"That sounds like a man I’d like to meet. You have been holding out on me. Exactly when and how long have you known the Weldon’s?"
"I don't really know them, just what I hear from their mother. You know her, too. Emma Weldon, who works in the cafeteria."
"That sweet little woman produced a man like that? The wonders of God's miracles." Nan smiled. "I deliver babies every day. To think, one or more of them could be the to-die-for-hunk of the future and I'll have seen them naked and not know it. But forget that. The mouth to mouth fusion you two shared isn’t because you know his mother. It sizzled."
“That bad, huh?”
“No that good. Now give. Where have you been hiding him?”
“I knew Jesse for about a month when I was seventeen. We, um, almost became something, but things went wrong."
"Oh, no you don't." Nan wagged a finger. "There's more."
Alexi told Nan about Jesse and what happened in the past. "I had to bargain with the devil to get rescued today."
"What did he want? Another hot kiss?"
"It started out that way, but ended up to be more.”
“More?”
Alexi winced. “Well, he, uh, has this way of kissing me that I sort of forget who I am and where I am.”
“And? You might as well as spill it. Then I won’t have to open another bottle of wine and we won’t have headaches later.”
Alexi bit her lip, winced, then told Nan. “We would probably still be doing it if my grandmother hadn’t called the police. We never did make it to a bed. I think that was next."
Nan's jaw dropped and she spilled her wine down the front of her PJ's. "You're not kidding are you?"
Alexi shook her head, wincing again. "I don't even know myself anymore."
"Oh my gosh. WOW!" Nan clinked her wineglass to Alexi's. "That has to be the wildest thing you've ever done." Nan laughed. "It’s so romantic. Lost love saves the day."
"It wasn't necessarily romantic. And love didn’t enter the equation. Besides, I’m not even sure what love is anymore." She sighed. "The experience was sexual. Really, really, sexual. And, heaven help me, it was the best sex I've ever had. I'm afraid that if he walked in and pointed to the bedroom, I'd go."
"If you ask me, he's an angel in a devil's disguise. Not only did he show you heaven on earth today, but the result has you out from under your grandmother's thumb and away from your father's emotional vacuum. You're finally free to discover who you are and what you want. So when will you see him again?"
Alexi gulped her wine. "I don’t know."
“You mean after a day like this you didn’t make plans?”
“He gave me his business card. I got the impression that if I, well, if I wanted a repeat of the day, I could call him.”
Nan laughed. “Perfect. Absolutely perfect. This is great. What a golden opportunity! You’ve a whole week off already scheduled. Yum. You will call him won’t you?”
“I don’t know.” Alexi downed her wine, thinking her escapade with Jesse would cost her more than anything else ever had.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Well, son, guess I can see why you’ve been too busy to visit us often,” John Weldon commented as he leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach. Reaching over, he unfolded the Sunday paper to the front page.
Jesse winced at the blow up of him, shirtless, kissing Alexi. Not only that but the camera's angle made the kiss look more risqué than it had been. Maybe. He hadn’t been thinking about how things looked when he’d kissed her. Hell, all he had on his mind was following the damnable urge that had plagued him for years. He took a swig of sweet tea sure that whatever was about to be said wasn't going to sit well with the last bite of his apple pie. Jesse knew it wasn’t the picture that was on his father’s mind. It was the accompanying article about some rather infamous situations Jesse had ended up in over the past twelve years.
He wasn't as close to his family as he once was and that was his fault. Besides, making the Weldon name respected, being back in contact with his family played a major part in his decision to relocate half of his company to Savannah.
The last time they’d all been together—his parents, his brother Jackson, and his younger twin bothers James and Jared--had been a very difficult time. Jackson’s wife’s funeral. It’d been that tragedy that had turned Jesse’s head around and put it on straight about family and what it meant to him. That had been almost three years ago. It had been even longer since they'd sat down together for a Sunday dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, pole beans, fresh coleslaw, and hot biscuits. Jesse was stuffed. Meals around the world just didn't match up to the heavenly country cookin’ that came out of his mother's kitchen.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jesse saw his mother, Emma, in the middle of clearing dishes, stop and sit back into her seat to hear what Jesse had to say about the article. All of his brothers at the table looked ready to pitch in and add fuel to the fire under Jesse’s ass at the moment.
Jesse drew a breath. “I’ve sewn a wild oat or two—
“More like a whole crop," Jared said, garnering a round of laughs. “My world traveling daring-do brother doesn't make headlines rescuing VIPs from danger. Nope, he makes headlines as World Renown Playboy Steals Bride from Area Golden Boy.”
Jesse ignored his brother and tried to explain. “The article really paints things to be much worse than they actually were—”
Jackson rolled his eyes. “The military must have starved him of his share of women for eight years and he’s making up for lost time.” It was the first time Jesse had seen amusement lurk in his brother’s eyes in years. Well, at least the article had done some good. Jackson wasn’t through yet. He tapped the paper their father had set down. “From what I read, security detail must have its fringe benefits. A super model in Milan, Jesse? Was she really naked in the fountain when her fiancée found you two together?"
Jesse opened his mouth to explain, but his brother James kicked in.
“Night duty can be a killer, especially when you shared it with that Vampire hunting babe on the WSN Network.” James elbowed him in the side, the overtones in his statement illicit. "She claims you left her with a stake in her heart."
Jesse clenched his teeth. “She was a mis—“
Jared whistled. “That’s some training the military gave you,” he said, punching Jesse on the shoulder. “Kept you hard, lean, and very active. You managed to balance Senator Langford’s daughter and a soap opera star at the same time. Too bad one of them objected at the wedding.”
Jesse’s brothers laughed while his parents scowled.
“Looks like he didn’t learn his lesson either,” Jared said. “Did you get that shiner from the bride you kissed yesterday or from the thwarted groom?”
Jesse touched his brow where Alexi had nailed him with a rock and smiled. “Door,” Jesse replied. “I ran into a door. You wise guys would make good tabloid reporters. If you must know, the bride yesterday asked for me to kiss her and for my help to escape her two-timing groom. She wanted to send the world a clear message that she wasn’t going to marry Holstead ever. Her grandmother was about to smooth things over, and announce there would be a private ceremony later. As for my botched wedding in DC to Michelle Langford, the whole drama was a set up. Michele hired the soap star to cause a scene so she could back out of the wedding.” Jesse shook his head. He’d been so stupid. Her stunts had nearly cost him his business.
His brothers laughed, but his father wasn’t amused. “It’s a moot point now since you didn’t end up getting married three years ago, but what bothers me is you never told us you were marrying to begin with. Why?”
Jesse’s mouth went dry. He heard his mother’s sharp intake of air. This wasn’t going to be pretty.
He’d met Michele just after he finished his last stint with the military and Wes and he had begun their security company. Back then, much to his shame, he’d been wearing his ass on his shoulders, and he’d had it skewed on bassawkwa
rds, too. He’d been a man with something to prove, and come hell, or high water, he’d been determined to make his mark in the business world. Michele had introduced him to her father, Senator Langford, who must have done some hard digging. The day after meeting him, the senator requested to see Jesse. Somehow the senator had uncovered quite a few top-secret details of missions Jesse had been on. Jesse was suddenly the man of the hour and the senator wanted to do all he could to help Jesse’s security company to be a success.
Jesse later figured out that Langford had been looking for a son-in-law and had probably strong-armed Michele into marrying. Back then, all Jesse could see was that Langford was a man with the inside track to a lot of high society and political VIPs that would make Sheridan-Weldon Solutions a big name. Langford was also a man who held country people in high disdain. Jesse hadn’t invited his family, hadn’t told them of his plans to marry because he didn’t want to expose them to that—at least that had been Jesse’s reasons back then.
“Ashamed of us?” his father asked. Though spoken softly, his words cut across the room and hit Jesse straight in the gut.
The table grew quiet, the easy jesting tone tense. Jesse felt his mother’s concerned gaze and caught her winding the dishtowel around her hands out of the corner of his eye. He’d often wondered how many of her prayers for her wild boys had been said with her hands wrapped up in a dishtowel. He wasn’t proud for what he had to say, found it painful in some ways, yet he didn’t shirk from the telling of it. “Yes, back then, I was. I equated here, this town, and my family with a road going nowhere.”
Jesse engaged each of their gazes, intent on being understood. “But it was my own fears that were the problem. For eight years I’d had the military shoring me up, a huge buffer from the good old boy, Jesse Weldon, who rode a Harley, skirted just shy of being on the wrong side of the law, and who wasn’t ever going to amount to much. When I got out of the military, when that buffer was gone, I had to prove to myself that I could stand on my own. It took me a while to figure out that it was my family, you Dad, and you Mom, and even my pain in the ass brothers who were the real reason I could stand as a man and be respected. And I’ve done that. I’m even moving part of my company here to Savannah so that I can be back here more. The newspapers can reduce a man’s life to a sorry joke.”
“A joke?” Jackson picked the paper off the table and read. “Jesse Weldon has become to the security and anti-terrorist industry what Bill Gates is to the computer world.”
Jesse shrugged. “Do you think anybody reading the article is going to remember that? No, they’ll remember only the juicy tidbits the tabloids have blown out of proportion. If anything can be shown in a bad light, it will. Just like the high and mighty in this small town did to anything beneath their wealthy noses. Publicity like this threatens to destroy what I’ve built and I’m not going to let that happen.” As he said the words, the heavy load on his shoulders eased a little. He looked to James and Jared. “I know Shamrock construction is only into the remodeling market, but I’d like for you guys to build my company’s new facility. You interested?”
James’s eyes lit up. “Jared and I have been taking night classes to move into the industrial market. I think we can work something out. Seeing how famous you are, we might have to charge a bit more, but--”
Jared elbowed James in the side. “Count us in,” he said.
“Welcome home, son.” The light of approval in his father’s eye meant more to Jesse than a thousand newspaper articles.
His brothers made some joking comments about having to put up with his sorry face and his mother had wrung her dishrag into a wad. After a few minutes everyone settled into a different activity. Jesse opted to help his mother in the kitchen.
Despite the years, his mother was still a beauty, silver-lit black hair, a trim figure, and a full heart of compassion in her loving blue eyes. She’d aged, but had done it gracefully.
Jesse set the plates into the soapy water then turned unprepared for the hug his mother gave him. A hint of tears shimmered in her eyes. “It’s about time you came home. You started running when you got that motorcycle at fifteen. I knew it wasn’t the motorcycle that took you away, but I spent most of my time blaming it for losing you. Then I blamed the army. After that I ran out of things to blame and wondered what I’d done wrong.”
Jesse sucked in air, shocked. It had never occurred to him that he’d caused her pain in that way. “Mom, never,” he said, hugging her tighter. “You and dad were the tops. Sometimes a man’s got to find his own way.”
She nodded her head, took a step back and swiped at her eyes. “Best get these dishes done. If I know your father and brothers they’ll be in here eating again inside an hour.”
Considering Jesse already had his eye on the cookie jar, he laughed.
“There’s something else, I’ve got to say. I know you’ve known Alexi Jordan a long time. I saw you two together twice just before you lit out of town all those years ago and I’ve wondered if she had anything to do with you leaving. From the look of you two kissing, maybe there’s some unfinished business between you and her?”
“A little, nothing big.” Jesse winced. That was one hell of a way to put it. He had no doubt exactly what his mother’s opinion would be of him if she knew what had gone on yesterday.
Suddenly Emma narrowed her eyes and shot him a warning glance, which took him aback. “I love you, but I know my boys. Alexi Jordan is something special, so don’t go hurting her. She’s got a heart of pure gold.”
“Alexi is nice…” He frowned at his lame response.
“God’s own angel,” his mother said.
“Angel…” Hell she’d been that and more yesterday. Jesse quickly shut off his X-rated memories. They didn’t fit with him and his mother in the kitchen.
Emma kept washing dishes and just when he thought the conversation over and he could escape, she started again.
“There’s this little girl in the hospital, God Bless her, her kidneys are failing. When the insurance stopped paying, it was Alexi Jordan who picked up the slack. She’s done everything possible to help little Lucy Taylor. For a woman of means, she spends a good deal of her time at the hospital helping out, too. It’s a shame she has to suffer having her life spelled out on the front page of the newspaper.” Emma shook her head.
“Tell me about it,” Jesse said dryly and picked up the dishtowel. But somehow a little nagging thought in the back of his mind told him he’d earned some of his notoriety and Alexi Jordan hadn’t. He’d also been given another glimpse into Alexi’s character and it didn’t match up to the sexual box he wanted to put her in.
“It would be nice if you brought her around to meet the rest of the family sometime.”
Jesse’s heart knocked like it did when a horror flick caught him off guard. Bring Alexi home to meet the family? Hell, all he was planning on doing was taking her to bed. Family didn’t enter the equation. “Mom, I don’t want you getting any ideas that Alexi and I are seeing each other. That kiss was just—”
His mother lifted a questioning brow. “Bring her, unless you’re still ashamed of us.”
Oh shit. He had a lot of crow to eat. “I don’t even know if she’ll want to come. We hardly know each other.” Right. They knew enough to drive each other into sexual oblivion.
“She’ll come,” his mother said.
That’s what he was afraid of.
“You remember that we’re having a barbecue for your brother’s birthday tomorrow night, don’t you?” Though his mother didn’t specifically say she expected him to bring Alexi, he heard the implied message loud and clear. His cell phone rang, offering him a short reprieve from what surely was shaping into a trap. He’d never brought anybody home to meet the folks, and bringing Alexi onto his home turf was more ground than he ever wanted to cover with her. What they had was a sexual thing, a temporary situation that wasn’t going to last much more than a weekend…well at least only a week…or two if she called him.
As he pulled his phone out of his pocket, he didn’t even realize he was holding his breath in hopes that Alexi would be on the other end. It was his real estate agent, Liz Bynam. “I’ll be back in a minute,” Jesse told his mother then stepped out the back door.
“Tell me you have good news, Liz.”
“I do. How does plenty of acreage and privacy sound?”
“Excellent. When can I see it?”
“Will tomorrow morning do?”
“What time?”
“At your convenience.”
“Let’s shoot for eight-thirty,” Jesse said, and disconnected the call thinking that at least one thing was going his way. Maybe he’d stop by Nan’s and see how Alexi was doing.
* * *
Alexi threw the newspaper down, picked up a pillow, covered her face, and groaned. “Jesse is another Roger.” Maybe she could just bury her head in the basket of one of the potted plants filling Nan’s apartment.
“Not quite. No mention of group gatherings,” Nan said.
“I am so relieved to hear that!” Alexi said, sarcasm dripping like rancid syrup. She heard the newspaper rattle and figured Nan had it.
“Shakespeare. No. He’s destroying your historic picture.”
“Good.” Alexi peeked from the pillow. “I’ll feed you a whole can of tuna,” she said, encouraging the crazy cat. His sharp claws flew faster and confetti went flying.
“For a cat’s godmother, you’re an awful influence.” Nan snatched the paper, shooing Shakespeare away.
“I’m worse than awful. I’m downright unfit.” Alexi pointed at the paper. “Do you know how mortified I am? I took him home and stood up for him in front of my family. I had sex with him yesterday. I’ve joined the ranks of bimbos around the globe. Prominent Playboy Steals Bride! I’m ruined for life.”
“Ruined from what? Savannah’s highbrow society matrons? That’s a plus. Besides, you don’t know how much of this is true. I wouldn’t throw the babe out with the bath water.”
Wild Irish (Book 1 of the Weldon Series) Page 9
