Jason's Princess: A King Brothers Story (3 page)

She shrugged and went back to her work. Once she was back in the flow, her mind wondered, once again, to the green-eyed devil. Jason had become an unwanted, permanent fixture in her life since her parents died. Sure, he was always present when she and Lauren would visit Josh while in high school, but she just ignored Jason whenever he was around. However, when she’d been given full guardianship of her brother, she couldn’t ignore him anymore.

At first, she thought it odd that he’d managed to be a coach for whatever sport her brother showed an interest. Charlie had always been close with Josh but he seemed to idolize Jason. She had allowed him to spend more time with all of the King brothers because Charlie needed a male influence. Deep down, she knew that he was safe with them, even if he returned home with more bruises and scratches than when he left. They were always kind to Charlie, always accommodating and treated him like a little brother. When he returned home from visiting them he was always more polite and more respectful to Julie. Charlie thought Jason walked on water, literally, but Charlie didn’t understand how Jason had conspired against her at the worst possible time in her life. She would be happily married to Billy right now if Jason hadn’t interfered.

Not coming to any conclusions about Jason’s behavior, she focused on the morning rush, which was crazy, but around 10:00 am she got a break to begin prepping for the lunch service. She usually alternated her course menus; every-other day breakfast would be hot and lunch would be cold and vise versa. That way she only ran her grill once a day, which saved her overhead fuel costs. The men appreciated the variety and were always respectful to her. Sure, there were a couple of dorks who flirted a little too much but they were pleasant enough and it was all good-natured. Besides, the more she smiled the more tips she received.

The first group arrived around 11:30 am. She had her salads, chips and cold sandwiches ready to go.

“Three bowls of chili and two chili burgers,” a huge beast of a man said. She didn’t recognize these men and they obviously weren’t familiar with her routine. They seemed a bit rougher than the normal workers who she was used to and she wondered what crew they were assigned, as they weren’t dressed for hard work. In fact, now that she was taking notice they were all clean and tidy, in casual jeans, and t-shirts. She also noticed that they each wore light jackets, which were too hot for this time of year.

Maybe they work closer in town and are looking for different fare?
she thought to herself.

Smiling apologetically, she explained, “Sorry. Just cold sandwiches and salads today. The menu is on the white board to your left.”

“Come on, honey. Just turn your little ass around and fire up that grill. We’re hungry for something hot and meaty.” He leered up at her and his friends chuckled in a way that had the hair on her neck prickling in warning.

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t have burgers today, or chili. But I’ve got some fully loaded subs ready to go.” Her polite smile slipped away as the men drew closer to the window.

“Oh, I just bet you do, sweetheart. How ’bout I come inside and dive into that hot sub of yours, huh?” His cold eyes and empty smile drove a chill down her spine.

She looked out at the open area and saw no one else but these men. She always parked across from the construction site out of the way of the crews trying to do work, but that left her fairly isolated. There were sage brush and small trees surrounding her parking spot, but she was in full view of the road and the construction office parking lot. However, at the moment she was totally alone with these men, who were becoming aggressive. She tried not to panic.

As the big man moved toward the side door of the truck he actually jiggled the latch. His friends laughed, egging him on, and caging her in at the order window. There were two ways into her truck and he was accessing the easiest way inside. Try as she might, the panic was taking over.

“You guys are going to have to leave if you don’t want to order any food. The next group will be here soon,” she said but her voice trembled with fear.

I hope they get here soon
.

“They’ll just have to wait to have my sloppy seconds,” he said as he put his shoulder to the door. A surprised scream left her. The men were alternating laughing and leering, as one of them hung onto the window ledge to stare inside. Her mind was blank with shock and her body didn’t react. She knew the lock on the door was insubstantial and wouldn’t hold him off for long. The only objects she could use as weapons were her chef’s knives. She grabbed the biggest one she owned and held on tight.

Suddenly there were shouts and then what sounded like air being forcefully expelled out of large torsos.

“GET BACK TO WORK!”

“We don’t work for you, King!”

“Then get off my work site.” Jason had shown up with Josh and five other men. Other vehicles were beginning to surround her truck. The sun was hot so most of the men had stripped down to t-shirts or tanks. Jason’s tight, white t-shirt showed off his well-defined chest and six pack abs. The ink on his arms seemed brighter against the white t-shirt and some peeked out of his neckline. His jeans were worn and lovingly hugged him in all the right places. Julie’s mouth went dry but she assured herself it was from the fear and adrenaline running through her system and not the sight of Jason in all of his aggressive glory defending her.

She watched Josh and the other men back up Jason who was squaring off with the large creep who had tried to break down her door. She didn’t know if these horrible men carried weapons. Fear trickled down her spine. She didn’t want anyone getting hurt over her, especially not Josh. Somehow, she knew Jason would be fine as he settled his eyes on the ringleader. Julie watched his body change into full fight mode. Josh let go of his brother and moved out of his way.

“I said get the hell off my site.”

“This isn’t your site, King. We have every right to be here. Besides, I’m hungry and this bitch hasn’t served me what I came for. I’m not leaving until she does. I’ll even let you watch if you’re into that sort of thing.”

Jason put his fist into the asshole’s teeth. It happened so fast that Julie wasn’t sure of what she’d just seen. All hell broke loose. Josh and the rest of Jason’s men squared off with the others. They created a circle around Jason and the hulk, all eyes on the fight between the two big men which didn’t last long. Julie hadn’t seen Jason fight since she was in high school. He was unbeatable back then, and he was downright lethal now. It seemed to Julie that Jason had gotten even faster with his fists. He hit the man twice more before the creep’s knees gave out.

“Apologize to the lady. NOW.”

The man whimpered and made a vague gesture towards Julie. She saw Jason signal for Josh to let the other men go so they could collect their bloody baggage and leave.

As they were taking him away Jason called, “I don’t want to see any of you near my site again. If I do you all will get more of the same along with a night in jail. Got it?”

“Are you ok?” Josh asked from the order window, out of breath. Her own heart was racing and her hand trembled. Not wanting Josh to see her shaking she put down the knife.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just….” she didn’t complete the sentence. She was still in too much shock over what she had just seen. Never before had any of her customers treated her so. It was a direct attack on her, she knew, but she had no idea why.

“Unlock the door and let me in, Julie, ok?” Josh had always looked out for her when they were in school, they had always been friends so she nodded but she couldn’t move, still trying to figure out the situation.

“Julie?”

“Yeah, sure.” She didn’t want anyone in her small galley at the moment, so she made the effort to step outside. As soon as her feet hit the ground strong arms pulled her into a gentle embrace. She closed her eyes briefly, relishing the contact. No one had held her like this in too many years to count. When she finally opened her eyes it was to see Josh a few feet away, concern etched on his whiskered face, his blue eyes intense. She tried to pull away from the man holding her so gently but his strong arms tightened slightly, holding her in place, his large hand cupping the back of her head to encourage her to lean back against his chest, which smelled like heaven.

“Easy now, Jujyfruit. I’ve got you.” It was Jason.

She stood stiffly, too stunned to move and fighting the tears in her eyes. She would not be a crybaby in front of Jason. But, God, he felt good. Seconds ticked by before she relaxed into him and placed her arms around his big body. She didn’t want him holding her but she also didn’t want to let him go. She squeezed her eyes shut as the tears slipped down her face without permission.

Calmly over her head Jason said, “Dennis, make sure those assholes leave my site.”

“Yessir,” and he was off.

Jason began to loosen his hold. She gripped him tighter for one more second before she decided to let go. She was a grown up and would not be weak. But he was just turning her so he could walk her to his trailer. Relieved, she clung to his side.

Stupid female hormones,
she thought before she came up with a good excuse to let go of him.

“I need to finish the lunch crowd,” she said when she tried again to pull away.

“Josh can handle it and then he’ll lock up your rig until you’re ready to move it this evening,” he commanded as they walked across the street to his office. She didn’t let go the whole way there.

∼∼∼∼∼

Jason had just got her seated on the small sofa in his trailer office when his phone rang. The caller ID read “Sheriff Jarod King”.

“Josh just called. Do I need to send a car out?”

“No, the scumbags are off the site now. But Dennis has a full description of their vehicle and plates. I’d like to know who they are so that we can figure out why they attacked Julie.” His heart still pounded from the incident but he wouldn’t allow anyone to see how angry he was at the moment. All he wanted to do was continue to punch that bastard in the face but he knew how much his fighting bothered Julie. It would take a while but he was getting it together slowly.

At the sound of her name, she looked up at him. He could see in her luminous brown eyes that the shock was wearing off, thank God.

“I have some free time in about an hour. I’ll drive out to the site and your man can give me the details.” Jarod hung up before Jason could reply.

He walked over to the water cooler to get her some water. Anything to keep busy so that he could calm down.

“Have you ever seen those men before?” she asked.

“No.” He huffed out a disgusted sigh. He didn’t want to talk about them because they just made him madder. So he focused on her. “Can I get you anything? Are you cold? Hungry?”

“No, thank you. But I need to check in with Charlie. I want to make sure his head is ok.” She dug into her pocket to retrieve her cell phone and began texting. Her hands were shaking badly, which only pissed him off more. He also knew she was deflecting his questions and maybe even trying to ignore his presence. That was ok. If talking to Charlie helped her calm down, then so be it. When Jarod got here he would ask more questions. He hadn’t recognized those men but he recognized their type.

Bullies like that were the lowest form of scum and he had been fighting them since he was big enough to throw a punch. His father had ingrained in all three of them the importance of protecting your family and those weaker than himself. Julie may not be his family but she had no one to protect her except for him… whether she acknowledged that fact or not.

He studied her as she continued to struggle holding the phone and texting. She looked tired, her beautiful face was pale, even though they had spent the weekend at the lake, and her clothes seemed to be looser than normal. He wondered what was keeping her up at night and why she wasn’t eating. Studying her was calming him down. Taking a deep breath he went behind his desk to check on some plans and wait for Jarod to arrive.

∼∼∼∼∼

Eyes downcast, Julie followed Jason through her lashes as he went back to the plans laying on his desk. She couldn’t look him in the eye; that embrace had elicited feelings that she hadn’t felt in a long time. She reasoned with herself that her fear was the motivating factor behind her long embrace and not that he was strong and warm; or that she was incredibly lonely. Her fear had made her feel vulnerable and that made her mad at herself and at Jason, which was completely unreasonable…and childlike! Ugh.

As she waited for Charlie to respond to her text she watched Jason through her lashes and remembered the first time they met. It was the beginning of her freshman year of high school. He had seemed so much older back then, but only two grades had separated them. His piercing green eyes had starred in her dreams for months. It had confused her that she would dream about Jason’s eyes while being in love with Billy. As she got older she blamed it on teenage hormones. Unfortunately, those eyes still stalked her in her dreams, but now she blamed it on the fact that if it weren’t for Jason, Billy would still be with her today. She had to force herself to remember that Jason wasn’t always a good guy, but a bully.

The night they met had also been the first time she saw the brothers fight. She hadn’t been used to physical violence and the brutality had surprised and frightened her. Billy had protected some girls from the melee while Jason, Josh and Jarod had thrown punches with anyone willing to take them on. Like Jason had done today, the brothers had put an end to a problem. If the other men today had decided to fight she knew that Josh would have been just as dangerous as Jason. The difference between the two brothers was more in personality than physicality; Jason was like a dictator and Josh was more down to earth, sweet and personable. Josh didn’t cater to her introverted tendencies. He made her come out and play and had gotten her over some pretty big insecurities. She was blessed to have such a wonderful friend in Josh.

Julie came back to the present when her phone chirped. Looking down, she read Charlie’s text: