by Cathryn Fox
“You were sleeping so soundly.”
“So you weren’t trying to sneak out?”
Busted.
“No,” I fib. “I thought you could use your rest after…” My words fall off. Jeez, what am I supposed to say? I thought you could use your rest after you fucked me so thoroughly, just like you promised. And yeah, I am going to feel him for all of next week.
His hand brushes mine, a light caress that sends shivers skittering though me. “You didn’t have to rush off.”
“School. Studying. Busy.”
“Yeah?” He inches back, his blue eyes latched on mine, studying me carefully.
“Yeah.”
“Rachel,” he begins, but stiffens when a knock comes on his door.
Cassie wiggles from her chair, and darts down the hall. “Who could be at your door this early?” Then another thought hits. “I hope it’s not the guy from the bushes.”
“What guy from the bushes?”
I’m about to explain when voices reach my ear. Jaxon stiffens. “Shit.”
I touch his arm, and his muscles are so taut, I’m sure they’re about to snap. “Who is it?” I ask quietly.
“The in-laws.”
I suck in a panicked breath. “I really shouldn’t be here.” I’m about to run from the kitchen, sneak out the back entrance, when Cassie comes rushing in with her grandparents behind her.
“Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa are here.”
The elderly couple breeze around the corner but come to an abrupt halt when they find me standing there next to Jaxon—dressed in his clothes.
“Oh, and who is this?” the woman with the blue eyes and silver hair asks as she touches her pearls—not beads. Very expensive pearls by the looks of things.
Jaxon opens his mouth but Cassie beats him to it.
“Rachel is Daddy’s girlfriend. She does laundry and dishes and is going to babysit me,” she blurts out and hops back into her chair. “We’re making pancakes, but Rachel can’t find the mix. Daddy is going to show her to make them.”
The strong scent of expensive perfume wafts before my nose as Cassie’s grandmother smooths her silver hair from her face, the gold bangles on her wrists clanging with the movement.
I fidget uncomfortably, and wait for Jaxon to explain, even though I’m not sure how he can possible explain this without them thinking he’s an unfit father who brings random women into his house for sex. Really though, when it comes down to it, that’s exactly what I am. We’d only exchanged our first words yesterday, and last night confirmed it was a one-shot deal. None of this was going to help him look like the doting father he really is…unless.
“That’s right. I’m Rachel, Jaxon’s girlfriend.” Jaxon stiffens beside me as I hold my hand out. “Nice to meet you both. I’ve heard so much about you. Just yesterday, Cassie had to do a family picture for school, and you were both very prominent figures.”
“Is that right?” Cassie grandmother says, a smile on her face as she bends to give Cassie a kiss.
Cassie’s grandfather—tanned and trim in his dress pants and crisp white shirt—steps forward to take my hand, his bushy brows are drawn tight as his gaze takes me in, carefully, suspiciously. “And here we’ve heard nothing about you.” He casts a quick disapproving glance Jaxon’s way.
“That’s because you’ve been away for the last few months, Karl,” Jaxon explains.
“The relationship is new, then?” Karl asks as Cassie’s grandmother eyes the clean kitchen, her head nodding slowly.
“I’ve known Jaxon for a few months now,” I say. Not a lie. I’ve ‘seen’ him and his daughter for a few months, we just hadn’t spoken until yesterday.
“What do you do, dear?” Grandmother asks.
“Judy…” Jaxon says between clenched teeth, his tone holding all kinds of warning, but I put my hand on his arm to let him know it’s okay.
“I’m a fourth-year student at Penn State. I plan to go into family law next year.”
“Oh,” she says, her eyes wide from surprise. “Isn’t that lovely.” But the words are dry on her tongue. She’s either unimpressed or doesn’t believe me. Her gaze goes to her granddaughter again. “Jaxon always did like the smart ones.” Jaxon stirs beside me, a sound catching in his throat, and I touch his arm when I see the real pain in Judy’s eyes. She runs her hands over her granddaughter’s hair. “I suppose Cassie could use a positive female influence in her life.” She arches a brow, and aims a direct look at Jaxon. “And a clean living space.”
Ignoring the jibe, Jaxon asks, “What brings you both here so early?”
Judy blinks, and shakes her head like she’s pushing haunting memories to the back of her mind. “We just got in this morning, and thought we’d take Cassie for the long weekend. We’ve missed her.”
“Yay,” Cassie says and starts clapping her hands.
Jaxon pushes off the counter. “I was going to get out her pool today. It’s been so warm here.”
“Daddy, pleasssseeee…”
“She can swim in our pool,” Karl says, smugness in his voice. “Our below-ground is much better than that rubber thing you blow up and try to squeeze into.”
“Daddy…”
Jaxon’s chest rises and falls as he takes in air, and while I don’t know him well, my guess is he’s trying to keep his temper under check. “Let me feed her first,” Jaxon says, giving into his daughter’s pleas, and Cassie starts clapping again. “We were about to make pancakes.”
“No need.” Karl holds his hand up, palm out. “She’ll have breakfast with us.”
Jaxon lifts his daughter from her seat and she says, “Can we have chocolate chips in our pancakes?”
“Of course,” Judy says.
“Let’s get you packed up, kiddo.”
Jaxon disappears down the hall, leaving me with his in-laws. A heavy silence comes over the room, and I glance around, looking for something productive to do as they stare at me. Noting awkward about this at all. I point to the coffee maker. “I’m was just about to make some. Would either of you like a cup?”
They both shake their heads, and I search for something else to say. I’m about to ask them about their tans, when Judy says, “Cassie is a very special girl.”
“Yes she is,” I agree. “Very smart, too.”
“She needs stability.”
I think about my own childhood. “All kids do.”
“I’m glad you understand that,” Karl says, his eyes narrowing. “She can’t have people coming and going from her life. It’s not healthy.”
Dammit, he’s right, and I never should have inserted myself into their lives or blurted out that I was Jaxon’s girlfriend. I have no idea what happened to Cassie’s mother, or why these two seem to hate Jaxon so much, but when Cassie told them I was his girlfriend, I jumped on it. Not because I wanted that to be true. I don’t. But because I didn’t want them to think he was an irresponsible man who had women coming and going from Cassie’s life.
Needing to busy myself, I fill a carafe with water and pour it into the coffee maker. As I reach for the coffee grounds, I shake my head at this insane turn of events, considering less than an hour ago, I was trying to sneak away, prepared never to set eyes on Jaxon again and find another way to pay off my vehicle repairs. Now I’m pretending to be his girlfriend.
Way to make a mess of things, Rachel.
“Do you live here?” Judy asks. The question takes me by surprise. Then again, I am in his clothes so why wouldn’t they jump to that conclusion.
“I actually live next door. My bathroom was occupied after work, so I used Jaxon’s shower, and forgot to bring a spare change of clothes.”
I suck in a breath of relief when I hear footsteps running down the hall, putting an end to the interrogation.
“I’m ready,” Cassie says, and leaps into her grandfather’s arms. Jaxon tugs on a t-shirt as he comes in behind her,
Cassie reaches out for her grandmother’s hand, and I stay put in the kitchen, as
Jaxon walks them to the door. I press start on the coffee maker and even though I don’t want to eavesdrop, I can’t help but hear the tense exchange regarding Cassie’s return time on Monday. A few seconds later, I turn to face Jaxon in the kitchen. I expect anger—after all I never should have announced that I was his girlfriend—but what I see instead tugs at my heart.
“Thanks,” he says quietly, and drives his hands into his pockets, forcing them lower on his hips.
“You shouldn’t be thanking me.” I lean against the counter, and fold my arms over my chest. “I think I might have made things worse for you.”
“How so?”
“They think I’m your girlfriend, Jaxon.”
“Yeah.” He frowns. “Why did you do that, anyway?”
“I didn’t like the way they were looking at you. Like you weren’t a good father. I didn’t want then to think you brought a different girl home all the time.”
He sways on his feet. “I don’t.”
“I know.”
One brow arches. “How do you know that?”
“Neighbors, remember?” No need to tell him I watch from my bedroom window all the time. He grins, and spears his fingers through his hair. “They didn’t seem to like me very much,” I add.
He shakes his head. “They don’t like anyone.”
“They really don’t like you.”
“No kidding. They blame me for…” He goes quiet—like he’d said too much already—and puts his hands over his head. He grips the door frame until his knuckles turn white. This is all very much a sore spot for him. I stand facing him in silence, the only audible sound in the room the coffee percolating. I want to ask about Cassie’s mother—why she abandoned them, and if that’s what his in-laws blame him for—but can’t seem to bring myself to do it.
“I made coffee for you,” I say. “I should get going.”
I step toward the door he’s occupying, expecting him to move, but he doesn’t. Instead he stands there, his hands dropping to his sides, intense blue eyes trained on me. My God, he’s the nicest looking man I ever set eyes on and I want him again.
“Last night,” I begin. “That probably shouldn’t have happened.”
“But it did.”
“It can’t happen again.”
“Why not?” There is a teasing edge to his voice. “You are my girlfriend.”
I’m also trouble. Trouble he doesn’t need in his life. If my ex ever came looking for me, no way would I want to bring that kind of danger into this household. Not that I don’t think Jaxon can take care of himself. Of that I’m certain. But Cassie needs rainbows and butterflies, not crazy, jealous ex boyfriends who pose a danger. She’s clearly been through enough already. So has Jaxon, judging by the pain ghosting his eyes.
“Jax—”
He presses his thumb to my lip, and warm sensations travel all the way to the needy juncture between my legs. “Rach,” he says. “I want you again. Tell me you don’t want me, and I’ll leave it at that. I swear to God, I’ll never ask again.”
I open my mouth to tell him I don’t want him, but instead find myself saying, “I…I want you.”
Oh, God how I want him.
He bends forward, presses warm lips to mine and my body instantly heats. He steps into me, his big hand going to the small of my back to anchor my body to his. His arousal presses against my stomach, and a whimper of need catches in my throat. I kiss him back, palm his body, but then a small working brain cell sounds alarm bells in the back of my brain, reminding me of my goals. It takes every ounce of strength I possess to break the kiss, and push back.
“We can’t do this.”
The heat in his eyes evaporates in an instant, and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, knowing he swore never to ask again. But nothing good could come from an affair with my neighbor, no matter how hot he is. He’s trying hard to raise his daughter alone, and doesn’t need the complication of me, or the baggage I bring. Plus, I think he’s still hung up on his ex. As for me, I need to focus on school and keep a low profile.
“Okay,” he says, and steps aside to clear a path for me.
Feeling the need to explain, I hesitate, and wring my hands together, “We need to keep things platonic between us.” Karl’s words ping around my brain. She can’t have people coming and going from her life. It’s not healthy. “I don’t want Cassie to get attached or think there is more going on between us than there is. I’m not looking to fill her mother’s shoes.”
“You’re absolutely right,” he says.
6
Jaxon
She was right.
She was absolutely fucking right, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Taking Rachel to my bed was a mistake, but fuck, man, I can’t stop thinking about her. Still, I can’t let Cassie get attached to anyone, and hadn’t planned to introduce any random women into her life.
Rachel’s not random.
Fuck me. She might be my neighbor, but she has secrets, and that should be enough for me to keep my distance. But I can’t help but feel protective of her, want to take care of her like she’s mine.
She’s not yours, dude.
With that last thought in mind, I grab the blow-up pool from the shed out back and shake it out, wanting to have it ready for when Cassie returns. Yeah, it’s not an expensive below ground like her grandparents have, but we like it well enough.
The light flicks on in Rachel’s room and I glance up. She’s at work tonight. I saw her leave earlier, so I can only assume it’s one of her roommates invading her privacy. The window inches up and I avert my gaze, my concentration going back to filling the pool. I feel a set of eyes on me as I work, but I ignore them, because the only eyes I want on me are Rachel’s.
The night air is warm, sticky as I fill the pool with cold tap water. Once done, I peel off my shirt, and pants, and climb in in my boxers, the need to cool my body down having little to do with the heat wave.
I grab the beer I cracked earlier, and take a long pull from the bottle. Music starts up in the sorority house beside me. Another night, another party. Stretching out, I lean back against the rubber and watch the stars.
I sit in the pool for a good long time, the house beside me lit up with laughter and drinking. Will Rachel get any sleep tonight? Maybe I should go over there and tell them all to knock it off. I scoff. It’s not really my place and since Rachel isn’t mine, I shouldn’t feel so protective of her.
After a long while, I climb from the pool, grab my clothes and step inside my house, which feels so lonely with Cassie at her grandparents. I peel off my boxers, and drop all my clothes into the basket near the washing machine. Walking through the house naked, my mind once again turns to Rachel, and I’m instantly hard. Fuck. I grip my cock, run my hands along the long length of it, and visualize it’s Rachel touching me. I glance at the clock, and since I pretty much know her work shift, I step into my room, wanting to catch a glimpse of her. Christ, I must be some sort of masochist.
The lights are on when she enters, and I stand in the dark, stark naked, watching her like I’m some kind of pervert. Okay, this is wrong. I’m about to turn, draw the blinds and put on a pair of pants when a movement behind Rachel draws my focus. What the fuck? She’s in there with some other guy? In the two months she’s lived across from me, she’s never had a guy in her room. Why now? Sending me a message that it really is over between us. Fuck, I got it the first time, Rach. No need to rub it in.
Despite that, I have an uneasy feeling prowling through my blood. Call it gut instinct, but something about all this isn’t sitting right with me. I inch my window up to hear them talking, but the scream that comes from Rachel’s mouth, and the sound of glass breaking sets me into motion. I grab my jeans and tug them on as I race down the hall and dash from the house. College students are hanging off the front deck as I hurry up the stairs two at a time and step into the house.
“Jaxon,” I hear some girl squeal as I shove people out of my way and make quick work of the
stairs. I burst through the closed door leading to Rachel’s bedroom and quickly take in the scene unfolding before me. Rage takes hold of me and I grab the drunk asshole who has his hands all over Rachel as she fights him off.
He stumbles around, his eyes glassy and dilated as he smirks at me. “What the fuck are you doing, dude? Wait your turn.”
In that moment, all I see is red. I grab the douche-bag by the collar and pull my hand back, ready to show him he’s messing with the wrong girl. My girl. I’m about to knock him out cold, but Rachel’s frightened scream stops me. She’s almost hysterical as she backs up, and sits on her bed, her pillow in front of her like it’s some sort of protection.
What the hell?
Understanding she needs me more than I need to knock this guy’s head off, I shove him out the door, close it behind myself and start toward Rachel.
She holds her hands up, and her voice is bordering on hysteria when she says, “Don’t come any closer.”
My feet crunch on glass, and I back up to see a picture frame smashed on the floor. I pick it up, and my heart trips up when I look at the freckled face little girl in photo, and a woman who can only be her mother. But the picture is damaged from the broken glass.
“Rachel,” I begin. “It’s ruined. I’m sorry.”
“Jaxon, please. Just leave.”
“I’m not leaving. You’re not okay. That guy almost—” I carefully set the photo and broken glass on her nightstand, and her face is pale as she looks at it. I somehow get the sense that it might just be the only picture of her and her mom.
“I know what that guy almost did,” she says.
“It’s not safe for you here.” I grip a fistful of my hair. “Sleep at my place tonight.” She opens her mouth, likely about to protest and I say, “Take the spare room.” I take a step toward her, but she gives a hard shake of her head.
“No. Don’t.”
I go still, take in the tension in her posture, the way she’s protecting herself with her pillow. “Rachel, what the fuck. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I need you to go, okay.”
