One (27 page)

I stiffen, angry. "And
how does he know what's best for me? Does he know anything about me?
What I've been through, who I am?" My voice gets louder with
each word. "No, he doesn't. He doesn't know a single thing that
will help me." That's a lie, but I'm so angry I believe it. How
can Pax betray my confidence like this? How can he want to go to his
uncle? Can't he see there's nothing that can be done?

Pax doesn't react to my
anger. Secretly, it's what I like the most about him; he's got a cool
head under pressure. It's what makes him such a natural leader, and a
great football player. Right now that fact annoys me like hell, and
if I knew for certain I'd hurt him if I punched him, I'd probably do
it. However, I've felt his body. I know he's harder than a prison
wall, and I'd just hurt myself in the process. What's that saying?
Cut off your nose to spite your face? That's all that would happen:
I'd get hurt.

"I love you,
Jules," he says instead, determined to avoid a fight. I hate him
because his words sound true. I hate him because I know in my heart
he means them. "I promise no harm is going to come to you-"

"No," I snap.
"You
can't
promise that. I aided a criminal,
knowing
he was a criminal. By association,
I
am a criminal." I'm
getting more hysterical by the second as the full reality of what Pax
wants to do hits me. If I confess, I'll go to jail. I'll end up
exactly where my mom is, and exactly where Grandma worked so hard for
me
not
to be.

"No," I shake
my head. "
No
."

"Jules," Pax
begins patiently. "Hear me out. My uncle is a good man. He won't
take any action without consulting with us first-" I snort. Pax
ignores me. "He isn't a monster-"

"A lot of men are
monsters," I say dully, thinking about what I saw inside the
room the night I shot Gonzales.

Pax pauses. "Not
him." He clasps my hands tighter. "Not
me
." I
stare straight ahead, refusing to look at him.

"I just want you
to trust me, Jules," he pleads softly. "I won't do anything
that will get you into trouble-"

"I'm already
in
trouble-"

"And that's
precisely why we need my uncle's help," he finishes, catching me
in his trap. I glare at him. I'm so angry I wouldn't be surprised if
his shirt suddenly caught on fire.

"Jules, how can we
do this if you don't trust me?"

"Do what?"

"This.
Us
.
This relationship. How can we be together if you can't trust that I
have your best intentions at heart?"

I sigh, the fight going
out of me a little. More than anything I want Pax in my life. He
makes me feel like life is worth living; that things can sprout anew
from a wasteland. "I know you have my best intentions at heart,
Pax." I take a deep breath. "But that doesn't mean that the
results will be what we want."

"No, it doesn't,"
he agrees. "But I swear to you that the second I feel like
something's up we'll stop."

"How can you do
that?" I ask, unable to believe how that would be possible.

"I have my ways."

"Please tell me
you're not some sort of underground criminal, too."

He laughs, but I don't.
I'm completely serious. "No," he answers grinning. "It
just means I know my uncle's weak spots and I'm not above exploiting
them to make sure you're safe through all of this."

I try to smile, but I
shudder instead.
Safe
. I've only ever felt it with my Grandma.
Suddenly, my breath catches.
And with Pax,
I realize. Looking
at him intently, I know with all my heart he means what he says. He'd
go down first before he'd let me fall.

The thought should
comfort me, but it only brings dread.

"Welcome."

The word is said with
such cheer and happiness that I momentarily forget I should be
afraid. The woman who uttered it is very small with a curvy waist and
a big, bright smile. She stands up to greet me and I notice I can see
above her head. She's less than five feet for sure, and looks like
what I'd picture a fairy to look like if fairies were suddenly dusted
with growing powder. She pulls me into her arms, and my nose detects
a hint of lilac. It's familiar, but before I can think more on it,
she pulls away, studying me with an open gaze.

"I'm so happy to
finally meet you," she says. "Reid's told us a little bit
about you, but me being the curious Nancy that I am, I wanted to know
more. Jules, is it?"

I nod politely,
stepping back. "Jules Hendricks."

She squeezes the upper
part of my arms with affection. "It's a beautiful name for a
beautiful girl. He usually brings home girls with too much…legs."

I'm not sure if I
should be insulted or embarrassed, but she's beaming so brightly that
I decide it must be a negative thing to have too much… legs.

"Oh."

"Don't get me
wrong," she waves her hand. "They were beautiful and I'm
sure they would have produced beautiful children with him-"

"Oh God," Pax
groans.

"-
but
I'm
partial to smaller women myself." She indicates her petite
height. She brings her head to mine, and in a whisper says, "If
the world were to suddenly explode, it's the smaller ones that would
survive first," she nods enthusiastically. "Just look at
the dinosaurs. They were wiped right out when the meteors hit. But
all the small things like the fishes and some little birds survived."
She frowns. "Of course, it's possible it could have something to
do with the fact that none of them were land animals, but I think the
common denominator is the fact that they were all
small
. You
know, Darwin-"

"All right, chatty
Cathy," Pax laughs, pulling me away. "Don't run her off
just yet, Aunt Gail. I like this one." Her look of annoyance
instantly blossoms into a smile so wide I'm afraid she's going to
pull a muscle.

"Oh, I like her,
too," she agrees in an animated voice.

"Aunt Gail, you
just met her," Pax chuckles out loud.

"What? I like
anyone you like." Her brows furrow. "Well, except for that
other one. She was beautiful, yes, but she was like an ice princess.
So cold and untouchable. This one, though, is beautiful like a
little, dainty fairy…" I laugh because it's exactly like what
I'd thought about
her
.

"Most people want
their sons to marry princesses not fairies," Pax points out,
winking in my direction.

"Yes well, most
people have traditional tastes. But I'm one step ahead of the game.
Fairies are the new Disney princesses, mark my words. We're going to
be seeing wings and fairy dust instead of ball gowns and boobies."

Pax winces. "Please
don't say 'boobies' anymore."

"What? You'd
prefer I say titties?"

Pax visibly flinches.
"I prefer you stay away from that topic altogether actually."

I giggle behind my hand
at his obvious discomfort.
Serves him right,
I think,
remembering how Pax practically coerced me into being here.

"Breasts are a
natural part of the human body. Even you have them," she points
out. "I read somewhere that in a life or death situation a man
can make milk in his breasts if his mate is unable to, in order to
save the life of their child. The cries of his baby coupled with the
baby tugging at the nipples can stimulate hormonal processes that
trigger milk producing-"

"Aunt Gail,
please!" Pax breaks in, looking horrified. "I don’t want
to talk about men and breast feeding- it's barely noon!"

"Well, would you
like to talk about it during dinner?"

"I'd like to talk
about it during
never
!"

She frowns. "I
thought we raised you to be more open minded than that."

"I'm sorry, Aunt
Gail." He takes in a shaky breath. "But that stuff freaks
the crap out of me."

She nods, looking at
me. "Men can be quite babies. It seems women will always have to
be extra careful around their delicate sensibilities."

I grin back. "It
seems so," I agree.

She sidesteps me to
look out the window. I know the second she sees Pax's car. She sucks
in a sharp breath. "My goodness, Pax! You drove in that thing?
It's not even a car anymore; it's a pile of loosely hanging metal!"

"I'm taking out a
loan, and getting a new used car tomorrow," Pax explains. "I
already talked to Uncle Bill."

She shakes her head,
looking distressed. "Let me go get him for you."

The ravaged car reminds
us of what happened, and there's tension in the air. I try to lighten
the mood because there's darkness on Pax's face. "I know your
weakness now," I call out in a teasing voice, gesturing him
over. "You're afraid of making milk in your boobies."

His reaction is what I
hoped for. He forgets reality for a minute. An exaggerated look of
horror comes over his face. "Wouldn't
every
man be? I
don't want a baby sucking on my nipples. That shit looks like it
hurts," he shudders.

"Well you better
pray there isn't a meteorite shower that wipes out all the females,
or these boobies," I pinch his brick chest, "will be making
milk for sure."

Suddenly, he jumps on
top of me. "I know how to get
these
boobies into the milk
making mood…" He starts tickling the undersides of each
breast, and I shriek, giggling uncontrollably.

"Stop," I
pant. "Stop!"

"Not until you
promise me you'll help save all the cows if Earth is ever bombed with
meteors so no man will ever have to suffer making milk with their
breasts!"

His outrageous request
makes me laugh harder until my giggles start to sound like dying
grunts. "Okay, okay, I promise. I promise!" I shout loudly.
He stills, thrusting his face closer to mine.

"You can't take it
back," he says.

"I won't," I
shake my head solemnly. "I swear it."

His nose brushes
against mine. "Swearing… Mmm-mm. I do like me a woman who
talks dirty…"

He kisses me right
there on his aunt's sofa, right in the middle of the day. This is
wrong in every way I can think of, but his kisses make everything
seem right even when it's not. I love how he makes me feel instantly
warmer like my body's been entombed and his kisses bring me to life.

"Ah-em."

I love that Pax makes
me feel tingles and sensations inside me that I didn't know exist-
like my toes. They curl whenever he touches me. My whole body sends
messages of warmth and ecstasy and my toes continue to curl, keeping
the pleasure in, keeping it contained like electricity.

"
Ah-em.
"

I register the sound a
second before Pax pulls back. He falls back, hitting the ground in
his haste to get off me. "Shit," he cusses.

The man walks to the
other side of the room to give us time to collect ourselves. I
quickly fix my hair and the collar of my shirt, shooting daggers at
Pax. He looks a little apologetic but not much. I smooth the ends of
my hair over my shoulder.
Great, now how am I going to tell his
uncle about what happened after he just caught us making out?
I'm
disgusted with my body, with how easily I give into Pax at his merest
touch. It's like my body belongs more to him than to me.

"I'm sorry that I
walked in at the wrong time." Pax's uncle has a quiet, calm
voice, and it reminds me a little of Pax. When he turns around, I
gasp. He looks very similar to Pax- so similar he could be his
father. He must have seen the dawning recognition in my eyes because
he introduces himself. "I'm Bill, Reid's uncle. His father was
my twin."

Ah, it makes sense now.
They both have the same dark hair and the same green eyes. They look
exactly like how a father and son might look like. I see him put his
hand on Pax's shoulder and squeeze gently. Even though Bill isn't
Pax's biological father, I instantly feel the bond between them, and
I know that in every way that matters Pax
is
his son.

"Gail and I don’t
have any other children so the day Pax came to live with us was the
best day of our lives."

I can't help it; I
smile at Bill, instantly warming to him even though I want to dislike
him. It must be a Paxton trait.

"Aw, shucks,
you're going to make me blush now."

Bill snorts. "Like
you know how to. There isn't an embarrassed bone in your body."

"Got that trait
from
your
side of the family."

"I'd argue that,
but it's the truth," Bill shrugs.

The friendly banter
between the two of them breaks the ice, and I almost forget that Bill
just caught us making out. Almost.

"So what brings
you two here today, son?"

"I'm going to get
the loan tomorrow for a new car," Pax says. Bill grunts,
disapproval evident in his features. He opens his mouth to speak,
probably to reprimand Pax. "But that's not why we're here,"
Pax quickly interrupts. Bill's eyes narrow, trying to read us. I see
why he's a cop. I'm willing to bet he's a good one, too. "Why
don't you have a seat, Uncle Bill?"

Bill sits across from
me, and I can't help it- I scoot to the end of the couch. He crosses
one leg over the other and watches Pax grab my arm and force me back
to him.

"I don't think
I've formally met you yet," Bill begins, staring into my face.
"I'm Bill Paxton. You must be Jules, correct?" I nod. "My
wife told me you'd be visiting. I had some paperwork I was going to
go to the office to do, but she insisted I stay, saying Pax was
bringing home a very nice girl to meet us." He holds out his
hand. I take it, shaking firmly. There's an air of authority around
him, but his green eyes are caring. If I stare into them long enough
I can imagine I'm talking to Pax and it might make this whole process
easier.