Love Is the Drug (18 page)

And he couldn’t say for sure whether that relieved him or pissed him off even more. So he swung an arm around her waist and pulled her into him.

“Forget it. Let’s fuck.”

And then he dove into her mouth. For a split second she gave back to him as good as she got. But then she began to twist and squirm. To push against his chest with the palms of her hands. To pull his hair and shriek into his mouth.

Then she bit his lip.

He jerked away and pressed the back of his hand to his mouth. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

She tucked her hair behind her ear and crossed her arms—tight—over her chest. “I want to know
why
you think your life is so fucked up.” She dropped her hands to her sides and her expression softened. “Please, will you tell me what has you so upset?”

Jason stared hard at her and swallowed. He gritted his teeth and scrubbed his suddenly-sweaty palms over the thighs of his jeans. He took in two very deep breaths and released them. Then he said, “My father—the real one—” Mother
fuck!
He turned and strode a good six paces from her. No way could he face her when he said it. “—attacked my mother.
Raped
her. Get it?” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Up until the accident, Gabe Jörgensen and I were conned by my mother into believing I was his.” He clenched his hand so tightly at his side, his arm shook. “I’m the son of the basest form of human I know,”—he took several fast, shallow breaths to lessen the pressure that welled inside him which was threatening to burst forth in some embarrassing way, like
tears—
“not the greatest one,” he finished huskily. A wave of dizziness rushed over him then and he grabbed hold of a wood beam to keep from falling. His heart was thumping so hard in his chest, it hurt.

Julie’s legs nearly gave out under her. She cleared her throat. “How…?” she whispered hoarsely.

Jason didn’t answer her and she could see, even in the dim light, that his knuckles were white where he gripped the wood post. Her heart was breaking. For him and for Gabe. She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her cheek against the hard plane of his back. He tensed in her embrace and tried to break the contact, but she was determined and wouldn’t let him go. “You don’t have to tell me any more.” She kissed his back through the cotton of his red Polo. “Make love to me,” she said and ran her hand down his abdomen, under the waistband of his jeans and briefs, and finally over his sex.

Jason turned to face her, taking her hand out of his pants at the same time and then placing it around his neck. His expression eased as he gazed at her. His eyes held relief—and
gratitude?
Before she had time to process that revelation, he lifted her up off her feet, into his embrace, and kissed her.

The kiss, though passionate, held something more behind it. Darker. More fierce. Some need that she couldn’t define, couldn’t grasp, but that she willingly, eagerly,
openly
offered herself up to fulfill.

Whatever he wanted of her, whatever he needed of her, whatever he demanded of her, she would not deny him. Because it had finally, finally sunk home that she was—for him and with him—head-over-heels, over-the-moon, shot-through-with-splendor IN LOVE.

* * *

The next morning, Luke and Mike showed up at the kitchen door of the farmhouse. Luke held a squirming Pookie in his arms. “Is Jason here?” he asked Julie when she opened the screen door for them.

“Hi Mike,” she said before answering Luke. “He’ll be in here in a minute. He’s finishing up a phone conversation with his partner in Houston. I was just about to make some pancakes—want some?”

Luke’s eyes lit up like a Las Vegas billboard. “Yeah!” He whipped his head around to Mike. “Can I?”

Mike’s smile looked a little uncomfortable, but he scrubbed his fingers across Luke’s head and said, “Sure. But don’t hurt yourself. You already had a pretty big breakfast with your mom.”

“I won’t.”

“Put Pookie down and stand on that stool so you can wash your hands at the sink. Then take a seat,” Julie told him. “I’ll have them ready for you in a few minutes.”

“How is Nora Lee?” Julie asked Mike.

“She’s fine—looking for work, though. There’s not much available here, so she’s been interviewing in Dallas. But—well, the market’s pretty slow right now, with the economy the way it is and all.”

“Hey! I just had a thought—would Nora Lee be interested, do you think, in a hostess position at my restaurant?”

Mike shrugged. “Maybe.”

“I’ll call her this evening and ask. I could really use the help and I’ll bet she’d be great at it.”

Jason strode into the kitchen just then. “Hey Mike—Luke,” he said. “Mike, listen”—he shot a glance in Julie’s direction and then back at Mike. “I need to apologize to you—”

“No need—”

“Well, actually there is.” He glanced at Luke, whose ears had perked up with Jason’s words, and then said to Mike, “Let’s go into the other room a few minutes to talk.”

Mike gave a brief nod and strode out of the kitchen behind Jason.

Julie was stunned, but thrilled that Jason had realized the error in judgment he’d made the day before by sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. And it was much better that Mike hear the truth from Jason than to find out some other way. Like from Luke—or Nora’s ex-husband.

Hopefully, Mike wouldn’t quit. The restaurant wouldn’t take long to refurbish—they should be ready to open in only a few more weeks, barring that catastrophe.

And Jason had better have the same conversation with Nora Lee. She struck Julie as someone that could take a guy’s lights out if she wanted to.

Julie kind of liked that about her.

* * *

“Mike left through the front. He’s gone to the lodge site to work,” Jason said a little while later as he walked back into the kitchen. “I’ll bring Luke back here in a couple of hours so I can go up there to look in on the progress.”

Julie surprised the hell out of him then. She came over to him and kissed him on the cheek and said, “I’m very proud of you. Thanks for doing that.”

Jason knew she was talking about his apologizing to Mike. He squeezed her around her middle and grinned down at her. “You’re welcome.” He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and then nuzzled her neck. “Mmm. You smell sweet. Like breakfast syrup.”

Julie laughed. “Some squirted out into my hair when I opened the lid a minute ago.”

Jason got hard. He shuttled them both behind the kitchen island to hide his reaction from the young eyes that watched them. “You almost ready to go fishin’, sport?” he said to Luke, but his mind was spinning.
It was beyond belief.
How the hell had breakfast syrup become a turn-on? She was seriously screwing with his equilibrium and he couldn’t seem to do a damned thing about it.

Luke’s mouth was so full of pancakes, his cheeks bulged like a chipmunk’s and he nearly knocked his head off with his eager head-nodding.

Over the next days, Luke became a permanent fixture at the farmhouse and wherever Jason was, the black-haired boy was not far behind.

* * *

On a bright Wednesday afternoon, exactly three weeks since they’d woken up married in Vegas, Jason held the door to the Greek restaurant open for Julie to walk through. They’d brought Gabe back to Houston that morning and, after making sure he was settled into his house, came here to get a bite to eat.

“Why won’t you let me at least sit in on the interview? That way, if you forget to tell the nurse something, I can remind you,” Julie said, taking two steps out onto the hot pavement and then turning back to face Jason. Squinting in the bright sunlight, she crossed her arms over her chest and cocked a brow at him as she waited with not-a-little irritation for his reply.

“There’s no need to—”

“Jason! Jason, is that you man?”

They both turned to look in the direction of the male voice.

Jason grinned. “Hey Steve. Are you living in Houston now?” He stepped forward and gave the man’s hand a healthy shake.

Julie saw the curiosity reflected in Steve’s gaze as it skimmed over her and then settled back on Jason. “No way, man. I’ll never leave Austin.” He was a much different sort from the buttoned-up type Julie was used to seeing in Jason’s circle. His wavy brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail at the base of his neck and he sported a short-cropped beard and mustache. And tattoos! She was especially fascinated by the blue and gold serpent that ran up the side of his neck.

Jason reached back and put his arm around her, bringing her up next to him. “This is my wife, Julie.” And then he dropped his gaze to her and grinned. “Julie, this is my old friend, Steve Baldwin. We tended bar together about three years ago.”

Julie knew she was gaping, but she couldn’t seem to recover enough to respond. She didn’t know what she was more stunned by: that he’d called her his wife, or that he’d been a bartender.

Luckily, neither man seemed to notice her gaff, because they continued their light banter for another several minutes until Jason finally cut it short so he could get to the interview with his dad’s prospective nurse.

* * *

“You might as well just drive straight over to the agency, because I’m going with you,” Julie said as Jason pulled out of the restaurant parking lot a few minutes later.

“Out of the question. I’m taking you back to my apartment.”

He hadn’t even looked at her when he’d replied, which really got her back up. “Jason Jörgensen, I want to go with you! Why are you being so obstinate about this?”

“Because I don’t want you there, okay? Is that plain enough? This is none of your business—so just butt out.”

For a split second, Julie felt as if her soul had been ripped from her body.

Once she could breathe again, the real pain started. Her heart ached and her throat clogged up with tears she refused to shed in front of the man next to her.

She turned her head and looked out the window.

* * *

Jason sighed loudly as he drove his BMW out of the valet lane of his hi-rise apartment building twenty long, deadly silent minutes later. It only slightly relieved the heavy feeling of guilt he had for telling Julie to mind her own business. It had been harsh and it had hurt her feelings, but he’d needed her to stop pressing him to meet with the nurse. A nurse that he had yet to even set an appointment with. A nurse that he sure as hell
did
want Julie to have some input in hiring.
When
he finally met with her.

But the nurse thing had only been an excuse—a bad one, as it turned out—for him to pick up the diamond ring he’d had made for her a couple of weeks ago, after his dark confession, when he’d come to Houston on one of his business trips.

He sure hoped she liked it.

Well, he guessed he’d find out on Saturday when he gave it to her.

Ever since that night at the lodge site when she’d accepted him with such an open heart, his whole center of gravity had shifted. And along with it, his perspective as well. Now, all he wanted was to marry Julie for real; give her the type of ceremony she deserved, just like his dad had said he should.

In so many ways, it made sense.

For one thing, they got along so well—and not just in the sack—a major surprise as far as he was concerned. And his dad—well, his dad made no bones about how he felt about Julie. And Jason was shocked—on a daily basis, shocked—at just how content he was, living with Julie in that podunk town. Who’da thought?

But it was true. And he could trace that feeling right back to that night when he’d told her exactly who he was and she hadn’t run screaming into the night, the way he’d expected her to.

In a strange way, it had eased the strain in his relationship with his dad, as well. And that alone was worth permanently giving up his freedom.

* * *

Julie moped around Jason’s apartment, first picking up and flipping through an old issue of
Architectural Digest
as she stood at the wall of windows that stretched the length of the living room, and then tossing it back on the smoked glass top of the metal and wood cocktail table before going to the kitchen for a bottle of water. After taking a deep swig, she shuffled across the dark oak floor back to the living room where she dropped down onto the black leather sofa and lolled back, closing her eyes. She took in a deep breath and released it on a sigh, then switched on the T.V. and immediately muted the sound because the voices grated across her tender nerves like beach sand in a wet bathing suit.

Jason had really shut her down with that last comment. So much so, her insides still hadn’t unfurled.

She pressed her fingertips into her burning eyes.

It was over.

She’d known it since Gabe first told the two of them last week that he wanted to come back home.

But when Jason still hadn’t divulged the truth of their marriage to his dad by the time they left Gabe’s house today, even introducing her as his
wife
earlier—and without missing a beat—she’d begun to hope that he was just as happy to remain married as she was.