“Why don’t you come let me show you around. Braxton was just on the way out to see his girl.”
“His girl?” Kace asked, eyebrows raised in question. That got him out of his funk because we all loved the chance to give each other crap.
“Don’t listen to Gyth,” I replied. “I will be back soon.” And with that, I walked out the door. I heard the two assholes taking parting shots at me about where I was going but didn’t care one iota. It had been too long since I’d seen Jurnee.
Chapter Seven
Jurnee
The wait was over and my heart was pounding.
Braxton had just walked into Hopeful Jurnee. Loving being back at work, I was in an amazingly good mood, and it had just got better. I didn’t know what he was doing here, but I was thrilled. The man walking straight toward me had my body responding in funny ways that felt foreign to me. My besties would probably say my lady parts had come alive. “She’s Alive, Alive.” The scene from Bride of Frankenstein was playing through my head.
Before I’d known it, he was standing right in front of me. Tall, dark, and gorgeous. Those eyes had my belly doing somersaults and I was hypnotized. I couldn’t look away and didn’t want to. Thoughts of looking into the depths of his eyes as he was inside me came to mind and I felt my cheeks warming.
“Whatever you were just thinking about looked sinful,” he said, with a wicked smile.
“W-what,” I stuttered. My face wasn’t just warm now, it was on fire and probably flaming red.
“It’s okay Jurnee, don’t be embarrassed. I think it’s probably similar to the same thoughts I’ve had lately.”
Omg, did Braxton really just say that to me?
He may have not spelled it out in words, but obviously he knew it was dirty, and the fact that he reciprocated those thoughts got those damn lady parts roaring to life even more than when he first walked in.
My engine was revved up pretty damn high.
“I don’t know what you're talking about,” I tried to fib. I could tell he wasn’t buying it, but being the nice guy he’d always been, he let it go and moved on.
“I wanted to come by and see your place you have here. My sister has talked a lot about it and how proud of you she is. I figured I had given you enough space to recover, and honestly, I wanted to see you for myself how you were doing.”
“Why did you stay away?” I blurted out without thinking and quickly covered my mouth with my hand. Always doing stupid things and letting your mouth run off when you’re nervous Jurnee, great job. Either that or running for the bathroom!
Braxton took his big, strong, sexy hand and gently pulled my own away from my face. “Don’t be afraid to ask or say anything to me, okay? Like I said, I was trying to give you time to mend and be with the girls after everything that had happened. I was also busy trying to get my business and house setup, but that’s a sore excuse for staying away. Truth was, I still felt guilty for not preventing you from getting shot, and thought after some time, you may end up feeling the same way.
“I wanted to see you.” Man, I was on a roll. It’s like whenever I got near Braxton I immediately had diarrhea of the mouth. But he’d said to say anything, so I was going with it. “I never once blamed you, and I still don’t. You were with me at the hospital and it felt weird once I left not having you around at all.”
“Then that was my mistake and I’m sorry, Jurnee. Forgive me?” he asked, but kept talking without waiting for my answer. “It won’t happen again. Let me make it up to you. How about you show me around here and then let me take you to lunch? Then maybe if you aren’t busy this weekend we could get together for that do-over, and I get that dance we missed out on?”
Wow, lunch and a date over the weekend. That was an amazing offer, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to go out anywhere just yet. I was a little scared. So, with honesty being the best policy, I let him know how I was feeling.
“First, you’re already forgiven. Secondly, I would be happy to give you a tour of the place, and third, lunch sounds fabulous. But as for going out this weekend, I have to be honest, I’m not sure I’m ready for the bar scene quite yet. I”m frightened, but maybe soon?”
His shoulders tensed the slightest bit, but he smiled softly.
“I understand. It may take a while, but you will get there, and I’ll be right there when you do. What if we put the dancing on hold and you just let me take you out somewhere else? Wherever you want to go, how about that?”
“Okay.” I wanted to go with him, it was as simple as that. “I would love to go out with you this weekend, and I trust you to pick the place now that you know how I feel. Ready to take a look around?”
Extending his arm out to say lead the way, that’s exactly what I’d done. Although, I wouldn’t have minded if he walked ahead of me so I could have ogled his very fine ass. The way his butt looked in those jeans had to be illegal.
We’d been walking around the whole center and I explained what we did and about the kids who came here. At one point he’d asked me how I came up with the idea and why I’d wanted to open a place like this. I’d told him maybe I would explain that more another time. He nodded in understanding and let it go. Braxton is something else.
As we were heading back to the front, we turned at the sound of a little girl yelling my name. Running towards us was Embry. Arms opened wide, she’d hit me full force, wrapping her little limbs around my legs. “Hey you,” I said as I leaned over and entwined my own arms around her small frame. Embry was only four. She had a mass of blonde curls for her age, a cute little button nose, and an angelic face. And she was the sweetest thing. She got placed into the system due to her mom dying of an overdose and her dad not getting clean, it was amazing the loving spirit that poured from this girl after all she’d been through. The courts were working on terminating her father's parental rights so they could place her in a permanent home.
“Miss Jurnee, I wanted to see you. It’s been forever. I missed you.”
“I missed you too Angel.” I always called her that because that’s what she reminded me of. The two of us had a special bond and I’d often wished I could adopt her myself. I had even talked with the girls about it. They told me to do what’s in my heart, but I’d known the chances were slim because of my age and being single. As much as I’d wanted her to find her forever family, the thought of her possibly going away and not being here all the time made my heart hurt something fierce.
I squatted the rest of the way down so I was eye level with Embry and introduced the man towering over us. “Hey, this is my friend Braxton,” I told her. “He came to see the place. Braxton, this is Embry,” I said motioning to the little one still hanging on to me like a monkey, her arms now wrapped around my neck.
“Hi,” she said shyly to Braxton.
“Hey Embry,” he said softly, also kneeling down. What an amazing guy. You could tell he was trying to be considerate of his size and not scare her.
Embry just tucked her head in my neck, but then peeked out at him. She was curious, even if she’d been a bit scared. Giving the girl a hug, I told her to go back to her room and I would see her after lunch. She squeezed me and yelled bye, and off she went just as fast as she showed up.
“Adorable little thing,” Braxton said. “What’s her story?”
“How about I tell you over lunch, I’m starving.” My stomach chose that particular moment to growl very unladylike and I’d thought I was going to die. “Wait for me, I have to pee.” Oh shit, here we go again. Off I’d ran, leaving Braxton standing there waiting and laughing at me once again. Someday, I wasn’t going to make a fool out of myself in front of him.
Someday, but obviously, that day isn’t today!
Chapter Eight
Braxton
A taco truck, that’s what Jurnee had picked for lunch. I shouldn’t have been surprised that this girl was so down to earth, that’s how she’d always been as a kid too, but I couldn’t help being blown away. She didn’t care that All
ey didn’t have money or that Summer had a boatload of it growing up. What mattered was what was in their hearts. So when I’d told her we could go anywhere for lunch, she was happy to just head for the food truck and sit at the beat-up, wooden picnic table.
Tacos were her favorite, she had informed me. And she’d also said that if I didn’t like tacos, we couldn’t hang out anymore. Of course I liked tacos, and even if I didn’t, I would have said I did just to spend time with her. I’d known she was kidding, she had given a cute little giggle after she’d said it. Everything about Jurnee was adorable, and she could very well be close to perfect.
And I wanted the chance to find out.
Sitting across the table from her, our eyes caught. Not wanting to ruin the mood because I could tell earlier that the reason for starting Hopeful Jurnee might be a sensitive subject, but really feeling the need to understand, I asked the question once again anyway. “So, want to tell me why Hopeful Jurnee?”
The look in her expressive gaze spoke volumes and I’d known my suspicions were right. I didn’t know a lot about Jurnee from when we were younger, except that she was adopted. Other than that, Alley kept her friend’s personal life to herself. Now it would be up to Jurnee to share whatever information she wanted to.
I wasn’t sure she was going to give me anything, but she started talking. “The kids mean a lot to me and any hope I can give them, maybe through providing a safe, fun place to go and being there for them, is important because of how I grew up. Hopeful Jurnee, also volunteering at the hospital with the kids in the cancer wing is what I am passionate about. But if it’s okay with you, maybe we could enjoy our lunch and I will tell you more about it when we have more time together. Would that be okay?”
I was glad she wasn’t blowing me off and eventually may let me in, so yeah, I could wait. It was obvious there were personal reasons why those things were so dear to her. “Of course, let's eat and you can tell me more when you're ready.”
“I did say I would explain about Embry though. Her parents were and are both very much into drugs and didn’t think about her much at all. They had dealers and fellow addicts flowing in and out of the house while she was there. I said were, because her mom died of an overdose, and her dad has refused to get clean, even though his daughter was taken away. Embry is in a foster home right now and the courts are trying to terminate her father’s rights. He is pissed about it but hasn’t done what’s asked of him to get her back. He just acts like it’s his kid and nobody else should have her. He treats her like property, not his daughter and a human being, or someone that should be his whole world.”
Jurnee’s words pierced my heart and had my blood boiling. Not only for that sweet little girl that clearly this beautiful woman sitting across from me cared so much for, but also for Jurnee herself. It was easy to hear the pain in her voice. I knew right then that when she finally told me more about her childhood, I’d want to find the person who’d hurt her and lay into them.
“I want her!” Jurnee basically shouted out and then kept talking. “I can’t believe I just told you that. I haven’t told many people that, except my best friends. All the kids at the center hold a special place in my heart, and it may sound awful to say, but Embry holds an extra chunk.”
“You mean you want to adopt her?” That was a big step, but the passion and love that sparkled in her eyes and shined through in her words told me it was meant to be. “Can you do that?”
“Honestly, I doubt they would let me. If I thought I had a chance I would try. Maybe when I explain more it will be easier to understand why I feel this way. I was that little girl once, not having a home or family and I still remember every day what that was like.”
I wasn’t exactly sure what happened to Jurnee before she was adopted, but I could clearly hear the hurt and the compassion both in her voice. It was another layer that just made me want to protect her and also made her even more beautiful to me.
“I think that’s amazing, Jurnee, and maybe there is a way. We can talk more about it or whatever else you want to.” It was a nice day. The breeze in the air had her hair flipping around a little, the wind had pinkened her cheeks. I could look at and listen to the breathtaking woman by me for hours. Anything she wanted to say was fine with me.
Sitting together comfortably, we’d finished eating and continued chatting. Not about heavy stuff, but about things we liked and also how her shoulder was healing. I’d told her about Kace showing up, and how she’d get a kick out of his sense of humor. We had talked about what foods we enjoyed, although from the way the girl had put away her tacos, they were obviously her favorite. I’d have clearly seen that even if she hadn’t already told me. We’d also spoken about music and movies, her surprising me with her choices. Not that she didn’t like girly movies, but she was also a fan of the Transformer movies, Die Hard, and anything that had the Rock in it. Because, duh who wouldn’t love all those, she’d said. She told me that she cried when Bumblebee had gotten hurt in the first movie, which got a chuckle out of me. Then she’d shocked me when she kicked my leg under the table for laughing at her.
“Not funny, that amazing yellow machine with a heart of gold should be everyone’s favorite and if he gets hurt you can’t help but be sad.”
I swear I’d seen tears starting to gather a little bit in her eyes, but they were shimmering with laughter too. I am falling hard for this girl.
“You do know he isn’t real, right?”
“What? I’m appalled. How could you say such a thing,” she said with dramatic flair and a dimpled smile.
Wow, this girl just got better and better. She was funny, sweet, beautiful, and had the cutest dimple in her chin that was one of my favorite features of hers and when her mouth tipped up into that adorable smile I could barely breathe. All this had my body coming to life in a way that may scare her if she were to look under the table and see the rock-hard bulge in my pants. On top of all that, her big brown eyes that I was fairly sure saw most everything, could bring a man to his knees. There were so many things about Jurnee that would touch a man’s heart, while her body and beauty could light it on fire. Lord knows I was about to go up into flames.
“Okay, okay, Bumblebee is the best, are you happy now?”
“You're just saying that so I don’t kick you again.”
“How about instead of kicking me, we exchange numbers and talk this week to make plans for the weekend? You did agree to let me take you out, remember?”
“Yeah, sure, we can do that.” Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she got quiet on me. I wasn’t sure what had changed. We’d been having fun and a great conversation.
“What just happened Jurnee? You just clammed up on me.”
Her shoulders had gotten tense and she hesitated, looking a bit confused. One minute things had been going great and the next there was a complete flip in her behavior.
“I just don’t know why you want to spend time with me or what’s going on. You're an amazing guy, you have always been so nice and full of life, but you're also my best friend's big brother. If this is because you feel bad about what happened at the bar, then don’t worry about it. I don’t blame you and I’m doing okay. I am on my way to a full recovery.”
“Jurnee, I hate everything about that night, except for seeing you again. I do feel like I should have gotten the situation under control so you didn’t get hurt. But the second I saw you walk in that night, something inside me changed. I was drawn to you with an intensity I can’t fully explain. I just want to get to know you.”
She looked at me, biting her bottom lip, which I had to say was damn sweet and sexy all at the same time. A little shyly, she nodded. So just to break the ice I said, “Let me guess, you have to pee?”
Just then I received another kick under the table and I couldn’t be happier she found her spunk again. After that, we headed back to her workplace and as we approached, I could feel her steps slowing a little the closer we got.
“I just want to say than
k you for lunch, but I also want to thank you for the time you stayed in the hospital with me. It means a lot. If you still want to do something this weekend, I’d like that.”
“How’s Saturday evening?”
“Sounds great, Braxton.”
“We never got to exchange those numbers, you were too busy bruising my shin.”
“Oh shush, give me your phone.” I handed it to her and she texted herself from my cell so I had her number. I planned on getting a hold of her to make more solid plans, but I also hoped to talk to her throughout the week.
“I will give you a call and we can pick a time. Does that sound good?”
She said yes and we finished walking the short distance to the front of her building. Leaning over I planted a light kiss on her cheek, lingering a minute longer to take in her fruity scent. It had filled her hospital room and for weeks I’d wanted to smell her again. Cherries, she smelled like cherries, and the desire to lick every inch of her skin was strong. I knew she would taste as sweet as she smelled.
A soft, dreamy, but shocked look was shining in her eyes. I didn’t want to scare the poor girl and another part of my body was about to stand tall for the second time that day. I’d been aroused as hell, so I told her bye and that I’d talk to her soon. She mumbled a quiet goodbye and headed back into work.
It was Tuesday and I had multiple days before Saturday would arrive. I already missed being around her the moment she walked away.
Braxton, you're in deep shit.
Chapter Nine
Jurnee
Wow, it had been a day. Being back at work, seeing Braxton, a stop at the hospital to check in with the little ones getting chemo, and now I was finally home. It was great to be back to my life, plus I had the added bonus of Braxton being part of it. At least I think he was. He was Alley’s brother so he would always be. The question was would he be for a very different reason? I was scared to death and exhilarated at the same time.
Entwined Souls (Soul Sister Book 1) Page 5
