Damaged and the Knight (2 page)

“We need to get you fed.”

“Okay,” I said then added after a long moment of silence, “I’m sorry if my clothes smell. I haven’t done laundry and I haven’t showered in a few days. I’ve washed off, but I didn’t want to be undressed with those guys outside.”

When Judd didn’t react, I stared outside again. Eventually, we reached a decent sized city and he pulled off the highway and into the parking lot of a Denny’s. I remembered Farah telling me recently how she quit her job at Denny’s after moving in with Cooper. Even after everything Farah told me, I couldn’t picture Ellsberg, her house, or even what Cooper was like. She had been afraid of him, but in love too. Sometimes, Farah seemed unsure of herself and their relationship, so I couldn’t be certain either. Soon, I would see her and meet him. The second part scared me, but it was still days away.

“You’ll eat then we’ll find a hotel. Once that happens, you can call your sister. Do you understand?”

I thought I nodded. When Judd only stared, I suspected I hadn’t.

“How long will it take to drive to Kentucky?”

“We’re catching a flight from Dallas..”

“I can’t fly.”

“Won’t, you mean,” he said, getting out of the SUV. Slamming the door, he waited for me to follow. “I’m not driving to Kentucky.”

Staring at him, I didn’t know what I showed on my face, but he cupped my cheeks and stared into my eyes.

“When did you last eat?”

“A few days ago.”

“Don’t pig out then,” he said, letting me go.

Following him as he walked swiftly to the front doors, I swallowed my fear and forced out the words.

“I’m afraid to fly.”

“I don’t care,” Judd said, holding the door open for me. “Pull your hair forward, so the waitresses can’t see the bruises on your face and think they need to ask questions.”

Hiding behind my long dark hair, I hoped Farah would make Judd understand. I was afraid of flying. While not pathologically afraid, I didn’t want my first time flying to be with a scary mean man while I felt sick. I could do it if Farah was with me. With Judd, I was too scared.

The waitress paid me little attention. Pretty with a great smile, she kept her eyes glued to Judd. He gave her a half smile then pretended she wasn’t there. She didn’t seem to mind and I didn’t blame her. When I waitressed, I liked looking at hot guys too. I never thought anything would happen, but looking was fun.

“Order something small.”

“Like what?” I asked, looking over the extensive menu.

“Get something on the value meal. Those are smaller. If you eat too much too fast, you’ll puke and I’m not getting puked on.”

After reading my few choices, I lifted my gaze to Judd’s handsome face. He looked at me with those cold eyes, daring me to annoy him.

“Can I have this?” I asked about the value meal.

“Whatever, but don’t puke the pancakes up in the car. I’m not warning you again.”

I stared at Judd who ignored me until after he ordered. Once the waitress left, he met my gaze with his indifferent eyes.

“Don’t cry.”

“I’m not.”

“You look ready to bawl.”

“I need to use the restroom.”

“I’m not taking you.”

Sliding out of the booth, I felt the same way as when my father talked down to me. Unlike his fake love for Farah, he never pretended for me. Mostly because Farah was the one who would go to college and give him something to brag about during his poker games.

Returning from the bathroom, I noticed a guy wink at me. Instantly nervous, I hurried to the booth and stared at my hands.

“What?” he asked. When I avoided his gaze, he grumbled, “No crying.”

“Okay.”

Judd leaned his head back and cracked his neck. “We can catch a flight tomorrow morning and be in Ellsberg by the afternoon.”

Saying nothing, I wished I was already in Ellsberg. Judd tapped at the table until I looked up at him.

“What’s the problem, kid?”

“Some guy winked at me. I’m nervous.”

“What guy?” he asked, gazing around the place with his cranky stare. “Whoever it was is some asshole checking out the hot chick. Don’t get all weird about it. If he messes with you, I’ll do what I did to your boyfriend back at the motel.”

When his gaze returned to my face, Judd narrowed his eyes. “Do not cry.”

“If Cooper paid you more money, would you stop being an asshole?”

Judd gave me a little grin. “How much more?”

“I don’t know. How much money does he have?”

“Maybe not enough if you plan to cry.”

“You’re the reason I want to cry.”

“How do you figure? You’ve looked like that since the minute we met. I can’t imagine you were already hating my personality back then.”

“That guy wasn’t my boyfriend,” I muttered. “He planned to rape and kill me. He said so lots of times and that’s why I was trapped in there. You know he wasn’t my boyfriend, but you’re being mean just to be mean. Your lack of manners makes me want to cry.”

Judd gave me a half smile and nodded. “If my lack of manners is all it takes to get you bawling, you’re never going to shut up. Might have to drug you for the flight.”

“I’m not flying.”

“I’m not driving you. It’ll take days.”

“Farah won’t let you make me fly.”

“Farah isn’t my boss.”

Judd said the words, but I knew he was thinking about how his boss paid money to make Farah happy. That happiness meant we weren’t flying. He didn’t admit this fact, but I saw it on his face.

When our food arrived, I was careful to eat slowly. No matter how much Cooper paid Judd, I didn’t doubt he’d yell at me if I puked in his car. The entire meal was silent and Judd didn’t even look at me. He stared at his food or at loud people. He also kept an eye out for trouble. I saw the way his jaw tensed when he viewed someone as a possible threat.

Even eating slowly and leaving behind food when my stomach cramped, I felt sick as we headed to Wal-Mart. Judd decided I needed clean clothes because mine were dirty and he didn’t want to waste time washing them.

Shopping with Judd wasn’t fun. He acted like I was an inconvenience and scared all of the clerks with his cold glare. He was like a less charming version of my dad. The only upside was Judd didn’t expect me to shoplift.

Looking over the clothes, I wasn’t sure what to buy because I hadn’t gone shopping at a real store in years. We usually went to Goodwill and mostly stole what we could. Now, I had the instructions of “buy something fast, kid” to guide me.

After checking a rack with cute sweatpants, I returned a pink pair.

“What was wrong with those?” Judd muttered, crossing his arms.

“They’re seventeen dollars.”

A frowning Judd blinked and his expression eased. Sighing, he stepped closer. “Kid, I don’t give a shit. It’s fucking Wal-Mart. Whatever they sell in here ain’t bankrupting me. Just pick some fucking clothes, so we can go.”

“You like to say fucking a lot, don’t you?” I muttered while adding the sweatpants to the cart.

“It’s like verbal salt. I enjoy sprinkling it on everything.”

Smiling at him, I grabbed a few more sweatpants then added two pairs of jeans. While I waited for Judd to bitch about how much I was taking, the idea of new clothes was too much to pass up and I kept adding things.

Judd didn’t seem to care about anything as he followed me around. He grunted an order to get a new toothbrush and beauty crap. The only other time he showed interest was when I was picking out panties and he told me to get the other kind. Apparently, he wasn’t a fan of plain white underwear. Following his suggestion, I picked the package full of polka dotted pink panties.

Before we finished shopping, I stopped for my second bathroom break. My stomach wanting to get rid of the food from earlier, I sat with my head between my legs and breathed slowly until the nausea passed. When I returned to where Judd waited, I couldn’t help grinning.

He looked so wrong sitting on the little bench next to an old lady. Judd and the woman were both messing with their phones. I nearly laughed at the sight of them, but felt too sick to let out a good chuckle.

“You look like shit,” he said, standing up. “Did you puke?”

“No.”

“Do you feel like you might?”

“Yes.”

“Cork it. I’m not interested in holding your hair. Let’s finish up.”

Nodding, I followed him as he shoved the cart towards the front of the store. Once in line, I tried to steady myself, but I felt so dizzy. Judd finally had me hold onto the cart while he dumped things onto the conveyer belt.

“Can I have bubble gum?” I mumbled, staring at the choices.

“Shit. Just grab something, so we can go.”

Without looking at him, I grabbed two packages and added them to the rest of the stuff. As soon as we were in the car, I opened one packet and popped a piece of gum into my mouth. Judd frowned at me then drove us to a nice hotel. It was so nice that a man brought our bags to the suite.

Judd dumped the bags of clothes on the bed before returning to the sitting room where the bigger TV was located. Turning on the flat screen, he glanced at me.

“Take a shower, put on new clothes, call your sister, go to sleep. Understand?”

I did as I was told because Judd wasn’t the kind of man to disobey. He was a million times scarier than Dad and my jaw still hurt from when my dad last felt I disobeyed him.

After scrubbing myself clean, I dressed in the two piece pajamas Judd bought. I returned to the sitting area to find him waiting.

“I’ll dial your sister, you’ll talk to her, say happy shit, then tell her we’ll fly in tomorrow. Do you understand?” he asked as his cold eyes dared me to push the flying issue.

“Yes.”

Judd handed me his phone then pressed a button. “I’ll wait on the balcony.”

Still dizzy, I sat down and watched Judd walk outside. He looked underdressed for the fancy room we were in, yet I suspected he didn’t give a shit. Judd had a way of seeming like he never gave a shit.

Once the phone clicked and I heard Farah’s voice, I breathed easier. Even with so much distance between us and my fatigue, I felt like she was just an arm’s reach away.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yes. I feel a little sick from not eating and I haven’t slept well, but I’m safe.”

“Did you have any issues? Cooper made it sound like those guys were around, but he didn’t really tell me much.”

“They tried to grab me, but Judd handled them.”

“So he’s taking care of you.”

Studying Judd out on the balcony, I said nothing and the silence was long and loud.

“He isn’t hurting you, is he?” Farah whispered.

“No,” I said quickly. “He’s just a jerk. Rough, I guess. He saved me and got me new clothes and fed me. He’s taking care of me, but not in a nice way. I know it’s not his job to be nice.”

“You don’t want to fly, do you?”

“Judd says we have to, but I’m scared and he makes me nervous.”

“Then, you can drive. It’ll only be a few days. Barely that.”

“He said we have to fly.”

Farah heard my meaning and sighed. “I’ll pull rank.”

Grinning, I imagined hugging Farah and being safe. “Cooper loves you.”

“Hell yeah, he does.”

We laughed. “Is he mad that I’m coming?”

“Of course not. He’s even got your rooms ready. Well, kinda ready. You can fix them up when you get here.”

The whole rooms plural thing made no sense to me, but I grunted an affirmation. “I miss you.”

“You’ll be safe here and we’ll be together.”

“What about Cooper?”

“It’s going to be okay, Tawny. When it comes to me, Cooper understands everything. He knows I need you.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t be scared of that guy. He’s doing a job. Maybe he’s scary, but Cooper didn’t send him because he was the nicest guy he could find. He sent him to make sure no one interfered. Coop promised me you would get here safe and he keeps his promises.”

“Because he loves you.”

“Yes,” Farah said and I heard the emotion in her voice. “It’s so good here, but I need you to make it perfect.”

“Soon.”

“Soon,” she said.

Once we hung up, I walked to the balcony where Judd still stood. He glanced back at me and frowned.

“Chicks and tears. It’s like a given.”

“I miss my sister.”

Judd nodded and looked back at the view. “I know.”

“She says we’re not flying.”

Cocking an eyebrow, he smirked. “Did she?” Nodding, I stepped towards the edge and looked down. “You’re not scared of heights, are you?”

“No, I like being up high. It makes me feel special. Rich people live up high.”

Judd said nothing, his normally cold gaze a bit warmer. “You look like shit. I checked the room service menu and they have soup here. I wouldn’t suggest you eat too much. Just the broth then crash since I don’t need you carsick tomorrow.”

When I just stared at him, Judd rolled his eyes and stared at the view.

“How do I order the soup?” I finally asked.

Judd looked ready to say something nasty, but stopped himself and returned to the room to order. As I sat on the little loveseat and stared at the dark television, he watched me like he was trying to figure out how to fit the chunks of my body into a suitcase. When I finally met his gaze and dared him to chop me up, Judd grinned.

“You look funny when you give that look. Like you’re thinking real hard,” he said, flopping into a chair with the remote. “Don’t hurt yourself, kid.”

“Do you live in Ellsberg?” I asked as he flipped from channel to channel too quickly to really be looking for anything to watch.

“Yes.”

“Did you grow up there?”

“No.”

“Do you like it there?”

“Sure.”

“Do you think I’ll like it there?”

“Your sister is shacked up with the prince of the fucking place. I’m sure you’ll live a pretty sweet life in Ellsberg.”

“Are the people nice there?”

“Not really. Maybe two percent of the people are nice.”

“So the other ninety eight percent are like you?”

Judd grinned. “Sounds about right. You should fit in.”

“How am I not nice?”

“You got a look about you. Like the little girl act is a con and you’ll shiv me while I sleep.”