“I want you out of here, now. Like Jackson, I don’t ever want to see you again.”
Lily yanked open the door and slammed it shut behind her. “Jackson,” Alexis repeated out loud. His name was Jackson.
Chapter 18
“Jackson. Oh, Jackson,” his mother yelled up the staircase.
“Be right there, Mother,” he yelled back.
He had promised to take his mother to church. For him, the Catholic Church, like any church, was simply a way to give people comfort who didn’t want to face the prospect of dying without a hereafter. He had found too many reasons not to believe, but he did respect the rights of those who did. He really didn’t mind taking her every now and then because he knew it made her happy, and it was a small price to pay on a Sunday morning to see his mother’s face light up as she walked into the church hanging on to his arm, with Annie on the other.
This Sunday’s sermon started out like so many he had heard over the years, however, this one was hitting a little too close to home. The priest was talking about simplifying one’s life by ridding oneself of the excesses, so one could learn how to live with and enjoy a life that was free of the many stresses associated with things and relationships that brought more pain than pleasure. He almost laughed out loud at the priest’s choice of words, but of course, he controlled himself for his mother’s sake. The priest droned on, the rituals in full swing. He kneeled, sat, and stood like a robot, while he gave in to thoughts of Alexis and the fact that he had become addicted to a woman he paid for sex.
She had caused him to lose control when he was with her, and in her. It was the innocence that she projected through those gloriously sad eyes and lack of sophistication that had initially broken through his defenses. That, combined with her angelic beauty and a body that could grace the pages of Playboy, had, for a moment in time, given him hope of a woman that didn’t exist. His indulgence, though short-lived, had given him insight into his own weakness.
The fact that he allowed himself to feel the way he did about Alexis scared and angered him. He hated weakness in himself, and she had made him weak with his need for her. He had wanted to believe there could be more, but when you pay a woman to have sex with you, there’s very little chance for anything more than a cold business transaction.
However, his last image of her, sleeping like an angel, naked, his dried cum still visible at the corner of her mouth, had left him anything but cold. Luckily, Lily had come to the rescue and told him that one of Alexis was leaving the area, possibly with one of her favorite clients. Lily said she was never one to stand in the way of a good thing for one of her girls. She hoped that he, Jackson, wouldn’t mind.
That was the last time he had visited Lily’s place. He knew the only way to take back the control she had taken from him was abstinence. He needed to clear his head and his misguided heart.
It had been six months since he had walked away from her, and he could still see her, feel her, and smell her as if he had just seen her the night before. As much as he had tried, he couldn’t stop thinking about her, especially when he was alone, and since his epiphany, he had remained alone. He told himself that his abstinence was his choice, but the fact was, if he were really honest with himself, he was still acting like a drug addict, weak with desire for something that was no good for him.
The organist began to play as the priest walked by their pew with the altar servers to signal that they were now free to leave. Their aisle began to file out of the pew slowly toward the front doors of the church where the priest was waiting to interact with his flock. His mother loved shaking the priest’s hand and conversing with him before talking with her friends, who enjoyed doing the same, outside the church. He knew it would be at least another half hour before he would be able to steer her toward the car and they could be on their way to a nearby restaurant for a late breakfast.
Annie was skipping ahead of them now, stopping only to take the Sunday newsletter handed to her by one of the church volunteers. Jackson smiled. For Annie, it was always simple. Sometimes he envied her carefree existence, and yet, he would have given anything for her to lead the normal life of thirty-year-old woman. Life wasn’t fair. Just one more reason he felt religion was a waste of time.
Outside the church, he positioned himself next to a pillar that he could lean against to watch his mother talked animatedly with her friends. Annie stayed close by, twirling in circles. It was then that a woman caught his eye. Her back was to him, but there was something very familiar about her. She was dressed in a medium-length burgundy dress and a short black tailored coat that stopped at her small waist. She was of medium height with shapely legs. Her curly blonde hair was long and tied back into a loose ponytail.
“Alexis!” Annie all but screamed. For a moment, time literally stopped as he waited for the woman he thought he would never see again turn around.
She smiled widely, hugging Annie, who had thrown herself into her arms. “Oh, Annie, it’s so good to see you.”
“Alexis, you’re my friend.” Annie laughed.
“Yes, I am.” Alexis smiled.
Jackson stood still, not moving. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. If it were possible, she was even more beautiful than the last time he had seen her curled up next to him, naked, her body warm against his own. She did, however, look a little thinner, but it only added to her appeal. How, he wondered, did she know his sister, and what was she doing here, at church? This was the last place he would have expected to find her. His confusion mounted as he looked over toward his mother, who had ended her conversation with her friends and was walking toward Annie and Alexis with a big smile on her face. “Oh, Alexis,” Mrs. Craig said, opening her arms to give her a hug. “What a wonderful surprise! I had no idea we belonged to the same church.”
“It really is a small world,” Alexis said, slipping her arm from Annie’s to receive the older woman’s warm hug.
“You look wonderful, dear. We’ve missed you.”
“Thank you. I’ve missed you, too. I was away for a while, but I’m back, and I hope that we can get together for lunch soon, the three of us.” She smiled, looking at Annie.
“Why wait for lunch when you could go to breakfast with us now?” Jackson’s smooth, deep voice broke into the conversation from behind Alexis.
“What a wonderful idea! I don’t think you’ve met my son, Jackson.” Jackson walked over to stand beside his mother. She slid her arm through her son’s. “And Jackson,” she smiled at her son before turning to Alexis, “this is Alexis. She was Annie’s sponsor during the last Special Olympics.”
Chapter 19
Alexis felt faint. She took a deep breath before facing the male voice that she knew could only belong to one man.
Jackson Craig reached out to take Alexis’s hand in his. The touch of his skin was intoxicating. She held herself stiff, trying to show no emotion. He was the picture of sophistication in his dark blue suit that fit him to perfection and did absolutely everything to enhance his already handsome features and muscular body. His voice that had sounded almost friendly was in sharp contrast to the cold steely blue eyes that looked into hers.
“That’s so nice of you to invite me for breakfast.” She used all her strength to tear her eyes away from Jackson’s mesmerizing, cold stare to speak directly to Mrs. Craig. “But I can’t impose on you all like this at the last minute. Maybe another time.”
“No!” Annie pouted, leaning into Alexis. “You were supposed to visit before, remember? Please, please, Alexis, come to breakfast with us.”
“It appears that Annie feels very strongly about you having breakfast with us.” He smiled, his eyes still cold, his voice sharp. “I’m sure though, if you don’t have the time, it’s understandable. Obviously Annie’s been waiting to see you for some time and can certainly wait a little longer.”
“Jackson! For goodness sakes.” Mrs. Craig sounded embarrassed. “We don’t want Alexis to feel she has to go with us. And Annie’s just fine.” Sh
e gave her son a quizzical look.
“Please, Alexis, don’t you want to eat breakfast with me?” Annie asked, her eyes looking imploringly into Alexis’s.
What a bastard he was. Using his sister to get to her, to make her feel like a heel. How could she say no to Annie, who had no idea that her brother was the reason she had left her fiancé, left her job, and left town to live with her friend Jennifer for the past six months? No, Annie was a sweet young woman who didn’t need to be made to understand the cruel complexities of life.
“Well, how could I turn down such a lovely invitation?” Alexis tried to laugh, smiling at Annie. She met Jackson’s eyes with disdain. “Of course, I’ll have breakfast with you.”
“Good,” Jackson said. “We are a family that’s used to getting what we want.”
“Now, Jackson,” Mrs. Craig said with a laugh, “you make us sound like that family on television, the Sopranos.”
Jackson smiled. “Yes, I do remember that you really liked that series, Mother, regardless of the church’s view and scenes that, from what I’ve been told, could make your hair curl.”
“For goodness sake, Jackson.” She shook her head and reached up to ruffle her son’s hair to soften the edge in her voice. Turning to Alexis, she laughed. “Although he’s always been a bit of a tease, we forgive him since he’s such a good son and brother, right, Annie?”
“I love Jackson.” Annie beamed, looking over to where her brother stood so stiff and formal.
Mrs. Craig smiled. “Alexis, would you like to follow us in your car, dear?”
“Well, I only live around the corner from here, so I walked over.”
“That’s perfect, we can all ride together.” Mrs. Craig smiled as she and Jackson fell into step behind Annie, who was pulling Alexis’s hand, talking to her about everything and anything that came into her childlike mind.
* * * *
Mrs. Craig leaned into her son, who was intently watching his sister and Alexis. “Alexis is such a lovely young woman. She was so good with Annie during the Special Olympics. She has a kindness about her, don’t you feel it?”
Jackson shook his head. “You know, Mother, people aren’t always what they seem. You and Annie are far too trusting.”
“Oh, Jackson, stop being so jaded. What’s gotten into you this morning? Alexis is exactly what she seems and, for your sister’s sake, don’t give her the third degree, like you are prone to do when Annie has a new person come into her life.”
Jackson just smiled at his mother, but inside he was seething. Could his mother really be that bad a judge of character? But how could he really blame her for falling victim to a woman so skilled in making people believe what they wanted to believe? She was an amazing actress. Unfortunately, Annie appeared to adore Alexis, hugging her and hanging onto the woman’s every word. The bottom line was that she didn’t fool him. The last thing he wanted was a paid whore, correction, his paid whore, to further endear herself to his family. His job was to protect the people he loved, and he was going to make sure that this breakfast was the last time she would ever see them.
Chapter 20
Breakfast consisted mostly of Annie talking nonstop about swimming and running and how many medals she had won in the last Special Olympics. Alexis watched as Jackson just leaned back in his seat and quietly observed her interaction with his family. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the down turn of his mouth in disapproval when Annie gave her a bear hug in response to a comment she made regarding the young woman’s hairstyle that had added length to her round face. Although her nerves were on edge to be in Jackson’s company, Alexis enjoyed the warmth of his mother’s and sister’s conversation. She told them stories of her first Olympics when she and her ward had been late for events and even showed up for the wrong events because she had inadvertently been given one of a set of twins and the schedule she was given and the twin just didn’t match. They all laughed at Alexis as she mimicked the angry mother telling her she “would never be allowed to serve again.” And, if she did, it would be over her dead body.
However, instead of intimidating her into never volunteering again, she had wanted to prove, even if only to herself, that she was more than capable and that the year before had just been a fluke. She told them that she had thanked her lucky stars that she had been assigned to Annie.
“We had fun!” Annie giggled, leaning her head against Alexis’s shoulder.
“Yes, we did have fun, and you were awesome.” Alexis smiled, kissing Annie’s cheek.
“Well, I hope you’re going to volunteer again this year, Alexis,” Mrs. Craig said hopefully.
“I’m actually looking for a job right now, and depending on my hours and all, I can’t really make any commitments. But I would really like to volunteer again.”
“You’re not still working with your mother-in-law, or soon-to-be mother-in-law?” Mrs. Craig said, sipping the last of her coffee. “I remember you gave me your card. I have it somewhere, I’m sure.”
Alexis really didn’t want to say too much in front of Jackson, however, she couldn’t be rude and not answer Mrs. Craig’s question. “I was engaged, and now I’m not, and….” She hesitated.
“Oh, my dear. I’m so sorry. Say no more. I had no idea. Please forgive me for asking.”
“Oh, no, don’t feel that way. How could you know? The truth is once Allen and I broke up, it was very awkward working for his mother. It made sense to leave.”
“Of course it did, and I am so sorry.” Mrs. Craig put her hand on Alexis’s. “No more talk about that.” She smiled. “I’m sure Annie would love to tell us about the events she wants to participate in this year,” she said looking at her daughter, who perked up immediately.
Alexis couldn’t avoid meeting the icy blue eyes that she could feel boring a whole through her. Now that he knew, she could only imagine what he must think of her. But why should she care? He already thought the worst of her anyway. She looked away quickly from his accusing stare to focus on Annie, who chatted with happiness at being the center of attention.
A half hour later they were piling into a black Mercedes. Jackson was driving, Mrs. Craig in the front next to him, and Annie and Alexis in the backseat, chatting happily.
Mrs. Craig peered out the window and then looked over at her son. “Jackson, I thought you were taking Alexis home first, not us?”
“You know, Mother, I must be on automatic pilot.” He laughed. “But if it’s okay, since we’re almost there, I’ll just drop you and Annie off first and then I’ll take Alexis home.” He smiled. Looking into the rearview mirror, he caught Alexis’s startled look. “You don’t mind, do you, Alexis?”
Of course she minded, and he knew that she would. He had been given a good earful at breakfast, and now he knew more about her than she had ever intended. But once again, she was at his mercy. What choice did she have but to go along with him? It wouldn’t be right to upset Annie or Mrs. Craig by refusing him.
“Of course that’s fine. I don’t mind at all.” She kept her voice even and pleasant.
“Good.”
She could see the grin that never reached his eyes as he observed her once again in the rearview mirror. She lowered her eyes quickly. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing the feelings she knew she couldn’t hide. The prospect of spending time alone with him was something she had once dreamed about, but now she felt only dread for what she knew was to come.
It wasn’t long before they pulled into a gated driveway that took them down a winding road surrounded by tall trees on either side. The house that came into view was by anyone’s standard a mansion. Massive grounds surrounded the house with woods in the distance. White pillars graced each side of the large double front doors. When the car finally came to a stop, Alexis slid out from the backseat after Annie.
Mrs. Craig left the door open on the passenger side of the car after Jackson helped her from her seat. “Come along, Annie, we have to let Alexis go now.”
“Bye, Alexis.” Annie hugged Alexis tightly.
“See you again soon.” She smiled as Annie released her.
Mrs. Craig gave her a quick hug. “Now, don’t you be a stranger. I expect to see you very soon. Here’s my card with my cell phone number.”
Alexis took the card with a bright smile. Turning, trepidation in each step, she walked slowly back to the car and slid into the front seat as Jackson shut the door behind her. She waved good-bye while forcing a smile for Annie and Mrs. Craig. Jackson walked back around the car to the driver’s side, where he buckled his seat belt before restarting the engine. Without a word, he turned the car back down the long driveway, leaving Annie and Mrs. Craig smiling and waving happily behind them.
Chapter 21
Alexis sneaked a look at Jackson from beneath her eyelashes. It seemed every time she saw him he looked even more handsome, more sexy, more everything. The car turned sharply, digging up the gravel from the shoulder of the road before catapulting onto the main highway. Silence. He wouldn’t even turn on the radio. His feigned disinterest was killing her. She could hardly sit still in anticipation of the questions and verbal tongue-lashing she was sure he was soon to deliver.
She tried to appear cool and calm, but her whole body was trembling from being so close to him. She hadn’t seen him since she had fallen asleep naked next to him almost six months ago, and yet, the sexual hold he had on her was every bit as strong now as it had been then. Ashamed, she felt wetness seep from between her legs into her panties, confirmation as to exactly how out of control she was when she was near him.
She bit her lip hard, almost drawing blood. She needed to distract herself from her unnatural attraction to a man who so obviously saw her as nothing more than sexual fast food to be devoured and then forgotten.
Rosewood, Natalie - Submission of Innocence (Siren Publishing Allure) Page 7
