Jarod's Heart (King Brothers Stories #2) (10 page)

He felt motherly arms around his waist, pulling him from pictures of the past. “She’s beautiful, Jarod.” Camille wore a watery smile as she focused her eyes on her new granddaughter.

“I know, Mom,” he put his arm around her shoulders in return.

Sensing that she was getting down to business, he pulled his eyes off Jessica so that he could pay close attention to his mother.

“I went through her backpack, and she doesn’t have much,” Camille said. “There’s a large t-shirt in there that I suppose will suffice for a nightgown tonight, but I’ll have to do some shopping tomorrow. I’ll set her up in your room for now. I doubt she’ll want to sleep alone in a strange house for a while, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to scare my granddaughter on her first night home.” She swallowed back her tears.

“I’d planned on putting her on my sofa in my room for now, so I’m glad we’re in agreement on that issue,” he agreed.

“Good,” she said, having gained her control again. “We can make other arrangements for her later. As far as her clothes, I’ll wash her things tonight so that she’ll have something clean to wear tomorrow morning because what she has on is it, Jarod.”

“I hadn’t looked in the backpack. There’s nothing else?”

“No, there’s nothing, not even an extra pair of undies.” She paused, then whispered, “My grandbaby has nothing.”

“She’s got us, Mom,” Jason interrupted before Jarod could answer. Jason’s protective instinct had ruled his life for a long time. Jarod was proud that it extended beyond his brother’s fiancée to Jessica.

“Of course, you’re right.” Camille visibly straightened and wiped the moisture from her eyes. Leaving his side, she marched right over to Josh and put her hands out to Jessica in a “can I hold you, too?” gesture.

Jessica smiled and went to her grandmother willingly. The smile that spread across his mother’s face was all the answer Jarod needed.

There would be no testing. Jessica Rose King was home.

S
omething’s not right.
Jarod blinked his sleepy eyes open and looked around his bedroom. Everything seemed normal except that he’d left the bathroom light on by accident so the glow of the fluorescent bulb would spill into the room. How he hated those things. Most times he just took a leak in the dark instead of waiting for the damn bulb to heat up. In the time it took to cast any light, he was already back in bed.

Then he heard the noise that must have jarred him from sleep.

He laid perfectly still until he heard it again. Someone was in his bedroom breathing hard, as if in a panic.

What the hell?

He clicked on the bedside light and looked around. Through the bedroom door he could just make out the crumpled blankets on the couch in his sitting room, but no one was there.

Revelation hitting him, he sat up quickly and looked around.

Where was Jessica?

He heard the noise again and looked toward his armoire, where Jessica was trying to open the tall doors.

“What are you doing, Darlin’?” Jarod asked.

Jessica startled and turned around slowly; her sapphire eyes were huge and frightened. Jarod went to her immediately, going down to one knee and putting his hands on her delicate shoulders. Her raven black hair was wavy from the braids she’d worn earlier and fell like a cloak to the middle of her small back. The t-shirt from her backpack was about seven times too big for her, the neck hole hanging off to one side, almost to her elbow. She had huge tears running down her face, but she barely made a sound.

“Tell me what’s wrong, Jessica.”

“Blue is gone,” she hiccupped.

“Blue?”

“Uh huh.” Her lower lip quivered and another fat tear rolled down her face. “I hafta find Blue. I can’t sleep without Blue.”

Thinking that Blue was a toy that he’d somehow missed seeing, he asked, “What does Blue look like? And I’ll help you find it.”

“Blue is blue,” she explained, as if he were mentally deficient.

Jarod scrubbed at his sleepy, beard-stubbled face and looked at the clock. It was two in the morning.

He turned back to his little girl and thought for a moment before the lightbulb finally turned on in his head and he grinned.

“Are you looking for that dirty ol’ blanket?”

Lip trembling and eyes closing to squeeze out another fat tear, she nodded, still not making any kind of sound. Weren’t children supposed to be noisy when they cried? Hell if he knew, but her silence did bother him; however, he wasn’t going to question her about it at the moment. Right now, he had an urgent matter to attend to.

He had to find Blue. His daughter needed her blanket.

Scooping her up, he hugged her to him and said, “Nana put Blue, and the rest of your things, in the washing machine when you fell asleep.” He brushed a tear away from her rosy cheek with the tip of his large finger.

“But Blue is ’fraid of the washin’ sheens. They live on the dark street and Blue needs ta be with me,” she explained.

“Jessica, Nana has her own washing machine. Blue is here in the house. Actually, it’s probably in the dryer.” He studied her tearful face for another moment and asked, “Do you want to see if Blue is clean and dry yet?”

She was clasping and unclasping her hands under her chin, but she nodded her head. Those fat tears still rolled down her face. He hugged her to him again and kissed her wet cheek, unable to stop himself from offering her comfort.

So, with her in a giant t-shirt and him wearing only his boxers, they padded downstairs to the washer and dryer to look for his daughter’s beloved blanket.

When they entered the small dining room that led to the utility room, they found Lauren sitting at the table sipping from a teacup. Lauren’s eyes bugged out of her head, obviously surprised to see them at this unholy hour and in such a state of undress.

With a wicked grin on her face, she asked sweetly, “What’s goin’ on, guys?”

Jessica said, “We’re lookin’ for Blue.”

Lauren raised her eyebrows.

“She needs her blanket,” he explained.

Lauren immediately got up to open the utility room door.

“Of course you do, sweet pea. Let’s see if it’s in the dryer.”

Good God, she wasn’t wearing much more than either of them. Jarod watched her firm behind sway in soft gray yoga pants that hugged her heart-shaped tush. Her white camisole left nothing to the imagination, especially with it being a little chilly. The central heating system was set to automatically dip down at night so everyone could sleep comfortably.

He did not want to see her like this, right now, while he held his very afraid, and very new, daughter in his arms.

He closed his eyes and prayed for self-control.

Jessica squeezed his neck. “We need to rescue Blue, Jar’d.”

Hearing her mangle his name in her sweet voice startled him. And he was beginning to think she might have some speech problems.

“Sorry, Darlin’,” he said distractedly and followed Lauren-of-the-awesome-behind into the utility room, where she was bending over to dig through the dryer.

Damn
. He squeezed his eyes shut again.
Get it together, Man!

Just then, she turned around excitedly to present the now-clean blanket, which did very interesting things to the front of her camisole. Lauren’s eyes were bright with excitement when Jessica squealed at the sight of her blanket. Jessica squirmed to get down, so Jarod gently put her feet to the floor.

She ran to Lauren, who was now bent down to hand the blanket over…
Lord have mercy…
which gave him the perfect view of her fantastic cleavage.

He was never getting back to sleep tonight. No way. No how.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he watched the two females squeal with delight over the clean, ratty blue blanket.

Lauren picked up Jessica and asked, “Are you ready for bed now?”

Jessica hugged her blue blanket tight, nodding her pretty head.

“Do you want your daddy to take you back upstairs?”

He looked at both girls, one ebony-haired and one blonde, two pairs of blue eyes of different variation, looking back at him in contemplation.

“Yes,” Jessica said definitively. Lauren put Jessica down, and Jessica quickly made her way back to him.

“All better now, Darlin’?” He scooped her up as he asked her the question. Once she was securely in his arms again, he felt better. The blanket was warm, like she was, and she seemed content, her eyes drooping sleepily. She wrapped one arm around his neck this time and stared at Lauren.

“Is she comin’ ta bed with us, Jar’d?”

Jarod jerked his eyes to Lauren, who was now laughing quietly behind her hands, which didn’t help his problem. All the giggling ran through her lush body and jiggled feminine things he shouldn’t be noticing right now.

Lauren finally dropped her arms and crossed them over her chest, which, God help him, pushed her assets up even more.

She collected herself enough to say, “No, sweet pea. Your nana gave me my own bedroom to sleep in.” She continued to snicker. “You better take your daddy back to bed, though. He’s got to get up early for work.”

Solemnly, Jessica said, “Ah-right.” She turned her sweet face to him and said, “C’mon, Jar’d. Let’s go back to our room.”

Jarod couldn’t hold back the chuckle at his daughter’s command. “As you wish, Darlin’. Say goodnight to Lauren.”

“’Night, Lorn,” she said on a tiny yawn. Jessica laid her head on his shoulder, cuddling her blanket close to her face, while her other arm stayed around his neck.

“Goodnight, Jessie. I’ll see you at breakfast.”

Jarod gave her a thankful nod of appreciation. He turned with his sleepy burden and headed back upstairs.

Once in his room, he made his way to the couch where she had been sleeping before her nightmare. He bent to put her down, but she clung to him like a baby monkey.

“What’s the matter, Jessica?”

“Blue wantsta sleep with you,” she said.

“Blue does, huh?” He raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her, then looked at the clock. He only had time for a cat nap before he had to be up to shower anyway. “Come on, you two. Let’s get some shut eye.”

He didn’t bother tucking her into the other side of his California king-sized bed. He just carried her to his side of it and laid down under the covers. She didn’t bat an eye. As Jarod settled down on his back, she cuddled closer to him with her blanket, let out a gusty, satisfied sigh, and fell asleep.

HER CELL PHONE
was ringing.

Maybe they’ll hang up
, Lauren thought as she rolled over and pulled the covers over her head.

Again, the loud techno beat of her ringtone sounded through the bedroom. She unwound herself from her warm cocoon and reached for her phone on the bedside table.

“Mmm…’lo?” she mumbled. Her eyes weren’t quite open as she ran her free hand through the chaotic mass of blonde curls covering her face and head.

“Howsh my gurl?” slurred a drunken female voice on the other end.

Lauren sighed as she looked at the clock. Three forty-five in the morning; she’d only just fallen back to sleep.