Southern Seduction (69 page)

He was wearing a long sleeve, navy colored, button down with the sleeves rolled to the elbow, dark jeans, and boots. As I admired his profile and fit physique I decided I could at least enjoy him until then.

“Mama’s Pizza?” I asked when JR opened my truck door to let me out. I slid off the seat and took the hand he offered. He kicked the door shut with his foot and we walked hand in hand to the restaurant.

“They have the best deep dish this side of the Mississippi.”

As the hostess lead us to a back booth I noticed a few of the patrons either glance or downright stare as we passed. He squeezed my hand and pulled me closer. Once we were seated a few people looked away but there was still a table by the front door with two girls and three guys who continued to stare. When our waitress left with our drink orders I nudged JR, who was busy studying the menu.

“What’s up?”

Very casually I placed my elbow on the table and leaned my head on my hand so that my face was blocked from their view. “Do you know them?”I motioned with my eyes over to the table.

“Who?”

JR started to look up from his menu and I grabbed his hand, “Don’t look then they’ll know were talking about them.”

“You know I can see down your shirt when you lean like that. Your tits are begging me to touch them.” His hand moved from the menu to my knee slowly moving up my leg.

I sat back from the table so I was facing the group staring at us again and slapped his arm away. “Oh my god be serious.”

“I am being serious.” His gaze fixated on my chest.

“Eyes up here buddy.”

“God, how I want to put one in my mouth right now.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I shooed off his words and turned my attention to my menu.

He placed an arm over the back of the booth behind me and scooted over so that we were pressed together. He leaned his head in, his mouth inches from my ear, “I’m sorry I don’t mean to be a dog, but you do something to me.” With his other hand he reached up and pulled my ponytail to one side exposing my neck to him. “When you’re nearby all I want to do is touch you, and when you’re not all I do is fantasize about touching you. Think about you screaming my name. You seem like a screamer.”

Damn butterflies were back and fluttering through every part of my body. God his breath was warm and minty. His hand was in my lap now squeezing my thigh, his thumb rotating in a circle, his hand inching up with each thumb rotation. His lips brushed the skin behind my ear and I shuddered. “God I want to make you scream.”

My breath hitched and he ceased the moment to kiss me long and hard. When he pulled away I was breathless. So was he. He didn’t move away but his focus returned to his menu, “I don’t care what you get on the pizza as long as you get extra cheese and mushrooms.”
“Huh?

“Actually I take that back, please don’t get anchovies, too salty, other than that, anything you want baby.”

Our seat started to vibrate. “Sorry, I thought I …” he pulled his cell phone out from his pocket, he stared at the screen, “… hmm.” His fingers moved quick as he sent a text back. He looked up finally noticing the table of five who watched us from the moment we arrived.

When he tucked his phone back into his pants pocket. He scooted over so we were no longer touching. Then he moved his arm from behind the booth. How did he do it? Switch gears so fast. I was still reveling in the taste of his tongue and he’s talking toppings. Had we moved into cold fish territory again? Brrr.

Once again the butterflies sank and the knot in my stomach hardened. My focus shifted to the table by the door and the five people sitting there laughing and staring. Were they friends of JR’s? By the look of their clothes I’d guess they were money. One guy had on a Cartier watch and one of the girls’ had a diamond pendant as big as my thumbnail around her neck.

The guy wearing the cartier got up. He flashed a smile at the girl with the long blond hair and huge diamond before walking towards us. He walked with a confidence I found sexy. He wasn’t bad looking, cropped wavy blond hair and blue eyes, no JR, but not bad.

He stopped when he reached our table. “Hey JR,” he said.

“Drew.” The playful southern lilt in JR’s voice was gone in it’s place an icy cadence, “What do you want?”

“Where are your manners? Introduce me to your friend,” Drew said.

JR rubbed his forehead and leaned back against the booth, “Drew this is Maddie, Maddie, Drew.”

“Hello Maddie, a pleasure.” Drew held out his hand. I reluctantly took it. JR’s focus stayed on our hands until Drew let go and slipped into the booth next to me. “Maddie you look familiar, do I know you?”

“I don’t think so.”

He stared as though he expected the answer to fly out of my forehead.

“You know her brother, Brayden,” JR said. He threw his menu down and turned his attention to the table Drew had come from.

“As in C & S Oil’s Brayden Scott?”

I nodded. Drew’s face immediately softened. Great another person lost to golden-boy’s sunshine. I would clarify my camp. “I know him as annoying.”

Drew threw his head back and laughed. “Your brother is chill, but I can see your side, shorty.”

Shorty?

JR’s demeanor stiffened, “Is there something you want?”

“Camille’s looking for you.”

Who was Camille? One of the girls over at the table? When I glanced over to Drew’s group nobody was looking over at us.

“I’m sure she is.” JR had completely pulled away from me. He was playing with his water glass now, wiping the sweat off of it.

Drew leaned forward, putting both his elbows on the table. “Come on man, water under the bridge. Can’t we let bygones be bygones?”

The closer Drew got the more JR pulled back. What transpired between them? The temperature between them was freezing. “I’ll talk to Camille when I feel like it, stop being her lap dog.”

Drew sat back. “
Lap dog
? Just trying to make amends.”

“Good luck with that.”

Drew opened his mouth to respond but stopped. He stared at JR a second before shaking his head and tossing his hands up. “Fine, you’re not ready, but when you are you know where to find me.” With that Drew got up from the table. “Maddie, pleasure,” he said and then went back to his own table.

Once Drew was back at his table I looked over at JR, “What was that about?”
“Nothing.”

Sure didn’t look like nothing. JR reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet threw two twenties on the table. “I’m sorry but I’m not feeling so well. You ready?”

Did I have a choice?
“Sure.”

This time as we walked through the restaurant he didn’t hold my hand or acknowledge I was with him. We’d moved from cold fish to dead fish.

When we passed Drew’s table he held up his drink and nodded. He didn’t seem like a bad guy, but I didn’t like him.

The car ride was silent. JR in his own world. The silence wore on my nerves and I had to say something when we pulled up to my house. “Who’s Camille?”

JR’s jaw tightened. He exhaled through his nose, “None of your concern.”

Too bad I didn’t give up that easy. “Well, since she ruined our evening I feel like I at least deserve to know who she is.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Message received. It was none of my business. Guess Wesley was right and I was the flavor of the week. “You know Wesley warned me about you, but I told him he was wrong. I thought … doesn’t matter I guess.” I grasped the door handle and flung open my door, “Have a good night.” I slammed his car door and hurried up the drive to the front door.

“Wesley? Who the hell are you talking about?” JR was out of the truck and following me now.

“None of your business,” I said. I could play bitch too.

I was near the front steps when JR grabbed my arm stopping me. He yanked me so I was facing him. “Ow. Let me go asshole.”

“No. Not until you tell me who you’re talking about.” His face had twisted from gorgeous to frightening and I was scared. This was a completely different side of him, a side I didn’t like at all.

“Wesley. He’s one of my dad’s hands okay. He told me that you weren’t the nice guy you pretended to be, that you were one of those different girls every week type guys.”

“Wesley Thompson?”

“Yes! How many times do I have to say his
damn
name?”

JR let go of my arm and stumbled back as though I struck him with a bat. His eyes were wide. Scared. He didn’t say anything. I took the moment and hurried up the stairs and opened the front door I said quickly over my shoulder, “You’re an asshole,” and slammed the door behind me. The foyer was dark. Everyone must be asleep.

Scared the shit out of me when a hand grabbed my leg.

I screamed.

“Calm down, it’s just me,” Brayden said.

“What the fuck are you doing hiding in the dark like some sort of stalker.”

“Sorry. Wanted to make sure you made it home safe is all,” … I sank down on the stair next to Brayden … “what was that all about?”

“Me being an idiot like usual.”

He put an arm around my shoulder. “You’re not an idiot, we both know that so why are you upset?”

“I like him,” oh god I was sniffling, “he doesn’t like me.”

“I’m not defending him, okay, but he sure seemed smitten with you when he picked you up.”

“Smitten? Oh my god Brayden corporate America is aging you.”

“Shut-up. He was digging you. Better? So what happened?”

He sounded like an aging hippie but whatever. I lay my head on his shoulder. “Everything was going great, really and then it wasn’t. This Drew guy came over and talked to JR about someone named Camille and suddenly POOF total shit.”

Brayden stiffened, “Oh.”

“Oh what? Is she an old girlfriend?” Brayden pulled his arm away and stood up. “Oh god it’s worse than that isn’t it? Is he married with kids?”

“First off, I wouldn’t have let him anywhere near you if he were married with kids. He’s not. …” Brayden started pacing, “… look I …” he ran his hands through his hair furiously, “… let’s go outside.”

He didn’t wait for me as he hurried across the foyer, through the dining and living rooms and out the french doors to the back patio. My brother was frazzled. Nothing ever ruffled him. Seeing him flustered made me super anxious. What the hell was he about to tell me?

When I stepped out onto the patio Brayden was at the edge of the patio staring out into the dark. His arms were crossed over his chest. He sighed when I came up beside him. “Okay, so you wanna tell me what all the cloak and dagger is about?”

“Can you keep a secret?”

“I thought we were talking about JR?”

“What I’m about to tell you has to do with me too.”

“Golden boy has dirty hands? Never.”

He rubbed his hands together. “Shut-up, Maddie.” He started shifting feet, clearly stressed.

“Okay, I’m sorry I’ll stop joking and I promise my lips are sealed.” I then demonstrated by pantomiming zipping my lips and throwing away the key.

“You remember last summer when I came to stay with you and mom?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you think it was weird?”

“Look, can you just cut through the crap and tell me who the fuck Camille is and why you’re as freaked about Drew and Camille as JR was?”

“Alright, alright, Maddie, dang. Last summer Drew and Matthew talked me and JR into going down to Lake Texoma for spring break with them. Drew’s dad has a houseboat there said we were welcome to use it. Drew ended up canceling just as we were pulling out. Some family drama or whatever going on but said we could still use the boat. We did.

“On our second night there, Drew shows up, but he’s not alone, he’s got this little tag-along with him, a third cousin or something he’s been told to keep an eye on. Drew didn’t share the drama and we didn’t ask. We figured we’d switch up the activities a little to accommodate for the kid. Well, Drew never mentioned the kid was being babysat because of a drug problem. If the rest of us had known we wouldn’t have gone to Fobb Bottom to party our last night.” My brother turned to me tears in his eyes, “Honestly, I didn’t know the kid and Drew said he could handle him.”

I could feel my stomach knotting.

“That kid scored some drugs off some guy there, got high as a kite and thought he could walk on water.”

“Oh god Brayden.”

Tears streamed down his cheek, “Everybody was drunk, nobody saw him except JR who pulled him out, did CPR until the motor patrol arrived with EMTs but it was too late.”

“No,” I whispered.

“Drew didn’t even freak, not a single feather ruffled, because he was too high to know what the fuck was going on.”

“Oh my god.” It was all I could say.

“Don’t look at me like that Maddie. Believe me, everyday I wish I could go back and have a redo, I’d never have gone to that party.”

He was full out crying now. Right or wrong I didn’t like seeing my brother in so much pain. I squeezed my brother as tight as I could, “It’s not your fault,” I said.

“Yeah? Because I disagree. I know Drew, I knew he would rather get drunk than be responsible for an hour or two.”

“It’s not your fault,” I repeated.

My brother pulled away from me and wiped his eyes with his shirt, “Camille is Drew’s cousin, the kids mom.”