Free Beautifully Wounded (The Beaumont Brothers) by Susan Griscom Page A

have. I uh, need to get down to the house. I’ll be back up later to check on you.”
    “Check on me?”
    “Yeah, you know, no more than two hours sleep at a time—for tonight. After that, I think you’ll be fine.”
    “Oh,” I said, sounding a bit too disappointed, I thought. As much as I liked Jackson, I was glad he was leaving. Not that I didn’t want his company, but I needed some time to get over the embarrassment of him seeing my breasts sticking to my shirt as if I’d been a contestant in wet T-shirt contest.

Chapter 15
    Jackson
     
     
    I’d never been so damn flustered in my whole life, but seeing Lena standing there with my shirt clinging to her breasts like that I’d lost my ability to speak. All I could think about was how perfect her breasts were, and I felt like a complete douche because I couldn’t stop staring at them. I was supposed to be trying to gain her trust, not making her think I’m some perv. I should have tried harder to avert my eyes, but man, I am a full blooded twenty-two year old guy, complete with a high level of testosterone that always shows up when I least expect it. The sooner I got out of there, the better, for both our sakes.
    Maybe Brodie and Doc were right, and I shouldn’t get mixed up in this. Lena was a pretty girl under that bruised and beaten face. Somebody beat the crap out of her—a somebody who might come looking for her.
    I paced the floor of the kitchen from one end to the other, running my hand through my hair as I thought. Let him come, I decided. Let him just try to lay another hand on her and see how far he gets. When I get through with him, he won’ t be able to use those hands for a long time for anything, not even to get his own rocks off.
    I swiveled my body, swinging my fist out through the air , just missing Brodie’s jaw by inches as he jumped back.
    “Whoa, bro. What’s up?”
    “Nothing. I’m just ready to pound the asswipe who decorated Le … Lana’s face, and used her body as a doormat for kicking the shit off his boots.”
    “What? Did she tell you who it was?”
    “No, but when I find out … I’m going to make him wish he’d never met her.”
    “I hope you’re just blowing smoke, because you, more than anyone, should know what could happen if you lay a hand on that creep.”
    “That’s only if he can prove I threw the first punch.”
    “Yeah? And who’s to say he couldn’t. Lana? Don’t count on it. Women like her always end up sticking up for the creep who’d beat them. You know that.”
    I grabbed the collar of my brother’s shirt and shoved him against the wall. “Don’t talk about her that way. She’s not like those other women who keep going back to the bastards who beat them time and time again, defending the S.O.Bs like they’re mini-gods.”
    “How do you know? You’ve known her for what, ten hours?”
    “I just know.” I shook my head, let go of his shirt and stepped back.
    “ Shit. You’re falling for her. Already? Don’t be stupid, Jack.”
    I shot him a dagger riddled stare , but he continued anyway. “I’m not saying anything you don’t already know. She might be a nice girl.”
    “She is!”
    “Okay, but … look, I didn’t mean to imply she wasn’t nice. I’m just saying what usually happens in abuse cases. If it was abuse.” I glared at him again. “I suppose it could have been rape. Then, of course, she wouldn’t defend the guy. All I’m saying is be careful, Jackson. It seems to me that anyone mean enough to do what he did to Lana would go out of his way to get you thrown in jail for messing with even one strand of his hair. Plus, abused women usually defend the abuser. If it was abuse, we’ve seen it before, right here in our own little town, Jack.”
    Brodie was right. We had seen it with our own uncle. Late one night, right before last call, a man and woman were arguing. It suddenly got more heated and turned ugly, with the guy striking the woman and knocking her four feet back