Oh. I liked that. A lot. “So you aren’t going back yet?”
“You’ve got me the rest of the weekend,” he replied.
I couldn’t keep the silly grin off my face.
JASON
Watching Jess sleep was like crack. I couldn’t get enough. She was so unbelievably beautiful, and once you got to know the real Jess, you realized she was fucking sweet. The badass smart mouth who thumbed her nose at rules and skirted the law whenever she could had a kind heart. She’d been hurt in the past, and her life had been hard. It gave her an edge. But there was still an innocence there I hadn’t expected.
She loved me. She had said it several times last night, and I hadn’t been able to say anything back. Each time I’d reacted by bringing her pleasure simply because I wanted to hear her say it again. I didn’t deserve it, but I wanted it nonetheless.
I had also been dealing with the realization that she’d never felt safe. I wasn’t even sure she realized that she had been mumbling about finally feeling safe when I’d held her against me. But it had struck me like a damn brick to my chest. No man had taken care of her and her mother. The guys in her life had only taken from her. No one had taken care of her.
It caused an ache in my chest so intense it had been hard to breathe. She was vulnerable, but no one realized it. She hid behind a strong, brave facade, and it pissed me the hell off that Rock let her. He was her cousin. From what I could tell, he was a good husband and he was great with those kids. Why didn’t he protect Jess the same way? He let people talk about her and guys treat her like shit.
Jess’s eyelashes fluttered, and I enjoyed that perfect moment when she opened her eyes and her gaze found mine. A small, sleepy smile touched her lips. In that moment I knew nothing was more important to me than keeping this woman safe and taken care of. I loved her. I hadn’t expected that, but it had happened. She’d become my world, and I intended to give her the life she deserved. She wasn’t going to be scared and alone again. I would make damn sure my girl always felt safe.
Before I could say any of this, there was a swift knock on my door before it swung open and my mother stepped into the room.
Well, fuck.
Mother’s eyes went to Jess, then swung back to me. I could see her compose herself. She hadn’t come in here expecting to find a girl in my bed. It was obvious by the shock on her face.
“Jason,” she said in her businesslike tone, which meant she was angry and trying to keep it under control.
“Mother,” I replied.
Jess had gone completely still beside me, and I was thankful I had the covers pulled up, covering her very naked body. I looked down at her. “Jess, meet my mother, who has forgotten her manners this morning about respecting others’ privacy,” I told her, then pressed a kiss to her nose to reassure her before looking back at my mother. “Mother, this is Jess, my girlfriend.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
JESS
Meeting a guy’s mother while naked in his bed was never good. Especially when the guy was someone like Jason. Hank’s mother would have been shocked, then made a comment about not knocking me up. Maybe even called me a whore.
Jason’s mother reeked of money. She hadn’t expected to find a girl in bed with him. That much was obvious. And honestly, a relief, in a way. At least I knew he didn’t do this often. I hoped that proved to her that I wasn’t some slut after him because of his brother.
Jason’s arm stayed firmly tucked around me like he was keeping me out of harm’s way and protected. It was sweet and eased my mind some. But the disappointment in his mother’s eyes was hard to ignore. She expected more from Jason than . . . me. I couldn’t blame her, really. Jason was brilliant and had a future ahead of him so much bigger than me. I wanted to reassure her that I wasn’t going to hold him back. I wanted all his dreams to come true too. I didn’t say anything, though. She didn’t look like she wanted to speak to me.
“Girlfriend?” she repeated, distaste in her voice as the word rolled off her tongue. “I was unaware you had a girlfriend. Johanna was under the impression you would be accompanying her to the cotillion next weekend. Her mother called to let me know the color of her dress so you could order her corsage.”
Jason’s body went rigid beside me, and his arm tightened as he pulled me even closer to him. “I told Johanna I would be her escort before things got serious between Jess and me. I’ll still take her, but it will be a friends-only thing.”
I was trying to figure out what a cotillion was and why it was okay for Jason to still buy a girl flowers and take her to this thing when he’d gotten upset over me just having dinner with Jeff.