Leveled

by Cathryn Fox

  I have to.

  Chapter Fourteen: Jamie

  “Are we ready for this?” I ask and glance around my new shop, taking in the excited faces of my entire family: Gram, Sean, Tyler, Ryan, Jace, Jared, Carter, Jacob, Summer, baby Devon . . . and Kylee.

  Technically Kylee isn’t family, but still, I couldn’t have done this, or gotten it ready by my deadline, if it weren’t for her help and ideas.

  My heart goes into my throat when I see her big smile. “Let’s do this,” she says, and gestures toward the door to the group of eager people waiting outside. As I make my way toward the door to invite everyone in for coffee and cake, compliments of Gram, Kylee releases the balloons into the shop.

  Her idea was to have customers pop the balloons and win specials. She spent hours writing out discount cards, stuffing them into the balloons, and blowing them up.

  I open the door and the noise level in my small shop jumps as excited patrons all file in to help celebrate. Balloons are popped and I’m soon lost in the excitement.

  Gram and the guys all greet my new clientele—show them my sketches—and I’m surprised to see a few familiar faces from the summer vacationers. That thought has my mind once again going back to the Jackinoffs, but I push it away. Today is my day, something I’ve been working toward for a long time, and I’m not going to let anything or anyone bring me down. I catch Kylee’s gaze from across the room as she chats with people and makes appointments for me.

  I work the room myself and eventually make my way to the counter. My heart fills with emotions when I take in the corkboard beside the cash register. The first thing I did after finding that picture of Dad was bring it here and hang it. I know he’s not here to see me open my own shop, but he’s here in spirit, and to know he was proud of me, well . . . My throat clogs with emotion, and I work to swallow it down as Gram steps up to me.

  She touches my cheek, and as if knowing where my thoughts were, she says, “Your father would have been so proud of you, sweet boy.”

  “Thanks Gram,” I say and wrap my arms around her. I don’t care who’s watching. I pick her up and spin her and she lets out a yelp that has a few people laughing.

  An hour or so later the crowd dies down, and the guys help Gram clear away the leftover cake. Soon enough it’s just Kylee and me and a room full of scattered balloons.

  “Jesus,” I say and rake my hand through my hair.

  Kylee laughs. “That’s all you have to say?”

  “I guess I’m just a little overwhelmed.”

  “Well you should be. Look at this.” She grabs my reservation book and shows me all the appointments. “You’re going to be busy for months, Jamie.” She goes up on her toes and plants a soft kiss onto my mouth. “I’m so proud of you. You followed your dreams, and you made this happen.”

  “Kylee, I want this for you,” I say.

  She presses her fingers to my lips. “Today is about you,” she says.

  My heart pinches, because there are so many other dreams I have, other things I want to happen, but how do I go about telling her how I feel, what I want. What if I tell her and she runs back to Atlanta? What if she doesn’t?

  Guess there is only one way to find out, because Sean is right, she does have me all fucked up and I need to figure out what to do about it. An idea forms, takes shape in my mind, and while I’m eager to get started, to show her once and for all how I feel, what I want, first things first.

  I scoop her up and she squeals when I set her on my tattoo chair. “All night, I’ve been thinking about this,” I say and plant my mouth on hers.

  I kiss her long and deep, and she returns it readily, always so open and ready for me that it totally fucks with my mind and body.

  “Oh, really,” she says as my mouth moves to her breasts.

  “Yeah, really,” I murmur as I peel her blouse open and press my lips to her nipples, licking her through her lace bra.

  Her hands slide around my head, hold me to her, and she moans as I nip at her hard buds.

  “Want to know what I’ve been thinking?”

  “Always,” I say.

  Her hand slides down my body, and she captures my hard cock. “How about I show you instead?”

  Chapter Fifteen: Kylee

  As the end of July approaches and all the vacationers are back in town, I’ve seen less and less of Jamie. I know his workload has doubled with people wanting renovations or repairs to their cottages, and he’s opened his shop, so in the evenings he’s busy with his clientele, plus he’s teaching Ryan the art of tattooing. Every time I talk about stopping in to the shop to see him, he makes an excuse and tells me not to come. I can’t help but wonder if he’s pulling back because soon enough I’ll be leaving here, and it’s his way of reminding me this relationship is sex and sex only.

  Was I so foolish to think it might have been more, that what we’ve been doing is making love to each other every night, and that his passionate, soft kisses come from his heart and not a place farther south? Even if he did want more, like I do, how could it work out between us? When I start practicing law, I’ll be working eighteen-hour days. If that leaves no room for a family, how could I possibly think I could pull off a long-distance relationship?

  I’m not sure, but there is a part of me that can’t let this go. In my heart, this thing between Jamie and me is real, and I’d be a fool to turn my back on a once-in-a-lifetime love. A sense of urgency races through me. I need to talk to Jamie, to see if he feels the same way, and I need to do it now.

  I reach for my car keys, ready to hunt him down, when a knock comes at my front door. I rush to it, hoping it’s Jamie yet knowing in my heart it’s not. He has his own key and always comes in the screen door at the back of the house. I pull the door open and when I come face to face with my father and Trevor Jackson, my heart falls into my stomach and I go still, perfectly motionless.

  “Now, is that any way to treat your father,” my dad says as I stand there, shell-shocked.

  I blink, sure I’m hallucinating, but when I open my eyes again, my father is still standing there. “What, how . . . ?”

  My father, overbearing man that he is, pushes past me and walks into my place like he owns it. The place was a graduation gift to me, bought with his money, but that doesn’t mean it’s his, right?

  “Trevor’s family were all gathering for a reunion at their cottage, just a few doors down from here, and I decided to tag along, see what has my daughter so busy that she can’t make time to take her father’s calls.” He moves to the back of the house, and I turn to Trevor, who is smiling down at me, a grin on his mouth like he knows exactly why I haven’t been taking my father’s calls. But no way, no how could he know about Jamie, right? Then again, his family has a cottage here, so maybe . . .

  “You look beautiful,” Trevor says and bends to give me a kiss. I turn my head so it lands on my cheek. I have no idea why this guy thinks he has the right to kiss me on the mouth. I’ve been on like two dates with him and certainly have no plans to go on any more, despite what my father wants.

  “The new deck looks great, Kylee.” He turns to me. “Who did you say you hired to do it?”

  “I didn’t,” I say, and as my stomach twists, I glance at the clock. I need to text Jamie, let him know my father is in town. I reach for my phone, and my father places his hand over mine.

  “Who did you hire?” he asks, his voice harder, his cold blue eyes locked on mine.

  I shrug. “A local company. Blue Bay Construction. No one you would know.”

  My father’s gaze lifts, and his eyes go dark as he exchanges a look with Trevor, a silent discussion that tells me there is more going on here. Unease trickles through my veins, and my thoughts go back to all the times I felt I was being watched . . . stalked. I have the sudden suspicion that my father had everything to do with it. Something foreboding creeps down my spine, and a hot ball of fury burns in my stomach.

  “How long are you staying?” I ask my father, working to stay c
alm. A model of restraint, like my father would expect.

  “Not long, I suspect.” As I work to interpret that, he rubs his stomach. “What do you say we head out for a bite to eat? Go somewhere we can talk, get caught up.”

  “I can cook,” I say, feeling a little unsteady on my feet. What’s really going on here?

  “No, I don’t want to put you through the trouble,” my father says, his voice hard, firm. “Besides, Trevor here is meeting his brothers at the local pub, Winchesters.” He gives me a wink. “I’m sure you’ll want to get to know his family. Someday they’ll be your family.”

  Seriously!

  Did he seriously just say that? Anger erupts inside me, and I’m about to protest when my dad’s phone rings. He pulls it from his pocket and steps outside, leaving me alone with Trevor, who looks different outside the office. Today’s he’s dressed in khaki shorts and a polo, and something niggles in the back of my mind. But it’s too far out of reach for me to grasp it.

  “I like what you’ve done with the place,” Trevor says, glancing around. “Your new deck looks great.”

  “Thanks,” I mumble and grab my purse. Since I know my father is not going to give in and let me out of dinner, the sooner I get it over with the better. I rush outside, and Trevor follows.

  “I’ll meet you there,” I say and jump into my own car. I shoot a text off to Jamie so he doesn’t just walk into my cottage and crawl into bed with me after he finishes at the tattoo shop, like he normally does.

  I take off, and Dad follows along in his rental. We both park and when we enter the pub, I see three guys seated around the table and assume they’re Trevor’s brothers. Trevor puts his arm around my back to lead me to the table, and I try to shrug him off, but he’s not deterred. He pulls a chair out for me and all eyes turn my way when I sit.

  “Kylee, I’d like you to meet my brothers, Simon, Paxton, and Noah. Noah and Paxton are former SEALs, they’re now working for your father.”

  “Oh,” I say. “Really?”

  “That’s right,” my dad says. “They’ve been doing some surveillance and investigative work.”

  My stomach recoils. Had one of these men been watching me?

  “Simon is a lawyer,” Trevor says. “And we’re trying to lure him to your father’s firm.”

  Simon flashes his teeth at me and I plaster on a smile and work to exchange pleasantries with these men. I take them in and rack my brain, trying to figure out why Noah looks so familiar. But my thoughts are a chaotic mess, flustered to find my intrusive father at my door and the man he’s determined to marry me off to.

  Over my dead body!

  My father gestures to Stacy, and when the door bangs open behind me, all heads turn toward the sunlight filtering in. I suck in a breath when Jamie walks in with Tyler, Sean, and Ryan. He goes instantly still when he sees me at a table with my dad, Trevor, and his brothers. His knuckles fist, turn white, and his murderous eyes lock on mine. His nostrils flare and I can feel the anger rising up inside him. What the hell? I sent him a text letting him know I was having dinner with Dad and a colleague. Why does he look like he’s about to kill someone? Did he not get my message? Does he think I have something going on with one of these guys?

  A seed of hope blooms inside me at my last thought. If that’s the case and he’s jealous, that means he does care about me, and there is more going on between us than just sex. I smile at him, but his eyes go ocean cold and freeze the blood in my veins.

  Jamie steps forward, like an indomitable force about to storm the castle. Threatening. Lethal. A total warrior. His three brothers, all enraged, keep tight on his heels as he inches forward, and I straighten in my chair, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on edge.

  “Jamie,” Trevor’s brother Noah says and finishes the beer in his glass. It hits the table with a bang so loud, I nearly jump from my chair.

  “Noah,” Jamie responds through clenched teeth as the muscles in his jaw tick.

  What the hell is going on? How do these guys know each other? Then again, Trevor and his family have summered here since they were kids—which is how Dad found out about the place—so I guess they must have known each other from their childhood.

  “I see you finally found your way back to Blue Bay,” Noah says. “Maybe you should have stayed in New Orleans.” He grins and cracks his knuckles. “Safer for you there, don’t you think?”

  Jamie scoffs. “Why were you in my brother’s house?” he asks.

  Noah shrugs. “Who says I was?”

  Sleek and solid, hard as steel, Jamie hovers, his fists clenching and unclenching. “What were you doing? Trying to dig up dirt? Get one of us thrown in jail?”

  My mind is spinning, racing out of control as I work to sort through what is happening.

  “Something like that.”

  “Find anything?” he asks, his voice lower, anger emanating from his every pore. “Or you just going to make shit up again?”

  Noah slides a cool look my way, then turns back to Jamie. “You’ve been sleeping with my brother’s fiancé, and that’s a fact, pal.”

  So someone was following me . . . and Jamie.

  I gasp at that, and my father goes stiff beside me. I shoot him a glance and he’s glaring at me, his eyes like granite, warning me to stay silent. But I’ve been silent enough. He had no right to put one of his men on me, follow me around, and watch my every move.

  “Dad,” I begin, but shut my mouth when Jamie speaks.

  “I’m not your fucking pal. You call me that again, and it will be the last time,” he says. He sucks in a sharp breath, his murderous eyes shooting daggers as they turn to me. “Fiancé? What is he talking about, Kylee?” he asks, his tone hard, bitter, rough-edged with something dangerous lurking just below the surface.

  “Kylee is marrying my brother, douchebag,” Noah says. “Do you need me to use smaller words and shorter sentences for you to understand?”

  Jamie takes a step toward Noah, and Noah jumps to his feet. Beck, the owner of the pub, and a good friend of the Owens boys, comes from his office in the back. He has only one rule in his place: No fighting.

  “Outside,” Jamie growls, and the sound reverberates through me. Is this really happening? Jamie is going to fight Trevor’s brother in the parking lot?

  I stand and make a move to go to Jamie, but my father grabs my wrist and stops me. I fall back into my chair, my heart thundering in my ears as the world as I know it comes at me a million miles an hour.

  “I’m not interested in fighting you again, Jamie. Besides, do you really want another beating?”

  Jamie’s boots scrape as he steps closer and stands nose to nose with Noah, fearless. “Let’s just make it a fair fight this time.”

  “Maybe another time.”

  Jamie jerks his thumb over his shoulder. “What, when my brothers aren’t here?”

  “Look, I’m just here to make sure you stay away from my brother’s girl.”

  Jamie glances at me, searing possession in his gaze. “She’s not his girl. You’re fucking lying,” Jamie counters, and I try to speak, but my father puts his hand on my arm and squeezes to stop me. My gaze shoots to his, then goes back to eyes the color of stirred-up sea during a raging summer storm.

  “She never mentioned Trevor?” Paxton pipes in.

  “No, she didn’t, and you’re all full of shit.”

  “If you don’t believe me, ask her,” Paxton says.

  Jamie angles his head, and when his gaze lands on mine and I see the hurt, my heart misses a beat. I need to fix this and I need to do it now. No way can I let him think I’d been lying to him all this time, or that I betrayed his trust and what I know was growing between us.

  “Jamie, it’s not what you think,” I manage to get out until my father squeezes my arm harder. “Oww,” I say.

  Jamie glares at my dad. “Let her go.”

  My father grins, unafraid. But dammit, he should be afraid. He should be very afraid of Jamie Owens and the army at
his back.

  “What, did you really think she loved you or something?” Simon says, as he twists his ring. I look down and nearly fall from my chair when I see the eagle etched into the gold. My gaze shoots to the scar on Jamie’s chin. “Come on, Jamie. She was slumming, having a little fun before she went back to Atlanta to work for her daddy and marry my brother. Surely you knew that.”

  I shake my head. “Jamie . . .”

  “Why all the trips to Hope Falls?” he asks, and in that instant, the clues register, and I realize why Noah is so familiar. He’s the guy I saw in Hope Falls when I was with Summer, the guy she called Jackinoff. Understanding hits. The Jackson brothers are the Jackinoffs, and there is something very personal going on between these two families.

  “Let me explain,” I say quickly.

  “One question. Is Trevor the guy you’ve been texting?”

  My head is spinning so fast it’s hard to keep a straight thought. “I . . . yes . . . but he’s not . . . let me explain—”

  “No, let me explain, Kylee,” Trevor begins. “This is the man who raped our sister years ago.” Trevor turns to my Dad. “Sorry, Jack, when I suggested this place for Kylee, I never thought this rapist asshole would be back causing trouble.”

  The bottom falls out of my world and I spin so fast, the room blurs before me. Jamie is glaring at me, his eyes dark, dangerous, deadly, and I shrink into myself, never having seen this side of him before. “Oh, my God, Jamie, is that true?”

  Jamie dips his head, his pupils so dilated all I can see is black. He looks at me long and hard, then shakes his head. “What does the girl think?”

  Before I can tell him what the girl thinks—what I, Kylee Jensen think—he turns around, offering me his back. But before he walks out the door, his brothers at his side, he says, “Goodbye, Kylee.” And just like that, he saunters out the door, taking my shattered heart with him as he dismisses me from his life.

  I’m about to stand, go after him, get to the bottom of matters, but the Jackson brothers and my father suddenly surround me. They’re guiding me to the door, to my car.