Jackson: House of Wilkshire ― Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance, page 15
When she woke it was just getting dark out. They had arrived earlier in the morning today, or so she thought, and now she had to get up and move. The covers beside her were cold, but she knew that Jackson was close. Sitting up proved to be much harder than she thought it should have been.
“I have to go.” Nicole looked at Jackson when he spoke, and realized that he was on the phone. “Yes, all right. I’ll call you when I return. But not before then. As I said, I have to go.”
He put the phone away, then leaned against the door jab. Smiling at her, Jackson asked her if she was all right. Nodding, then shaking her head had him laughing again.
“I feel the same way, if you want to know the truth. I don’t think in all my years I ever thought making love with someone, my mate, could be so consuming.” She asked him how long she’d been out. “Couple of hours. You have enough time to shower if you wish before we go.”
“I have to. Why am I so sore?” He laughed and she tossed a pillow at him. “All right, smarty pants, why am I so sore?”
“The part of me that is dragon, but not my dragon, needed to mark you. I didn’t have any idea what that entailed, nor that it could be done. But I am glad that it happened.” She nodded and stood up, swaying just a little. “I’m afraid you lost a little bit of blood, honey. Let me help you in the shower.”
“If you join me in the shower, we are never going to get anything to eat. And believe it or not, I’m starved.” Nicole was at the bathroom door when she looked at the bed. There was blood all over it. “That isn’t going to go over well with the staff.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Nicole started to ask him how he was going to do that, and decided that she really didn’t care. “No one will see it, love. Take your shower and we’ll have a huge dinner.”
Nodding, Nicole went into the bathroom and turned on the water. Smiling, she had to admit, that was about the best sex she’d ever had. But she didn’t think she’d survive doing that more than once or twice a year. Okay, no more than once or twice a month, she thought as she stepped under the spray.
Chapter 12
Jackson was happy to be home, but he was also sad about it. He and Nicole had had such a wonderful time, and they’d both wanted to stay for a lot longer. But duty called, and they both had a job to take care of. The restaurant was going to be open tonight, so Nicole had gone in to make sure the prep was being taken care of. He figured she’d be there most of the day.
“Lord William?” Jackson had forgotten where he was when the antique dealer said his name. “Are you sure you want to auction all this off? I’m sure we could get a better price for the things if you were to do it online.”
“I’m sure. I mostly just want it gone, and I don’t want to have to mess with someone not being able to pick up the pieces after buying it. Besides, I don’t really care for online auctions. This will work out better for all of us.” Mr. Holland nodded as he took pictures of each of the rows of furniture and other items. “When you put this on that auction site, how will they know what there is to buy?”
“I will list what I can. There is much too much to list it all. And if you don’t mind, I would like to suggest a two day preview of things. My staff and I will make sure that we’re here to answer questions. With most of these things, you’ve already taken out the most difficult part for us by marking the years you think they were from.”
It wasn’t a guess for him, but he knew. His mother had kept detailed notes on the things that were in storage, as well as the year and price that had been paid for each piece. Jackson missed his mother very much.
“And the pieces that don’t sell, what do we do with those? I don’t want things to go too cheaply that neither of us make any money.” Mr. Holland laughed. “What is it? You think none of it will sell?”
“I believe that things will go much higher than we can anticipate, honestly. There is no doubt in my mind that things will sell, and for a good price too.” Jackson didn’t really care about how much money he made off the things. All the money was going to go for restoration of a few buildings that he owned in this area. He was also thinking of having himself an auction house for others to use. “You said that your friends, they’ll be adding things to this as well. Do you know if they’ll be bringing it over anytime soon? I’d like to put it all on the website as soon as possible.”
“Yes, today. And those things are marked as well. There are also some gems that will be sold separately that we’d like for you to handle. Not a great deal, mind you, but we have them from our family.” Mr. Holland asked if they were going to install a safe for some of those items. “That’s a good idea. I can have one brought here in the next couple of days. Also, you said that we’re not to bring any of the weapons here until the day of the auction. I think we’d be able to put them in the safe if that would help you.”
“It would indeed, Lord William. You also mentioned that you might be willing to rent this out to me for estate auctions and such. I think that once you get the safe in and the small things that we talked about as improvements, this will be a grand place for auctions.” He said that they’d be taken care of before this auction. “Only a week away. While I wish I had more time, I think having this before the colder weather sets in is a splendid idea. Now, I’ll finish up here. I’m sure you have things to do of your own.”
Jackson let the other dragons know that he was putting in a safe. He also reminded them to bring their things in soon, today if they could manage it, so that they could get pictures out. They all agreed that it would be coming today.
Jackson found Glow in one of the back rooms of the place.
“I think this would make a great break area.” Jackson asked Glow when was the last time he’d been in a break area. “I have been traveling to other auction houses to see what they have in ways of improving this one. Did you know that the biggest complaint of most of the people there is standing in line for things? To get their ticket, which I didn’t know what that was until later. And to pay. I think you need several people to do that for us.”
“Thank you. That’s an excellent idea. This isn’t big enough for a break area. I was thinking that we’d have a much larger space so that people can sit at a few tables if they’d like. Also, a big open place where we can have other organizations come in and sell food and such to make money for themselves.” Glow told him about the high school needing funds for the band. “See, we’re already making progress. Do you know who I should contact to find out if they have time to do it?”
After getting the name and phone number of the person in charge of the band, he called them. They were so excited at first, then the reality of how short of a time they had to get ready for it hit them. A week was such short notice.
“I’ll help you out on that, Mrs. Roman, because you’re going to be helping me out. As I think this is going to be an all-day thing, I’ll give you an allowance to buy things for this one. My wife, she said that she’d make sure that you had all the hot plate items that you wish. She wants this to work for you as well.” Jackson was going to have to tell Nicole what he’d volunteered her for. He didn’t think she’d mind, but he didn’t want her pissy with him either. “Also, my partners and I will supply you with water in bottles. Several cases, as a matter of fact. That way you can make a clear profit on those as well.”
“How often will you be having auctions there, Lord William? It would be a good fund raiser for us, I have to admit. The band needs so much.” He made a note on his paperwork to contact the others about helping the school. “We were hoping for a bus this year that we can use. The one we have now was the one that I rode on when I was in grade school.”
Another note to the first one. “We’ll have them as often as we can. I’ll make sure that you have a list of dates as soon as I get them. Should you not be able to do it, then we’ll find someone else. Right now, we’ve decided to help out the local school.” She thanked him several times. “All right then. When you have a chance, come over and tell us what you’ll need. There is plenty of power here too for you.”
He was making notes on what he had promised when Glow joined him again. Telling the little faerie what he needed, Glow told him that he’d been out looking again and thought he had a good idea on that. In seconds he called in help, and they started on the area in the back. Jackson had a feeling that before this was finished, he’d have a kitchen bigger than Nicole’s.
Jackson knew that this was just a busy project. He no more needed the money to renovate anything than he did money for his next meal. With Nicole working, and he was very happy that she had something she loved doing, he was bored out of his mind. Sitting at his desk that had been brought in by the faeries, he thought about what he wanted to do now.
He’d been going to the school to talk to the students when he could. He had also noticed that things there were very much in need of improvement. But the trouble with that sort of “helping” was that the state would want to see how long it would take, where the money was coming from, and who had donated it.
It wasn’t that they’d not help anywhere they could. But they had to be sort of sneaky with it. Not to draw attention to themselves in the event someone was watching—which, in Jackson’s experience, they forever were.
How about I bring you over some lunch, and you and I share it so you can tell me about your day? He could hear the tension in her voice, and asked Nicole what was going on. I’m just having a rough morning so far, and I thought that if you told me about your day, whatever it is, I could come back here and work tonight.
Sure, I’d love that. Mr. Holland is here, as well as the faeries. They’re working on the back rooms to make them into an office and food counter. She told him not to forget to apply for a food vending license. Good point. I’ll add that to my ever-growing list.
Same here. I’ll be there soon. I only have to add a few more flowers to the vase. Do you suppose that we’ll be busy tonight? And in that, I mean for you to lie to me and say no. That way when we are, I can blame you. He laughed and told her to go right ahead and blame him. Thank you. I’ll be there soon.
“My lord?” He looked at Glow. “We should like your help, if you please. We have gotten in the equipment that we need, but we are...we’re not sure how to make it work.”
“Did you plug it in?” Glow snorted at him. “Well, a man can ask, can’t he? I’ll be there soon. Also, Nicole’s is coming over with some food for us all. Also for you guys, but I didn’t know what to tell her as to how many were here.”
“We have taken care of our needs here, my lord.” Since Glow seemed to be waiting on him, he got up and followed him. “What do you know of rolling dogs?”
“Roller dogs, and they’re hot dogs, not the puppy kind, that roll over and over on these rollers that cook the hot dogs slowly.” Glow seemed to get it then. “Do we have one of those?”
“Yes. And a cheese melting device. When the other vendors have chips of the round variety, they pour this melted cheese over it. Then after adding chili, they sell it. I don’t understand that at all. It seems to be to be such a messy thing. But they love it. And whole pickles.”
“Pickles?” Jackson entered the room in time to see several hundred large jars of pickles being put on a shelf. “That is a great many pickles, Glow. What if people don’t care for them? What do we do with all of those then?”
“They are but an illusion for those coming to have food. There are only four such jars, that will replenish themselves as they are needed on the shelf. As Lady Nicole doesn’t like us to cheat a vendor, we have a supplier that will bring us whatever we have sold so that he will make money as well.” Glow looked up at him. “It is the other things that we’re having trouble with. I believe it is because we don’t understand the concept of it, but if you were to tell us, then we’d be able to make them work for the people using them.”
All he had to do was explain the large coffee urn for them. In their heads, they thought it was to store the remains of the dead in them. Once he told them that it was for large vats of coffee, it was easier for them to figure out. The rule that Nicole had told them, about not plugging in or turning on anything that they didn’t understand, was a Godsend.
“You’ve done a great job of this.” Glow, like his name, shone brightly with the compliment from Nicole. “I love the way you’ve taken the time to figure out a flow of it as well, so that way you’ll not have people tripping all over each other if we get busy back here.”
“We have studied that too, my lady. The reason wasn’t for flow, as you say, but because we are wishing to make this work for the school. They are going to be our first people to use it.” Nicole asked if they wanted her to make them some cheese and chips to try. “Nay, my lady. But we would so like to try a dill pickle. It sells so well at the football and basketballs games we have visited.”
After pulling one of the pickles from the large jar, Nicole cut it up for them. It wasn’t as if they couldn’t just do that themselves, but he could tell, as well as the others, that she was working up to something, and she needed to wait on some sort of cue before saying anything.
“When the school is here, I’d put out a tip jar. Put on it something like ‘New Uniforms’ or something like that. Perhaps a picture of the new ones that are wanted.” Glow said that was wonderful. “Also, the school can defray some of the costs to their teams by having parents of the band donate things, like water, or just their time to work. That’s the way they did it when I was in high school.”
“You were in the band?” Nicole stuck her tongue out at him. “You were, weren’t you? What did you play? I bet you were really good at it.”
“I was in the color guard, thank you very much. While I didn’t help with the band fund raisers, we had our own, I knew what they were doing about it. I heard they were also looking for a bus to drive around. I was thinking that if we bought one of those, and they’re not cheap, it’s a complete tax write off for us. They actually need three of them, but we could help, couldn’t we?”
“We’ll donate one, and so will the others.” Devon sat down and looked at him. “Has she told you yet? About the restaurant?”
~*~
Nicole sat with them. She was in tears. It wasn’t that she hadn’t expected this to happen. But so soon after her starting here was just so hard to take. Devon told her several times that she wasn’t to worry, that he was taking care of it. But she did worry, and it broke her heart to know that she’d fucked up.
“About ten minutes after I spoke to you about coming over, the police showed up. They weren’t mean or anything, but they were there to either close the restaurant down or arrest me. So, I called Kelly, and Devon came over to talk to them.” Jackson asked her what had happened. “Remember when I showed up here to work? Well, Kelly and Bryce do. Anyway, I was on my last nickel. Worse than that, I was homeless, and hadn’t eaten in a couple of weeks. Not anything that was good for me anyway.”
“Something happened where you worked before, I take it.” She nodded and got up to clean up the mess she’d made. The faeries didn’t care for the pickle, it seemed. “Tell me, honey, we can fix this.”
“I thought that I had fixed it. This professor that I had, he was demanding things of me that I didn’t think were— I knew they weren’t right, so I just told him no. But in doing that, he tried to start a smear campaign that would ruin me. It didn’t work. So when I was asked to make the dinner for the graduating class that year, he sabotaged the meal. As in he put drugs in all the food but one. The salad. Which, they figured out, was all he’d eaten at the dinner.”
“They knew that he’d done it. How did they catch the little fucker? And if he was demanding sex from you, you will not have to worry about him again.” She shook her head and lowered it as she wiped down the counter harder. “Nicole, tell me, please? My mind is in the stratosphere right now.”
“He wanted me to go to bars with him, attract men to me so that he could drug them and fuck them. No other way to put it, that’s what he wanted to do.” She went to the sink and ran water. “They’ll need three sinks over here. One to wash, rinse, and then one to put this sanitizer in.”
Glow moved to do that when Nicole got out of his way. Devon took over from there while she worked around the room, telling Glow what needed to be redone so that they could get a license to sell food. Also, they’d have to hang a sign saying that it was going to be a not for profit building.
“We could perhaps put a sign up for each of the groups that come here to work. I think they would take pride in that.” She smiled at the little man. “You will be just fine, my lady. You have the best of the best on this. Has Ms. Bloom gone to look into this for you?”
“She has. I don’t know what she’ll find that the police couldn’t.” Glow told her that she’d be surprised what a faerie could find that no one else could. “I hope so. I don’t want to fail at this.”
Nicole joined the two men at the table that was for sale.
“This man calls me out of the blue and tells me that we have a woman working for us that has been arrested several times on men trafficking, as well as a few other things like drugs and such. I told him that we’d done a thorough background check and had found no such things.” Devon looked at her as he continued. “Then he went on to tell me how it had been expunged from her record because she had used her womanly ways on the police and anyone else involved, and that was why we’d not found it. He sounds like a crackpot if you ask me. And the sooner he’s taken care of, the better I’ll feel.”
“Why is the restaurant closed?” She told Jackson. “I see. I guess. There are going to be a lot of upset people if we can’t get this resolved. I mean, I can understand shutting it down to make sure that he can’t get in to hurt anyone. But I swear to you, honey, I’d hate to be in his shoes when anyone...that’s a thought.”
