Page 44 of Justice for JoElla

Liella nodded. “Yeah. Boy oh boy, we’re gonna have to rename your wife, Landon. What’ll it be? Jerrella? I like it.”

Laughter burst from JoElla before she could stop it. “I like it too! We’ll have to tell her!”

“Yeah, she’s gonna love this. Where is she?” Liella asked, looking around the yard.

“In the house cleaning up poop, I think,” JoElla answered, and Brandon and Breckin started to laugh. “Hell, I’m not getting in the middle ofthat!”

“Me either,” Breckin added, laughing.

“I’m not saying a word,” Brandon offered.

Landon shook his head. “I don’t dare say anything. One of you will repeat it, and I’ll be in the dog house for weeks. Grilling is the only time I’m not on poop patrol.”

“Grill a lot, do you?” Breckin asked as everyone laughed.

“As often as possible!”

Before long, JoElla had been introduced to Liam and Darlene, Jerrica’s brother and sister-in-law, as well as Jeffrey and AmyLigon, Jerrica’s parents. Everyone was very nice to her, and JoElla was surprised to realize that she was having a good time. Not only that, but Brandon was being very attentive. Every time he stood, he asked if he could get her something, if she needed anything, if she wanted anything, and if she was comfortable and having a good time. No one had ever paid that much attention to her before, and yet he wasn’t smothering her.I could get used to this, she told herself, then she shut it down. It was only temporary, she was sure. He’d find some reason to walk away eventually, but maybe she could talk herself into enjoying it while it lasted.

By the time everyone else left, it was late and the kitchen was a mess. She was coming out of the bathroom when she met Brandon in the hallway and he leaned into her. “Would you mind helping me clean up the kitchen? Jerrica’s exhausted and Landon did all the grilling, so he shouldn’t have to clean.”

JoElla gave him a smile. “Of course not. I’d be glad to. Got an old tee I can wear so I don’t get anything on my top?”

“Sure.” Five minutes later, they were elbow deep in greasy casserole dishes, and JoElla was actually enjoying it. Brandon was surprisingly good in the kitchen, which was a relief, because she never had been. Boiling water was a challenge for her. By the time the dishwasher was running and everything else was laying out on towels around the kitchen to dry, she was exhausted.

“’Bout ready for bed?” Brandon asked as he folded a dish towel over the rod inside the cabinet.

“Yep.” She could feel him right behind her as she made her way back to the bedroom and in less than five minutes, they were both under the covers. She grinned as she said, “I suppose there’ll be no monkeying around tonight.”

“Honestly? I’d feel kinda weird about it here anyway, but I’m too tired. It’s been a long day.”

JoElla smiled and rolled to face him. “A good day?”

His hand rose and he tapped an index finger on the tip of her nose. “A very good day. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself.” With only a slight pause, he asked, “And you?”

JoElla closed her eyes and tried to think. Putting what she was feeling into words wasn’t easy for her. Matter of fact, it was damn near impossible. She was about to say something when she felt the warmth of his palm against her cheek. Everything inside her longed for that kind of gentleness. “Brandon, I?”

“Before you say anything, I want you to know I just want honesty. If you hated it, you hate me, and you’re really hoping to hold it together long enough to get home tomorrow so you never have to see me again, that’s okay. If that’s how you feel, that’s valid. I won’t be happy about it, but I’ll understand.”

“No. It’s nothing like that. I… I don’t know how to do a relationship that’s anything other than fucking around on the sly because that’s all I’ve ever had. I never really had relationships when I was growing up. So I’m lousy at this. Totally out of my league.”

“I get it. I really do. So I?”

“Let me finish!” Brandon shut up immediately. “What I was about to say was… I’m out of my league, but I saw enough today to know that if this was real… Was it real?”

“Oh, yeah. Real.”

“So if this is real, it’s something I’m interested in. I don’t know how to get there, but?”

“Stop.” He gave her a tiny little kiss on the lips. “You’ve now managed to have a relationship that’s lasted a little more than twenty-four hours. You should be proud of yourself for that.”

JoElla laughed, but she looked into the eyes of the man before her. There was a boyishness there that his brother didn’t have. Landon was a great guy, a great jokester, and sweet as could be, but he had a seriousness that JoElla had picked up on immediately, and it came from the danger he faced on every shift. She recognized it because it was the same for her. But Brandon didn’t have that. Sure, he could be serious, but the intensity that Landon had, that she experienced in her own personality, Brandon didn’t have. Even when she’d acted like an asshole, she’d sat there in her apartment alone after Brandon had gone out, sure she’d never see him again, and it had left her with a sadness she hadn’t expected. And the butterfly farm had been incredible.

Brandon brought a lightheartedness, a measure of joy, to her. She’d felt safe and at peace with him there, and even afterward there at the house. She had no idea what it would mean to be in love with someone, but she liked him a lot, and if he was telling the truth, he liked her too. Was it time for her to try to have a real relationship? Could she?

“JoElla?”

She was startled out of her thoughts. “Yeah?”

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