Fighting Temptation (Men Of Honor)

by LYNN, K. C.

  Three weeks later I’m in the kitchen starting the preparations for Kayla’s and Coop’s engagement supper. I pushed the supper back a week since Grace had a hard time taking off the Saturday before, I didn’t want her coming here being drained after a long day at the diner.

  As I’m peeling potatoes my phone starts ringing. The screen flashes an unknown number. I answer it politely even though I’m not expecting an answer. The last week I’ve been getting a hang up call at least once a day, sure enough the same thing happens again. Annoyed, I hang up and move back to my spot at the counter. At first I thought it was a wrong number or kids, but now I realize that’s probably unlikely. I know it’s something I should mention to Jaxson but things have been amazing for us the last 3 weeks and I really don’t want anything to strain it. I bend down to grab baking sheets from underneath my oven when something big and hard pushes against me from behind, startling a yelp from me. I reach out and grab on to the oven door to balance myself.

  “You can’t stick this beautiful ass in the air Julia and expect me not to do something about it.” Jaxson’s rough erotic voice causes a delicious shiver to travel through my body.

  Not being able to help myself I grind back against his erection. He groans digging his fingers into my hips. Smiling I grab his wrists forcing them to remove from my hips and turn around. “Behave. Kayla and Grace will be here soon.”

  His hands span my hips again and lifts me on the counter, my arms wound his neck when he steps between my legs. “Then I guess we better make it quick.”

  My giggle turns into a soft moan when he starts trailing his tongue along my neck, one hand cups my breast through my thin tank top. I move mine under his shirt and score my nails across his toned stomach. He growls and pulls the top of my tank down, freeing my breast, then sucks my nipple into his mouth grazing it with his teeth. I whimper and wrap my legs around his hips. Before things get too heavy the doorbell rings.

  Jaxson tenses, “For fuck sakes.”

  I respond by moaning in disappointment. He leans in giving me a long deep kiss on the mouth, which gets broken up again when someone starts pounding on the door frantically.

  He growls, “We are fucking moving Julia and we aren’t telling anyone where we live.”

  I laugh and trail behind him as he makes his way to the door. He swings it open aggressively. Grace steps back startled whereas Kayla has her hands on her hips and returns Jaxson’s glare, “Ya know Jaxson, you and this door locking business is starting to piss me off. There was a time where I could just walk in to my best friend’s house when I showed up. I didn’t have to knock.”

  I try to hold back my laugh from her sassy comment. “Well Kayla, sorry to inconvenience you, but my door locking business is to keep your best friend’s ass safe. Don’t tell me Coop doesn’t make you lock your goddamn door?”

  Kayla tilts her head, “Wow, you’re grouchy today. Is the Hulk going to be gracing us with his presence the whole time?” She walks past him now giving him a quick pat on the chest. “Coop’s waiting for you in the truck to head to the liquor store whenever you decide to get over your tantrum.”

  Grace and I burst into muffled giggles while we hold our hands over our mouths. Jaxson mutters something to himself as he puts his shoes on then walks over giving me a quick hard kiss. “You need to find new friends.”

  “Ha! You would still have to put up with me because I’m marrying your best friend. Sorry big guy but you’re stuck with me.”

  Jaxson shakes his head in frustration but I don’t miss the twitch of his lips before he heads out the door. They secretly love each other. I look over to Kayla who has a huge smile on her face, “I love screwing with him.”

  We all laugh and make our way into the kitchen. Grace lays out 3 freshly baked pies on my counter.

  “Wow Grace these look great, thank you for bringing them.”

  “No problem, they’re nothing fancy. I made an apple, a raspberry and a blueberry.”

  “I’m sure they will be delicious as always.”

  “Did Katelyn respond? Was she able to come tonight?” Kayla asks.

  “Yes, she’s coming. Between her, Sawyer, Cade and Grams we will have a full house tonight.”

  “Oh I’m so glad Grams could come. I haven’t seen her in a while.”

  “You know Grams, she’s always in the mood to celebrate.”

  We all giggle in agreement then start setting up in the dining room. We push together tables and set up extra chairs. My back screams at me every time I lift anything heavy. Since my fall from Wyatt my back hasn’t been the same, and it wasn’t great to begin with.

  “You alright Jules?” Kayla asks concerned.

  “Ya, my back is just a mess.”

  “I thought yoga was helping?”

  “It was, but since my fall it hasn’t been doing well. I’ve been meaning to come see you but I’ve just been caught up in stuff.”

  Kayla grunts, “More like someone has been caught up in you. Come on, let’s go to the living room. I’ll do a quick fix to hold you over, Grace I could use your help with some pressure points.”

  “Sure.”

  We all head into the living room, Kayla makes up a little spot on the floor with the throw blankets and pillows.

  “Okay, take off your tank. Grace I’m going to get you to hold certain points on her lower back while I work on her top. Between the both of us it won’t take long.”

  “Thank you,” I say before removing my shirt and lying face down on the make-shift bed. Normally I would tell them not to worry, but I am in a lot of pain and I would never turn down a massage from Kayla. She’s the best massage therapist around. As soon as she puts her hands on me, I fall into a blissful state.

  “So who’s Katelyn?” I ask Coop on our way back to the house.

  “She’s the girl’s hairdresser,” then he looks over at me and grins, “And waxer.”

  “Waxer!? What kind of waxing we talking about?” Sawyer asks excitedly from the back seat. He and Cade pulled in just before we left to the liquor store.

  “None of your goddamn business.” I’m not letting that shit-head know anything about Julia’s waxing.

  He chuckles, “Oh so it’s that kind of waxing. Nice!”

  I turn around and glare at him, daring him to say anything more.

  “She’s the one who spotted us outside the club that night and got us in,” Coops says explaining further.

  “Oh ya, she was hot!” Sawyer adds.

  “She’s a nice girl, but dates some real douche bags. Especially the most recent one. He works at that club, that’s how she got us all in. I met him at Big Mike’s one day when I was there sparring with a deputy. I never wanted to kick someone’s ass as much as I did his.”

  Sawyer breaks in, “Speaking of Big Mike, he came up to Cade and I the other day, asked us if we wanted to buy his gym.”

  I whip my head over to Sawyer in surprise, “What?”

  “No bull shit. He actually said the 3 of us should buy it. I’m considering it.”

  “You want to move here?” I couldn’t be more shocked right now if the guy told me he had a pussy.

  “Ya why not, I’m kind of digging this little town. With a little money we could do some pretty cool shit with that place.”

  I look over at Cade now, “What about you?”

  He shrugs, “I’m not sure I want to settle in one place, but I agree with Sawyer. We could do a lot with the place.”

  Cooper speaks up for the first time on the topic, “It doesn’t surprise me he asked you guys. He’s been wanting to sell it, but only to the right person,” he looks right at me now, “I think it’s something you should consider.”

  The conversation ends at that when we pull up to the house. As we’re walking towards the house Sawyer looks down at what I’m carrying and smirks, “In the mood for pussy drinks tonight?”

  I grunt, “It’s for Julia’s Grams you asshole. She loves margaritas.”

  He snickers, “Su
re sure, I’ll just bet….”

  Sawyer’s ribbing dies abruptly when we open the door and hear a pleasured filled moan. It’s a moan I’d know anywhere.

  What the fuck?

  “Oh ya right there, that’s the spot,” Julia says as another moan escapes her.

  Just as I am about to storm through the place Sawyer grabs my arm and puts his finger to his mouth.

  “Damn Julia you’re tight. Grace move over so I can get better access.”

  “Ho-ly shit!” Sawyer pushes us out of the way and heads towards the moaning.

  I storm after him with Coop and Cade at my heels. Grabbing Sawyer I reef him back. I don’t know what the fuck is going on but I don’t want anyone to see Julia moaning about anything. All of us push at each other to get through the entrance of the living room. We freeze mid-struggle when we get a look at the sight before us. Julia is face down on blankets wearing no goddamn shirt. Kayla is on one side of her and Grace on the other with their hands on her bare back. I stare at the side swell of Julia’s perfect tit.

  The girls all turn and stare at us as if we’re the fucking weird ones.

  “Hi baby,” Julia says with a soft smile, acting as if it’s perfectly fucking normal to be laying on the floor half naked for everyone to see.

  “What the fuck are you doing!?”

  She narrows her eyes at my harsh tone, “I’m getting a massage, what does it look like I’m doing?”

  Sawyer bursts out laughing, I turn around and shove him, “Get the hell out of here. You…” I point over to Julia, “Get your goddamn clothes back on.”

  She bristles at my tone while awkward silence fills the room. Kayla reaches over and does up Julia’s bra before she gets up. She walks over and glares at me, “Come on Grace, let’s go finish setting up.” Grace and everyone else follows behind her leaving Julia and I alone in the living room.

  “You can be a real asshole, you know that? What the hell is your problem?” she whispers angrily while she sits up and throws her tank top over her perfect satin covered tits.

  “You want to know what my goddamn problem is? I don’t like coming home with a bunch of friends to my girlfriend moaning half fucking naked on the living room floor for everyone to fucking see.”

  She crosses her arms pushing her perfect tits up for my viewing. “Oh please Jaxson, I was getting a massage. You act like what we were doing was inappropriate.”

  “It sure the fuck sounded like that when we walked through the goddamn door.”

  “So that gives you the right to yell and embarrass me in front of everyone?” She turns her head away, but not before I see hurt take over her angry expression.

  Well shit! I am an asshole.

  Taking a deep breath I walk over and pull her to me. She doesn’t hug me back but she doesn’t pull away either. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I’m an asshole. I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I was just caught off guard when I walked in and heard shit that is only for me to hear, when it’s us together.”

  She starts giggling, then groans, “Oh lord, did it really sound like that?”

  “Baby, if I wasn’t certain Kayla and Grace were in here with you, there would have been a major destruction left in my path.” She laughs again and puts her arms around me. I tilt her face up to mine and press a soft kiss to her lush lips, “Are we good?”

  “Ya we’re good.” I press another kiss to her forehead before letting her go. We start heading of the room but she grabs my arm stopping me, “But just so you know Jaxson, the next time you talk to me like that, you will be finding yourself a new place to sleep and the moans I’ll be making won’t be coming from you. Got it?” At that she sashays her sweet ass out of the room and doesn’t look back.

  Kayla, Grace and I are mixing the salads and getting things ready when the doorbell rings. Leaving my task I go open the door, letting Grams in.

  “Hello my sweet girl,” she says kissing me on the cheek.

  “Hi Grams, come on in. Everyone’s out back. We’re just waiting on Katelyn.”

  Gram links her arm with mine as I walk her into the kitchen. Grace and Kayla immediately come over, giving Grams a big hug. She kisses and fusses over them as always. Then she grabs Kayla’s hand to admire her ring, “I’m so happy for you sweetheart. And I want you to know, I heard about what happened at the motel.”

  Kayla groans and turns red from embarrassment, “I’m never going to live that down am I?”

  Gram chuckles, “Now don’t you be getting all embarrassed. Desperate times call for desperate measure. It’s important to show your man you will fight for him.”

  We all giggle as Gram pats Kayla’s shoulder.

  I lead her out back where the guys are BBQing, taking her right over to Sawyer and Cade before seating her. “Gram, this is Sawyer and Cade,” I point to each of them as I call their name, “they’re friends of Jaxson’s from the Navy.”

  “Well my goodness aren’t y’all both so handsome,” she kisses their cheeks. Cade tenses up at her affection but tries to hide it and smiles politely, whereas Sawyer soaks it up, loving the attention.

  Gram spots Jaxson at the barbecue, “There’s my favorite boy, come here honey and give me some love,” she says walking over to him. He’s starting to get used to her affection, so it melts my heart when he welcomes her comfortably with open arms. Gram grabs his face making him lean down, “Miss Gladys wants me to give you a kiss for her, but I told her only on the cheek because you’re Julia’s now,” Gram snickers as she pecks each cheek.

  Jaxson turns and glares at me when I burst out laughing.

  Next she makes her way over to Coop. “Cooper you handsome devil, I’m so proud of you for making an honest woman out of Kayla,” she kisses his cheek and gives him a hug. “Now I have something I need to tell you honey. Something happened to me on the way here.”

  I walk over to her concerned, “Are you okay Grams?”

  She waves her hand, “Now don’t worry I’m alright, but a man was blaring his horn at me and driving like a maniac in his fancy-schmancy car. When we pulled up to a red light he rolled down his window and started yelling at me, told me I was driving too slow and to get off the fucking road.”

  I gasp not liking to hearing someone spoke to my Grams like that.

  I can tell Cooper doesn’t like it either, “Did you get a good look at the guy?”

  “Actually I did one better, I wrote down his license plate number for you. I told him that I knew the sheriff personally and that he was gonna get into some major trouble. He laughed and started yelling more profanities at me. So then I pulled out the big guns, I told him my grandson was a Navy Seal and he was gonna kick his ass.”

  I smile when I picture Gram yelling at someone, telling them Jaxson was going to kick their ass.

  “There was a girl in the passenger seat, I couldn’t see her well, but she was yelling at him to stop. Whoever the poor girl is I feel bad for her, being with someone like that can’t be all that fun.”

  Cooper takes the paper from Gram, “No, I bet not. You did a good job writing down the license plate number Miss Margaret. I’ll look into this first thing tomorrow.”

  Gram pats his shoulder, “I know you will honey.”

  I look over at Jaxson to see him looking majorly pissed off. Helping Grams in her seat I offer her a drink, “Can I get you a margarita Grams?”

  “That would be lovely, thank you dear.”

  When I walk inside I fill Kayla and Grace in on what Grams just told us while I mix her drink.

  “That’s terrible, how could anyone talk to her like that?” Grace asks sadly.

  Where Grace is sad, Kayla is pissed, “What a prick! I can’t wait till Cooper finds his sorry ass.”

  I nod my head in agreement. Just when I’m about to head back out with Gram’s drink the doorbell rings again. I follow Kayla and Grace as they go answer it. They open the door to Katelyn and some guy who I’m assuming is her new boyfriend.

  “Hi Katelyn come on in,” h
er eyes are glassy, as if she’s been crying. She steps in, hugging Grace and Kayla right away before she comes to me.

  “Hi Jules. Um, so turns out that Vince didn’t have to work tonight. I hope it’s ok that I brought him along?”

  Her smile is bright, too bright, and I get the feeling she didn’t necessarily want to bring him. Not wanting to make things awkward I paste a bright smile on my own face. “Of course, no problem. Hi Vince, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Julia and this here is Grace and Kayla.”

  At first he doesn’t smile back, he sweeps his eyes down my body, blatantly checking me out. When his gaze finally makes it to my face he gives me a sleazy smirk, “Hi.”

  Kayla, Grace and I all make eye contact, then Katelyn’s clearing her throat, “Uh can I use your bathroom Julia?”

  “Sure, follow me. I’ll show you where it is. Kayla and Grace could you guys get Vince a drink and take him out back?”

  “Sure, right this way Vince,” Kayla says leading him into the kitchen as I walk Katelyn to the bathroom.

  “Oh my god, Julia I am so sorry,” Katelyn’s tearful words stop me in my tracks. I turn around to see tears streaming down her face.

  “Katelyn are you ok?”

  She shakes her head, “No he is such a jerk. We had this huge fight on the way here. I’m seeing a side of him I didn’t know he had. I tried to get rid of him but he wouldn’t listen. I’m so sorry I brought him here. I figured it was easier just to bring him then I’d deal with him later.”

  Before I can respond we hear a commotion out in the back yard, Katelyn and I start running.

  Grams is yelling as we make it out back, “That’s him Cooper! That’s the guy who was yelling and cussing at me. I told you I knew the sheriff. You’re in big trouble now mister.”

  “Oh no!” Katelyn cries.

  “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Vince says annoyed.

  I see Jaxson all the way across the yard with Sawyer when he starts making his way over.

  Cooper gets up from his chair, “So you’re the one who was harassing Miss Margaret?”