Undeniable (A Country Roads Novel) (14 page)

It wasn’t long before Shep was in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee and eating a muffin. Shep had claimed he’d only come for the food, but when he’d said good-bye, he hugged Grace hard and told her not to listen to worthless opinions from worthless people.

Grace was making bread when Harper came into the kitchen around two.

“So you saw the article?” Harper asked.

“It goes way beyond the article,” Grace said.

“Oh, dear, what happened?”

Grace told Harper about what she and Jax had discovered that morning. When Grace finished, Harper’s mouth was hanging open.

“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Harper asked, horrified.

“Nope.”

“I hate that stupid cow,” Harper said.

“Me, too,” a deep voice said from the door that led to the front of the café.

Grace looked up to find Jax.

“Hey, Princess,” he said as he rounded the island in the center of the kitchen and came up behind her. He put his hands on her hips as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a quick open-mouthed kiss before he pulled back. “Hey, Harper.”

“Hey, Jax. You here to check up on your girl?” She gave him a smile.

“That and tell Grace something I found out.”

“What?” she asked, going over to the sink to wash the flour from her hands.

“I went over to Lock and Load first thing this morning. Ray Pittman had to print something off for me, and it printed on the same red paper as the flyers. Whoever did it works there and they’d cleared off the printing history on the computer. But Ray hit some button on the printer and it reprinted the article.”

“Are you serious?” Grace asked as she grabbed a towel to dry her hands.

“Yup. And you know who works there, and who just happened to be behind the counter when I went in?”

“Who?” Grace and Harper asked at the exact same time.

“Judson Coker.”

Grace’s hands froze and before she could say anything, Harper was talking.

“Oh, my gosh, I bet this has to do with them harassing us at the Piggly Wiggly on Sunday.”

“What?” Jax asked.

“It wasn’t anything,” Grace said, looking at him.

“Harper just said someone harassed you?” Jax asked, his mouth going thin and firm.

The kitchen was deafeningly silent for a moment.

“Is that Lula Mae calling my name?” Harper said, taking a step back before she turned and quickly retreated out of the kitchen.

“Care to explain?” Jax asked.

“Jax, really it wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“Apparently it was, Grace. I’m pretty sure Judson is connected to all of this, and what did Harper mean by
them
?”

Grace sighed heavily before she relented to his hard stare. “Hoyt and Chad were there.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t want you to get upset. I knew if I told you, you were going to tell Brendan and Shep and—”

“What happened?” Jax asked, interrupting her. He was clearly furious, talking through clenched teeth.

Grace told him what had happened, his eyebrows drawing closer and closer together the further she got into the story. When she got to the part where Chad touched her, Jax looked like he was going to explode. When she told him what Chad had said to her, Jax had to close his eyes and take a deep breath.

“I’m going to kill him,” Jax said. When he opened his eyes he focused on her, and Grace saw something beyond anger. Jax was hurt. “You lied to me.”

“No, I didn’t. I just didn’t tell you,” she said.

“No.” He shook his head. “I knew something was going on last night, and I asked you if you were okay. You told me you were tired. You were upset. You were upset about this and you didn’t tell me. You
lied
to me.”

“Jax,” Grace said, reaching out for him as she took a step closer.

But it was then that Alice Myers’s voice came through the speaker on Jax’s uniform and echoed through the kitchen.

“Seventeen, what’s your location?”

Jax pressed the button as he took a step toward the door and turned his mouth into the speaker. “Seventeen, on Sandy Beach Drive.”

“Accident on Pine and Ninth. Possible injury. Ambulance on the way.”

“Ten-four. On the way,” he said as he let go of the button. “I have to go,” he said as he turned around and walked out of the kitchen.

G
race pulled into Jax’s driveway just after seven thirty. She hadn’t talked to him since he’d left her in the kitchen of the café, and she had no idea what to expect. He was angry and hurt. He’d been angry with her in the past, which was nothing new or different, but never hurt. She’d had her reasons for not telling him the truth, but she really needed to explain it to him. All of it. She just wasn’t sure how receptive he was going to be.

She was more that slightly nervous as she walked up to his house. She hesitated before she knocked, her stomach flipping uncontrollably. Jax opened the door a minute later wearing a pair of jeans, a white T-shirt, and a scowl.

“Hey,” Grace said cautiously.

He didn’t say anything, just stepped to the side to give her enough room to walk in. He closed the door behind her, and as she turned to face him she found herself pushed up against the wall and Jax’s mouth came down hard on hers.

She dropped her purse to the floor and her arms came up and around his neck as he kissed her aggressively. Apparently it didn’t matter how mad he was at her, he still wanted to kiss her, and damn could he kiss. After a minute, he pulled back and looked at her, running his thumb across her jaw.

“Why did you lie to me?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, Jax,” she said, looking up at him. “I should’ve told you what happened, it was just that…” She trailed off. She’d been thinking about how to explain things since he’d walked away from her hours ago, and she still wasn’t sure how to word it without making him even angrier.

“It was just that what?”

She took a deep breath and just plunged in with both feet. “I’ve wanted you for as long as I can remember. Waited to be with you. And now we’re finally together and it hasn’t even been a week and there’s already all of these strikes against us. I know it isn’t supposed to be easy, relationships aren’t easy, but yesterday those jerks were saying things. Saying that you were going to get tired of me and I just—”

She was cut off by Jax’s mouth pressing against hers slowly, tenderly. She moaned deep in her chest and let his tongue work its magic against hers. When he pulled back again, she was surprised to find that he had a slight twinkle in his eye and his mouth was quirked to the side.

“First of all, I’m not going to get tired of you. And second, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone talk so fast in my life. Calm down for a second, Gracie,” he said, kissing her again.

“That’s not going to help me catch my breath,” she said when he pulled back a minute later.

“I didn’t think so. Talk to me.” He looked deep into her eyes.

“Jax, when I was growing up you and Brendan and Shep always tried to be my defenders. Always tried to keep me from getting hurt. But I knew that you couldn’t protect me from everything, so I tried like hell to grow a tough skin, tried to learn to deal with the small things, and later with the bigger things.”

“Why?”

“Why?”
she repeated, laughing incredulously. “Because every time something happened to me, Brendan wound up in detention or suspended, and you and Shep often weren’t that far behind him. So if I just learned to deal with things maybe all of you wouldn’t be getting into trouble all the time.
And
I didn’t want to be this helpless girl who couldn’t take care of herself, because one day you guys wouldn’t be around and it was only going to be me.”

“I don’t think you’re helpless, Grace,” he said shaking his head. “And that day isn’t going to happen, the day that none of us are going to be around. I’m always going to try to protect you. And so are Brendan and Shep; it’s just how it is.”

He covered her mouth with his again and reached down to pick her up. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and he carried her into the kitchen where he sat her down on the counter.

“What were the bigger things you had to learn to deal with?” he asked.

She looked at him for a second, her heart picking up speed and pounding in her chest. If he was upset about the Piggly Wiggly incident, she wasn’t sure how he was going to react to what had happened eight years ago.

“Grace?” he pressed.

“Some of this stuff with Chad, Judson, and Hoyt has been going on for a while.”

“How long?”

“If I tell you, you can’t tell Brendan or Shep.”

“I already don’t like where this is going, but I won’t tell Brendan or Shep.” He promised.

“And you can’t freak out and do something stupid,” she added.

“I’m not Brendan; I think before I act.”

“Promise me,” she said.

“I promise. Geez, Grace, you’re making me really nervous.”

“So Chad and I dated in high school.”

“Yeah, I know.” He frowned.

“He was this big senior and I was this little sophomore, and for some reason he wanted to date me. I didn’t get it. And he was just so damn charming. A couple of weeks in we’d been on a few dates, where we did nothing more than kissing.”

Jax’s frown deepened.

“Well, one night he drove his mother’s Cadillac out to Alligator Lane to park. He brought beer. I’d never had alcohol before and the beer hit me pretty fast, and we moved to the backseat. He…” Grace hesitated when she saw the fire in Jax’s eyes. “He stuck his hand under my shirt and it was all moving too fast for me, so I asked him to stop, but he just grabbed me harder. I started to struggle, and I kneed him in the crotch.”

Jax was frozen as he listened to her, his eyes wide and blazing.

“I got out of the car and he left me there,” Grace continued. “I called Preston to come pick me up. And it took a lot of begging to get Preston to promise not to do anything to Chad. Because I knew that if you, Brendan, or Shep found out, chances were that one of you would’ve done something incredibly stupid.”

Jax just stared at her stunned, not saying anything.

“Please don’t be upset,” she said, feeling desperate.

“Upset?” he asked, finally finding his tongue. “I’m not upset. I’m
way
beyond upset. I now know what the drive for
murder
feels like.”

“Jax, you can’t do anything. It was eight years ago.”

“I don’t care when it happened. He could’ve raped you,” he snapped out harshly.

She closed her eyes and flinched back.

“Grace,” he said, his voice calmer.

She opened her eyes and he reached up to cradle her face.

“I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I… I’m not taking this information very well at all.”

“No kidding.”

“How do Judson and Hoyt factor into this?” he asked.

“They spread some pretty vicious rumors about me in high school. That was really it.”

“What rumors?”

“Jax, it was a long time ago. It doesn’t matter anymore,” she said.

“Can you please stop acting like something that hurt you doesn’t matter and tell me what happened?” he asked, more than a little exasperated.

“It was the same stuff that was in that article today,” she said, maybe a bit too loudly, but Jax was frustrating the hell out of her. “That I’m a whore just like my mother. That I’ll crawl into bed with any guy at any time. That I’m not good enough.” Her voice broke. “That I wasn’t good enough from the beginning, because otherwise my father would’ve wanted me.”

She couldn’t stop the tears that sprung to her eyes or the tightness in her throat. She didn’t want to cry about this. Didn’t want to show Jax just how much this stuff affected her. But it was no use because once that first tear fell more followed.

“Grace,” Jax said, sounding pained.

“It’s okay,” she said barely above a whisper.

“No, it isn’t.” He shook his head as he reached up and cupped her face. He swiped his thumbs underneath her eyes to wipe away the tears, but as soon as they were gone more followed. “It isn’t okay, Gracie. You are good enough, and it has absolutely nothing to do with your father, and everything to do with you.” He pulled her into his arms and she rested her face in the crook of his neck. “Why didn’t you ever say anything? Why didn’t you tell us? Why didn’t you tell
me
?” he asked as he held her, running his hands up and down her back trying to soothe her.

“What were you going to do?” Her lips brushed across his skin as she talked. “What was anyone going to do? They were seventeen. If any of you had laid a hand on any of them, it would’ve been bad. I didn’t want you guys to get in trouble.”

Jax just sighed. “They aren’t seventeen now.”

A huff of laughter escaped Grace as she pulled back to look at him. “What are you going to do to them?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“I don’t know.” He frowned. “But I can follow you around to make sure they don’t do anything to you.”

“My personal bodyguard?”

“Yup,” he said, bringing his mouth to hers. He kissed her for a minute before he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. “Will you just promise me that you won’t keep anything like this from me again? And no more lies.”

“No more lies,” she said softly. “I’m sorry, Jax.”

“I am, too,” he said, kissing her forehead before he disentangled himself from her arms and legs. “Want a drink?”

“Please,” she said desperately.

Jax went over to the fridge and opened the door. He turned a second later holding up a bottle of Pinot Grigio.

“Wine?” she said.

“Don’t sound so shocked,” he said. “I like things other than beer.”

“And Jack Daniel’s?”

“Yes,” he said, pulling out a corkscrew.

“Really? How long has that bottle of wine been sitting in your fridge?” She suspected it had been in there for months. Probably a Christmas gift from someone he worked with.

“Since I went to the store on my day off,” he said, holding the bottle to the side as he started to twist the corkscrew. “I got this fancy cheese, too, and that ice cream you always get. I figured I should have some stuff here that you like.”

“You bought me double fudge mint ice cream?”

“And I also got a jar of maraschino cherries and a big bag of M&M’s,” he said as he poured a generous amount of wine into a glass.

Grace just stared at him. She couldn’t really make her throat move at the moment, because it was so tight.

Jax looked up as he reached for the other glass and froze when he saw what she was sure was a stunned expression. “What?” he asked as he grabbed the glass and started filling it.

“I’m just…I’m a little surprised.”

“That I know what kind of ice cream you like?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “That you know me. I didn’t know you paid that much attention to me.”

“Really?” Jax said, shaking his head as he walked over to her, “because when you’re around you’re all I can pay attention to. God, Grace, you’re on my mind even when you aren’t around.”

He held out one of the glasses and she grabbed it, downing half of it in one fell swoop.

“You aren’t getting a refill until you eat,” he said, eyeing her half-empty glass.

“I’m not that hungry,” she said, shaking her head.

“Tough, you’re eating.”

“When did we switch roles? I thought I was the one always trying to feed you.”

“You are. And it works in my favor as you are a fantastic cook and my skills are very limited,” he said, turning and opening a cabinet.

“Your skills in the kitchen might be limited,” Grace said, admiring his ass as he bent over and pulled out a skillet. “But your skills in the bedroom are above and beyond.”

Jax turned and grinned at her. “You’re pretty talented, too.”

“So what are you making me?”

“Scrambled eggs,” he said, holding up the skillet.

“All that you know how to make?” she asked.

“All that I have the supplies to make. It’s either that or pasta, but I’m all out of mac and cheese,” he said, putting the skillet on the stove before he went to the refrigerator and started pulling things out.

“So it’s slim pickings here at casa Anderson?”

“I have what I need,” he said as he laid out the ingredients.

“Yes, but do you have anything that you want?”

“I do now,” he said, looking up at her and staring at her with so much intensity that her head suddenly felt light. It probably had a little to do with the wine, but it was mostly Jaxson Anderson.

“I’m going to need more of this wine if you keep saying things like that,” she said before she took another healthy sip.

“Food first,” he said, cracking open a carton of eggs.

“Well, then hurry it up.”

Twenty minutes later they sat down at his table with two plates that were loaded with buttered toast and scrambled eggs, smothered in cheese, ham, salsa, and sour cream. Grace took one bite and as the warm, melty goodness hit her tongue she realized just how hungry she was.

“Okay,” she said around a mouthful of toast, “you know your way around a scrambled egg.”

“When’s it’s one of four dishes that you know how to make, you learn to perfect it.”

“Well it’s delicious. What are the other three dishes you can make?”

“All in good time, Princess, all in good time,” he said as he took a bite of eggs.

When they finished dinner, they cleared the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Jax brought the bottle of wine out to the living room and they snuggled up on the couch. Grace threw her legs across his lap and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She rested her head against his chest as he flipped through the channels on the TV.

“Oh, can we watch this?” she said as he landed on a marathon of her favorite TV show.

“Anything you want.” He kissed her head.

For the next thirty minutes they watched as two of the characters stole a cheesecake from a neighbor and proceeded to eat it all. When the next episode started, Jax poured a little bit more wine into each of their glasses. Grace was feeling a whole lot better about life than she had earlier, and it had everything to do with the man whose arms she was in.

Something was biting into Grace’s ribs, not hard or anything. Just incredibly annoying

She opened her eyes to darkness. She was lying in bed. In Jax’s bed. She must’ve fallen asleep on the couch. Or more like passed out because she didn’t remember being carried to Jax’s bedroom, or being put into his bed. Apparently this was the effect three glasses of wine had on her.