order on him. But first I want you to try to get the charges dropped against Jaxson.”

  “For fuck sakes!” Jaxson shoves his hand roughly through his hair.

  Cooper nods at me, “I will.” He looks over to Jaxson, “You need to come to the station with me and do an official statement. Kayla has given one and I will too. We have a strong case to get the charges dropped either way but we can use Julia’s for leverage.” I feel much better after hearing that but I can tell Jaxson is not happy about it.

  “Julia shouldn’t be alone right now. She’s still healing.”

  “I’ll be fine on my own Jaxson.”

  “I’ll stay with her for a while,” Kayla says cutting in.

  “You don’t have to.”

  “I know, but I want to. We can catch up, maybe watch a movie while you rest.”

  I smile, “Sure that sounds good.”

  Cooper stands up now, “Alright let’s go.”