Judging Judas (Tarnished Saints Series Book 3) (9 page)

“But what if she starts going into labor
or something? Those kids won’t be able to help her.”

“She’s not due for another month yet,” said Judas, turning the chair backwards and straddling it. “Besides, Dan has a car, and Pete is there as well. What’s the matter with you, I thought you said you didn’t worry?”

She looked up to see Judas, legs spread over the chair, leaning his arms on the back of it. She knew he’d looked sexy in his uniform, but in civilian clothes he looked even better. He wore a tight pair of jeans that hugged his ass, and a button down shirt that he probably left half-undone on purpose just trying to get a rise out of her. And he reached over now and was rolling up his sleeves that allowed her to see his strong forearms better.

Well, it was working,
she decided, as her eyes traveled down his body. He was definitely getting a rise out of her whether he knew it or not. She felt like reaching out and running her hands over his chest and feeling those strong muscles.

“Like what you see?” he asked in a low, sultry voice
peeking up at her as he finished rolling up his sleeves. Her eyes snapped back up to his face and once again he was looking at her with those bedroom eyes that made her feel half-naked.

“So what did you get for breakfast?” she asked, choosing to ignore his comment. She dug into the bag and p
ulled out a box of sugar-covered cinnamon donuts, a small bag of spicy chips, a candy bar, two Gatorades and a pack of cigarettes.

“What’s this?” she asked, inspecting the inside of the bag looking for real food but fin
ding nothing else but a scratch-off lottery card.

“I got a selection since I didn’t know what you’d want.”

“Judas, you can’t tell me anyone really . . . eats these things.” She settled onto the chair across from him.

“What do you mean?” he asked, ripping open the box of mini donuts and popping one into his mouth. “These are all my fa
vorites.” He held one up to her. “Want one?”

“That is no good for you,” she said, just shaking her head
, opening up a berry-blue Gatorade since it was the only thing there she would even consider putting into her mouth.

“There’s nothing wrong with donuts,” he said,
handing her the scratch-off ticket. “That’s for you, sweetheart. Good luck. And this is for me,” he said taking the pack of cigarettes and tapping it against his hand.

“You’re not going to smoke in here,” she told him
, telling him rather than asking.

“Why not?” he asked, licking the cinnamon off his lips as he swallowed down the donut. He opened the pack and put a cigarette into his mou
th and pulled out a lighter from his shirt pocket.

“Because this shop is loaded to
the brim with flammable things to begin with,” she said. “Not to mention it’s no good for your health.”

“
Thanks for your concern, but I’m fine.” He lit up the cigarette and took a puff, slowly blowing smoke into the air sideways from his mouth so it wouldn’t hit her.

“So, tell me about your brothers and what’s going on,” she said
, playing with the lottery ticket. “I remember a few of them from years ago, but just vaguely.” She placed the ticket down on the make-shift table and started scratching at it with her fingernail.

“Well, there’s not really much to tell,” he said, his cigarette dangling from his lips as he picked up the fruit punch Gatorade and screwed off the top.

“Judas, the ashes from your cigarette are going to fall,” she called out.

He set down the drink quickly, some of it splashing onto the cardboard box and grabbed for his cigarette, holding one hand under it to catch the ashes.

She quickly took the paper bag and wiped up the liquid, glad they hadn’t used one of the antique tables to eat on.

“You already know the part about my parents both dying and leaving lan
d and a cabin to each of us, and that we can’t get it until we’re married. And we have to stay married for a year.” He looked around for an ashtray, the ashes ready to fall and burn his hand.

“Oh, I didn’t know about the staying married for a year part
,” she said, reaching out and turning over the lid of the Gatorade for him to use. He tapped the ashes into it just as they fell, and put down the cigarette, letting it teeter on the edge of the plastic lid.

“That’s not the reason I’m marry
ing you, Laney, if that’s what you think.”

“I know,” she said, still not convinced it wasn’t, but not wanting to start trouble between them. J.D. needed her father
in her life and Laney knew their decision to get married was for the best.

“So, what exactly did you want to know then?” he asked ripping open the package of chips a
nd popping one into his mouth. He crunched up the paper bag that she’d used to wipe up the spill and flipped it over his shoulder. She wasn’t sure where it landed in the crowded mess, but nor did it matter.

“Tell me all the
ir names again and what they do,” she said curiously.

“Ok.” He took a minute to swallow the chip, pursing his lips together, his tongue shooting out to lick the flavored spice in the process, almost sending her spiralin
g from the exotic motion though he wasn’t even aware of what he’d done.

“First ther
e’s Thomas, and he has six boys. Actually, a daughter too, now that he’s married to Angel because she had a daughter from her previous marriage. And Thomas not only manages the rental cabins at the lake but also refurbishes old cars. There’s actually a big car show and Labor Day festival coming up right here in town. Wait til you see some of his work.”

He picked up the Gatorade and swallowed down half of it in one gulp, and her eyes roamed to his throat as he swallowed. Why did she think every little thing he did today was sexy?

“And,” she added, “Levi’s next, and he married Candace and has the twins, Vance and Val. That part I know.”

“Right. And Levi is mayor
, and both he and Candace are chefs and half-owners at Margery’s Diner.”

“And Lev
i was in prison for seven years, wasn’t he?” she asked, knowing darn well it was true.

“That’s right,
” he mumbled, but didn’t expound on that matter and Laney knew he didn’t walk to talk about the fact he put his own brother in prison. Actually, she didn’t want to either, as it only brought up questions about what he was going to do with J.D. and she didn’t really want to know right now.

He held the bottle while he spoke, his lips a slightly brighter shade of red from the drink,
reminding her of his younger years when she’d fallen in love with him so long ago.

“And next in line is me.” H
e smiled and his whole face lit up in a way that was cute and alluring. “And then there’s the twins. James has a ranch out west but we’ve just got word he’s selling it and moving back to Sweet Water soon. And Zeb is a lawyer and just opened his own firm in Benton Harbor.”

“
Right. I met Zeb already. So Pete the minister is next in line then?”

“Actually, Simon is
, and then Pete. Simon was in the Navy but I hear he’s in the Caribbean doing something right now. And John is next in line after Pete, and lives out in Alaska. He called Thomas recently saying he couldn’t come back right now because he was training sled dogs for the Iditarod or some fool thing.”

“Wow, that’s exciting,” she said, scratching off another number and blowing the
silver crumbs off the box top. “I don’t really remember your younger brothers at all.”

“I don’t suppose you would, since they are so much younger. But Philip is a teacher in France and
Andrew a firefighter.”

“Do you thin
k they’ll come back to Sweet Water too?”

“Who knows. B
ut if I were Philip I’m not sure I’d want to leave France. And Andrew probably wouldn’t step foot back in town since we don’t even have a fire station.”

“And how about the last two?”

“Well, Nate is the musician and is living the good life in the Caribbean right now with our youngest brother, Thad.”

“And what does Thad do?”

“Besides run around wild and stir up trouble . . . I’m not even sure.”

“Oh, so he’s a lot like J.D.”

“I guess you could say that. But even if he’s only in his early twenties, it doesn’t mean he has a right to screw up his life. The kid needs guidance.”

“So is Thomas going to bring them back by any chance when he’s done with his honeymoon?”

“That’s the plan,” said Judas, devouring another donut. “So, we’ll see how it all works out. But when Thad comes back, rest assured his older brothers are not going to let him get away with shit.”

“Easier said than done,” she mumbled.

“So, what about your family?” he asked. “I remember you had an older sister, Karen was it?”

“I do. But sh
e got married and moved to Australia years ago. She has two boys who are a few years younger than J.D., but we never see them. Actually, I was hoping to go visit her some day.”

“And are your parents still alive?”

“My mother passed away a few years ago. My dad is still as ornery as always and living with Karen now. I used to call him on the phone every Sunday, but then he stopped coming to the phone after awhile. We haven’t spoken since he found out J.D. was pregnant.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

She felt like she needed to lighten the mood, and held up the lottery card pretending like she’d won something, tho she hadn’t. “Oh wow, I just won a thousand dollars!” she said and looked up to him with a playful smile.

He picked up his cigarette and took a drag and released the smoke slowly from his mouth. “You’re forgetting I’
m a sheriff,” he told her in a low, sexy voice. “I can tell when someone is lying.”

“
Hmmm. Wouldn’t you like to know,” she said, glancing at him in a flirting manner and holding the card against her chest.

“Let me see
that,” he said, swiping out his hand for the card but she moved it away quickly.

“Oh, so that’s how you want to play it,” he said with a smile
, tossing his cigarette into the brass spittoon on the floor behind him. He got up from the chair and grabbed both her hands. Then he sat back down the right way on the chair and pulled her atop his lap.

“What are you doing?
” she squealed with laughter.

“
I love it when you laugh,” he told her. “And what’s the matter? You always liked to sit on my lap before.” His hands snaked around her and he pulled her closer.

“That was when we we
re dating,” she said, pushing his hands from her waist.

“But we’re going to be married in a couple of days,” he told her, this
time reaching up and running his hand over her hair and then letting it slide down the side of her face.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling her senses reeling.
When she opened them, he was looking at her as if he could see through to her very soul.

“I really want to kiss you, Laney,” he said, and she felt surprised a man like him would even ask permission. She wanted it too.

“Don’t you want to see the lottery card?” she asked innocently, holding it up in front of his face.

He took it from her a
nd without even looking at it, tossed it atop the box serving as their table.

“Not really.” His gaze was focused on her mouth and she felt a burning sensation starting at her
stomach and trailing downward. She felt an aching need to feel his lips upon hers once again. And when she didn’t turn him away, he cupped her cheek with his hand and brought his mouth closer to hers.

Sh
e leaned over and their mouths met. The intensity of their lips brushing against each other sent a spark of emotion through her body. All of a sudden she was back in high school and nothing had ever changed between them.

He gently pulled her head closer with one hand
, and before she knew it his tongue shot out and was entering her mouth. He tasted like cinnamon, spice, and cigarettes and she found it alluring. Just enough, but not too much. It reminded her of the Judas she’d lost her virginity to years ago. The man she’d given her heart to, and bared her soul and body to as well.

“Laney, this feels so good,” he whispered, and dipped in for another kiss
. She found herself gripping onto his shoulders as his hands slid down her back, and up under her arms. His thumbs flicked across her nipples, and right through her blouse she could feel herself going taut. Her head spun and she felt dizzy when he expertly unbuttoned her top two buttons and lowered his head to the opening of her blouse, nuzzling his face closer to her breasts. This scared her more than she thought it would.

“Alright, that’s enough,” she said, jumping up, but he held on to her hand.

“It’s never enough,” he told her. “And I haven’t been able to stop thinking of you since the day I foolishly turned my back on you and walked away. I’m so sorry, Laney. I’m so sorry that I hurt you all those years ago.”