“Damn it to hell,” Brogan cussed. “Yep. That’s her. I remember Heath mentioning Jenna.”
“Sweet mercenary,” Jules whispered.
“Not a word. Heath is counting on us. If he can stand to be around her, we can, too. Maybe she has a quirk or two.”
“If she has the first flaw, the defect isn’t visible from here. Besides, you’re forgetting Heath is a saint compared to us. Daddy always said he belonged to the milkman.”
“Preacherman is more like it,” Brogan muttered under his breath. “But Heath once enjoyed the same things we do. He always liked his women young and willing to train.”
“He’s married for crying out loud! And I don’t think he’s capable of thinking straight if he brought that to us!” Jules walked ahead of him, traipsing toward their family and guest.
“He may have a ring on his finger, but he ain’t blind!”
Jules immediately turned around and faced him. “Remember that old adage? They say love is capable of all sorts of things. If that’s true, Heath must be wearing a blindfold. No man in his right mind would drop that girl off here.”
Maybe there was the problem. Why, sure, Jules provided the perfect explanation.
Heath just wasn’t in his right mind.
* * * *
A few hours later, Heath joined them in the barn. Jules had been trying to figure out the best way to approach the Jenna subject, but he wasn’t sure if his brother was prepared to hear what he needed to say.
Brogan and Jules exchanged a knowing glance, watching as Heath approached from the far end of the long barn. His slumped shoulders suggested that he’d carried the world’s weight atop them. His hair, once thick with coal-black curls, was now trimmed so thin he looked twice his age.
Jules felt sorry for him. Fiona’s illness was undoubtedly worse than he and Brogan had previously realized. Still, there were some topics that couldn’t be avoided, especially since the subject in question was one he’d place as a wager against his best mare as being a real sensitive one.
“Listen, Heath, we probably need to call in a favor.” Jules had a way with women but not necessarily a way with words. He jumped right in and tackled the issue at hand. “I know you remember Melissa and Pete. Well, they live down the road here about a mile or so. They probably won’t mind if Jenna stays with them. Given our lifestyle, you should understand. Serena’s friend can’t stay here.”
“Why not?” Heath asked, apparently blindsided. “She’s not a bit of trouble. Jenna and Serena can even help out around the place. From what I saw earlier, you have a lot to do around here. That fence at the main road needs mending and Lord have mercy, you still have a world of hay to bale. If it’s just the two of you, put the girls to work. Make ’em earn their keep. If they don’t do what you tell ’em, then tan their hides.”
“Good damn.” Jules leaned his head against the rail behind him and rubbed his forehead. “Did you really just suggest I spank Jenna’s ass?”
Heath stared at him blankly. “Figuratively.”
“I hope so. Nonetheless, her ass is about all I’ve thought about for the last half hour.”
Heath rubbed a flat fist over his hair, taunting Jules like he often did when they were young boys. “Have you now? Well, that does present a few challenges. I love that kid like she’s my own. You best not touch her.”
“Tell me something, Heath,” Brogan said, stepping in to play devil’s advocate. “How old is Jenna?”
“Twenty-one,” Heath replied.
“Kid, hell,” Jules grumbled under his breath.
“Mind to tell us why she’s living with you?” Brogan asked.
“Her no-good stepdaddy kicked her out of the house a few months ago. She kept a three-point-five grade point average over at the university, but she was already working a few jobs just to make ends meet before he gave her the boot. I told her she could stay with us until she’s on her feet. I’ve known her for years. She’s like one of my own.”
Brogan immediately shot Jules a sideways glance and a lopsided grin. “At least she’s old enough for you to spank.”
“Yeah?” Jules drawled sarcastically. “But she’s just a child now, you know.” He rolled his eyes, shook his head, and started pacing. How Heath looked at Jenna and avoided seeing what was in plain sight was a million-dollar question with a few pennies in change.
“I’m not playing around here, boys,” Heath said, wearing a solemn expression and keeping his voice low. He was undoubtedly ready to pull out the big-brother card and play the high hand. “I want your word. With Fiona sick, the last thing I need to worry about is the two of you upsetting Serena by dragging her best friend off to bed.”
“I don’t have a certain attachment to mattresses,” Jules pointed out. “Of course, a bedpost or two does come in handy, especially for what I like to do to women who look like her.”
“What I’d like to do doesn’t necessarily involve a bed either,” Brogan admitted.
“Your word, fellas. You promise me you won’t lay a hand on her.”
Jules took a deep breath. “I’d like to make all sorts of swears and oaths but truth is—”
“I can’t and won’t,” Brogan interrupted. “I’ll give you my word that she’ll have to make the first move, but if she does, she’ll have more than she can handle. I won’t look for a reason to stay away or worry about whether or not you approve.”
“Damn it. I’m counting on both of you to do right by these girls. Serena needs a few weeks off. She’s been sitting with Fiona night and day. I don’t want her fretting because the two of you are smitten and determined to seduce Jenna.”
“Smitten isn’t the right word,” Brogan assured him.
Jules released a cheeky breath full of hot air and outright frustration. “No, smitten is a far cry from what I’m thinking.”
“Guys, come on now. You’ve resisted certain women before.”
“Not one like her,” Jules said. “And, uh, I don’t resist anything when it’s wrapped up in lace and silk.”
Before they could debate the issue further, Serena and Jenna ran into the barn. They sported olive masks on their faces and Jules caught a whiff of green apple lingering in the air. He couldn’t help himself. He gave Jenna a real thorough head-to-toe evaluation.
“Ladies,” Brogan said.
Hell, Jules couldn’t speak. Jenna looked like a sexy green Martian. Even with a cosmetic peel covering her skin, her beauty radiated right through the crusty wrinkles of the at-home facial. The girls sported pajama pants and low-cut camisoles, fitted and probably deemed appropriate by some standards.
Serena needed to go back inside and change. Jenna was fine right where she stood, and she certainly saved them all the trouble of second-guessing the future.
Hot damn. The gal sure owned the body for the show. Every crevice and curve was clearly defined under her cotton attire.
Jules couldn’t help himself. He took a moment to appreciate, but resisted the urge to rubberneck and gawk at her ass.
He didn’t pay Brogan any mind. His wandering eye was most likely sliding up and down, taking a slow trek with a thorough body hike.
“Guys?” Heath snapped, thinning his lips.
The games would start there. Heath could witness their complete evaluation.
Jenna turned around. This was precisely what Jules had feared. Caution went to the wind. She might as well give the go-ahead. A green light of approval with batting eyelashes, a wink and smile, or all of the above, would serve as an appropriate start.
“Gold and charms, diamonds and studs, Lord a’mercy in heaven above,” Jules chanted, catching wide eyes from Serena and a look of contempt from Heath.
Jenna glanced from Heath to Jenna and back to Heath again. Jules should’ve told the little woman to swing that gaze his way. He’d gladly explain things to her one-on-one, in a way in which she’d understand.
Some things were worth a second look, not that Jules so much as glanced away in the first place.
He checked her out and didn’t care if his brothers, or his niece for that matter, noticed.
“You girls will scare the critters around here,” Heath told them before he hugged Serena and then Jenna. “Now both of you behave. I’ll leave the boys here some spending money and if you need anything, ask ’em for it.” He pulled out his wallet and relinquished a few hundred dollar bills.
Brogan flatly refused. “We got it for a month.”
Jules thought he should’ve placed a little emphasis on the thirty-day factor, not because of the money but because four weeks would probably be about all a man could stand. In the meantime, he’d walk around with a perpetual hard-on.
Heath shook his finger at Serena and Jenna. “No sneaking out. If you want to go somewhere, just tell them.” He averted his attention away from the girls and focused on Brogan. “Serena has a birthday coming up and Jenna is an adult. They can go pretty much anywhere they want.”
Heath had no reason to worry. Oh no. Jules would keep a bird’s-eye view and make sure he knew where Jenna and Serena were at all times.
Worst-case scenario, if these young ladies thought they might make out like a couple of convicts running wild after midnight, Jules had a solution. He’d slide into Jenna’s bed and personally protect her from the horrible temptations found in the dead of night.
“Dad, where would we go in Bristol, Tennessee?” Serena’s mischievous voice yanked Jules back into reality, tearing him away from the kind of fantasies that made a grown cowboy cry out in the middle of good loving.
Heath watched Jenna with unusual curiosity. If Jules gambled on a guess, he’d bet it was the first time Heath saw Jenna through a man’s eyes. “Both of you behave,” Heath said once more, pushing his hand into his right front pocket and digging for keys.
“Don’t worry, we will, Dad.” Jenna said, emphasizing dad a little more than what Jules thought was necessary.
How sweet. Tender, wasn’t it? Just perfect.
He seethed for a moment as he watched his brother say his good-byes. Fuck it. Jenna could call Heath her big daddy for all Jules cared.
He wasn’t Jenna’s uncle. They might as well establish that straight from the start.
“I have no reason to worry about the two of you,” Heath said, crooking his finger toward Brogan and Jules. “Somebody needs to keep an eye on these two.”
“Come to Papa,” Brogan said, under his breath.
Jules snickered. “Careful.”
Serena checked them out. “Don’t worry, Daddy, they’ll behave. We’ll keep them in line.” She snapped a kiss on his cheek, grabbed Jenna by the wrist, and pulled her through the barn. “We’ll be up at the house unpacking!”
“She’s a baby doll,” Jules said, his gaze following them until they were out of sight. He wasn’t talking about his niece and Heath probably figured that much out for himself.
“Jules…it’s only a small favor. Leave her be.”
“You staying the night?” Brogan asked, flipping the barn’s main breaker and saving Jules the trouble of promising a blatant lie.
“No, I’m gonna head on home. I need to be there with Fiona. Our neighbors are sitting with her, but she’s not too fond of them. Old Miss Koontz has a terrible nose problem, and she rambles on about the community gossip. Fiona isn’t interested in hearing nonsense.”
“So Fiona is in a bad way?” Brogan asked, frowning.
“She’s gonna die, I reckon,” Heath said, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.
Jules looked away. Heath wasn’t a man who let down his guard and cried. Trying to think of something to ease his brother’s pain, he said, “Well, we’re all dying from the moment we start living, and there’s nothing any of us can do about it.”
“This is a little different, Jules,” Heath whispered. “She’s suffering and all any of us can do is sit back and watch. I had to bring Serena here. She needs a break and Fiona wanted her to have a good summer, you know after graduation and all.”
“We’ll make sure she has the time of her life,” Brogan promised, shooting Jules a little warning with a set jaw and stiff upper lip.
Heath bowed his head and kicked at a pile of sawdust. “I reckon I best be going now.”
“We’ll look after the little women,” Brogan said. “You get on back to Fiona. Weatherman says travelers should expect flooding around Chattanooga. Hope you don’t run into the storm.”
They walked him to his overpriced vehicle. He was almost situated behind the wheel when he said, “Jenna is sort of hot, huh?”
Jules smirked. “There’s no ‘sort of’ to it. She ain’t lukewarm, Heath. She’s smokin’ and if she wasn’t your daughter’s best friend, you would’ve already noticed.”
He shook his head. “No, don’t think I would’ve. You gotta know what it’s been like for me and Fiona. I married the love of my life. While I still appreciate a good-looking woman, I don’t do much more than look. Thank God, until now, I always saw Jenna as a second daughter.”
“You need to go on thinking that way,” Brogan encouraged him. “Fiona is a good woman, and she’s a tough one, too. You remember that, Heath, before you give up on her. She’s a real fighter, always has been. Tell her we’re thinking of her.”
“Yeah, send her our love,” Jules added.
“Will do,” Heath replied. “Just…”
Jules waited for him to finish.
Brogan didn’t. “Just what?”
Heath tilted his chin toward the barn. “I know what goes on here at some of your parties. Every now and again, I talk to somebody from these parts. If you think you gotta have Jenna, at least do me one favor.”
“What’s that?” Brogan asked, smiling.
“Name it.” Jules should’ve kept his mouth shut.
“Don’t treat her like a cheap whore. She’s a good girl and I’d like to think I’m not leaving her with wolves.”
“You’re not,” Jules promised.
“Not at all,” Brogan added. “Think of us like gentle lambs.”
A few minutes later and several good-byes behind them, Jules and Brogan watched Heath drive away. The men stood side by side, their eyes fixated straight ahead on the gates at the top of the hill. Once Heath’s car disappeared, Jules let out a sigh of relief.
“Gentle lambs?” Jules asked, still looking straight ahead. “Since when?”
“Since we have a pretty young thing to entertain for the next thirty days. Brother, we’re going to make off like a woman and in the process lead Jenna straight to our bed.”
“Maybe you need to explain. I’m not much for acting like a member of the opposite sex.”
“Learn. We’re playing hard to get. If I read her body language right, we won’t frolic in the pastures all by our lonesome for too long.”
* * * *
“Jules likes you.” Serena ran the brush through Jenna’s hair. “I think he likes you a lot.”
“They both looked at my ass.”
Serena’s arm dropped to her side. Her brown eyes twinkled like milk-chocolate candies and her natural peach-colored lips curved in a smile. “Get out! Did they really?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. They’re your uncles. Not mine. I’m assuming you know they’re both players.” Jenna gnawed on her bottom lip.
“Jules and Brogan?” Serena waved her hand. “Nah. They think they are, but they aren’t. Not really.”
Serena stripped off the snug camisole she wore, unhooked her bra, and tossed the garment into her suitcase on a search for something more comfortable. “Serena, trust me. They know their way around a woman’s body. I imagine they’ve had lots of practice.”
“I don’t know,” Serena said thoughtfully. “I hate to think of them like that. They’re my uncles for crying out loud.”
Jenna dug to the bottom of her luggage, tugging and pulling shirts, shorts, and jeans.
“All right ladies,” Jules said, swinging open the bedroom door. “It’s time to put a summer plan in ord—”
&
nbsp; Jenna gasped, grabbed several items of clothing, and held a handful of material against her chest. She kept her head down but felt his searing gaze licking her skin, stroking and caressing her with pure lust driving him.
“Good Lord, I’m sorry.” He didn’t move, so his apology proved futile. “Really, forgive me. I should’ve knocked.”
Since he didn’t, he should’ve left the room as soon as he realized a naked woman was on the other side of the door he’d just walked through.
“Uncle Jules! Out!” Serena screamed, marching toward him. “You’re embarrassing Jenna!”
“Do you mind?” she asked, keeping her eyes downcast when she first spoke, but lifting her head when she informed him, “I’ll just be a minute.”
“I’ll uh…wait in the hall.” He slowly backed out of the room. His gaze drifted across her shoulders and he worked his way up her neck before locking her in a completely desire-ridden stare.
He wore his titillating interest like a stamp upon his forehead. The impact she made on him was imprinted in his jeans. He sported an erection worth noticing, maybe even admiring.
A ragged breath slipped from her chest with the thought. Oh God, now he probably knew she was definitely interested in him, too!
Pausing before he exited the room, Jules asked, “Are you okay?” A devilish smile tilted his lips and Jenna saw a glimpse of the man she’d suspected lived within him.
“She’s fine!” Serena gave him a shove. “Now, go!”
“You’d better listen to your niece. I don’t have a problem dressing in front of my new uncles. After all, we’re family.” She was lying through her teeth, but after the gawking, she might as well give him something to think about.
“The hell we are,” Brogan said, joining Jules in the hallway.
Serena looked hurt. “Uncle Brogan! Jenna is our guest.”
“Yep, I reckon she is, but I don’t recall changing her diapers, giving her a bottle, or slinging her over my shoulder for a piggyback ride. Do you, Jules?”
“No. I don’t,” Jules admitted, clearing his throat.
Serena placed one open hand on her hip. “Uncle Jules,” she drawled, pointing with her middle and index fingers from his eyes to her own. “Look at me. Try to give Jenna a little privacy.” She attempted to close the door and place some needed distance between the males and the females.
Blaine, Destiny - Domination Plantation [Southern Plantation 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 2
