Damsel's Tattooed Temptation (18+)(Complete)

CHAPTER 24: Jackson Family Values

Damsel pulled into the neighborhood that James grew up in. If she were Mama Kane, she would have curled her nose up at the small meager houses and the overgrown front yards littered with children's toys, and other manner of debris.

Damsel found it... cozy, cultured, and real. The large mature trees that shielded the residents from the hot summer sun. The collage of life as people moved from place to place not hiding in their cars but on their feet. This place was leaps and bounds from where his hillside home set now, but this it still made sense for him too.

Damsel smiled when she saw her handsome James pacing in front of a pristine stucco faced two story home. The paint around the windows was chipping a bit, but the yard was well kept and manicured with an abundance of California native plants lining a pavered walkway. She frowned when she saw James's face contorted in an angry scowl as he yelled at the person on the other end of the phone. She cut the engine, retrieved her cake from the passenger side seat, and opened the door.

"...if you would have been where you were supposed to be you wouldn't be apologizing right now..." He paused and she assumed the other person was talking. "I'm tired of your excuses Janet!"

James pulled Damsel into a one armed hug and kissed the top of her head.

"I have to go..." He took the cake from Damsel and led her up the path. "Bye, I really have to go... Well, show up where you say you're going to when you say you're going to damn it!" He ended the call and stuffed his phone in his pocket. "Sorry you had to hear that babe. Did you find the place okay?"

Damsel nodded finding his tired eyes. He'd been putting so much time into everyone but himself lately. He needed a break. She felt bad that she was part of the problem. She'd been particularly clingy the last week which was disgusting for her. She often liked the distant, casual nature of her previous relationships. Now that she was with someone she near always wanted to be around, she realized she really didn't like the other men she was with. Not like she liked James anyway. It was scary, unnerving, and here she was about to meet one of the most important people in his life. The woman that raised him into the man that she...

"Baby?"

Damsel's frazzled eyes met his.

"Relax. You look beautiful by the way." He kissed her forehead.

Damsel smiled. "You'd say that even if I looked a hot mess."

He chuckled. "Because it would still be true."

She rested her hand on his forearm and leaned her head on his shoulder and took a deep breath, his aroma finding a familiar place in her brain. She relaxed letting her anxiety take a back seat.

Damsel's stomach growled when they stepped inside the small cozy foyer. There was a robust buzz of chatter in the adjacent living room, laughter and loud voices. She smiled. It reminded her of her family gatherings.

Damsel recognized Will's voice coming from the... kitchen, maybe? "Where's your lazy son? He's supposed to be finishing up these greens."

"Don't you talk about my James."

There was laughter.

"Don't you go talking about me while I'm not around." James said putting Damsel's cake on the kitchen counter. He kissed a brown skinned woman wearing a faded flower apron over an emerald green cotton dress on the cheek. Her face was youthful it was her eyes and streaks of grey bedecking her bun that gave her age away.

"Hey baby." The woman leaned into James's kiss her hands busy stirring a dish. Her face pulled into a wide smile when she laid eyes on Damsel. "Oh my goodness. Now I see why you were on that phone at my table. Come here baby." Damsel hugged the woman who smelled like clean laundry and sweet potato pies. "You brought something?" Her eyebrows raised and she removed the cover on Damsel's cake. "Oh yes! That smells right. Pound cake?"