“What? But Caleb is awesome.”
Jonny smiled at the outrage in Bobby’s voice in defense of his nephew and when he turned to look at her he found she was already staring at him.
“Caleb is awesome. He was an awesome baby, too. My brother found himself a beautiful girl, hid the dickhead within, conned that girl into marrying him, and made babies with her. Throughout that, he never stopped being a dickhead. He cheated on her. He treated her like shit and when Caleb came, Doug didn’t change. Then Rory was born and he still didn’t change. How a man can do that, I do not know. But my dad did it, my brother did it. And I watched two beautiful, vibrant women suffer. But worse, I had to watch two beautiful, innocent children go through what I did.”
“I get it,” Bobby murmured.
Three whispered words. That was all it took for something deep in his gut to settle—a knot to start unwinding. He reckoned Bobby did get it; she had the same fears.
“I want you to know something,” she continued. “I know you won’t cheat on me.”
Shit, fuck.
Jonny fought to keep his seat as an uncomfortable feeling stole over him. Pain sliced through him, a pain he wanted to feel for the rest of his life, a pain that hurt so good. A trust he hadn’t earned but despite what she knew Bobby was giving it.
“I know you think you have that in you, what they had. But I know you don’t. Over the years I’ve thought a lot about it, what was broken in my mom, in my dad, what made them do what they did. I don’t have the answers the same way you don’t understand how a man treats his wife and children the way your dad and brother did. You can’t understand it because that’s not in you. I cannot fathom how a mother leaves her children, I’ll never understand it. I’m not worried I’ll abandon my children. I’m worried I’ll be a shit mom because I didn’t have one to show me the way. I’m not worried I’ll become a bitter, drunk, beaten-down woman like her. I know how blessed I am. I know that everything I have in my life I worked to get. I broke the cycle just by leaving, I continue to do it every day, and I’m proud of that. And, Jonny, you should be proud, too. You broke free of yours.”
Jesus.
He wanted to believe that.
He’d never cheated on a girlfriend, never treated a woman like shit. He was careful—always. Even with a casual hookup, he was upfront and honest about what he wanted. Too many times he’d seen the devastation in his mother’s eyes. He’d watched helplessly as his brother brought Macy low. And if he was being honest, witnessing Macy’s destruction was worse than watching his mother fade away. His sister-in-law was strong, she stood and fought. She worked herself to the bone to be a great mom, to help Doug, to keep her family together. Macy had not turned to the bottle, she hadn’t turned a blind eye, she fought until she couldn’t then she kicked Doug’s ass out. Anita Spencer didn’t have that in her. She didn’t have what it took to fight for her son.
Bobby had that. Straight to his soul, Jonny knew Bobby would fight and die for the babies she made. Bobby wouldn’t put up with a man treating her like shit. Bobby would kick a man’s ass then boot him out the door.
“You’re right about that, I’d never cheat on you,” Jonny confirmed. “It means a lot that you know that.”
“Wouldn’t be sitting here if I didn’t.”
“I know that, too.”
“So, tomorrow morning are you taking me back to Lucy’s, or what?”
Out of the heavy.
That was Bobby.
Jonny felt his lips curve up into a smile when he returned, “If you want Lucy’s, then you’ll have Lucy’s.”
Bobby returned his smile, then turned to look back at the ocean.
“You’re comin’ to the concert, right?” Bobby asked.
Earlier in the day when they’d walked along the shore, Bobby told him about a benefit concert Genevieve had agreed to perform at in Nashville. Being as Bobby was Evie’s assistant she’d spent some of the day working on her laptop making arrangements. Part of those arrangements had been talking to Nixon about Gemini Group providing security. Of course, this was unnecessary seeing as Chasin, Evie’s fiancé, was part owner of GG and there was no chance Chasin would allow his pregnant woman to go to Nashville alone.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Jonny replied.
“You’re in for a treat. Evie is electric when she’s on stage. And she’ll be doing a duet with Sean Lovette. Those two make magic when they’re together.”
“I wouldn’t mention that to Chasin. Not sure he wants to hear about his woman making magic with another man.”
“You’re probably right. Chasin can be an overprotective beast when it comes to Evie.”
Jonny didn’t agree. Chasin was a man who knew all too well what it felt like to have his woman terrorized and threatened. He was also a man who loved his family; thus there was no such thing as overprotective.
On that thought, a sick feeling invaded. It had been Bobby who’d been kidnapped and beaten by Evie’s stalker—not Evie. It had been Holden who had almost died. Neither of those things was Evie’s fault and the man responsible was dead—Chasin had seen to that—but Jonny still couldn’t swallow the fear.
Jonny needed to call Nixon and go over the security plan. Jameson’s son Noah had been born prematurely. Seeing as the kid was a Grant, therefore strong as an ox, he was doing well. But Jameson wouldn’t leave Kennedy and Noah. Nix would be down a man, and that deficit could mean Bobby wouldn’t have a guard at her side at all times. That was unacceptable. Though if Jonny were there, he could watch Bobby as long as he was given security access.
Yeah, he’d call Nixon tomorrow and make the arrangements. There was no sense talking to Bobby; he knew her too well. She’d blow him off and tell him he was being overprotective. Nix, however, would not.
“Did you have a good day, Jonny?”
Bobby’s soft voice pulled his attention back to the beautiful woman sitting next to him.
“I did.”
“So did I.”
“Come here, baby,” Jonny called and watched her push herself from the chair.
Once she was within reach, he tagged her hand, pulled her into his lap, and his day went from good to great as peace settled around him.
“You got any idea how much I love you, Bobby Layne?”
“No, but I’m sure you’ll show me, Jonny Spencer.”
Damn right, he would.
He’d show her. He’d love her so thoroughly she wouldn’t ever doubt it. So completely she’d feel it until her dying breath.
It wasn’t late but it wasn’t early when Jonny took Bobby to bed. There was no urgency, no rush; it was about the climb. The slow buildup. In the dark, it was about discovery. Touch and taste. The smell of peaches, of vanilla. Hands gliding. Exploring. Tongues tangling.
Beautiful torture.
“Honey,” Bobby breathed.
Jonny shifted, reached between them, and fisted his dick.
“Love you, baby,” he told her as he pushed into her slick, wet, heat.
“Love you back, Jonny.”
Christ, that felt good.
He fed her more of his cock, giving her slow, short thrusts. Drawing it out. Not frenzied and out of control, but he wanted her breathless, begging, overwhelmed. He needed to hear the sounds she made, the gasps, the mews.
He needed everything from her.
So, in the dark, surrounded by her he took it—everything he needed.
10
Man-oh-man, Jonny was pissed. Not just a little—a whole lot. So pissed I was actually happy I was driving back to Cliff City in my own car. The part I wasn’t happy about was our time at the beach was over early. Jonny said he wanted a week alone at the beach, a demand—and I wasn’t dumb enough to think it otherwise. He hadn’t requested seven days, he’d commanded—and that was cut short after three days.
Oh, it had been a great three days. Everything had been perfect even under the pall of his mom’s drunk phone call that first morning. Jonny thought he was hiding i
t but he’d done a piss-poor job of pretending he wasn’t worried about her. I hadn’t asked when his father’s actual birthday was, which in hindsight was a mistake.
Today was the day, hence why we were driving home. Not because Jonny wanted to go to the cemetery or even acknowledge today was any different than any other day. No, we were driving back because Jonny’s mom had driven to visit her dead husband and had done it smashed. The good news was Mrs. Spencer hadn’t crashed or hurt anyone, but she had been pulled over. It was not Anita who called her son to bail her out of jail or pick her up.
No, it was worse—one of Jonny’s former colleagues had called.
That was when my big, strong Jonny had hung his head in shame. He also shut down and pulled away. It was so immediate it shocked me. His temper, I could handle. His flying off in a fit of rage and throwing a glass jar against the wall didn’t scare me. Not for a single second did I think I was in danger. I actually welcomed the slip of control. I wasn’t happy Jonny had been in pain, frustrated, and embarrassed by his family’s actions. However, I was happy that he hadn’t bottled it up which was what he normally did. What he’d done after he hung up once he finished speaking to his friend Vaughn.
I wasn’t so naïve I thought since Jonny had finally admitted he had feelings for me that it would be smooth sailing. I knew there would be bumps in the road. I knew he’d pull away. I just hadn’t thought it would happen so quickly.
After we silently packed and Jonny walked me to my car where he told me he’d call me later after he dealt with his mom, he woodenly stalked to his truck.
Silly man.
If he thought I was going home and leaving him to deal with his mom on his own, he was wrong. We were ten minutes outside of Cliff City, the turnoff I needed to take was coming up and I was mentally preparing for the call I knew Jonny would make when I didn’t make the left and followed him instead. He was going to be pissed—or I should say more pissed. And since he’d had an hour and fifteen minutes to stew, I figured he was more tweaked now than he was when we’d left Dewey Beach.
My bumper had barely passed the exit when my phone rang.
So predictable.
I hit the answer button on my steering wheel and smiled.
“Jonny,” I greeted.
“You missed your turn.”
Yep, predictable. And so was the bite in his tone.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Bobby—”
“Nope. You can bark and bitch all you want. But you’re not doing this alone.”
My interruption was met with silence. Unfortunately, I misinterpreted that to mean he wasn’t going to argue. I should’ve known better.
“This shit is not happening.”
Oh, silly, silly, growly Jonny.
“I’m not letting you face this by yourself.”
I watched Jonny’s truck in front of me swerve right before he cursed and straightened. I would bet his face was pinched and his knuckles were white.
“Goddamn it, Bobby. I don’t want you there.”
Okay, that stung—a little. Logically I knew he didn’t want me to see his mother. But someplace deep inside of me, I’d hoped he would be relieved I was with him.
“I’m coming with you.”
“So you don’t fucking care I don’t want you coming.”
“Why?”
“Why?” he repeated.
“Yeah, Jonny, why don’t you want me there?”
If he’d given me a good reason, I would’ve turned around and gone home. I would’ve left him to handle his business and called him later.
“Because I don’t.”
“Jonny—”
“None of this is your business.”
“So you’re not my business?”
“No. Not this. Not when she’s involved. My family is not your business.”
Welp, that stung more than a little. Actually, that hurt—a lot.
Regrettably, he went on and he did it nastily. “Just because I’m fucking you doesn’t mean you get to butt into my life. If I wanted you to witness this shitshow, I would’ve invited you. I didn’t, so have a clue, go home, and I’ll call you when I’m done.”
“Stop talking. Now, Jonny, you’ll stop talking if in the future you’d like the opportunity to fuck me again. You’ve got five minutes until we get to the station to come up with a reason why I should go home and leave you to clean up yet another mess you didn’t create. And here’s your warning, your reason better not have anything to do with embarrassment, shame, or trying to protect me. Alternately, you can use the next five minutes to think about how you’re going to apologize for being an asshole. See you at the station, I’m hanging up now.”
I hit the disconnect button and let out a frustrated sigh. I wasn’t known for my tolerance. I was too impulsive, too short-tempered, two things that didn’t mix well when what I needed was a truckload of patience to help Jonny work through his issues. Especially when we hadn’t scratched the surface. I had grit and strength but all too often I let my attitude get the better of me. Which meant I went from happy-go-lucky Bobby to raging-bitch-Bobby in two-point-five seconds. Most anyone who knew me understood this. They also knew not to push me there. Jonny was the exception to that because he, too, had a short fuse.
The difference between him and I was that I let my crazy fly when I was pissed, hurt, or felt threatened. Jonny locked his hurt away. No, he buried it and he kept burying it for twenty years until he’d finally cracked. He’d quit his job, gone into hiding, and pushed all of his friends away. Three days of outrageously good sex and conversation wasn’t going to heal that. It would take me a long time to dig through the rubble—something I desperately wanted to do. But I wouldn’t be tunneling through the wreckage his family buried him under while he was shoving shit at me.
That we would talk about, just not while his mother was in county jail after being arrested for a DWI on his dead father’s birthday. No, I was smart enough to wait until clearer heads prevailed. Then I’d tell him where he could shove his nasty comments.
All too soon Jonny pulled into the parking lot of the sheriff’s department and I followed. He parked and was out of his truck before I pulled into a spot. I didn’t even have my seat belt off and Jonny was yanking open my door. Face like thunder, cold, stormy blue eyes.
It seemed Jonny Spencer had come to the wrong conclusion. Another thing we’d be discussing when we had the ‘shove your dickhead comments up your ass’ conversation.
Jonny reached across me, unbuckled my belt, tagged my fob out of the cupholder, and hauled me out of the car. Throughout his unbelievably annoying manhandling he didn’t cause an ounce of discomfort. Vaguely I wondered if he learned that being a cop—how to remove a suspect from the car without causing injury. I would’ve asked if I wasn’t so bloody mad he’d pulled me from my car.
Then just as fast as he’d yanked me out, he slammed the door and I found my back pressed against metal.
“Fucked up,” he ground out.
“You did,” I confirmed.
Some of my anger had started to wane but I was still holding on to annoyance. There was forgiveness, then there was pushover—and the last thing I was, was a pushover.
“I do not want you to see this.”
I had nothing to say to that because I already knew he didn’t, and since I wasn’t going to argue with him I didn’t say anything. If he wanted to be an asshole, he could be one, but I was still going inside and standing by him.
“Fuck.” He stepped back and his hands dove into his hair giving it a vicious yank. “I never wanted you to see this. I never wanted you to know. I never wanted this shit to touch you.”
Again, I knew all of that; hell, I understood it. I had a metric shit ton of baggage from my childhood I didn’t want him to know about. Things that I’d never tell him. Things that were so much left back in Kentucky. Things I was so ashamed I’d done that I’d do anything to keep them from Jonny.
A tingle of guilt wound its wa
y around my heart. Maybe I should’ve gone home and not pushed him. He was kind of right, we’d only been a couple for a few days. He was a jerk for calling it fucking, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a tiny bit of validity to his statement.
“I was a total dick. I’m sorry. This is absolutely your business, you deserve to know what you’ve gotten yourself into. I was being a prick not wanting you to see the…” Jonny paused and the cold, detached mask fell into place. “I didn’t want you to see,” he finished calmly.
I hated that he could easily slip back into the controlled, collected Jonny. The man he presented to everyone around him, the police officer always in command of his emotions. The son who would lie to keep his father’s secrets. The brother who would cover up indiscretions. The friend who helped but never allowed the favor to be returned. I much preferred the pissed-off version where he let the curtain fall and he actually felt.
I sensed he needed his façade of indifference so I didn’t call him on it. But I added it to the ever-growing list of things we would be discussing later.
“Is this the first time she’s been brought in?” I asked.
“Yeah. I can’t say it’s the first time she’s driven drunk. I caught her coming home from the store once when I was at her house fixing the back gate. She wasn’t smashed but she shouldn’t have been driving. I talked to her and after that as far as I know she’d call me to go to the store for her if she’d been drinking. And since she called a lot I figured she wasn’t drinking and driving. But today being his birthday I should’ve known she’d drive.”
I didn’t miss the sneer in his voice when he said “his.” I also didn’t miss the part where he took the blame.
Jonny's Redemption (Gemini Group Book 7) Page 7