Page 56 of Corrupt Idol

“Are you okay?” she asked as Lynne grabbed a blanket and huddled in on herself.

“Of course, dear. Are you ready for the beach?”

“Yes. I can’t wait.”

“We’re going to have so much fun! Now, tell me all about your road trip.”

She did her best to weave an interesting story, but was saved by a group of Lynne’s friends who stopped by for a visit. A glance out the window showed that there was a small crowd gathered around the moving truck and trailer. Dad and Jesse were talking to the neighbors who wanted the latest scoop on their lives. She let out a long sigh. She would have to get used to that again.

She busied herself by starting dinner and noted Lynne’s smile of approval. When the guys finally came in, she had a pot of chili and coleslaw ready. They sat at the table. She made a concentrated effort to keep a smile on her face and the mood light as she told her parents about her friends in Utah. Jesse stepped in when her energy flagged and went into great detail about the road trip. Mom took one bite of food and pushed her plate away. It freaked her out, but she tried not to let it show. When Dad assisted Mom to their bedroom, she started to clean the kitchen. She was so tired, she felt faint.

“I got it,” Jesse said.

“It’s okay,” she said without turning around.

When he gripped her hip, she stiffened.

“You’re dead on your feet. I got it,” he said firmly.

She wasn’t going to argue with him. She walked away without a backward glance. Taking a shower was almost beyond her, but she did so, turning Mom’s words over in her mind as she washed her hair and scrubbed the grime from her body.

She fell face first into bed, hair wet, with no underwear beneath her nightgown. She was beyond caring about anything. She needed sleep before she took on tomorrow.

Ten

A warm,comforting weight stroked her stomach while someone nuzzled her cheek. “Wake up, baby.”

She moaned as she tried to come up from the murky depths.

“I made breakfast.”

She could smell something tantalizing that awakened her taste buds. That was a good reason to get up, right? She struggled to get a hold of her faculties.

“We’re going to unpack the truck and then return it.”

Her brows came together. Truck? Unpack?

“Come on, Vi. Wake up.”

Hard lips covered hers and a tongue sank into her mouth. The taste of coffee and sausage hit her a second before she remembered where she was. Her eyes opened at the same time that her hand flew up and shoved at the shoulder of the man crouched over her.

“What the hell are youdoing?” she hissed and prepared to roll away when she realized her nightgown was hiked up to her waist. “What the fuck, Jesse?”

He stole another kiss before he tugged her nightgown down. “Tempting, baby, but we have work to do.”

She sat up and glared at him. “What the hell are you doing in my room?”

“Would you rather Dad came to wake you up and find you like this?”

She flushed. “Get out!”

“Get dressed. We have to unpack your things and return the truck. Some guys are coming over to help and you need to decide where you want everything. Dad cleared a section of the garage if you want to put stuff in there until we come back from Florida.”

With that, he walked through the bathroom to his bedroom. Hell. She rolled out of bed and heard the chatter of multiple voices coming from the dining room. She had overslept. How the hell was Jesse up? He should be in worse shape than her. She brushed her teeth and glared at her reflection. If she had to choose between her father and Jesse finding her like that, she’d have to choose him. If she hadn’t been so tired, she would never have gone to bed like that. Now that she was living at home, she’d have to make sure she was presentable at all times so she wouldn’t give her poor father a heart attack. Her father was a man’s man. It pained him to see her in anything too feminine or revealing. In the beginning, she tried to tone it down for his sake, but once she went to high school, she stopped caring so much.

When she came into the dining room, she found everyone gathered at the table. The sight of Lynne laughing with her father warmed her heart. She felt Jesse’s eyes on her, but she ignored him as she made herself a plate of food and listened to their flight arrangements for tomorrow morning. She was just finishing her breakfast when some cars pulled up. She shoveled the last of the food into her mouth as Dad and Jesse went outside and a bunch of Lynne’s friends swept through the door. She said her hellos and made hurried small talk before she rushed outside.

The group of assembled men gave her pause. Brody and several other classmates had come to help along with her father’s friends—retired firefighters, police officers, and paramedics that she considered uncles. One of them caught sight of her and put a hand to his chest and staggered back.

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