The Scale (Martha's Way) (25 page)

Without a look in Nicole’s direction, he growled, “I am not
in the mood to get to know anyone.” A slight nudge at his waist from Minka
reminded him he needed to put his polite hat on. “I’ll go throw a steak or two
on the grill.”

“Rosa mentioned you’re using the house this weekend.”

He walked past his father to put the shopping bags on the
leather chair by the bay window. “I’m taking Minka there for the weekend. The
others will be there too.”

“A last hurrah before Blake and Keely take the big plunge?”

Jason smirked. “Something
like
that.”

“You know,” Nicole said, “that’s the start.”

Puzzled, Jason looked at her.

“Of all of you walking down the aisle.”

“Ah! I see.”

The conversation was strained between them. An uncomfortable
silence settled in the room. His father walked over to stand by Minka. Whatever
he said to her caused her to smile, just a little at first. But
as it grew, it pressed her
rosy cheeks
up
and slowly revealed her teeth, like a perfect
pearl necklace
.
Finally
the smile reached her eyes, lighting them, causing them to crinkle at the
corners. In that moment, she was everything he had ever hoped for. She was
everything he would ever need.

The realization rocked him. He had fallen in love with Minka
Greene. He knew enough to acknowledge his feelings, although now he had no idea
how to go forward with the revelation. Running an impatient hand through his hair,
he walked out of the room and escaped to the kitchen. He opened the
refrigerator, pulled out some of the vegetables and peaches Minka had gotten
from the farm and placed them on the cutting board. His brows drew together as
he focused on slicing the peppers and peaches into halves in preparation for
grilling.

He slid the French door open and stepped onto the patio to
light up the grill. After he kicked off his shoes and socks, the coolness of
the new wood underneath his feet was welcoming. Redoing the patio had been one
of Jason’s pleasures in the spring. It had kept his mind occupied. The house
still needed more work, such as the two bedrooms he had chosen to add to the
already three-bedroom house. The foundation for those two rooms was already
established, he just had to finish them, something he had neglected since
meeting Minka.

His mind wandered to the woman inside the house with his
father. After next week, she would be gone and life would return to whatever
his new normal would be. Walking back to the kitchen, he came to a full stop.
Minka stood by the counter slicing eggplants.

“Hey,” he greeted, coming to stand behind her.

She leaned her back into him. Wrapping his arms around her
waist, he breathed her in, allowing himself the ambience of the unblemished
emotion.

“I thought I’d help.”

His lips grazed her ear. At the slight touch, her body
vibrated in his arms. “I was looking forward to making love to you all
evening.”

She chuckled. “I think your father has other plans.”

He growled before releasing her.
“Steak or
fish?”

“The consensus was steak.”

“Red or white for you?” he asked. From living with her the
last few days, he knew her preference was white wine.

“It doesn’t matter.” She turned and placed a light kiss on
his lips before carrying the plate of sliced vegetables to the table on the patio.

Carrying two glasses of wine, he followed her. Without a
word, she handed him the vegetable plate, which he placed on the grill. They
stood in silence as they sipped their wine, only the quietness didn’t carry any
distress. The absence of sound or speech was calming. He reached for her hand
and drew her against him. With his free hand, Jason caressed her face. Turning
her lips to his hand, she placed a kiss on his palm.

A momentary flash of light sparkled in her hazel eyes,
accentuating the green.

“Minka, I…” he paused, not quite sure what to say next.
Falling in love with someone he’d known for less than a week wasn’t something
he had planned for. Sighing, he released her and stepped back. He reached for
the tongs and flipped the vegetables.

“Jason.”

“Hmmm,” he responded without looking at her. He waited for
her to continue. When she didn’t, he placed the utensil down and turned to face
her. Her bottom lip was between her lips with a frown on her face. “What’s
wrong?”

She shook her head and flashed him a quick smile.
“Nothing.
I’ll go get the rest of the stuff from inside.”

* * * *

Minka practically ran off. Her body bumped into Charles’.
She provided a quick excuse before rushing inside.

“What did I miss?” she heard Charles ask his son. Instead of
staying in the kitchen, she went back to the family room to retrieve her bags
and brought them to the bedroom. Once there, she sat on the bed to regain her
composure. She had been so close to confessing her love. Minka closed her eyes.
She had to gain some control of herself. He liked
her, that
much she knew, but love? Well, that wasn’t for her. And sexy, rich, fun men
like Jason were not known to fall in love with women like her.
Yup.
She needed to check herself. Otherwise, this thing with
Jason had disaster written all over it.

She inhaled and reached for her phone from her purse, found
Lily’s name and texted her friend.

Things
are getting complicated.

To her surprise, the phone vibrated quickly.

I
saw you locking lips on TV with your boyfriend. My God, he’s gorgeous!

On television.
Her muscles
stiffened. She winced and dropped onto the bed. Everything she had done today
had been on impulse. Now she was on television kissing Jason Montgomery. With
probably an added ten pounds. It was common knowledge the camera added extra
weight to even the thinnest person.

Another text popped on her phone.

You still there, beautiful?

Yeah.

Looks
like you’re famous now. BTW, who is the dark-haired guy?

Oh,
that’s Adam.
One of Jason’s friends.

He’s
yummy.

In spite of herself, she smiled. Her friend was not one to
dwell on what was out of her control.

They
are all yummy.

So,
what’s up? What’s complicated?

We
will talk when you get here. I’ll see you after tomorrow.

Minka…

Yeah.

It’s
okay to love him. Just be sure you’re not transferring your feelings for Blake
over to Jason.

I’ll
see you soon. I love you
.

After she ended the conversation, Minka remained on the bed.
She played her friend’s words over in her mind. While she was sure she could
never proclaim her undying love to Jason, for herself she needed to address her
feelings for Blake. She needed to move on for her own sake. The weekend would
be the perfect opportunity to do that.

By the time Minka reappeared on the porch, Nicole, now
wearing a pair of short-shorts, lounged on the chair, giving full exposure to
her never-ending, toned legs. Jason and his father appeared to be engrossed in
a conversation as they set the table. Jason must have sensed her because he
raised his head to look in her direction. He smiled and turned his attention
back to the grill.

“Come, Minka,” Charles walked over to her. “Dinner is ready.
Jason mentioned you’re staying here with him till next week.”

She nodded.

“This house once belonged to his mother.”

She nodded again, remembering the shocking pictures Jason had
shared with her. She wondered how Victoria’s illness had impacted Charles’
life. How much of a role did it play into driving him into another woman’s arms?
Not that she condoned infidelity. But as she walked with him to the table,
Minka couldn’t help but wonder how one’s actions impacted another.

“Another glass of wine, Minka?”
Charles asked.

Startled by the warmth in his voice, she smiled. “Yes, I
will get it.”

“Nonsense.
I’ll get it for you.” He
filled her glass,
then
walked over to Nicole who
seemed content staring at Jason working the grill.

With easy steps, Minka walked to Jason.

“I had a small role in the movie,” Nicole was saying to him.

“I’m afraid I didn’t see the movie, Nicole.”

“You should rent it,” she replied.

As Minka came to stand next to him, he leaned and placed a
kiss on her lips, then smiled politely at Nicole. “I’m not into horror flicks,
and I don’t think Minka is into them. Are you?”

Not quite sure what she’d walked into, she shook her head.
“No, I’m more of a romantic comedy fan.”

“And I’m all about action,” he said with a smile. “But,
maybe later we can rent a romantic comedy. I’d watch with you in my arms.”

She smiled at him as he pulled her against his chest.
“Ready to eat?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Good, then hopefully they will leave right after. I have
been thinking of ways to thank you for rescuing me from Agnes’ wrath.” He
grinned. He slipped his free arm around her waist and touched his lips to hers.

Neither knew the exact time Charles and Nicole left, after
cleaning from dinner and bidding goodnight to his father. At some point during
the night, Minka had relaxed and enjoyed herself, even through Nicole’s
constant chatter about her budding movie career. And to her surprise, Charles
had been pleasant.

“Tired?”

She was a little, but not enough to end the night so she
shook her head. He smiled. An indication that he knew she was lying. But he
didn’t press.

“I’ll get us a blanket.” He leaned into her and pulled her
against him. His hands were firm on her back, then he kissed her, deep,
deliberately slow and she lost all control, so much so that when he pulled
away, she felt lost and had to lean against the kitchen counter for support.

 
* * * *

He found her leaning against the rail of the porch with her
back to him. As usual his body reacted to the mere sight of her. Into the
night, under the shining stars, with blanket in hand, he stepped onto the
porch. As he closed the space between them, he noticed her body straightened a
little. Good. They were equally affected. He pressed against her and wrapped
their bodies under the warmth of the blanket, she leaned against his chest. He
loved the way she fit against him.

“Let’s go over there.” His head motioned to the lounging
chair.

Their fingers laced together and she followed.

 
“What did my
father whisper to you earlier?”

She nestled against his chest. “He apologized for being rude
the first time we met.”

“I don’t believe I introduced you.”

“You didn’t. But he was a little stand-offish.”

They sat in silence. She reached over and took his hands in
hers.

“I’m sorry about your mother. I…”

“You Googled me.”
He didn’t care.
As much as he hated those dark days, they were a life lesson.

She nodded against his chest. “My friend Lily did. She sent
me the link. She meant no harm.”

He shrugged. “It’s okay. I’m not bothered by it. For a
while, the attention from the media was self-inflicted.”

“You mean the drinking and smoking?”

He nodded.

“You were hurting, mourning.”

“I partied a little too hard, but like you said it was my
way of dealing.”

“Do you still live that way?” He chuckled and shook his
head. “That was a very short-lived period of my life. I have no aspiration to
go there again. I still drink and sometimes drink a little too much with the
guys, but for the most part I’m always sober and free of everything else. I got
a serious intervention from everyone and Forrest chewed my ear when he realized
I was smoking.”

Laughter ran between them. Jason reached over and tucked a
strand of hair away from her face. Minka ran a hand over the stubble of his
face. He closed his eyes as she touched him.

“You’re so beautiful.”

The words were spoken so quietly that at first he wasn’t
sure she’s said them until he opened his beautiful blue eyes and smiled at her.

“Men aren’t beautiful,” he said.

“But, you know you are,” she insisted.

He shrugged. “I guess I got lucky on the looks department
and inherited the best of both worlds. My mother was quite beautiful, as you’ve
seen. I’ll show you more pictures of her when she was younger and healthier.”

The sadness was there again in his voice.

“Oh, you don’t have to. I mean, I don’t want you to feel
obligated. And I don’t want to intrude.”

“First, you’re not intruding. I invited you to stay with me.
I don’t feel obligated to do anything. If I do something, it’s because I want
to.” His voice was tense as he spoke the words.

Even in the night Jason could read the questions reflecting
in her eyes. Why her? Well, hell. He was asking himself the same question.

She smiled tenderly at him. “Then I’d love to see whatever
you want to show me.”

Her voice was like a sweet chord of violin in his ears.
Pure torture.

“May I do whatever I want with you, to you?”

“Should I be scared?” she teased. Her voice reflected no
fear or apprehension.