Текст книги "Lovely Distraction"

Автор книги: J. J. Dorn

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Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

CHAPTER SIX

November 26, 2009…

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked Jamieson one last time before we got in his large pearly white Ford F250 King Ranch Edition. It still struck me as odd that even though Jamieson was extremely wealthy he drove a pickup truck. Granted, his truck was completely customized right down to the tan leather stitched seats. He also has other vehicles which included a black Aston Martin Vanquish and a 1956 Jaguar XK-140 Roadster. I personally enjoy the truck the most though; it suited him in some weird way.

“Jenna I have already told you, I can’t wait to meet your family,” he said threading his fingers through mine and placing them on the center console between us.

“I’m just warning you, my family is bat-shit crazy and holidays are notoriously insane at my house.”

“Can’t wait, baby.” He flashed me a sexy grin as he steered the truck onto the main highway.

In only took us about thirty minutes to get across town to my parents’ home in Clifts Cove. Their house was a large, classically beautiful southern home. They both earned a good living. My father was a respected doctor and my mother helped run his office. They had met when they were in college and had been together ever since. They were more than a couple, they made an incredible team. I envied them.

I could tell by the shiny tan Lexus sitting outside my parents’ house that my sister and brother-in-law were also here. My sister is three years older than me and looks like a human Barbie doll. Jacqueline had always been beautiful from the day she was born. She was tall, thin, and blonde with huge boobs. She was every guys “type.” As you can imagine having an older sister who was a total bombshell made you very susceptible to having lots of guy friends who constantly wanted to be invited over to catch a glimpse of the beauty you lived with. My sister however, could hardly notice guys drooling over her. She had always been less than impressed with most of the would-be suitors. I was shocked when several years ago she fell for a confident German man who took European suaveness to a whole new level. Don’t get me wrong, I love Lukas now, but he did take some getting used to. Bluntness is the norm with Lukas but you just have to remember he doesn’t mean to be rude he just speaks the truth of the situation as he sees it. English is his second language so sometimes things do get lost in translation, which provides us all with a good laugh. I was excited to introduce them to Jamieson but I was also scared because I had no idea what they would do or say. That was the beauty of my family, anything was possible.

When we reached the front door I opened it walking hand-in-hand with Jamieson. He followed me down the hall toward the laughter coming from the living rom. They were in hysterics and I could only imagine what was happening.

“I told you this was the greatest show ever!” Lukas exclaimed as we entered the outer edges of the room.

“I don’t get it. They just take a bunch of B-level celebrities and lock them in a house for a couple of weeks?” my Mom asked, confused.

“Yes it is brilliant,” Lukas argued.

“More like ridiculous.” My Dad offered.

I could now see what they were watching and I wish I could say I was shocked, but like I said earlier, anything could happen at my house.

On the large mounted flat screen my entire family was watching an episode of the Surreal Life; trash T.V. at its finest. And it was of course that epic episode when a drunken Vern Troyer is so wasted he is peeing of the side of his motorized wheel chair. Yup, this was exactly what I feared.

“Hey guys.” I piped up, attempting to distract them from their reality T.V. watching.

“Oh honey, we didn’t hear you come in!” My mother jumped up from the large leather recliner she was sitting in.

“Mom, this is Jamieson Wellington. This is my mother, Georgiana.” I said as Jamieson reached out to take my mother’s hand to greet her.

My father also rose to greet us. “Hello Jamieson,” he said extending his hand.

“This is my Dad, Dr. Harrison Middleton.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Jamieson said in return shaking his hand as well.

“That insane German man over there enthralled with crap T.V. is my brother-in-law, Lukas.” I pointed toward the crazy German.

“Nice to meet you, bro.” Lukas nodded his head in our direction.

My very pregnant sister slowly lifted herself from the couch to greet us.

“Hello Jamieson.” She smiled warmly at him.

“Hello Jacqueline,” he replied returning her warm smile.

I instantly went still; I could tell they knew each other. There was something that passed between them, I saw it. I watched as my sister locked eyes with me trying to communicate something. I however, wasn’t getting whatever it was she was trying to tell me. My mind began to race with questions and it finally settled on one in particular, had my sister and Jamieson dated? They were closer in age and Jacks had always lived in Huntsville—she never left like I did, their paths could have easily crossed. Surely I would have known about it though, right? Jamieson would have said something, wouldn’t he?

“Honey let me take your coats,” my mother interrupted my mini melt-down and took my jacket along with Jamieson’s.

“I need to finish my cheesecake.” Jacqueline announced as she strolled into the kitchen with my mother hot on her heals; clearly she noticed something was off too and was determined to find out what the cause of it was.

“I’m going to go help her. Are you okay in here with the guys?” I turned to ask Jamieson.

“Of course, go help your sister and mother,” he kissed me on the cheek.

“Jamieson can I get you a drink?” I heard my father ask as I left the room in search of my sister.

In the kitchen, my mom and sister were working away and talking in a hushed tone. I didn’t waste any time, I needed to know how my sister knew Jamieson and now.

“What is going on Jacks?” I asked leaning against the granite countertop with my arms folded across my chest.

“What are you talking about, Jens?” She always called me Jens. My father had nicked named me Jens and my sister Jacks and the duo of Jacks and Jens had kind of just stuck all these years.

“How do you know Jamieson?” I cut to the chase.

“I don’t…well not really.” she responded quietly still stirring the mixture in the bowl in front of her.

“What does that mean? Did you guys date or something?” Please Lord don’t let it be true.

“No, we didn’t date,” she reassured me. “I dated his older brother, Ethan.” What?

“You did?” I was in complete shock.

“Yes. It was only for a few months, but I thought I was in love with him.” Jacqueline sighed and stopped working on her cheesecake to turn to face me. She placed her hands over her growing belly and I could see she was struggling with whatever she needed to say.

“What happened? Tell me everything,” I pleaded with her.

I watched her examine my face. She was contemplating how much she should tell me. I could see that clearly. She glanced toward the door for a quick second before she began. “There isn’t much to tell. We met through mutual friends and we had this amazing chemistry. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It took me by complete surprise. I quickly fell for him, but it didn’t last. He cheated on me. It gutted me. I was a wreck for a long time. Then I met Lukas and my life finally began again.”

I didn’t respond to her, I didn’t really know what to say. If Jacks and Ethan ever experienced anything remotely close to what Jamieson and I had, I could only imagine how much that must have hurt my sister.

“Did you know about this?” I asked my mother who was quietly listening while continuing to work.

“Yes, I did,” she said simply.

“Mom helped me pull myself together.” Jacks shot an appreciative smile towards our mother. “To this day I don’t really know if it was just one-sided with Ethan, like a figment of my imagination or if it was real. It felt real to me at least,” she explained, giving me a sideways somewhat defeated smile.

“I’m so sorry, Jacks. Why didn’t you ever tell me?” My sister and I had always been close but she had never mentioned Ethan Wellington or her epic heartbreak.

“You were in school and you didn’t need to hear about my broken heart. I knew you would worry about me and I didn’t want that. It was bad enough I was going through it, I didn’t need you to go through it with me.”

“You should have told me,” I scolded her.

“Maybe so, but it’s in the past now. Life is funny that way, just when you think things couldn’t get worse something amazing can happen to turn it completely around.” She said rubbing her growing belly again. I knew she was talking about Lukas and it made me happy to know my sister had found her happiness.

“So you met Jamieson during that time?” Even though Jacks had explained her relationship with Ethan, I still wanted to know how she had come to know Jamieson.

“I only met him once; it was at some birthday party for one of their childhood friends. I only briefly talked to him.”

“Hmm…” I said still contemplating how Jamieson clearly knew my sister and didn’t seem surprised to see her.

“What?” she asked catching my suspicion.

“It’s just that he acted as if he knew you more than that.”

“Well maybe Ethan has told him about us and he put it together that we were sisters.” she offered.

“Maybe.” I knew Jacks could tell that I wouldn’t just let this go.

“If you’re that curious Jens, just ask him.”

“I think I will.” I replied and began to turn to leave the kitchen in search of Jamieson.

“Jens…” Jacks’ voice stopped me.

“Yeah?”

My mother had stopped cooking and was now looking at me along with Jacks. “Just be careful, okay? The Wellingtons are a strange and complicated family. You would be smart to keep your guard up.”

I didn’t know exactly how to respond to everything she was saying so I just nodded and left the kitchen.

Part of me wanted to drag Jamieson aside as soon as I could and demand to know what he knew of my sister and his brother, but another part of me said to be smart and ask when the time was right. I choose to go with the calm rational choice and bide my time until the right moment presented itself to ask him. If there is more to the relationship with him and Jacks it will come out. Secrets always have a nasty way of coming to the surface, eventually.

“Mr. and Mrs. Middleton, I must thank you for inviting me today. I have had a wonderful time.” Jamieson spoke from beside me. We had stuffed ourselves to the brim and were now relaxing in the living room.

“It was our pleasure Jamieson,” my mother said warmly.

“The food was amazing,” he complimented her.

“Dude, just wait until Christmas. Mom goes all out.” Lukas exclaimed from the corner with Jacks sitting perched on his lap.

“Well I’m afraid I will have to miss out on Christmas.”

My heart fell to my ankles. We hadn’t really discussed our Christmas plans yet, but maybe Jamieson wasn’t planning on being around for much longer.

Jamieson must have noticed my anxiety because he grasped my hand. “Actually I was going to ask you all if it would be alright if Jenna accompanied me to my family’s home in Aspen to celebrate Christmas.” He what?

I looked up at Jamieson totally stunned. I hadn’t seen that one coming.

“Of course! I’m sure Jenna would love to go with you,” my mother quickly answered.

“What do you say Jenna?” Jamieson flashed me his sexy grin.

“I would love to go with you,” I beamed.

He kissed me lightly on the forehead and snuggled up against me on the couch. I couldn’t have been happier.

“Alright, Thanksgiving tradition time!” Lukas said excitedly fiddling with the remote until he came to the movie he was searching for, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

“Love this movie,” Jamieson responded to Lukas’ selection.

“How could you not love Uncle Eddie?” I offered with a huge grin.

Jamieson smiled back at me with warmth in his eyes. The others focused on the movie as it started but not us, we were lost in each other.

As I settled into the couch more, I looked up to catch my sister staring at us. I knew she was analyzing us; the concern in her face gave it away.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“What do you want, Jamieson? Did you come to gloat?” I spat as I pushed past him flinging my front door to my apartment open.

“Gloat? Why would I gloat?” he asked catching the door and following me inside.

I tossed my purse on the couch and spun around to confront him.

“Oh I don’t know…maybe because you ruined my life!” I yelled.

Jamieson looked at the ground in shame, which pissed me off more.

“He left me but that isn’t a surprise, is it?” I demanded.

He continued to not say anything.

The tears finally returned. I was a total mess but I didn't care, Jamieson needed to see what he had done to me.

“He called me a slut after he admitted to cheating on me for basically our entire relationship.” I croaked out. I didn’t even think about it, I just vomited it up.

Jamieson’s head snapped up. “He did what?” He demanded angrily. He stood up and I immediately grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Let it go, Jamieson. I know what a piece of shit he really is now. You attempting to settle some score won’t do any good.” I said through my sobs.

Jamieson growled something low I couldn’t hear and fisted his hands at his sides. “He had no right to do that.”

“Yes he did! He should never have cheated on me, but I can’t blame him for calling me a slut. I slept with you while I was engaged to him. That pretty much makes me a slut.” I shrieked at him.

Jamieson in two large steps closed the space between us and cupped my face. His large hands were enough to soothe any sting Cain had left behind. “You are not a slut, Jenna. Nothing you have done has ever made you a slut. I don’t want to hear you say that again, do you understand me?”

His stormy blue eyes looked fierce as they searched mine. I took a small breath and lightly nodded my head in agreement.

“I’m sorry you’re hurting, Jenna, but you need to realize it’s probably for the best that things ended,” he whispered softly, still holding onto me.

“I know that now,” I said regaining my control and suddenly feeling way too close to him.

His eyes were still searching mine. It was too much having him touch me. I took a large step backwards breaking our contact. “I need to be alone, Jamieson.”

“Jenna…”

“No Jamieson, please just go. I know we have stuff that needs to be worked out but I can’t think about it right now.” I pleaded with him.

“Please, just let me be here for you.” He took a step toward me.

I could tell he was being sincere but I also didn’t trust myself. I was vulnerable and apparently when it comes to Jamieson Wellington, I have zero self-control. He needed to leave, it was for the best.

“I don’t think your girlfriend would appreciate that.” I said stone cold and with as much hatred as I could muster.

He stopped his advance and raked his hands through his hair. “She is not my girlfriend.”

“Okay. Well I don’t think your fuck-buddy would like that much.” At some point pure hatred is the last thing you can cling to in hopes of self-preservation and Lord knew I was clinging to a mountain of hate towards Jamieson Wellington.

“She’s not—”

I cut him off immediately. “She’s not what? Not your fuck-buddy? Well if she’s not your girlfriend and she’s not your wife? Then who the hell is she?”

He didn’t answer he just glared at me.

“Exactly. Goodnight, Jamieson.” I said walking to the door and holding it open, indicating it was past time for him to leave.

He conceded and started out the door but when he got outside he stopped and turned to face me. “This is not over, Jenna. It’s far from over.”

I scoffed at him and hurled the door shut in his face. I may be an absolute mess right now but I definitely didn’t need to complicate matters by getting myself sucked into the toxic world of Jamieson Wellington again. No, that chapter was hopefully going to be sealed shut just as soon as I could secure a quickie divorce.

“Okay do you want the good news or the bad news first?” Audrey asked while sipping her drink in the corner booth of our favorite happy-hour bar, Teds.

I had been holed up in my house for nearly three weeks. I had only emerged to go to the grocery store and to the gym in the middle of the night. Thanks to Cain and his family’s deep ties to the legal community in Huntsville, I was unceremoniously fired from my job the next day after my boss cited the morality clause of my contract. In less than a month my entire life had imploded. My friends have been my only saving grace. I had of course told them about my painful confession to Cain and his equally painful response. Olivia had immediately responded that she had never really liked him and vowed that karma would catch up with him one day. Audrey handled things differently as I imagined she would. Audrey took Cain’s betrayal hard. She sat on my bed with me and cried. It made sense; Cain had been her friend along with mine in law school. His true colors were a hard thing to process but curiously not hard to believe. Both my friends had been checking on me every day, making sure I hadn’t quietly faded into insanity. They had been trying for weeks now to get me out of the house but each time I had refused until this evening when they gave me no choice.

“The bad I guess…I mean how much worse can it really get?” I asked sucking back my second whiskey sour of the night.

“Okay, so here is the deal….Elgin said the soonest the divorce can be finalized is ninety days.” I watched as my two best friends braced for my reaction to this news. Little did they know, I already knew this shitty piece of news. I had done my own research and found the ninety day time requirement. Thanks to the great State of Alabama I had to be married for at least ninety days before I could even attempt to dissolve my sham of a marriage. I appreciated Audrey contacting Elgin though. She had asked me who I wanted to use from our pool of classmates and Elgin was an easy choice. He had a large divorce practice in Huntsville and I knew he would be discreet, as he still owed me a favor from law school. I had saved his butt once in contracts class and he had never forgotten it.

“Great, that means I will get to celebrate my birthday by filing for divorce. So what’s the good news?” I knew I was freaking them out with my unfazed attitude.

“Uh yeah…Elgin also thinks you can get a large settlement from Jamieson. He thinks his people will want to keep this as quiet as possible.”

That did surprise me. I hadn’t considered asking for a settlement; in fact the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t want one thing from Jamieson, especially his money.

“I don’t want it,” I blurted out sternly.

“Jenna, don’t you think you should at least think about this? I mean Jamieson can afford it, you know he can. This money could give you an opportunity for a fresh start. You could travel for a bit before you have to figure out your next move.” Olivia countered.

“No. I don’t want any of his money. I don’t want anything from him, not anymore,” I told them resolutely.

“Okay.” Audrey said acknowledging my determination.

“Have you told you parents yet?” Olivia asked me.

“No I plan on telling them tomorrow. I’m supposed to go over there for Sunday dinner.” I had been avoiding my entire family since I returned home. I didn’t want to tell them what happened with Cain and I also really didn’t want to have to tell them I was in fact married, to Jamieson. I knew there was no way around it though, I had to tell them.

“Do you want us to go with you?” Livy offered.

“No, I’ll be alright. I’ve already told my Mom that Cain and I are having problems so it’s not a complete shock to her when I tell her we called off the wedding. The shocking part will be when I tell her I’m already married to a fucking Wellington. So cheers to that!” I said holding up the last of my drink and chugging it back.

My friends looked more than a bit concerned. I don’t blame them. I was pretty much self-destructing before their very eyes.

“Where to next, gals?” I asked trying to change the subject and sound upbeat.

“Gossips?” Audrey asked.

“Let’s do it.” Olivia announced placing enough cash down on the table for all of our drinks and then some.

Gossips was packed like usual. The house music thudded through the speakers amplifying my buzzed state. I had downed two tequila shots when I got in the bar. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

“Let’s shake it, ladies,” Olivia led us all to the dance floor.

Iggy Azalea’s Beg For It was playing as Livy led the way to the front of the bar toward the stage. It was a ritual for us to dance on the stage at Gossips. Once we waded our way through the large crowd of people packing the stage, we settled into a spot on the right of the DJ. I watched as my friends easily began swaying to the beat of the music and I followed along. I was hoping that some drunken dancing would finally take my mind off the fact my life had been turned upside down and I had no idea which way was up anymore.

About a half an hour into dancing a group of good looking guys infiltrated our little dance party. I was now fully feeling my alcohol consumption enough to make a bold choice and begin provocatively dancing with one of the guys who was very tall dark and incredibly handsome. He was a good dancer and I enjoyed the way he was making my body feel. I guess that’s why I didn’t panic when he guided me back against the wall caging me in. I knew I was drunk, I knew I was past the point of making smart choices, but I also knew I didn’t care. I just wanted to feel something other than the pain from my reality.

Tall, dark and handsome was running his hands down my sides and was just about to slip his hand under my tight black top when he was suddenly pushed aside. At first I thought it was just from the packed crowd of people on the stage but then my eyes focused on the flurry of activity a few feet away from me. It was Jamieson. He had shoved the guy away from me and was currently shoving him towards the back corner of the bar.

“Well fancy seeing you here, Mrs. Wellington,” Derrick smirked, standing in front of me so I could no longer see what was happening in the corner. I did however; see Julian rush by looking furious. I knew Julian would stop anything from going too far, unlike Derrick.

“What do you want, Derrick?” I demanded.

“Me? I don’t want anything. I just came along to watch the shit show,” he explained through his giant grin.

I pushed past him to find Audrey and Olivia looking just as stunned as I was at what had happened.

“Ladies…can I offer you some drinks?” Derrick offered attempting to get us to leave the melee behind.

“Sure,” I agreed in frustration letting Derrick lead the way toward the long L-shaped bar.

“Pick your poisons,” he gestured toward the shelves behind the waiting bartender.

“Tequila. Two shots please.” I said to the bartender ignoring Derrick and his jackassness.

“Alright! Make that four,” Derrick exclaimed beside me.

“Whoa Jenna, don’t you think you should slow it down a bit.” Olivia piped up knowing I was headed past buzzedville and straight to drunk town.

“Yeah Jenna you have had a lot to drink already,” Audrey echoed Livy’s concerns.

I scowled at both of them and slammed both shots back, one after the other.

“Damn! She’s not joking around tonight ladies,” Derrick laughed and took his two shots.

“No she is definitely not.” I heard Olivia mutter as I stormed off toward the bathrooms.

I just about made it to the door of the ladies room when I felt someone slam me backwards and into the wall. It took me a second or two to register who it was but the second his hands held tight onto my wrists I knew it was him. My mind may have hated him but my body still craved his touch.

“What the fuck do you think you are doing, Jenna?” he growled in my ear in a deep low tone.

“Umm…having fun, duh.” I snapped back trying to pull myself away from him to no avail. “And how about it’s none of your fucking business.”

He didn’t respond right away instead he just glared coldly at me for what seemed like forever. “That’s where you’re wrong Jenna; it is very much my business what my wife is doing.”

I think it was the way he said wife that sent me over the edge. “Oh please, you don’t give a shit about me. You made that abundantly clear five years ago. So why don’t you just piss off!” I pushed him this time with as much force as I could muster. Jamieson didn’t move in inch but I did. The impact of hitting his broad chest was enough to make me sway off my six inch heels. I felt like everything was happening in slow motion. I could feel myself falling and trying to right myself but unsuccessfully. I then felt Jamieson’s large hands swoop out and steady me, pulling me safely against his chest.

I wanted to swat his hands away and storm off defiantly but it was glaringly obvious that my alcohol was finally catching up with me.

“Hey James, you got her?” Barry, our favorite bouncer asked him.

Barry must have seen me almost fall. I knew he wouldn’t actually kick me out but I also knew that was his way of politely saying it was time for me to head home.

“Yeah Barry, I got her,” he said still holding me plastered against his side.

“Audrey and Olivia are over by the bar.” I craned my neck behind him in search of my friends.

“I know.” He said simply and began dragging me with him through the sea of people toward the exit.

“Jamieson…” I tried to protest. I wanted to find my friends.

“Don’t argue, Jenna.” he growled pulling me through the exit and into the dark parking lot. He was still angry and I could give a shit less, I was angry too. I had been angry for five years.

Unlocking his Ford truck, he opened the passenger door for me and held out his hand to help me climb up inside. I just scoffed at his offer and yanked myself up. He slammed the door shut behind me. He quickly hopped into the driver’s seat, starting the loud diesel engine.

I didn’t speak a word as we made our way out of downtown Huntsville. It wasn’t until he turned onto the highway that panic struck me.

“Where are we going?” I demanded.

He didn’t say anything at first, he just took a in a deep breath and looked over at me for a half a second. “Home Jenna, I’m taking you home.”

I knew he wasn’t talking about my apartment; no Jamieson Wellington was taking me to his grand mansion of horrors, the one place on earth I dreaded most.