The Scale (Martha's Way)

by Mika Jolie

  “She’s loca!” Adam gestured with one finger to the head, referring to Lily’s mental state.

  “Seriously I’m going to kill him.”

  “Sshhh.” Minka quieted her friend, for her sake as well as Adam’s. She was sure Jason would have no problem throwing both Lily and Adam off the boat for some peace of mind. “Come on, let’s go down and get a drink.”

  “He’s an egotistical, male chauvinist brute.”

  Minka nodded in agreement, in a desperate attempt to bring peace between her friend and Adam. Lily was still complaining when they reached the bar. Turning to face her friend, she had to know how one person she barely knew was able to get such a strong reaction out of her. “What gives?”

  “Why is he asking me questions about my engagement, or the fact that I have this damn ring around my neck?”

  Minka shrugged. “I don’t know. But why do you?”

  Lily’s fingers circled the ring. “I don’t know. I guess a part of me still hasn’t let go.”

  “Why does it bother you that Adam asked about it? I think those are fair questions. I mean, yes, he just met you and shouldn’t—”

  “He told me I need to take it off before we sleep together.”

  It took all of her strength for Minka not to spit out her wine. Although she wanted to laugh, she kept a straight face. “Oh,” was all she was able to muster. “You’re only here for the weekend,” she said after a few seconds, which only forced her to realize Adam’s intentions. “Oh,” she said again.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not going to do that.”

  “Um…Lily, we’re not—”

  “It would be angry sex, of course. You know, just pure fucking.”

  “Lily, I think—”

  “I’d screw his brains out and make that pretty face beg for more, but then I would tell him to go screw himself.”

  A soft chuckle came from the door. Minka sighed. She had tried to tell her friend they weren’t alone to no avail.

  “Do you really think you can make me beg, Lilianna?” Adam asked, addressing her by her full name.

  Lily planted her heels on the floor, squared her shoulders and stared straight at Adam. “Yes, I can, Mr. International Playboy Slut.”

  He laughed at her choice of words, a rich laughter filled with amusement. “I came to grab a beer,” he said, surprising both of them with the change of topic.

  In silence, he walked between them to the small refrigerator and grabbed a six-pack. As he walked past them, he stopped, stood very close to Lily and looked hard at her.

  “I’m looking forward to this brain screwing.”

  Minka had to give her friend credit for not folding under Adam’s menacing stare. Lily stood her ground until he disappeared. Then she let out a deep sigh and buried her face into her hands.

  “¡Dios mío! He heard everything. I feel like an idiot.”

  “Adam teases everyone,” Minka said. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Her friend didn’t appear convinced, but dropped the topic. “Now Forrest is hot and not the least pompous. If he were here, I’d be jumping his bones.” She winked. “Just a fuck.”

  Giggling, Minka nodded in agreement. She raised her wine glass toward her friend. “To Martha’s Vineyard.”

  “To Martha’s Vineyard.”

  They stayed by the bar until the captain announced they had arrived. Putting their empty wine glasses down, they made their way to the deck. Jason was leaning against the railing with a bottle of beer in his hand. Without a word, he extended a hand to her. Hypnotized by his presence, she walked into his arms.

  “Has she calmed down?” he asked against her lips.

  “Yes. Lily is usually well-composed.” He chuckled. She didn’t blame him for not believing her. This woman was also foreign to her. “It’s true.”

  He chugged the remainder of his beer, then buried his face against her neck, the smell of the alcohol intoxicating her senses. She raised her head to watch as the boat docked. She looked over at Blake who stood next to Adam talking. Though the feeling of distress didn’t come, the discomfort still lingered.

  Blake abruptly looked in her direction, catching her off-guard. Minka froze and caught her breath. Even from a distance away, his look seemed to cut through her. Minka quickly looked away.

  “What is it?”

  Jason’s voice startled her. Beaten with guilt, she shook her head. “Nothing.”

  * * * *

  “You’re a terrible liar,” he replied. His gaze rested on Blake. She couldn’t see his face and for that he was grateful. There was no need for her to know he had noticed her lingering over Blake and the way her body froze in his arms when Blake looked their way. If he was alone, he would have cursed himself for being so blind during this whole fiasco, which resulted with him in love for the first time in his thirty years.

  It all made sense now. For reasons unknown to him, Jason felt like someone punched him deep in his gut. Fuck! She had a thing for his friend, her sister’s soon-to-be husband. Her constant discomfort and distress was why she had chosen to stay at a different hotel.

  As if her skin burned, he released his hold on her and allowed his arms to fall to his sides. Blood boiling with fury, Jason stepped aside, putting some space between them. A puzzled look crossed her face but he ignored her and walked over to his friends. The whole time he felt her staring at him. He didn’t need to see, he was familiar enough with her mannerisms to know she was nervously chewing her bottom lip. He needed a little space, a little time to regain his composure and to check himself. What a fool he had been. How had he not recognized she bore deep feelings for Blake?

  His mind wandered to the night of the engagement party. How pained she looked then. It all made sense now. It had to be hard watching the man you harbored feelings for celebrating love with your twin sister. Now he understood her response back in the car as they waited for Lily.

  The captain announced they were safely docked. He glanced over to where Lily and Minka were casually talking. The thought of walking away crossed his mind, but that would accomplish nothing. With long, easy strides he went to join them.

  “Ready?”

  She nodded without looking at him.

  Touching her friend’s shoulder, Lily smiled warmly at him. “How are we getting to the house?”

  “We have two Jeeps waiting. Either one of the guys can drive. They are familiar with the island and the location of the house.”

  “Great. I guess I’m stuck driving with the Italian stallion.”

  Jason found himself smiling at the reference. “You can come with me and Minka.”

  Her friend’s eyes darted back and forth between them. “That’s okay. I can deal with him. But thanks for the offer.”

  With that, she strutted her way down the stairs, leaving Jason alone on the deck with Minka. She faced him with her arms crossed over her chest. Her curls, no longer tied into a bun, blew across her face. Unable to restrain himself, he reached over and brushed the mass of curls away from her face and held her gaze.

  “Don’t forget. I’m the one fucking you right now.” The words sounded cold and indifferent. God, he was being a dick. But worst, he didn’t care. Even when her eyes registered the shock, he stood still, tall, and aloof.

  “What does that mean?” She choked out the words.

  He shrugged with indifference. “It means while we’re together, I’m the only man fucking you. At least until next week, then I don’t care what you do.” The words wounded her. The way her bottom lips trembled tore something deep inside him. But at this point his sense of betrayal was bigger than any amount of pain she was experiencing.

  She sent him a long, pained look. “You think I’m sleeping with someone else.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t necessarily care.” But, even as Jason spoke the words, he knew he was lying. He did care, way too damn much. “If you’re lusting after someone else, then that’s your business. I don’t care, as long as you don’t spread your leg
s for him.”

  “I’m not in the habit of spreading my legs for men. You know before you, there was only one other. What’s going on?”

  How could he tell her he knew her darkest secret?

  It would be so easy to hurt her. That was his intent. But he cared. No, he loved her.

  Even now as she asked the question, her voice carried an insurmountable level of pain, confusion, and hopelessness. Jason felt torn with the desire to wrap her in his arms or confront her and maintain his distance from there on. With a mind clouded by sorrow, he cupped her face. Her warm breath caressed his lips as he leaned ever more closely, his nose brushing against hers. The kiss was gentle yet insistent, loving but possessive.

  Chapter Twenty

  “There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.”

  Anaïs Nin

  A tingle ran through Minka’s body as Jason’s hot lips conquered hers, forcing her to inhale through her nose. She closed her eyes to better enjoy the sensation as his tongue lightly swept across and between her slightly parted lips. There was an edge of urgency about his kiss, a hunger that might suddenly rage out of control, yet he was strangely tender and sensuous.

  The hardness of his body pressed into hers as the kiss went even deeper, almost punishing, making her shiver in anticipation. Desperate with need, she grazed her tongue along his bottom lip. He moaned with pleasure and held her tighter as the kiss grew more furious, rougher; seizing what was rightfully his with his lips.

  When he suddenly released her, she gasped for air in an attempt to clear her head.

  “We should head out. Everyone is waiting.”

  His voice was rough. She nodded, meeting his gaze. Her heart skipped. The scintillating brightness she had become accustomed to was no longer apparent. His mood change left her perplexed. But Minka attributed it to the fact that he was returning home after so many years. His emotions were probably running ragged.

  As strong and controlled as Jason appeared most of the time, she knew enough to know the wound he carried over his father’s broken vow and the death of his mother had still not healed. Yet he had chosen to bring her here in spite of that.

  Feeling selfish for thinking of her needs, she reached for his hand. A slight frown crossed his face for a brief moment. She caught her breath, waiting for him to reject her.

  “My words earlier…” his said, “they were harsh.”

  Her hand reached to caress his face, silencing him. She understood his pain. “Let’s go meet the others.”

  She turned to leave but he caught her wrist and pulled her back to him. “I was a dick. I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way. Even in anger, I should not have spoken to you that way.”

  “What are you angry about?”

  She waited for him to tell her, to confide in her as she had done earlier but his eyes reminded her of the picture of him on the boat. Cold and distant.

  “Everyone is waiting,” she said with a smile. “Apology accepted.”

  They found the rest of the group by the parked cars. Instead of two vehicles waiting as Jason had mentioned, there were three, two Jeeps and a sleek black Mercedes Benz convertible.

  “You sent your car here,” Jason said to Adam, who nodded with pride.

  Adam wrapped his arm around Lily’s waist. “Come on baby, you’re riding with me. Jason is all about Jeeps. I go for the speed.”

  “In everything?” her friend quipped with sarcasm.

  If he was surprised by her words, he didn’t show it. Instead, Adam laughed easily at her words. “Only for quickies, but otherwise nice and slow. You will see.”

  Minka watched her friend rolled her eyes to the heavens, but followed Adam to the sporty car nonetheless. Keely and Blake made their way to the other Jeep.

  “We’ll see you at the house,” Blake shouted as he got behind the wheel.

  With a hand on her back, Jason led her to the second Jeep. He waited until she buckled her seatbelt before driving off on the only paved road on this side of the island.

  The drive was mostly made in silence. Minka used the opportunity to take in the serenity of her surroundings. Chappy, as Jason referred to it, she noticed was the least developed district in Martha’s Vineyard. Most of the roads were single-lane sand tracks.

  “This is the only shop on this side of the island.” He pointed to a small barn house. “It carries a few necessities such as milk and women’s toiletries.”

  “What if you need something and they don’t have it?”

  He chuckled. “It’s best to bring water, picnic food, drinks, sunscreen, and all of that other stuff.”

  “How did you live here like that?”

  “Well, it wasn’t always separated from the rest of Edgartown.”

  She nodded, recalling what she’d learned of the island from the bits she’d read on the internet. “There’s a Japanese garden here.”

  “It’s called Mytoi. I can take you for a tour if you like.”

  “Yes, that would be lovely.”

  “It’s not very big. But it’s nice to have a picnic there. Quiet and serene.”

  “I think I would like it.”

  He smiled at her words. His expression a bit more relaxed. “You will.”

  Minka smiled. The more time she spent in Martha’s Vineyard discovering all of its beauty, the more she fell in love with the island and the man sitting inches away from her. “Yes, very much.”

  “We’re here,” he said as he steered the Jeep unto a private road. He drove for about three quarters of a mile before he parked the car and switched off the ignition. “The Montgomery compound.”

  She wished she could see his expression, his eyes, but they were hidden behind those damn glasses. Unable to read him, she nodded and offered him a slight smile. He made no attempt to move; therefore, Minka remained in the passenger seat and took in the grandeur of the waterfront house where Jason had spent his childhood.

  “Come with me.”

  Before she knew it, he was by her side opening her door and taking her hand in his. The tension from earlier seemed to have vanished completely. Minka walked with him across the perfectly manicured acres of land.

  “This is where you grew up,” she said. And couldn’t help but think the sprawling lawn was the perfect venue for children to run and play.

  “I used to play croquet here with my father.”

  Images of Jason as a young boy running around with his mother and father made her smile. “Tell me more about your life here.”

  “I don’t have much to complain about. I had a good childhood. My father was always around. Let me show you something.”

  They walked past a basketball court. From there, she noticed a cabana a few feet away from the main house. “Is this occupied?”

  He followed her direction and shook his head. “No. More like a guest house really. The staff sleeps in the house if they need to but, with the exception of Rosa, most go home.”

  “Who lives here now? It’s such a big house.”

  “Mostly my father, but I’m guessing he’s rarely here.”

  They rounded to the back, past the guest houses, and came upon a white, sandy beach. She turned to Jason. He stood back and smiled at her. “This is part of the Atlantic?” Minka asked in awe.

  He nodded.

  “Is this private?” She faced the water.

  “We have the largest salt water pool in New England right in front of our home.”

  Folding her dress between her legs, Minka lowered her weight to her knees and squatted by the ocean. She placed her hand in the water, enjoying the coolness of it. “It must be nice to have your own beach.”

  “It has its perks. It made skinny dipping easier. No fear of getting caught by the cops.”

  She laughed, enjoying the discovery of the man as a boy. He lowered himself to kneel bes
ide her.

  “And do you do that often?”

  “Not in the last five years or so. Last time I went skinny dipping here with a girl, I was in college.”

  The confession made her smile. Not so much of Jason swimming around naked with some college girl, but really the image of him as a young man.

  “You brought a girl home. It must have been serious.”

  “Not really,” he replied honestly. “It was fun.”

  “Like you and me.” Once again, the words were spoken before she could process them. Minka silently cursed herself over the carelessness.

  What exactly was she looking for?

  A declaration of love?

  Only minutes ago, he had made it clear their tryst was just till next week. She needed to stop dreaming of possibilities.

  “I didn’t mean…”

  “We are different,” he replied, cutting her mid-sentence. “We are adults, not college kids. Let’s go inside. The others are already here. I’ll give you a tour and introduce you to Claire’s mother.” He rose to his feet, then extended his hand to her. Hand in hand, they walked off the beach, across the impeccably landscaped grounds, and past the swimming pool into the house.

  The spacious interior of the main residence featured multiple living spaces. Jason led her past the formal living room, which opened onto a comfortably furnished sun porch set up for dining in the evenings and sunset views, to a game and library room where the others had already made themselves at home.

  Blake and Keely were at the pool table. Adam stood behind the bar. Lily sat by the bay window that opened to a delightful courtyard bordered by perennial gardens.

  “Blake and Keely, do you want the carriage house?” Adam asked his friend.

  “You can have it. Keely and I will crash in one of the three suites.”

  “Yeah, we’d much rather hang out with everyone,” Keely agreed.

  “Princess,” Adam called to Lily, who pretended to not have heard him. “Lilianna, you’re welcome to join me.”

  “Give it up, slick.” Lily refused to look in his direction.

  Minka smiled. Her friend might deny it, but there was an attraction between the two of them. And she knew her friend enough to know she was enjoying the flirtation.