“Just came looking for her. Midian said she disappeared. He couldn’t leave Millie alone and sent me to find her. I found her, over here in the dark with this asshole. Dude, I don’t like you. Not sure how you got landed this job but as of now it’s over.”
“Meerkat, he hurt you? Let me know so I can break his goddamn face.” Jimmy pointed at Jacob. “I knew you were a stalker. Why else would you lure a woman into the dark instead of talking in plain view?”
“Maybe we weren’t talking, maybe we were, you can finish the scenario in your head.” Jacob smirked.
Jimmy snarled and threw the first punch. Major jumped back out of the way, drawing Sameera with him.
“I’m lookin’ at that arm as soon as we get back on the bus,” Major whispered in her ear.
“You should stop him. He will fight until Jacob can’t move. I don’t want trouble, okay? Just have him escorted out.”
“What in the hell is happening over here?” Trish stormed in. “Jimmy, don’t you throw one more punch.”
Jimmy whipped his head around to look at Trish before he pummeled Jacob with a series of rib cracking hits. Jacob fought back, his retaliation missing its mark. “He touched Sam. Hurt her. I’ll end him.”
“J.J., he’s not going to hurt me now. Stop before you end up in jail or sued,” Sameera begged.
“You should listen to your girl, hotshot. You now have other responsibilities, want Millie to go to your ma? What do you think a court will do?” Trish reminded him.
Those words stopped Jimmy cold. He climbed off of Jacob and spit on him. “Come near my girls again and I will end this. Trish, take care of this piece of trash. Make sure you grab all access to anything connected to us.”
He stalked over to Sameera and hugged her. “When I get you alone, we are going to have words you won’t like. Get me? But first you’ll let me see where you’re hurt. Move it to the band bus now, meerkat.”
As a team of venue security came to Trish’s aide, Sameera hightailed past Millie’s bus with the devil on her heels in the image of Jimmy and Major. Midian frowned at her before entering the band bus ahead of them. Great. Three pissed off men. Taking out her phone, she texted Carlie.
I need you on the bling bling bus. Shit’s goin down and there’s a lot of testosterone aimed at me.
Carlie replied instantly.
Be right there. Been in your shoes tons of times. No worries. If all else fails, girl, you know Jimmy can’t stand tears...
Sameera pushed her phone in her pocket waiting for her relief. Carlie met them on her way over.
“I feel for you, just wanted to check on you before heading over. Jimmy loves you, you’ll be fine. Go.” Carlie gave her a bear hug. Major and Jimmy gave her a ‘don’t bullshit around’ glare. Her friend offered an encouraging smile and disappeared into Millie’s bus, leaving her to the wolves.
Into the lion’s den she went with two testosterone riddled males on her heels and one waiting in a simmering rage. Taking a gulp, she entered the bedroom. She believed she didn’t do anything wrong, but she had.
“Meerkat, where are you hurt?”
Sammera bit her lip. “It’s okay. Nothing is wrong. Can we just grab a movie and veg?”
“I barely touched your arm and you flinched so hard you almost fell on your ass.”
“Snarling is not going to get you anywhere, Major. It doesn’t matter. He’s gone, Jimmy beat the living hell out of him. Drop it.”
Jimmy stormed over to her and ripped her jacket from her body. His glare advised her not to provoke him anymore as he spun her into the light. “Mother fucker. Your arm is bruising. He didn’t grab you for a talk. He grabbed you to hurt you. What happened?”
“Sam, listen to Jimmy, we need to know what was said and what he did for our paperwork with the security team and to make sure nothing like this ever happens again,” Major advised.
“I feel stupid, okay.” She sat down and sniffled. “Midian told me to tell him to back off and quit hitting on me. So, I went outside to talk to him. I really thought he was harmless. He hadn’t done anything to make me think he was dangerous. He didn’t take rejection or being fired well. He grabbed my arm, then put a hand over my mouth and dragged me over to the wall. But nothing happened. I just talked him down.”
“Nothing happened because I called out for you. He missed his opportunity to take anything farther.”
“I’m okay, guys. No biggie.” Little did she know her dismissal of the incident would incite their anger higher.
“Mid and I will make sure that loser is out of here for good.” They left her alone with Jimmy, who sat on the bed with his hands clenched into fists at his side.
Sameera moved to follow them out, but Jimmy shot up, blocking her exit. “What? I wanted to check on Millie.”
“Good try, meerkat. She’s sleeping, no need to check on her. Carlie is with her. Now where were we?” He took a deep breath, she assumed he did so to center his emotions. When he regarded her a semblance of calm fell between them.
“Preparing to watch a movie, your turn to pick?”
“I can’t play if I’m worried about you. I can’t fucking think when I’m worried something bad is going to happen. You have got to use your smarts. He could’ve raped you, or worse raped and killed you. No one would’ve known. You are damned lucky Major came along when he did. Thinking about that sick fuck is turning my gut. Jesus.” He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled.
“I didn’t think I was in any danger.”
“The next time you think you’re not in danger, do me a favor and wait for one of the guys before going off on your own.”
“I’m a grown woman, Jimmy. You can’t order me around and expect me to just listen. He was hired to protect me.”
“You and your eternal optimism grate on my nerves, it makes you naïve, and a target.” He reached out and tugged her into his arms. “I swear if I lost you too, I’d lose it, as in postal lose it. I’m gonna grab us some grub. I’ll be right back.”
Sameera let him leave. Her phone beeped and she took it out of her pocket.
How’d it go? Never mind, he is mad as hell. Ohh girl, he is on a warpath like pissed. I did the same thing to Jackson, Shea and Garrick. Went running and forgot my rape whistle. A nice lady gave me a ride home and just in time to see two hot men, can’t call my bro hot, standing in the middle of the driveway lookin’ like Jimmy right now. They got over things though. They care, Sam, that’s how we know how much. At least the other guys weren’t here or you’d have all them in a rage.
Carlie’s imagery cracked her up. She quickly hid her amusement as her man walked back in with two plates of food and a couple sodas.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Good we can go to bed then. Not in a movie mood.” He dropped the plates on the nightstand and turned to face her.
“I’ll eat.” She wasn’t ready to climb into bed and deal with his surly overprotective mood. She took her plate and ate super slow, trying to stretch out time, and turned on the television. He gave her that silent smart girl appraisal.
Silence penetrated the room. He quietly ate his food and tossed his plate into the trash, then wordlessly went into the small bathroom and turned on the shower. Sameera tossed her plate in the garbage and entered the bathroom. “Jimmy.”
“What?” he asked. Sam watched the shampoo run rivulets down his body. The pathway mesmerized her.
“I’m sorry. Okay. I guess going outside alone knowing none of you liked him was a gamble I shouldn’t have taken.”
Jimmy ducked his head out of the shower. “You guess?” He rinsed off and opened the door. “You guess, do you?” Snapping a towel off the hook, he wrapped the cloth around his waist.
“Bad choice of words,” she said, trying to leave a little space between them in the tiny enclosure. “I’m sorry I scared you or that the thought of something happening to me freaked you out.”
“Shower’s yours.” Jimmy brushed past her out the door.
Sameera disrobed and stood in front of the sink and mirror. For the first time she got a glimpse of the dark hand impression on her arm. Jacob branded her with violence. Her arm smarted but she didn’t think it was as bad as they made it out to be. Shaking her head, she went to turn on the water.
Her shower was short, and didn’t make her feel any better, just cleaned of sweat and grime. Jacob seemed so nice at the night club and on duty. How did he feel that he had the right to push himself on someone, to grab her and scare the shit out of her, make her feel helpless, and she did until Major’s voice pierced through her fear. Tears rolled down her face as she realized what might have happened if Major hadn’t shown up.
Unlike Carlie who wasn’t accosted, she was assaulted and her only saving grace was pretending to listen to her assailant until help came. The severity of the situation hit her fully, breaking her out of denial. Sameera sunk to the ground and put her arms around her legs, the water pelted her while she got the ordeal out of her system.
The door opened and strong arms picked her up. How Jimmy got her out of the miniscule shower, she didn’t know. She tightened her arms around him and breathed in his cologne’s spiced scent.
“Shhh, meerkat. What he did wasn’t your fault. You just needed to open your eyes and see how bad things could’ve turned. That’s all I wanted. Why I’m so angry at you downplaying it.” He stroked her hair and led her to the bed, took the towel he’d used and dried her skin. When he was done, he grabbed her lotion and began rubbing her body with her favorite citrus scent. As she lay there sniffling, her man retrieved her panties and pajamas and dressed her.
“I’m sorry.”
“I know, love. I know.” Jimmy slipped into the bed and pulled her into his body. Together they lay there in the silence. He stroked her skin, massaged the nape of her neck, pressed tender kisses to her hurt arm. Tucked into his body, she felt safe and cherished, and wanted and loved.
When he completed his massage, he intertwined their fingers and kissed her nape. “Sleep.”
Chapter Eleven
A week later…
There is definitely something sexy about a man surrounded by hair baubles, watching a YouTube video on braiding hair with a pretty little girl on his lap.
“Owwie. You’re pulling my hair, Uncle Jimmy.” Millie squirmed on his lap.
“I have to brush it, Millie.” He sprayed an extra spritz of detangler in her hair. Sameera sat next to them and watched. So far she had one lopsided braid and rats next of a tangle.
“You let her go to bed without pinning her hair up.” She motioned for Millie to climb into her lap. “Let’s show J.J. how to do this. Hand me the brush, sexy.”
“I was getting the hang of it,” Jimmy grumbled but handed over the brush and spray.
“One spray won’t do. You have to drench it. Like drenching a salad with ranch or your hotwings.”
“That’s silly.” Millie laughed.
“We are going to work from the bottom up and take our time. Hold the hair close to the scalp to keep from pulling too hard. See it’s coming loose already.” Sameera worked in sections until she could run the brush smoothly through, then grabbed a rubber band and centered it before braiding.
“You have had years of practice. Go ahead and take out the other side, yours looks so much better.”
Millie giggled. “You’re a boy. I’ll give you a star sticker for trying to make me prettys. Can I have blue hair like yours?”
“Thank you, beautiful and no you cannot have blue hair like mine. It’s such a perfect pretty color right now.”
“That was some quick thinking.” Sameera finished the do. “What are we doing today?”
“Getting me off this bus.” Millie jumped up and down. Sameera liked that answer. Mille did so well on the bus mostly. A few tantrums happened when she wanted to play outside or swim but they were mostly redirected. Jimmy decided she’d had enough of being cooped up and set up a surprise for all of them. Sameera was waiting with the others to find out just what her man had planned. He knew how to be tight-lipped at times and she couldn’t get it out of him for the life of her. Perhaps if they’d had a new sexathon she could have gotten some intel, but nope. Ever since he branded her with his cock, she’d been left wanting. They never found time to sneak off, not that she blamed him, but her addiction to him demanded some type of foreplay. He always resisted though, damn him.
As if he knew her thoughts, he came up behind her and kissed her nape. “We’re almost there.” Sameera sighed a total sexually frustrated one and turned to kiss him, showing her desperation to have some alone time. Jimmy smacked her ass and lifted her body around his waist. “Damn, meerkat. You are a bad girl.”
“I need you.” She broke down and voiced the words only repeated in her head. He sucked in a breath and tangled his tongue with hers, robbing her of her breath.
“We’ll have to finish this later.” He broke off to grin at their little girl watching.
“Why were you eating her tongue?”
“She forgot how to breathe so I had to help her.” Jimmy lied with supreme mastery to avoid an early birds and bees talk.
“Oh. Looks gross.” She turned to her coloring book and ignored them.
“Are you ready for your surprise?”
“Yay, I want my surprise,” she squealed.
The bus came to a rolling stop. Jimmy hoisted Millie on his shoulder and carried her outside. Sameera followed them and breathed in the fresh air? Salt water air?
“Are you freaking kidding me! What about the tabloids?”
“We will protect her as much as possible but my beautiful girl wants to swim, what better way than in the Pacific Ocean.”
“I don’t have my swimming suit on. Can we make a castle like the princesses get?”
“We can do anything you want. Let’s get your swimsuit on and head on down. Craig, make sure you grab a suit and join us. Everyone is parking to enjoy today.”
Sameera spied a car pulling up. Dominique and Catalina jumped out. “Surprise Bioch. We are here.”
“OMG.” She tackled Jimmy and peppered his face with kisses. “I’m going to go put on my itty bitty suit.” Grinning, she did just that, then helped Millie into her cute ruffled one piece with attached lifejacket. She lathered their skin with sunblock, grabbed her pink cowboy hat and sunglasses.
When she exited the bus, she saw all the guys carting coolers full of goodies down to the sand. With Millie’s hand in hers, she met her friends and together the four headed down the beach for an afternoon of memories.
Millie jumped up and down in her water shoes before dragging her down to the water. As her feet touched the cool ocean for the first time, she squealed, jumped back, then hesitantly stepped back in. Jimmy came up behind them, scooped them up and took them into the surf. Only baby girl didn’t go under, she did. With an evil grin, he chuckled.
“Do it again. Do it again.”
Of course the ass would dunk her again while the little angel giggled.
“It’s your turn.” He picked Millie up and set her in the water, not allowing her to go past neck deep. Smart man. He let her float in the water while he held onto her. Sameera didn’t think he trusted the lifejacket to keep her face up.
“I can swim. I can swim.”
“Get a look at that.” Dominique and Catalina joined them in the water. Sameera turned her gaze to the sand where Midian, Vin and Major set up a sand volleyball game.
“Did they lather up in baby oil?” She laughed. Garrick, Shea and Jackson joined. “Look at all that tattoo riddled muscle.”
“You mean skin covered steel. God, they should be illegal wearing board shorts looking that good.”
“Really, ladies, I’m right here.”
“Jimmy, go play with them, we got Millie.”
“I don’t know.” Frowning, he flipped off a photographer snapping photos and turned Millie away from them.
“Just go. Us girls will be good, we’re gonna swim, then come wa
tch you get handed a smackdown by the stagehands and crew who were beginning to mosey their way down the stretch.”
“I should’ve just rented the zoo for the day for privacy,” he grumbled.
“Nah, this is way more fun.” She scooped Millie up and headed toward the damp sand to build a castle. The crisp air invigorated her. Trish, Neveah and Carrie joined them with the buckets, spade and a bowl of dead jellyfish.
“Ew.”
“It’s for the moat. You have to have a moat, it’s in castle building 101. I had to pay some kids off to touch them.” Trish dropped the goods and sat.
“Where are all the hot single guys at?”
“I saw some guys down the stretch looking like some sexy Thunder Down Under Aussies,” Carrie piped up. “We passed them, not that I was really looking, but damn, you can’t miss chiseled greased up abs.”
“Yeah, I think our guys put on a bottle of baby oil. Look at them over there with the crews, who are also greased up. It’s like watching Top Gun’s volleyball scene.” Garrick served the first ball, the roadies hit it over the net forcing a distracted Jimmy to dive for it or take a point loss. His body hit the sand, but he lobbed the ball back over just barely, and stood to wipe the sand from his body.
“They are so sexy.” Carrie sighed.
“Let me get that drool.” Sameera handed her a napkin. Millie furrowed her brow and tore at her lifejacket zipper to unzip the floatation part, then grabbed handfuls of sand and began filling the buckets in various sizes.
“Millicent Antoinette O’Riley. Put your lifejacket back on or get up here,” Jimmy bellowed from the volleyball game.
“But Sam, I can’t bend forward to fill up the buckets.” She frowned at Jimmy, shaking her head no.
“Safety first. Millie, put it back on.”
“No.” She stood and kicked sand on her lifejacket.
“Then we’ll have to leave. You don’t want to leave, do you?” Sameera picked up the discarded piece and brushed off the sand. “Come on. Let’s be smart and safe.”
Kiss Me Deadly Page 17