by Anne, Melody
“All righty. Then sushi it is,” he said as he approached a shiny black sports car — did all three brothers go for the same type of ride? — and held the passenger door open.
“Perfect.” Raw fish didn’t exactly float her boat, but maybe some company wouldn’t be so bad.
Once Jewell had settled into her seat, Tyler rushed over to the driver’s side and hopped in, then revved the engine and pulled out into traffic.
“So, is Blake treating you well?”
She didn’t know how to answer that question. Had Blake sent his brother to quiz her? Was Tyler going to report all her answers? She had to be very careful.
“I can’t complain. You know this isn’t a relationship, right?”
“Any time a man and woman are together, it’s a relationship, babe. Don’t fool yourself.” He turned and winked at her, nearly giving her a heart attack when the car swerved a bit across the centerline.
“Well, I’ll only be with him a few more days.” She wasn’t going to say he’d picked her up at an escort service, but she didn’t want Tyler to think that they were going to bond and she was going to be around for a while.
“I’m not so sure about that,” he said with a secret smile that seemed to say he knew a lot more than she did. She wished he would fill her in on what he did know.
When they drove up to a small restaurant, she jumped when her door opened unexpectedly. An attendant in uniform held out a hand to assist her. Then Tyler came around, took her arm again after tipping the attendant, and led her inside.
“I’ve been craving some fresh crab rolls,” he said as he led her to the sushi bar and held out a seat for her before seating himself.
Jewell soon found herself relaxing as they were served, and Tyler began filling her in on old stories from the workplace, from a time when both he and Blake were more hands-on in their business.
“Yeah, I totally thought I was badass. Our electrician was nowhere to be found, and the lights were off, so I thought, how hard could it be to hook two wires together? We needed some light. I was up on the lift and, thinking the power was cut, grabbed the wrong wire. It sent me right down on my ass and scared the hell out of me. I don’t frighten easily, but I walked from the building and went and lay down in the back of my truck for the next hour, thanking anyone up above who was listening that the electric jolt hadn’t just stopped my heart.”
“That is horrible,” Jewell gasped. “Why didn’t you go in to the doctor?”
“Because I didn’t get hurt. Yeah, my heart was beating erratically for a while, but I was fine. You can’t run to the doctor for every little thing.” He shrugged and popped a roll into his mouth.
“When it comes to electricity, I wouldn’t mess around.”
“Ha! Blake has done even worse. He was on the job site and his finger got caught in the door. Blood was pouring out, and all of a sudden he went all white, passed out, and smacked his head. Then, when he came to, he just wrapped his finger in tape and finished the day. It was two days later when the finger wouldn’t stop throbbing that he finally agreed to go to the doctor. Not only was it infected, but he’d broken it in two places and had to have surgery because it had already begun to heal wrong.”
“I don’t think that’s brave, Tyler. I think it’s foolish.”
He laughed again. “I dare you to tell him that.”
“You have an infectious laugh,” she said, and joined him. “And there’s no way I’m telling him.”
“You’re just all talk, aren’t you?” he said with a hint of sarcasm.
It soon became time to go and he led her back out to the car.
“Thank you for a great lunch, Tyler. I’ve enjoyed visiting with you. I really should get back, though.” She’d begun to worry that Blake might be checking on her. She hadn’t brought her cell phone, so he’d be furious if he’d been trying to get ahold of her.
“You are a buzzkill, Jewell, but I suppose I’ll take you back now, so my brother doesn’t think I’m trying to steal his woman.” Tyler said, and threw the car into gear.
She didn’t correct him. Why bother to repeat that she wasn’t really his brother’s woman? Whatever she was, it would be over in a few days.
A speaker in the car started ringing. She looked over to see what Tyler had done, but then she heard Blake’s voice.
“I need you to get over to Bill’s house,” Blake told Tyler. “The stubborn fool sent our crew away, said he wouldn’t take charity.”
“What do you mean? I thought it was all taken care of,” Tyler replied with a frown.
“Yeah. So did I. But when the roofing crew showed up, Bill came out and threatened to have the cops haul them off for trespassing. Tim called me and asked what to do. I told him to head out, that I would come talk to Bill. I got here thirty minutes ago and he said there was no way he would allow me to pay for him to get a new roof.” Blake’s frustrated sigh came through loud and clear over the speakers.
“Damned old man. There’s no way that roof can last another winter. What are we gonna do?” Tyler asked as he turned on the freeway.
Jewell wasn’t very familiar with the area, but it seemed to her they weren’t moving toward Blake’s apartment. Had Tyler forgotten she was in the car? She didn’t want to say something and have Blake hear her, so she just fidgeted in her seat.
“It looks like we’re roofing the place. He won’t let us pay for it, but he sure as hell will let us climb up there and do it ourselves,” Blake said, a smile clearly in his tone.
“Yeah, I can see that. What I can’t see is you up there with your pristine white shirt, holding a hammer,” Tyler joked.
“Whatever. I don’t see you up on any roofs anymore either,” Blake fired back.
“Point taken. Let’s see if we still know how. I’m ten minutes out. See ya in a few.” Tyler pushed a button and the call was disconnected.
Jewell sat there in silence a moment longer just to make sure Blake really was gone before she spoke. “Um, Tyler, I think you took a wrong turn,” she finally said.
“Nope. Change of plans. We have to go roof a house.” He turned off the freeway and headed down a city street.
“I…um…can’t roof a building. Maybe you should just drop me off first,” she said, growing more and more nervous as he continued in the same direction.
“No can do. We’ve already lost over half the day.”
“I can’t go there!” She was more insistent this time.
“Look, Jewell. Bill was my grandfather’s best friend and has always been good to my brothers and me, and he’s also the most stubborn old coot I’ve ever met in my life. He won’t let us pay for anything for him, won’t accept what he deems charity, but his roof needs fixing. The only way we’re going to get it done is by doing it ourselves. And it’s supposed to rain in a few days, so we have to haul ass. You’ll be fine. You can visit with Bill while we work.”
Tyler’s tone seemed so reasonable, but she knew that Blake was going to flip out when he saw her pull up with his brother. He might be so furious that she’d gone to lunch with Tyler that he would call his driver and have her removed from his life right away.
And even though she would lose her job, the more time she spent with Blake, the more she realized that she most likely wouldn’t be able to jump into this sort of thing again with another man. She just wasn’t the sort of person who could keep selling her body. She’d just take her check, bank it, and then find any job at all. She wouldn’t sleep until she’d turned up another opportunity. And really, there was no point in arguing with Tyler any further. The Knight men obviously didn’t take no for an answer.
When they pulled up to a small home surrounded by at least two acres of land, however, and she saw Blake walking toward the car, her heart thundered. His eyes locked in on her in the passenger seat and his silver glare seared right through her, making her wish she were any other place in the world right then.
“Smile, Jewell,” Tyler told her. “It looks like my brother
is going to growl.” He opened his door and said hello.
When Blake didn’t reply to Tyler but instead went immediately to her side of the car and ripped open the door, she was seriously thinking of diving across the seat and out the driver’s side door and making a run for it.
“What in the hell are you doing here?”
Words wouldn’t come from her throat. When he took her arm and dragged her from the car, she shook in terror. This was going to be bad — really, really bad.
Chapter Eighteen
As he boxed Jewell in against the side of his brother’s car, Blake couldn’t remember ever being this angry. Ever. Fury rolled off of him in waves and he wanted to punish her, punish Tyler, punish anyone who dared even look at him.
“Talk to me now, Jewell! Did you really think you could fuck me a few hours ago and then give it up to my brother?”
The fear in her eyes should please him. Let her fear him. It was smart of her. She wouldn’t play any more games if she were afraid. When he was about to open his mouth again, though, he felt a hand on his shoulder flipping him around, and then pain shot through his jaw as the force of a punch sent him flying against the car right next to Jewell. She quickly scrambled away.
“What the hell?” Red flashed before Blake’s eyes, and from them, too. He flung his head from side to side and lifted a hand, ready to pummel someone. But when he saw an answering rage in Tyler’s normally easygoing face, he was startled enough to unclench his hand. “What was that for?” Blake asked, using his hand to rub his sore jaw.
“You’re an asshole on the best of days, but you just insulted both me and Jewell with that asinine statement!” Tyler thundered.
“She’s a prostitute. What else do you expect?” Blake snapped, and Tyler made another fist. This time, Blake was ready and sidestepped the hit, then gave his brother a baffled look. He didn’t want to fight Tyler. He loved him. What was going on? He had to find out. “What in blazes has you so worked up, Tyler?”
“I stopped at your place and dragged Jewell out to lunch, then got your call. She’s done nothing wrong and you’re treating her worse than you’d treat a stranger you’d heard only bad things about. You can stay the hell away from her if you’re going to abuse her with such offensive remarks.”
“Um, do I need to run interference?”
Both men turned to see Byron standing there and looking back and forth between them with a brotherly smirk on his face.
“Stay out of this, Byron. I’m about to kick Blake’s ass!”
“I would love to see the two of you go at it,” Byron told them, “but Bill is standing in the doorway looking at you both like you’ve lost your minds. I think I agree with him.”
“I certainly think Tyler has lost his mind. He slugged me,” Blake said, keeping a wary eye on his brother.
“I’m sure you deserved it,” Byron replied. “Now if you two girls can kiss and make up, we can actually get this show on the road.” He stopped speaking when he finally noticed Jewell standing about ten feet away, looking in horror at the three brothers. “Ah! Now I see what’s going on. It’s always a woman…”
“I didn’t do anything,” Jewell said, surprising all three of them. “I basically got kidnapped and taken to lunch,” she snapped before turning to Tyler. “Not that it didn’t turn out to be a very nice lunch. Then Blake calls and I’m dragged here against my will, and the next thing I know punches are being thrown. If you want to act like Neanderthals, be my guest, but I want no part of it.” She folded her arms across her chest.
Byron blinked. “Sooo, you’re here with Tyler?”
“No, she’s with me,” Blake snapped. “Tyler decided he needed to ‘bond’ with her.”
“Ah, a love triangle. That’s a recipe for disaster,” Byron said in a bored voice. “A foolproof one, so even my pitiful brothers couldn’t screw it up.”
“It is not a damn love triangle,” Tyler snarled. “I can talk to a woman without the need to push her against a wall and take off all her clothes.”
“All righty, then. Can we get to work now?” Byron asked.
“Yes!” both Tyler and Blake exclaimed.
“And what about me?” Jewell asked.
They all turned in her direction as if they’d completely forgotten she was even standing there.
“You can sit down and shut up,” Blake told her.
To his utter surprise, her eyes narrowed and she stomped up to him, shoved her finger into his chest, and, after taking a deep breath, unleashed her wrath.
“I can put up with a lot, Blake Knight, and I have been doing just that over the past few days, but I am not going to have you talk to me like that in front of other people. I am a human being and I deserve at least a modicum of respect. Your brother forced me to come here, and I am not going to just sit around and wait. If you’re all going to work, then I can do something, too.”
No woman had ever snapped at him like this, or demanded his respect. He’d never before felt the urge to give in and do exactly what she was asking of him, either.
“No. It’s too dangerous,” he said, and thinking the subject was closed, he turned away.
“Then I’ll find something to do on my own.” She walked toward Bill. “Hi. I’m Jewell. What can I do to help you?”
Blake stood there for several heartbeats as he watched Bill put out his hand, clasp hers, and give the first smile Blake had seen on the old man’s face in years.
“Bill Berkshire. It’s a pleasure to meet you, young lady. How about we start with a glass of iced tea, and then we’ll find some work?”
“That sounds lovely.” Jewell walked with Bill into the house after casting a final, contemptuous glance back at the boys.
Blake and his brothers were left standing there with their jaws hanging all the way down to the ground.
“Well, brother, that’s a woman you might not want to let get away,” Tyler said before he moved over to the work truck Blake had one of the men deliver. He began putting on a tool belt.
After a moment, Blake shook his head and followed his brother. It was going to be a long day, and yes, he’d be having a talk with Jewell about her place in his life, but right now he just didn’t have the time. She would definitely pay for her sins later, though.
Taking off his expensive suit jacket, he rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt before thinking twice and yanking it off, leaving him bare-chested. He was not dressed for this type of work, and in fact rarely swung a hammer these days. He was far beyond that. He only did it when he needed to work out his aggressions.
He’d already fiddled around one of the worksites today in hopes of dealing with the frustration he’d been feeling, but this job would cause a hell of a lot more sweat than what he’d been doing when his foreman had called and told him that Bill had sent the workmen away. He should curse the old man, but he knew he wouldn’t.
The thought of getting revenge on Jewell kept him going as he climbed up onto Bill’s roof during the hottest part of the day and ripped off the ridge cap, then began tearing down the shingles. Yes, revenge and swift punishment would most certainly be sweet.
Chapter Nineteen
“What are you doing with a cad like Blake?”
Jewell stopped sipping her glass of sweet iced tea and laughed. “I don’t know, Bill, but I can tell you it’s worth it. Because if I weren’t with him, I never would have gotten to know you. For that matter, what are you doing with a cad like Blake?” Her grin made Bill laugh in turn.
“I’ve known Blake since the day he was born,” Bill said, and his smile began to disappear. “His father was a good man, but his mama beat the good right out of him — I mean Blake’s dad. It broke the heart of my best friend, Blake’s granddaddy. I was just glad he passed on before he saw the final chapter of their story play out.”
“What do you mean?” She knew she shouldn’t pry into Blake’s life, but it was like watching a movie, one that you just couldn’t turn off because you had to know how it ende
d.
“I don’t think I should talk about that dark time,” Bill said with a negative wave of his hand.
“Of course not. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.” But of course she did — she was dying to know everything. She hoped Bill didn’t tell Blake about this.
“Oh, you aren’t doing anything wrong, sweetie. It’s just a really sad story,” Bill said as he got up to refill their glasses. When he returned and handed her a cup of tea, he looked at her intently. “Do you care about Blake?”
Jewell was so shocked by the question, she didn’t know what to do. Since this man was obviously attached to Blake, she could hardly tell him that she was only there because she was being paid to be. But at the same time, she didn’t want to say a whole bunch of mushy stuff either. It would be a lie. Gosh, she felt trapped.
“You don’t have to say anything, darling,” Bill told her after the silence stretched on. “I can see that I put you up against a wall there.”
Still, she had to say something now. “I’m sorry, Bill. I just…it’s just… Well, we’ve only been together a few days and the situation is…well…it’s just complicated.”
Bill’s penetrating eyes bored into her, making her squirm in her seat.
“I understand, darling. When I was younger, people didn’t play all these games they play today. If a boy liked a girl, or a girl liked a boy, they told each other. If it looked like it was going good, there was no need to draw the whole dating process out. Heck, you can know on the first date if the girl looks like she’ll be the one. I married my Vivian three months after we met, because I knew there’d never be another girl for me.”
“What happened?”
“The good Lord took her four years ago. I still think of her every single day, and I can’t wait till I get to go and be with her again.”
“I’m sure she’s waiting for you right at the gates.”
“Not quite yet, darling. My Vivian was always too busy to wait around for anyone. But when it’s time, she’ll be there to meet me all right.”
