Deceptive Truth: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 4) by Olivia Jaymes (reading women .txt) 📕

She stuck out her lower lip playfully. "What kind of girlfriend would I be to let you walk into this without anyone by your side?"

"A smart one. This isn't going to be pretty, babe. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"I've been warned and I ignored it of my own free will. Feel better now?"

"Not particularly. I won't be in a good mood until we're done and on our way back."

"You are the biggest pessimist. Maybe they'll ignore you and corner me. You know, question me to see if I'm good enough for you."

"They'll question you but not because they think you're not good enough."

She placed her hand on his thigh, giving it a squeeze. "Listen, if it starts getting bad just give me a signal and I'll do something loud and outrageous. Start dancing and stripping or something like that. Start whooping it up and calling everyone an asshole. I'll take all the focus off of you and put it in myself."

"Stripping?"

"I'd totally do it." She held out her hand, pinky finger extended. "Pinky swear."

"You don't need to swear, and you don't need to rescue me. I can handle my family. But it is nice that you'd want to help. Even strip. But my family doesn't deserve it. Just ignore them like I do."

"I've got your back. Just know that."

He didn't deserve this woman. But he sure as hell wasn't going to let her go. It felt like they were more than a couple. They were a team.

"And I've got yours. Always know that."

Knox parked on the street a few houses down from his brother's home. There were cars all along the street due to the party. He recognized a few as his sister's and also his older brother Roman’s. Carrying the present he and Jenna had shopped for and wrapped this morning, he rang the doorbell.

"This is going to be a shitshow. Just let me know if you want to leave and we will."

The door swung open and Randy stood there, grinning ear to ear like he'd won the lottery. Dylan ran up behind him and squealed Knox's name in such a high pitch it almost made his ears ring.

"Is that for me?" the brand new ten-year old asked, jumping up and down. "Is it the Legos I wanted?"

Knox handed over the gift to his excited nephew. "You'll have to open it to find out."

"You won't open it now. You can wait until later," a stern voice said from somewhere behind Randy. It could only be Randy's wife Julia. "Put it on the table with the rest of the gifts."

"Aw, Mom," Dylan whined, but ran off to do as he was told.

Julia peeked around Randy's shoulder and then tugged him back. "Let them inside, for heaven's sake. They don't want to stand around on our front porch all afternoon."

Actually, Knox might prefer it but Julia wasn't going to allow it. He gave her a hug and then stepped back to introduce Jenna.

Julia's eyes were wide and her brows were almost up to her hairline. "It's certainly nice to meet you, Jenna. I don't think we've met any of Knox's girlfriends before. In fact, I'm sure I haven't."

Knox placed his hand on the small of Jenna's back. "Then she must be special."

Randy grinned and rubbed at his chin. "I guess she must be. Come on in. Get yourself a drink. There's pizza in the kitchen as well."

Like all of the Owens family get-togethers, it was a casual party. The food was first come, first serve in the kitchen and the guests mingled in the living room or out back if the weather was cooperating. Today was warm and sunny so there was a group of men in the backyard while the women congregated inside, pushing the kids outdoors so they wouldn't make a mess in the house. Randy's kids, especially, were high energy pretty much every single hour of the day and Knox didn't know how they did it. He was exhausted just watching them. Maybe he should go on a diet of peanut butter, chicken nuggets, and pizza.

"Your brother and his wife seem nice."

Knox was filling two red plastic cups with soda. "Randy is a good guy and Julia is great too. They're the normal ones. Don't get too comfy because I see my brother Roman heading right for us. He doesn't look happy."

Not that Roman ever did. He was perpetually angry about something. He seemed to always be grumpy about the state of the world in general and his life in particular.

"We need to talk," Roman said, getting into Knox's personal space. His older brother smelled like beer so this probably wasn't going to end well. "I heard about you accusing Cal of being a killer."

Sliding an arm in front of Jenna, he nudged her behind him.

"That's not what I did, but I'm sure Cal made the story sound a hell of a lot dramatic than it actually was. I asked him about a woman he'd been dating and about the last time he saw her. Which he lied about to the police, by the way. Not that you give a shit about that, I'm sure."

"What do you care about some girl anyway? She probably ran off with a guy and is holed up in a motel room with some tequila. Get real."

He could feel Jenna stiffen against him, shocked at his brother's words. Knox stepped aside and placed his arm around her waist.

"Roman, I'd like you to meet Jenna Waters, the sister of that girl that maybe ran off with another guy and is holed up in a motel with some tequila. Jenna, this