Chapter 7
Jasmine
I tugged at my skirt, annoyed with the tightness across my derriere.
The girls’ dating plans for me had been causing me stress, and as a result, it didn’t fit me as well.
Over the past four months, I’d met a multitude of men.
None caught my attention. Worse, the more dates I went on and struck out in the chemistry department, the more demoralized I became.
This plan the girls had concocted wasn’t working, and I wasn’t happy.
I hadn’t heard a word from Steve since Christmas Eve dinner. Now, here we were, in April, and I’d caved to yet another date with a man I didn’t like…all hoping to lure the one I did.
I was tired of games, and I didn’t want to continue playing them.
It was time to give up and admit defeat.
I was lonely and would remain so, especially in the company of these high-powered, boring, often self-absorbed men who seemed to think they were doing me a favor by taking me out to fancy dinners I didn’t want.
I just…missed Steve, what we could have, but I had to respect the fact he didn’t feel the same. I sighed, tugging again.
“I can’t wear this,” I exclaimed. I strode across my living room, heading toward the stairs, thankful I’d refused the heels the girls had wanted me to wear for the more sensible half-inch pumps.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Kate said, slipping between the stairs and me. My daughter clucked her tongue and wagged a finger. At me. My mouth dropped open. She giggled.
The air conditioner kicked on, humming as cool air bathed my overheated skin. It wasn’t just nerves about tonight—even though those had kicked in when I realized this was the fourth time in as many weeks that I’d see Frank.
“You look lovely, Mama.” Kate blushed, not uncommon with her fiery hair and pale skin. “And that skirt fits you just right for getting some action.”
Much as I loved her and the nod of approval she’d given to my outfit, I wasn’t wearing this tight a skirt. No siree. Its tightness would give Frank the wrong idea, and I did not want action with that man.
I should have said no to this date. I didn’t like him enough to want to pursue anything more with him. I didn’t even want to see him enough to offer him a lame excuse, but I would because that was the right thing to do.
I made a face, wishing I wasn’t so inclined to do right.
“I’m not comfortable with him seeing me in this, and I don’t want any kind of action with that man. I need to change.”
I headed toward the stairs, the knot in my stomach worsening. Dammit. I wanted this awkwardness over. Really, all I wanted was to sit out on my porch and sip whiskey and mourn my last attempt at love.
“He’s here,” Kate said.
I groaned. “I don’t want to go.”
Kate studied me. She must have seen the misery in my expression because she said, “Then, don’t.”
I blinked at her. “You won’t make me?”
She laid her hands on my shoulders. “Never. I don’t want you unhappy, Mama.” She shook her head. “The whole point of this was to make you happier.”
I smiled as I hugged her. “Thanks, sweetie. I’ll tell Frank to take a hike, and we can invite Jenna up for a glass of wine.”
“I’ll just walk down and grab her,” Kate said. “It’s nice out, and I can use the exercise. Plus, that’ll give you a minute with Frank—to make sure you don’t want more with him.” She waggled her brows.
“No, ma’am. I most certainly do not.” He wasn’t Steve, and I was too old, too set in my ways to do something casual, even if it would ease my loneliness for a night.
Penance. I’d thought about my paying a continued price often as I cleared Jensen’s grave on Christmas Eve, but I was absolutely positive I was still paying it now.
Maybe I’d never meet my quota. What a dismal thought.
Kate pressed a kiss to my cheek and headed out the back door, calling back over her shoulder, “I’ll grab a bottle of Cam’s whiskey.”
I smiled. There was a good girl.
I straightened my shoulders and headed toward my front door. Now, to get rid of Frank.
I opened the door a little. “Frank?”
“Nice to see you, Jasmine.” His brown eyes were hard, and he studied me with an intensity I found disconcerting. When I didn’t reply, he gave me a toothy grin that I found even more off-putting.
“Ah, good! I see you dressed up for me. You know, I wasn’t sure I’d be interested in someone your age, but you really are a stunning woman.”
Oh, ick. A shiver inched down my spine. Nope. This man wasn’t for me. “All gloss, no substance”, as my mama would have told me.
“Unfortunately, I can’t go out tonight. I’m…” I gasped, shocked, as the edge of the door slammed into my shoulder. The pain radiated from there, and it took me a moment to realize he’d grabbed my wrist.
I tried to shake the dread, even as the pain ripped a scream from my throat. Until this point, I’d never feared for my safety. Never thought I’d needed to.
I’d been wrong. So wrong. Frank squeezed my wrist harder and something inside popped, causing me to gasp.
“Here’s the way it’s going to be,” he said.
His voice was soft, kind, but his grip threatened to snap the bones. My mind struggled to mesh the two. I twisted, writhing against his continued hold onto me with ease.
“You’re going to invite me inside, first your house, then your body. And when I say so, you’re going to give me access to your son’s music, and you’re going to make damn sure I enjoy every single minute of our time together.”
“N-no.”
“Oh, yes,” Frank said. “You’re in no position to tell me anything other than what I want to here, old woman.”
Tears threatened the corners of my eyes, but I bit back my anguish. Time for that later. I didn’t know what this monster was capable of, but I refused to let him hurt me any worse than he already was, and he most definitely would never threaten Kate or Jenna when they arrived.
“And if I say no again?” I gritted out.
He squeezed my arm harder, the dead-set of his gaze latching to mine. “You won’t, because I’ll make sure you can’t.”
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
I lived on a ranch with my son, with bodyguards. Just who the hell did this…this…deviant think he was?
But his plan was etched across his expression, and it threatened retribution, should I deny him. If I denied him what was mine to give. Mine. Not his to take.
I gasped against the pain once more before I gritted my teeth. I’d given birth to three children naturally. I’d been thrown off many horses and fallen out of the hay loft when I wasn’t paying enough attention.
I knew pain, and I knew how to manage it…to some degree. I breathed in deeply, then out through my clenched teeth. The second breath was easier and my body started to relax.
Frank chuckled, no doubt thinking he’d just received my acquiescence. Oh, no, this garbage of a man was not getting anything—anything—else from me or my kids. I’d known he was trouble. I just hadn’t expected him to be skunk-stink nasty.
Just went to show that I should have trusted my gut.
I’d known something was off after our first date, but I’d hoped that going out another time or two would change my mind.
No, that wasn’t even the truth of it. I’d hoped my seeming to get serious with a man would finally motivate Steve to step forward.
My idiocy led me to this situation, and I was none too pleased with myself…less so with Frank, who would more assuredly not be here when my girls showed up. No, no way was he going to threaten or hurt them.
No way.
“Do you understand the rules, Jasmine?” he asked as he stepped close enough for me to feel his breath on my cheek…and his thigh against mine.
I stumbled backward, which he expected, so he pressed closer to me.
My heart hammered as I shuffled back again, already bracing myself for the tightening of his much larger hand around my wrist. The pain caused the edges of my vision to darken, but that didn’t matter because finally I was close enough to my goal.
I reached out with my free hand, snagging the heavy brass lamp from the end table.
It was bulky and difficult to hold, but I caught the top of its construction near the bulb.
I lifted it and swung all in one motion, catching him off guard.
The lamp slammed into his shoulder and he let go of my wrist. I tucked my injured arm against my chest with a whimper as I stumbled back, dragging the lamp with its trailing power cord.
“That was so fucking stupid,” Frank snapped.
“No, you were, coming here, thinking you could demand—”
“I always get what I want,” he said. It was a boast of a man who did, in fact, get what he wanted. The confidence in his tone, in his bearing, told me no one stood up to him. At least not for long.
So I shouldn’t have been surprised when he lunged. I wasn’t, not really, but his action ripped a scream from my throat. He planned to hurt me more, especially now that I’d defied him.
Worse, I knew in my bones that he wouldn’t stop with me, not when the girls showed up.
This man didn’t fear consequences because there had never been any.
That freaked me out, and the fear for my girls made me faster than I should have been.
But even then, I barely skittered out of his way.
Adrenaline pumped hard through my veins, giving me the strength to heft the lamp high before I slammed it against the back of his skull.
He collapsed face down on my new rug. The rat bastard.
If he bled on it, I was going to be mighty angry.
No, not quite true. I was already mighty angry.
My rage spurred me on, gave me the strength to see this action through, even as my stomach heaved.
I’d hit a man.
He’d threatened me with…with…I heaved a breath that broke into a sob. Oh, oh, oh…
Even as bad as my life got with Laurence, he’d never hurt me.
Shock must have kicked in because next thing I knew, the back door opened, and Jenna and Kate’s laughter spilled inside.
Frank stirred, and I snatched up the lamp I’d dropped at my feet.
All I could think about was his threats—how he might have hurt my girls.
He wouldn’t ever get the chance. He wouldn’t. I pounded him with the lamp’s base again, making sure he wasn’t moving before I raised my wide, terrified eyes to meet Kate’s.
“Holy hell,” Kate breathed.
“He…he…he…”
Jenna had her phone out and to her ear when I raised my gaze to hers. She offered me a small, reassuring smile.
“Cam,” her voice was calm as she walked back toward the kitchen.
I heard her rummaging around. She returned with kitchen twine and a mallet.
She handed the twine to Kate, who started winding it around Frank’s wrists with an efficiency and tightness I found compelling.
I didn’t stop watching until she’d tied off the twine.
My gaze rose to Kate’s face, which was pale.
Her lips were pressed together so tightly that they had turned white.
She met my gaze and her eyes burned with anger and worry.
“You okay, Mama?”
“Yes.” Was I?
I had to be.
“I’ll pour you a glass of whiskey,” Kate rasped.
“Yes, honey, I’m just fine,” Jenna said. “But I really do need the guards to come to the big house, like right now.”
She paused, listened. “Well, your mother just brained her date, and I think her arm’s broken.”