“Son of a bitch,” Beau muttered as he stared at the chaos unfolding on the screen. Wade’s father looked like he was about to lose it when a reporter thrust a mic in his face, jostling him in his sleek suit as he was ushered away by security. Beau turned back to the Colonel, who was soaking this all in with absolute glee.
“God bless the Me Too movement,” he said with relish, “and god bless Mara Paulson-Jones. I could kiss her right now.”
Beau shook his head. “Jesus, Gray. Don’t do that.” The Colonel let out a good-natured chuckle, but there was a wicked glint in his eyes that had Beau suspicious. “Wait. Did you have something to do with this?”
His cousin clicked off the newscast, silenced his phone, and swung around in his chair. “Of course I did,” he said without remorse. “But don’t think for a minute the accusations are unfounded. I’ve known Mara for years. That woman is a straight shooter. I simply flew down to Atlanta, took her out for some steak, and we had a good long talk.” The Colonel’s jaw tightened, his expression hardening. “Some of the things she told me about old Whip would make your skin crawl.”
Beau didn’t doubt it for a second, especially after the way the man’s son had harassed PJ and her friend. It wasn’t a leap to assume Wade’s vile behavior was shaped in large part by his father’s piss-poor treatment of women.
The Colonel leaned back in his chair again, his smile returning, though there was an edge of darkness to it now. “I’ll admit my motivations for encouraging Mara to pursue this haven’t been entirely altruistic. You know I’ve owed Hollis some payback. I should have buried that bastard a long time ago after he messed around with my wife.” Grayson grabbed a highball from the desk and slammed back a shot of whiskey.
Beau didn’t miss the way the Colonel referred to Lily’s mother as his wife, despite the fact that he hadn’t been married to her for years. Grayson had never really been able to let go of Dani… even though he’d been the one to walk away.
Grayson stared at his glass for a few seconds, bitterness deepening the lines about his mouth as he swallowed. Then, in a flash, he was brightening. “Well screw that son of a bitch. He’s as good as buried himself anyways. Mara’s got a paper trail on him. And she knows others…”
“You think there will be more allegations coming?”
“I’d bet on it. The man’s empire is crumbling, and I’m going to enjoy watching it fall. Hell, it almost makes me want to stick around at BH…”
“Must admit, I’m gonna miss our little talks at the office.” Beau sank into a plush leather chair, studying his cousin carefully. “So is this what I was summoned here for? To celebrate the imminent demise of your oldest rival?”
Grayson knocked back the rest of his drink, set the glass on the desk, and sucked the fiery hit of liquor from his teeth. “Not entirely,” he said, shooting Beau a disgruntled look. “Also wanted to let you know I was made aware of that business at the Latimoores’.”
Beau’s gaze darted to Watson.
The big guy shrugged.
The Colonel jabbed a finger at Beau. “You should have told me that Hollis boy had designs on my daughter.”
Beau sighed. “I took care of the situation.”
“So I’ve heard.” Grayson rocked back in his chair with an assessing look. “And I am grateful to you for looking after both my girls.” Beau’s jaw clenched at the possessiveness in the man’s tone. “Is there anything else I should be brought up to speed on?”
Beau didn’t flinch from the man’s unwavering gaze. “PJ and I are together now.”
“Together.” Grayson drew out the word like it was foreign to him, seconds ticking by as he stared at Beau in confusion. Then his face darkened as realization dawned. “Watson,” he barked, swiping at the hint of scruff along his jaw. “Bring me more booze.”
Watson didn’t move.
The Colonel didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy working himself into a shit fit. “So you mean to tell me that instead of helping my girls set aside their differences, you decided you’d set aside some time to take advantage of my stepdaughter!?”
White hot anger had Beau jumping back up from the chair. The Colonel was twice his age, more than old enough to be his father, so Beau had a healthy amount of respect for him, but there was no way in hell he was going to let the man lump him in with the likes of Whip and Wade Hollis. “Fuck that! It’s not like that. I’m not like that.”
“Yeah?” Grayson fired back. “Tell that to Noel Grantham. The good reverend wasn’t exactly singing your praises when his daughter started her senior year at State with a bun in the oven.”
“Don’t go there.” Beau gritted out the words through clenched teeth. “I’ve spent the past five years doing right by my son and his mama, and I don’t give two shits what you or the good reverend think about it!”
The Colonel backed down, instant remorse flashing over his features. “Shiiiit,” he drawled, before swiping at his face again. Then he let out a long weary sigh. “I’m sorry, Beau. That was below the belt. You and Janelle… and the pyro boyfriend… y’all have been doing a helluva job co-parenting Max. I know it. Pastor Noel knows it. I shouldn’t have thrown that stuff back in your face.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. And for fuck’s sake, his name is Aaron, he’s a firefighter, and he married Janelle last summer. They’re happy together, and I’m happy for them.”
“So what about you and PJ?” the Colonel pressed. “Are you two… happy together?”
“This thing with her is new, Gray. We’re just figuring things out.” Beau bowed his head, a soft chuckle escaping. “But, honestly, the more things I figure out about PJ, the more I want to be with her.”
“She’s got baggage, son.”
“We’re unpacking it.”
The Colonel sighed. “When PJ lived with us… I wasn’t the greatest stepfather to her. I was always more focused on my Lily. I regret that. I should have watched out for her more—”
“Yes. You should have,” Beau agreed. “But you don’t have to protect her from me.”
“I know that.” Grayson relaxed back in his chair, but there was still a hint of warning in his gaze. “Just tread carefully with her. Underneath all the hard edges and sour attitude, my Lemon Drop’s hiding a real sweet girl. With a good heart. Treat her right.”
“I will.” Beau lifted his chin to the man. Then he strode for the door, his cousin’s words weighing on him as he considered what PJ had revealed to him Friday night. It wasn’t hard to sort out that the kind of harassment she’d experienced in middle school had probably influenced her decision to become sexually active at an early age. And from what little she’d said on the matter, Beau was guessing the idiots she’d been with in the past hadn’t done jack to ensure those experiences were good for her.
PJ deserved better.
Beau was going to give her better.
Definitely better sex. That was a fucking given.
But it wasn’t just about that. He wanted more for her. More for himself. Beau was twenty-six years old, and he’d never been in a serious relationship in his life, but he had no doubt now that what he was feeling for PJ was serious. He was going to treat her right. So even if his balls ached, and he had to spend the next several weeks jacking off into a sweater, Beau was going to slow things down and do this the right way.
He was going to romance the hell out of PJ Bruister.
Chapter 31
As the weeks passed, PJ threw herself into the challenges of balancing a work life she was growing to enjoy, and a personal life she was growing addicted to… even as the latter of the two was slowly driving her crazy.
At the clinic, Ms. Patrice had assigned PJ to be Thelma’s therapist on a regular basis after Mandy had given her notice. When Brecken had heard the news, he’d winced before telling PJ to stay clear of the chairs if Thelma looked twitchy. PJ could understand the guy’s warning; Brecken was sporting a mean set of bruises from trying to help Luanne calm Randall during a recent aggre
ssion.
But despite her own client’s volatile reputation, PJ refused to be afraid. Maybe it was the hint of rebellion in the girl’s dark hazel eyes or the overt wildness in all those glorious curls whipping about as Thelma rocked out to her jams in between lessons, but something about the chick really connected with PJ, some primal aspect of her nature that went beyond the autism. The more they worked together, the more PJ felt as though she’d found a kindred spirit of sorts. So on the days Thelma did show up to the clinic looking twitchy, PJ instinctively knew to channel the girl’s energy into something productive before shit got thrown.
Quite often, they started sessions with a gross motor lesson. Having gone to Fit Bods for years, PJ knew her way around a workout routine, and so, side by side, both plugged into a Katy Perry jam, Thelma and PJ frequently got their “Firework” on in the middle of the common room. PJ wasn’t dancing, of course. She was just doing a little light cardio with some hip action. Nevertheless, by the end of her shifts, she usually left feeling spent.
Strangely enough, the second she saw her boyfriend waiting outside the clinic, she perked right back up. Stranger still, PJ often had the inexplicable urge to twerk her way right over to Beau’s Audi and climb the guy like a pole dancer. It was easier to control her raging libido when Max was with him. But on the nights Janelle picked up their son, and PJ walked out to find Beau standing alone in the parking lot, it was significantly harder.
Some nights they just stood there for a while hugging each other, the scent of honeysuckle in the air mixing with the fragrant blooms he often brought her. PJ had never received flowers before Beau. She’d never even known she’d wanted them. But the first night he’d shown up clutching a colorful bouquet of wildflowers, she’d almost cried she’d been so damn pleased. Beau had noticed, of course, and she’d tried to play it off by spouting some bullshit about allergies, but she suspected Beau hadn’t believed her because he kept on bringing them.
Other nights, Beau would show up with an excited grin, kiss her soundly, and then whisk her off to La Fonda’s for more tacos, or they’d hit up this rustic little oyster house he liked and bask in their mutual love of spicy seafood, or he’d take her to their local cineplex, where he’d ply her with popcorn and sweets. PJ didn’t remember too much from either of the films they’d gone to see in the past few weeks because as soon as Beau’s mouth had found hers in the darkened theater, he’d grown far more interested in the fiery taste of the Hot Tamales candies she’d been scarfing down than the fiery sound of the explosions coming from the screen.
And still other nights, PJ would walk out of the clinic to find Beau waiting for her with a certain look in his eyes, a hungry kind of look that didn’t have a damn thing to do with food. This was how she found him one muggy evening at the tail end of April. PJ had just finished up her lesson recap with Juliana Beauxfort, so she was already feeling a little testy when she stepped into the parking lot, but as soon as she spotted Beau with that look in his eyes, she was instantly riled up because for all the steamy kisses they’d shared since her birthday, the man hadn’t touched her once like he had that night in his hallway. And PJ had never been more sexually frustrated in her life.
“Hi,” he said huskily.
Dang-namit. The sound of his voice was making her horny again. Just that one little word had caused a small flood in her underwear. Fuck it. Two could play at this game.
PJ stepped into his space, letting her breasts, in the stretchy blue cotton of her Journeys T-shirt, brush against the firmness she could feel under his vest. Then she glanced her lips over his softly. Teasingly. Beau let out one of his sexy growls, but before he could get his arms around her to deepen the kiss, she hopped away from him and climbed into the backseat of his Audi for the third time in so many weeks. Only this time it was empty because Max was at a birthday party.
Beau caught PJ’s snub, threw back his head, and laughed, the joyful sound of it causing her to smile despite her surliness. “Okay. What have I done this time?” he managed after he’d settled behind the wheel.
“It’s what you haven’t done,” she drawled, licking the taste of him from her mouth.
Beau grinned as he started the car. Then he shot her another one of those fuck-hot looks before pulling out onto Glenwood. “So how was your day at the office, dear?”
PJ rolled her eyes at Beau’s cheeky attempt to change the subject. “Fine,” she said a little peevishly. “Thelma was cool. She was all hyped about prom coming up in a few weeks, but I was able to get her to focus and finish off a few social skills lessons. Brecken’s being a moody little bitch, though.”
Beau glanced into his rear view. “Man problems?”
PJ met his gaze with a pointed smirk. “Probably.”
Beau chuckled and returned his focus to the road. PJ had told Beau about Brecken’s dog-meming boyfriend one night over dinner, and since then, Beau had seemed a little more relaxed around her coworker, generally ignoring the guy’s shameless attempts to get a rise out of him by flirting with her.
But Brecken definitely hadn’t been flirting with PJ that afternoon. The dude had been tired and cranky, practically biting her head off when she’d asked him where the spare chargers were for the tablets. PJ had no clue what the dude’s problem was. Maybe the guy’s boyfriend was holding out on him too, and he had a major case of blue balls or something, but whatever it was, PJ had made it a point to ignore him for the rest of her shift, which hadn’t been hard since she had Thelma to deal with, and also because she’d been greatly distracted by a random email she’d discovered later.
“Oh, yeah,” PJ said, smiling now as she remembered it. “Grayson’s girlfriend reached out to me today.”
“The Colonel’s girlfriend?” Beau sounded confused. “I didn’t think he’d been dating anyone since that masseuse he hooked up with in February.”
“No, not that Grayson. I’m talking about Little Grayson from Sacramento. Damn, why do you people have so many Grayson Brownings in your family? It’s confusing as hell.”
“Old family name,” Beau said dryly before glancing back at her again. “So you’re saying Kory Wilkes contacted you?”
“Yeah. Got her email during one of Thelma’s breaks. Surprised the hell out of me.”
“How’s she doing?”
PJ frowned as she thought about Kory’s message. From the sound of it, the girl was putting on a brave face for her family and friends in the aftermath of her abduction, but secretly, she was wrestling with the deep emotional scars that experience had left her with. Her note had been sad, raw, and funny all at the same time, and PJ had felt an instant connection to the girl she’d met only briefly in California. “She’s okay,” PJ said quietly.
Beau’s eyes cut back to hers in the mirror.
PJ sighed. “She’s a little fucked up right now.”
Beau’s hands tightened on the wheel. “I’m glad the bastard who took her is dead.” By the sudden tension in his body, PJ could tell Beau probably thought that Kory had been assaulted during her captivity. Reading between the lines of the girl’s email, PJ didn’t think he was too far off base in this assumption.
“Me too,” PJ whispered, turning to stare at the scenery whizzing by. Trees blurred together, wavy streaks of green against a violet blue sky. It would be dark soon. One of the things Kory had mentioned in her email was how she was now afraid of the dark because it reminded her of being locked in the trunk of a car. PJ couldn’t imagine how terrifying that must have been—
“So why do you think she reached out to you?” Beau’s question broke through her troubled thoughts. PJ turned back to find him watching her curiously. “I didn’t think the two of you had had much time together outside of that fun little drive to the airport,” he added with a wry grin.
PJ bit back a smile, remembering how she and Beau had spent much of that drive bickering about her wanting to visit Andy in San Diego. PJ had barely even talked to Kory, but the girl had seemed strangely amused by their arguing.
“I don’t know.” PJ shrugged. “Well, I did kind of slip her my email address at the airport. Not sure why I did, really…” Beau was looking at her again, his expression thoughtful. “I mean I do know why I gave it to her, but I didn’t think she’d actually use it.”
Beau made the turn into her apartment complex a few minutes later, pulled to a stop in his usual spot, then turned in his seat. “So why did you give it to her?” he asked quietly.
“I guess I just wanted to help.” PJ jabbed at her seatbelt before smoothing her hands over her thighs. “I know what happened to me with Wade doesn’t even compare to what Kory must have gone through. I was bullied in school. She was kidnapped by a deranged lunatic. They’re totally different levels of traumatizing—”
“Doesn’t make your hurt any less valid,” Beau cut in.
“I know,” PJ said with a sad smile, her gaze dropping as she snorted. “I sent Kory a reply. Told her I had this friend in Baton Rouge who’s been through some stuff too, and she wears this crazy mask so people can’t tell.” PJ lifted her chin. “I wanted her to know she’s not alone.”
Beau smiled, the warmth in his gaze something entirely different than the heat she’d seen earlier, but no less affecting. “That was nice of you, Pru.” His words were thick with emotion, his eyes dancing over her face.
PJ knew she’d brushed on some makeup earlier, but she had no idea what she’d used because Beau was looking at her in a way that made all the superficial shit singularly unimportant. It was a look that scared her a little because she didn’t know what she would do if he stopped looking at her that way. Feeling compelled to break the strange intensity of the moment, PJ grabbed her backpack and reached for the door. Beau followed her from the car.
PJ cocked her head as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. “It wasn’t entirely nice.”
“No?”
PJ adopted her brattiest smirk as he gravitated towards her, his grin widening. “I might have mentioned to Kory that you were annoying.”
Pretty Jane (The Browning Series Book 3) Page 22