Jenny was caterwauling at the top of her lungs but she didn’t get too close I noticed, or tried to stop me from killing her nitwit sister.
“I warned you didn’t I? Now look at your stupid ass.” I choked her until she was just at the point of passing out and then dropped her.
“You’re next bitch.” I caught her right before she reached the door and pulled her back by her hair.
With all the noise she was making I was sure the whole neighborhood had heard her by now so I had to be quick.
Since this one was so fond of her face I decided to hit her where it hurts. Two quick short jabs to her precious nose and one to the eye.
“I hope you didn’t have a shoot coming up any time soon. Next time I’ll leave a mark that will last you a lifetime. Now get the hell out of my room and stay out.”
I guess they were feeling brave or they really wanted this guy because they actually came at me again.
I’d been trying to spare them since they were my blood after all, but shit, if they wanted to play we’ll play.
Jonas didn’t teach me to fight for nothing you know.
***
It didn't take long for the others to come running, by then I had Jenny baby in a headlock and had kicked Miranda in her side, winding her.
"Imp let her go."
"Nuh uh dad, this is my room so you know I didn't go looking for trouble, they came after me." I put an extra squeeze on her head for good measure.
"I know that, but you can't beat up on your sisters it's not lady like."
I snorted at that because he knew I had no qualms about being a lady, that's Cynthia's deal not mine. I did let go of my idiot sister when I noticed Jackson lounging in the doorway watching me.
"You see Conrad, I don't think we should be letting her go anywhere, not with this sort of behavior what ever will the Collins think?"
Oh you'd like that wouldn't you mommy dearest, make me pay for their crap as usual.
"I daresay my mother has witnessed her fair share of sibling rivalry eh Mike."
"He has a point Ms. Cynthia." Mike was trying not to smile at me, I did so love my brother in law to be; he got me.
"Are you all packed and ready to go? There’s been a bit of a change in our plans, the plane's waiting."
Jackson finally pulled away from the door and came towards me. His eyes looked like death, but his manner was laid back and relaxed, huh.
I gave the nitwit one final jab to the ribs; she got the message, I'm no longer willing to put up with their shit.
Janet will be out of the house soon and I had no more ties here, I was giving serious thought to thwarting dad's rules and finding a place of my own when the whole wedding deal was over.
"Seems you only behave when I have you in my arms." Jackson whispered those words as he went past me to collect my luggage.
My foolish girl's heart did a roll in my chest and my breath caught in my lungs.
I really need to have a talk with Sophie and see if maybe there had been some sort of misunderstanding a few years ago. The thing is, I hadn't spoken to her in a long, long time.
“Mr. Collins I don’t think...”
“Leave it Cynthia, she’s going.” Dad walked over and hugged me before pulling back to look down at me.
“Sorry imp, I didn’t know, that’s no excuse for being a piss poor dad, but I’m sorry all the same. From now on I’ll do my best to see they leave you alone.
You really want to do this? You’re not just running away?”
“No dad I want to.” I took a quick look at Jackson as I said it and blushed.
If anyone could read my feelings it would be dad, I didn’t want to give too much away too soon.
“My poor Maxie, always wearing your heart on your sleeve.” He kissed my forehead before ushering the others out of the room.
I heard the nitwits yelling about my punishment but tuned them out.
“Let me see your hands.” Jackson had stayed back when the others had left and was now lifting my hands for inspection. There was a tic in his jaw that I hadn’t noticed before and I wondered if he was angry on my behalf.
“We’ll ice them on the plane, the sooner I get you away from here the better. I don’t know how you survived this long.
I’m sure you’ll tell me that you couldn’t help yourself, but please don’t risk your hands again, it would be a great disservice to the world, if you couldn’t play again. Let’s go Firefox.”
***
Chapter 22
JACKSON
I practically carried her out of there. I couldn’t quite believe that things had gone as far as they had.
I should’ve known with the way she’d been strung so tight since I arrived, but I just assumed that it was the norm for the family of girls.
I couldn’t help wondering if my presence had helped to escalate the situation, that and whatever it was that she thought she knew about me.
Whatever the reason, I was appalled. I also found it funny that her mother seemed to think it was Maxie’s behavior that was at fault, when she was the one I held most to blame.
I had no doubt that my mom’s brand of TLC would go a long way to making her feel welcomed in my home, in fact I was relying on just that to kind of smooth the way for me.
“Goodbye sir, I guess I’ll be seeing you at the wedding in a couple weeks. It was nice of you to have me.”
I shook her dad’s hand while keeping her next to me. I wasn’t sure what she would get up to next if I left her alone.
“Thanks Collins, you make sure you take care of my girl you hear?”
“I will, that’s one thing you never have to worry about.” From the look he gave me, I knew he got what I was saying to him.
“Bye imp, try to relax and have some fun will you?”
“I will dad, I’ll see you soon. Don’t forget to bring Jonas when you’re coming. He’s gonna try to get out of it so you might have to shanghai him.”
“Not to worry imp I know all about it, I’ll see that he’s there. Now you two run along before your mother finds something else to hinder your leaving.”
With our last goodbyes out of the way I took her hand and led her past her mother and sisters who weren’t looking too pleased by this turn of events.
“Ladies...stop it.” I admonished her under my breath when she growled at them and dragged me past.
She tried to release my hand as soon as we were out of their sight but I held on tight.
“Oh no you don’t. Begin as you mean to carry on I always say.” I squeezed her hand and kissed her temple before seating her in the car and buckling her in.
***
MAXIE
His home is ginormous. It's what I’d expected, but still, seeing is believing.
On the plane ride over here he'd been so sweet and attentive, it's almost as if he thought I was hurt by my family's behavior and was going out of his way to make up for it.
Little did he know that I'd grown immune to them and their antics a long time ago.
I felt a huge rush of excitement when the pilot announced that we were about to land.
I looked out the window at the sprawling estate down below and felt a touch of trepidation.
People who lived in places like that didn’t go for girls who came from middle class families.
Whose fathers didn’t have a couple extra zeroes at the end of his portfolio.
Yes I make good money and have done as much as I can to keep my family in the style they thought they should be accustomed to. A lot of thanks I get for it.
But we were nowhere near this caliber. My palms grew sweaty and my pulse raced. What if mother was right? What if I was nothing more than an embarrassment to him? Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
“What’s that look about Firefox?” He took my hand and raised it to his lips.
“Nothing, just thinking that’s all.” Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered what Sophie had said two years ago anyway.
No
w that I no longer had the buffer of my anger between us any longer, I was beginning to see that it had all been a foolish dream.
There’s no way he would’ve gone for me then or now. He was probably just being nice because of Michael.
“Hey, I don’t think I like what you’re thinking.” He tugged on my hand and the look on his face pulled at my heart.
“And how would you know what I’m thinking?” I tried for a light touch but I don’t think it worked.
“It’s written all over your face, now cut it out. This is supposed to be a time for fun, remember?
And now that you no longer have your sisters here to bother you, you can relax. Besides I’m here, that alone should be incentive enough for you to smile.”
“Conceited ass.” I fought back the grin and rolled my eyes at him.
“There she is.” He grinned and pecked my lips like it was the most natural thing in the world.
I looked out the window with a silly grin on my face. He was still holding onto my hand.
It was a short ride from the airstrip to the main house. He’d tried pointing out different things to me on the way, but I couldn’t seem to concentrate.
Now that we're here I'm a tad bit nervous, because now I'm on his turf. The tables have shifted and I’m out of my element.
I was never this nervous before a performance in front of thousands of strangers, but being here in his home, so close to where he slept, was giving me butterflies.
Maybe I’d lost my mind in the last day or so; it was probably thanks to those damn kisses of his.
Like the one he’d planted on me just before we left the plane after Janet and Mike had already deplaned. It had left me weak and stupid.
As for those two, it was as if no one else was around, they barely noticed us.
"Welcome to my home Maxie, it's taken me two years, but I finally got you here."
"About that, if you say you tried to contact me two years ago, how come you didn't know who I was when Michael and Jan got together?"
"He didn't tell me her sister was called the Dove, in fact all he could talk about was Jan. I'm not even sure he knew who you were; why is that do you think?"
"It's a long story, maybe I'll tell you one day." Or maybe not, that was something I tried to avoid at all cause.
It was yet another dark chapter in the life of the great Maxie Dove.
Why was I feeling so sorry for myself all of a sudden? It was so not like me, I usually just roll with the punches as they say. But for some reason, being this close to Jackson, with all the old feelings rearing their ugly head, I felt vulnerable and alone.
He was studying me again so I gave him a little half smile to throw him off the scent. It didn’t seem to work though because he took my face in his hands and looked into my eyes.
“Whatever is bothering you, I promise it will be okay.” He got a strange look on his face after imparting those words; then he dropped his hands and stuffed them in his pockets. Weird.
JACKSON
Damn, I knew she would do this to me. Knew from the moment I opened my mouth and invited her here, that this is what I was really after.
With the backdrop of my home behind her, the abundance of wild Texas rose that was my mother’s favorite framing her, she fit.
When I’d held her face just now I’d seen it. Seen her here with me, and our children.
It was so real that quick flash, like I could reach out and touch it. Scared the shit out of me truth be known.
Even with my hands stuffed in my pockets, I could still feel the electricity. I needed to get away from her for a while, needed to get my thoughts together.
Things had just entered a whole new stage. Maybe I’d toyed around with the idea of having her. I did want to see where those kisses lead.
But now we had crossed over into familial territory. My father and grandfather had both had those flashes.
It was something to do with the land or so the legend went. The land knew and welcomed the new lady of the house in just that way.
It had been that way with my mom and my grandma and the others before them. My family had a whole cabinet of documents dedicated to what I had always counted as an old wife’s tale.
The male’s obsessiveness in the tales was always a bit fantastical for my taste, but if there was any truth to them, then I might be in trouble.
It was said that the man grew increasingly possessive and pretty much loses his fucking mind.
If the tall tales bore any truth, then it won’t be long before she was all I thought about before I finally took her beneath me.
Since I wasn’t too fond of procrastination, and wasn’t looking forward to losing my fucking mind, we were gonna have to speed things up.
Besides the clock was already ticking since I’d seen it, which meant that from this moment on, she was mine. All five foot two inches of fire breathing hell that she was. Well shit.
Chapter 23
MAXIE
"Jackson, don't keep her out there bring her on in here." The voice jumped me out of my daze. I’d been staring back at him while he studied me like a bug under a scope again.
I turned around to see a very beautiful woman in a wheelchair. Oh no, please tell me that’s not his mom. I felt deflated. Two years he had commissioned me to hold a private recital for his mom.
It wasn’t something that I did too often, but every once in a while I caved. I’d been excited to meet him then, but circumstances had caused me to cancel.
Now I looked like I might’ve been wrong, and to top it off, his mom was in a wheelchair. I felt lower than dirt in that moment. Like all the things my mother was fond of accusing me of being rolled into one.
"It's okay Firefox, you didn't know." He whispered the words in my ear and squeezed my shoulders. I couldn’t look at him, I felt too ashamed.
I felt like crying, he'd been trying to get me here to perform for his mother, who had a collection of my recordings and wanted to hear me play in person.
I'd denied his invitation, even though at the time I would've given anything to meet the dashing Jackson Collins.
What he doesn't know is that at about the time he'd been contacting me I'd just found my first real crush.
I'd seen him in a magazine only a couple weeks before. Then I’d thought my luck had changed for the better, when my new roommate on the concert circuit let it be known that they were old family friends.
He and his family were great patrons of the arts, that why he’d been featured in the magazine I’d been perusing. He’d just dedicated a musical wing to some establishment or the other.
I’d thumbed that page so much it had become worn in a couple days. In the picture it was as if he was looking right at me.
There was something in those eyes, even through the pages of a magazine that seemed to reach out and grab me, almost as if he was calling me and only me.
I’d become obsessed, searching the net for anything to do with him. As the days wore on my obsession only grew stronger.
I was almost to the point of a meltdown when I met my new roommate, and was blown away when she caught sight of the magazine article and shared the fact that she knew him.
I'd sneakily milked her for every bit of information on him; until the invite came and she'd dropped her little bombshell.
Now here we were, full circle.
“Come on, let’s go on in before mom starts lecturing me on proper etiquette.”
He still had that strange look on his face and I was beginning to wonder if he was already having second thoughts about bringing me here.
But when he led me over to his mom and introduced us, his hand remained possessively in my back and his words were warm.
“Why Jackson she’s stunning. I’m ever so pleased to have you in my home, I hope you don’t mind but I’ve told all my friends about your coming, they’re absolutely green with envy.”
“Mom...”
“Oh hush Jackson, why don’t you run along and tell cook
to prepare a late night snack.”
“We had dinner not long ago mom, I think Maxie might be ready for bed. You can have her to yourself for a short time tomorrow okay.”
“Why a short time?”
“Because I want to show her around before I have to head back to the office. Then you’ll have her all to yourself until I come home in the evenings, but then she’s mine again.”
The two of them bartered good-naturedly for my time. It was fun watching and listening to them. There was so much warmth in the byplay.
Janet and Mike were already gone so it was left to Jackson to show me to my room.
“I’ve decided to put you here, close to me.” This way if you need me in the night I’ll be right here to hear you.” He frowned after saying it and I was back to wondering what the hell was going on with him.
“Are you sure you’re okay there pretty boy? You’ve been acting very strange since we got here. If you’re having second thoughts...”
He clasped my face in his hands. “Not even close.” And he kissed me right there in the hallway where anyone could walk by and see us.
“You’d better go in baby.” “Why, why do you always stop just when it’s getting good?” Crap I hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
“Because we just met, and I was thinking that as much as I’d like to bury myself inside you in the worst fucking way, you might need time.”
Well, wasn’t much I could say to that now could I?
***
JACKSON
I could see that my words had obviously thrown her. “Don’t look so worried I said I’ll give you time, but to be fair, it might not be as much as you like. Go on in; this room connects with mine so I’d hear you if you need me.”
Why do I keep saying that? Like I was expecting her to wake in the night needing me.
I went next door and breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed behind me.
This was too strange to be real. Two years ago I’d contacted her for my mother’s sake as well as my own.
Our collection of her work had drawn me in since the first moment I’d heard it, but when she’d turned us down I hadn’t given it much thought after that.
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