Love Song Series Box Set (18 page)

Chapter 2
1

Jase

I’ve been living at Julie’s for two weeks, and I fucking love it. Learning to live with a house full of women is kind of hard, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. The only thing I miss about living on my own is watching TV. I swear if I have to watch one more episode of Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, or Sex in the City, I will turn into a bitch myself.

But I
’m alone today. Julie, Kristen, and Bethany are Christmas shopping, and Jenny’s with Pop, working on his truck. I think my little girl may be a mechanic when she grows up. She spends nearly as much time at the shop as I do, and I work at the fucking place. She even conned Pop into buying her a pair of purple coveralls.

While I
’m alone, my plan is to watch an Ultimate Fighter marathon. I’m going to do it while drinking a beer and eating pizza without a plate. I laugh as I knock crumbs off my lap onto the floor. Bethany will hit the fucking roof if she sees crumbs on the couch. Maybe she won’t notice them in the carpet. I’ve grown to like that woman a hell of a lot, but she is really fucking anal when it comes to shit like that.

Just as the first episode starts, I hear a phone
ringing in the other room. Mine is in my pocket, so one of the girls must have left theirs here. I get up to answer it, but the ringing stops. I barely get to sit back down when it starts to ring again. I get up and start to walk toward the sound when it stops for the second time. I figure whoever’s phone it is, they must be trying to find it. I’m just walking into the kitchen when the ringing starts again.

I look around until I see that
Julie’s phone is on the counter. I grab it without looking at the caller ID. “Did you forget something, baby?”

“
Who is this?” A man’s voice asks.

“
Who is this?” I ask back, but I have a good idea already.

“
This is my wife’s phone, and I would like to know why a man is answering it.”

Hell no!
“This is my woman’s phone. She was married to an asshole that liked to use her for a punching bag, but she’s not anymore. She divorced her piece-of-shit husband months ago. Now she’s got me to protect her from bastards like him.”

“
Sounds like an interesting man to me, a man that knows how to keep his woman in line.”

I
’ve had enough of our little game. “I know who you are, and I know where you live. If you don’t stop calling her, I’m going to come to Missouri and break your fucking neck!”

The bastard starts to laugh.
“She may have divorced me, but she is still my wife. One way or another, she will come home. The only choice she has is if she comes willingly or not.”

“
You better stay away from Julie. If you touch her again, I will kill you!” I’m so angry, I can think of nothing but hurting him.

“
I was told Julie is pregnant. Did she tell you that I am a gynecologist? I know just the right medication to give her to make her have a miscarriage, and everyone would just think it was nature taking its course. Of course, Julie should be fine. But one never knows for sure with things like that.” I don’t even have time to respond before I hear the phone click off.

I drop the phone on the counter and run my hand
s through my hair. The girls are right; he is one sick bastard. I’m raging, struggling to keep my shit together. I take a minute to calm down before picking her phone back up. I hate going through her shit, but I need to see how often that fucker has been calling her. I scroll through her calls, and I can’t believe my eyes. I quit counting at thirty-seven unknown name numbers. That was just in the last five days.

She has changed her phone number a few times over the last month
, and even went with some pre-paid shit, so it would be harder for him to get her number. Nothing has worked. Well, she has done all she can. Now, it’s my turn. I put her phone in my pocket and pull out my own. I push Shane’s name and bring it to my ear.

“
Hey, bro.”

“
Listen up. I know you’re good with all that computer shit. If I bring you Julie’s phone, can you put something on it where I can see who’s calling her?” I ask, already walking toward the door.

“
Jase, shit, I can’t do that to Jules. If there’s something going on, you need to talk to her, but you’re crazy as hell if you think she is cheating on you.”

“
Fuck, man, I know that. Her bastard of an ex-husband just called here. He threatened Julie and our baby. I want to know who’s calling her, that way I can keep her safe. Just get your ass ready. I’ll be over there in a minute.” I hang up without giving him a chance to respond.

Julie

The girls and I are at Opry Mills. We are supposed to be Christmas shopping, but we somehow end up in Victoria’s Secret. Kristen is looking through the teddies. No matter what she says, I know she’s not picking one out for Aunt Angie. I laugh in her face when she tells me that one. “I think she would look better in red.”

Kristen cuts her eyes to me, clutching a piece of black silk in her hands.
“She prefers black.”

Bethany looks toward the teddy in Kris
’s hands and shrugs. “I don’t know. I think your mom would look pretty in it. I’m sure Mack would enjoy it. They’re not too old to have fun just yet.”

Kristen scrunches up her nose and makes a gagging sound.
“Gross! Never say anything like that again.”

By the time we leave, she has two black teddies and one
blue one. I smile and give her a playful shove. “Looks like Matty’s going to have some fun tonight.”

She looks like I just slapped her
, pain flashing in her eyes. “Don’t, Jules. Just don’t go there. You can give me shit about anything else, but not Matty.”

What the hell?
“I was just teasing you. I thought I noticed something between y’all. That’s why I said it. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Kristen just nods her head and walks on. I look over at Bethany and give her a
‘what the hell was that’ look. She shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head.

We continue to walk for a moment
. I do my best to ignore the strange tension with Kristen, trying to pretend like nothing weird just happened. Kristen looks at me and smiles. “Come on. Let’s go to Johnny Rockets. I want a chocolate shake so bad.”

“
Oh, that’s sounds good,” Bethany agrees and comes over. She links her arm through mine, and we make our way to the restaurant. Thankfully, there’s not a line, so we get seated immediately. As soon as our waiter arrives, we place our orders.

“
I can’t believe you ordered a burger with a fried egg on it.” Kristen looks at me with disgust.

“
Don’t forget the pickles, jalapeno peppers, and barbecue sauce,” Bethany adds with a laugh.

The looks on their faces are hilarious.
“When you guys get pregnant, you’ll understand.”

Bethany shakes her head.
“No way. If I have to eat strawberry yogurt with olives mixed in it, I never want a baby.”

“
What?” Kristen says in shock.

Bethany starts to tell her all about my weird cravings, but she stops when her phone rings. She pulls it out
of her purse and looks at the screen. Her face turns white, and she looks up at me. She lays the phone on the table and pushes it toward me. It doesn’t show a name, but it’s an 816 area code. “That’s new. The number is usually unlisted.”

“
I just changed my number three days ago. I haven’t given it to anyone but you guys and work. How could he have gotten it so fast?”

I click the ignore button and power down the phone.
“I don’t know. I’ve changed mine three times, and he always figures it out.”

“
What? I thought y’all said he quit calling,” Kristen interrupts us, looking back and forth between us.

I nod my head.
“He did for a few days, after I changed it the last time, but it’s started again. Today’s the first time he hasn’t called in over a week.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I realize that my phone hasn’t rung at all. I grab my purse and dig through it. My phone isn’t there. I think back to the last time I used it, standing in the kitchen talking to Aunt Angie. I must have left it there after I finished. Oh shit! If Dean calls, Jase will answer it, and there is no telling how that conversation will go. “We have to go, now.”

When we get
to the house, Jase isn’t home. I look around to find my phone, but I can’t find it anywhere. I could have sworn I left it in the kitchen. “Do you guys know where I put my phone?” I yell out to the girls.

“
Nope,” they both say. Some help they are. They could at least be trying to help me look for it right now. “Can you two get off your lazy asses and help me find it.”

Just as
I start to dig through the junk drawer, I hear the front door close. A second later, I listen as Jase talks to Bethany and Kristen in the living room. I walk out of the kitchen to join them. As soon as I see him, I know something has happened. He looks pissed. “What’s wrong?”

“
That stupid bastard called you while you were gone.” He’s definitely pissed off. He hands me my phone. “I got Shane to put something on it, so whenever someone calls you, I’ll be able to see it.”

I can
’t believe he would do something like that. He didn’t just invade my privacy; he stomped all over it. “Why in the world would you do that?”

“
I just want to make sure you’re safe! I can’t do that if I don’t know what in the fuck is going on.”

I narrow my eyes at his stern voice and watch as he
runs his fingers through his hair. I know he’s afraid for me, so I try to calm down before saying anything else. After thinking about how he must feel, I decide to discuss the whole tracker thing later on. Right now, we need to focus on Dean.

“
What did he say?” I ask quietly.

“
A bunch of fucked up shit. Apparently, he still calls you
his
wife.” He’s beyond pissed as he tells me about what Dean said about the baby and how I’ll be going home to him soon. I can’t help it. It’s not until my tears hit my chin that I realize I’m actually crying. I can’t keep living like this, in constant fear. It’s all shades of fucked up.

Jase wraps his arms around me and pulls me close.
“He’s not gonna fuckin’ hurt you.” His breath is warm on my hair, chasing the chill of fear away. I can feel the calm easing its way through my body as he inhales. “I’ll kill him first.”

Chapter 2
2

Jase

We are just leaving Mack and Angie’s Christmas Eve party when Julie’s phone rings. It’s the second time since we pulled out of their driveway. I look over and see her staring out the window, completely ignoring the call. “Give it to me. I’ll look and see who it is.”

“
Why? It’s just him again.”

I know she
’s more than likely right, but I hate that she is too scared to even look. “Brandon checking in?” He’s been calling nearly every day since he came back to the states. Julie cherishes those phone calls, so I’d hate for her to miss one because of that dick.

She lets out a tired sigh and
pulls it from her purse. Looking down, she turns the phone off. “I told you it was him.”

Shit, twice in three hours.
There’s no telling how many times the asshole has called Bethany. She turned her phone off as soon as we walked through Mack and Angie’s door. A few minutes later, I heard her telling Julie that she wasn’t going to let Dean ruin the first real Christmas she has ever had. I guess the holidays weren’t much in the Daniels’ household, at least not for her.

Looking into the rearview mirror, I see Bethany sitting quietly, while a sleeping Jenny rests on her shoulder.
“Have you turned your phone on yet?”

She shakes her head
, but doesn’t say anything.

“
Can you turn it on? See if you have any missed calls?”

A long minute passes before she finally says,
“Seven from him.”

Shit,
I need to get Shane to put a tracker on her phone too. Maybe, if we have enough proof that he’s harassing them, the cops will finally pull their fingers out of their asses and arrest him. Julie and Bethany have both filed report after report, but nothing is getting done. Pop talked to one of his friends at the station, and the guy said that him being in another state wasn’t the only issue. Just like when he was married to Julie, his daddy is doing something, paying someone, to keep his ass out of jail.

Julie
’s voice cuts through my thoughts of Dean. “I was glad that Aunt Angie came home for Christmas, but I wish Brandon had been here too.”

I reach over and grab her hand, knowing she
’s done talking about this shit. “He’ll be home soon, baby. You heard Angie. A little rehab, then all he has to do is wait for the Army to release him.”

She nods her head.
“I know. I just hate the idea of him being hurt, and me not being there for him.”

“
He’s getting better, though, right?” Bethany asks hesitantly.

Julie turns in her seat and looks over the back of the seat.
“Yeah, he’s up and walking. Angie says that the doctors think he’ll probably be released in another month, but then he’ll have to go somewhere in Texas for a while, to go through the process of being discharged from the Army. She says that could take a while, even months.”

“
Then he’s coming back here, to live in Cromwell?” Bethany asks.

“
Yeah, I guess he’s going to work for Uncle Mack.”

They continue to talk ab
out Brandon coming home as we drive to the house. As soon as we pull up, I climb out and grab Jenny from the backseat. After putting her to bed, I head downstairs and grab a beer. Walking into the living room, I see Bethany and Julie sprawled on the floor, wrapping a shit ton of presents. “Where the hell did this all come from?”

Julie smiles.
“I can’t tell you all my hidey holes.”

I walk around the room, seeing
new clothes, Barbies, and a bunch of games. I only remember buying half this shit, so I can only assume that the girls have been spending more time shopping than I thought. “Where is the present from Santa?’

“
Up in our room, under the bed, waiting on you,” she says with a laugh.

“
Shit!” I mutter as I walk out of the room and start to climb the stairs. I forgot I had to put the fucking thing together. She tried to talk me into paying the extra thirty bucks to have it assembled. I refused, thinking it would be easy. Once we got it home, I saw how many little pieces there were and had to fight the urge to carry it back to the store.

After pulling the box out, I
sit on the floor and start to assemble the dream house. It only takes about ten minutes to get the dollhouse put together, so I’m feeling a bit cocky. My satisfaction fades as I try to put the final piece on. I turn it right then left, but I can’t get the thing to fit. I start to shove it in and jamb my thumb. Shaking the pain away, I mumble to myself. “Fuck!”

I hear
a laugh from behind me, and I turn around. Julie is standing inside our bedroom door with a smile on her face. “Is Barbie’s dream house getting the best of my big bad man?” she says as she starts to walk toward me.

I
look back to the damn toy and shake my head. “I don’t care what the directions say. This door doesn’t fit.”

“
My fingers are smaller than yours. Maybe I can get it.” Julie reaches down and takes the little pink door from my hand, and then she gets on her knees and starts to work on the dollhouse.

S
he looks so beautiful tonight. Her dark hair is in some kind of fancy knot on top of her head, leaving her neck bare. She’s still wearing the dress she wore to the Christmas Eve party. It’s dark red and stops just above her knees, fitting tight on her ass and loose in the front, but I can still see her small baby bump. It has a scoop neck that hangs down just low enough to see the tops of her breasts. Did I spend most of the night staring at her tits? Hell yeah, I did! They have always been beautiful, but damn, since she got pregnant, they seem to grow more every day. I swear my dick has been hard since the minute I saw her in the damn dress.

She
’s bent over, trying to see why the door won’t go in place, her ass high in the air and swaying slightly. I know we need to finish getting everything ready for Christmas morning, but I’ve got to have her now. How can I not, with her ass up high, begging me to take her? I quietly move to the door, clicking the lock, and move behind my girl. Without a word, I grab the bottom of her skirt and pull it up, baring her beautiful heart-shaped ass, covered only by her silky panties.

She starts to rise up, but I put my hand between her shoulders and gently push her down. She looks over her shoulder, a question in her eyes
. She starts to voice what’s on her mind, but I shake my head. I rub my fingers over her panties, loving that she’s wet already. My sweet Julie is always ready for me. I continue to caress her through her panties while I open my pants. Pulling the drenched panties to the side, I grab my cock and rub it up and down her pussy, coating it with her wetness, before slowly plunging into her.

“
Fuck, baby, how do you keep getting tighter?”

She doesn
’t respond with words, but pushes her ass back at me, taking me further inside. I’m riding her with a slow, steady pace of deep thrusts, quicker than I thought possible. Her pussy clenches around me, signaling her release is near. Reaching around her hip, I circle her clit with my fingers and grind my dick into her. Her back bows up as her orgasm rushes through, and I slam myself into her as my spine tingles and my balls pull up, flooding her pussy with my release.

I cover her body with mine, pressing a gentle kiss on the back of her neck. I reluctantly pull away from her gorgeous body and help her stand. I drop another kiss to her lips then remove her dress and bra. She crawls lazily into bed while I undress,
then I climb in after her, pulling her into my arms to settle in for the night.

“
You’re so fucking perfect, baby. I love you.”

“
I love you too, but you still have to finish that dollhouse,” she teases.

Shit.