Cross My Heart

by Jaime Russell

  I pay the bill, and we head out. After we drop off Charlie’s dad, we take everyone to the mall, as we all go our separate ways. “So, did my dad ask what your intentions are with me?”

  “Pretty much. You know that I care about you and want you more than anyone in my life, right?” I stop us in front of a jewelry store. “I don’t want anyone else.”

  “I know, and I feel the same way about you. I’m just not ready for marriage, though.”

  “Neither am I.” I laugh, as she points towards the jewelry store. “I didn’t mean to stop in front of here to talk to you about this.”

  “Rhett, I love you. I love cooking on the ranch and spending time with everyone, especially you.”

  “I love you, too, and thank you for being you. Now, let's shop, until I drop.” We laugh, and then spend the next couple of hours shopping. I text Katy to find out Emma’s sizes, because I’m at this kid’s store, which turned out to have a lot of great deals. I want Emma to have a room of her own at the ranch. Charlie and I’ll can bring her shopping to decorate.

  I want this with Charlie and Emma, and I’m going to make it happen.

  Charlie

  I can't believe my dad. He always has to have control. He actually told me that I could do better than Rhett, and that if I'm not careful, that he'll throw me aside for someone else more his breed.

  “You okay?” Rhett asks, bringing me from my thoughts, as we’re buying clothes for Emma.

  “Not really, but I will be, when my parents leave.”

  “Your dad didn't approve of me?” He smiles across the racks of summer clothes.

  “No. He said that you will find someone better than me and more your class.” Rhett laughs.

  “Stop lying. If anything, you'll find someone better than me, because I'm not worthy of you.” I walk around to him, where we're standing face to face.

  “There is no one better than you. You make me feel strong, and I love you,” I say, kissing him. We start a make out session in the middle of the store, when we hear someone clearing their throats behind Rhett.

  “Really, Charlotte?” my mother says, and it’s like a cold shower.

  “Sorry, Mom. What are you doing here?” I smile at her, and she returns the smile.

  “I came looking for you. We're ready to leave, sweetheart.”

  “Okay. Let me go pay for the clothes that we bought.” Rhett starts to walk away, before I call him back to give him more clothes that I found.

  “When did you turn into such a horndog?” my mother asks in disgust, and I can't help, but bust out laughing at her.

  “Horndog, really? You sound like Grandpa. I'm in love, and I like kissing him. I'm sorry that he isn't what you see for me, but I don't really care. It's my life not yours. You should be thankful that someone has come into my life. He cares about me, plus my sister and friends. He makes sure that we're taken care of before himself. In fact, that is how all of the Livingston boys’ treat us. We are a family.”

  “A rancher really?”

  “Mom, they own their own land, do so much for the community, and continue to help the youth in this area. If you can't see the good in them, then don't come back. You've met them one night and based your opinion on goofing around and kissing.” I walk away from her, when I see Maddie. She opens her arms to me, and I cry. She tries to calm me, as my mom comes over to us.

  “Are you happy with yourself?” Maddie snaps at her.

  “Madison, this has nothing to do with you, so please keep your opinions to yourself. Charlotte, when we get back from the cruise, we will discuss this behavior. I called an Uber. Goodbye girls. I love you. Take care of each other.” She walks away with the stick up her ass and nose up in the air.

  “Mom.” She stops and turns around to me. “Don’t come back, until you can accept me for me.” She walks away.

  “I'm glad that we moved here because they won't visit much.” Maddie reassures me, as I tell her about dad and then mom. “Fuck them. They aren't around to know us, so they can't judge us. Let it go.”

  “I'll try.” We link arms and head to the group. They are all showing off what they've bought. Rhett finally comes out four bags later. “I didn't think we bought that much.” I laugh.

  “Neither did I. Where's your mom?”

  “She left. Ready to go?” We head to the parking structure.

  “Are you staying with me?” he asks me, as I stand debating what I want tonight. “How about I come to your place?”

  “Sounds good to me.” I'm kind of in my head with things. I'm leaving for training and want to spend as much time with Rhett as possible. As we get home, there's a car that we don't recognize. Tucker gets out first and yells for Rhett, and I see Katy standing there in tears with Emma behind her.

  “Daddy!” She giggles, running towards him.

  “Hey, sweet pea. I thought you were in Dallas tonight?” We all get out, and everyone heads into the house, but Rhett, me, Katy, and Emma.

  “Grandpa kicked Mommy and me out of the flower shop.”

  “What? I thought you owned the shop?” Rhett asks Katy.

  “I do, but not the building. He got so mad that we are talking and allowing you in her life. He had been drinking a lot tonight. Do you think that we could stay here for a little bit?” My heart drops. I trust Rhett, but Katy, I don't.

  “Charlie, are you okay with that?” Rhett asks me in front of her. Am I okay with it? No, I’m really not.

  “Of course. We can set them up in one of the cabins, or even in the main house. Emma's room is not started yet, so there's no furniture in there.”

  “What's in the cabin?” Katy asks.

  “It's like a kids’ camp, but there are parent ones, where it's a lot like an apartment without the kitchen. There is a mini fridge, but all of the food is eaten in the mess hall. You could always stay in the house with us girls. I can bunk with my sister, and you two can have my room, so you're not alone.”

  “I want to stay with Charlie!” Emma speaks up. “I’m Emma, and you’re pretty.” I smile at her.

  “Oh, no. You’re the pretty one, sweetheart.”

  “I guess we will stay there.” Katy doesn't look happy, but I'm not going to let her sleep in the main house with my boyfriend.

  “Are you hungry? I can whip something up.”

  “No thank you,” she says with no emotion on her face whatsoever, and internally, I do a high five.

  Rhett walks us to my house, and he carries Emma, while holding my hand, as Tucker and Wes help carry the bags for them. Maddie, Dana, and Macy went ahead on, so they don’t know that we have company for a little bit.

  “This house is beautiful, Daddy.”

  “Thank you, princess, and you get to live here until we figure things out, and we will work on getting your room at the main house fixed up.”

  “I get to see you every day and night. This is the best.” I smile, as she squeezes his neck tighter. I see his facial expressions soften, and his eyes are glistening. This man makes my ovaries scream. I want a baby with him, but I can’t do that to Emma. Not right now.

  “Here we are!” I say in a cheerful voice. “Girls, we’ve got company, and there are men here, too,” I yell.

  “We know Rhett is, but who else is here?” Maddie stands on the front porch in a tank top and short pajama shorts.

  “Dear, God,” Tucker mumbles under his breath.

  “Maddie, this is Katy and Emma. They’re going to be staying here for a little bit. You and I are going to bunk together.” I strain a smile, so she can see.

  “Great! I’m so excited to finally meet you two. Tucker stop gawking and bring in the bags.”

  “Get some clothes on,” he growls at her, and she barks at him, as Emma laughs.

  “They’re funny, Mommy.”

  “Yes, they are, sweetheart.” Katy walks into the house and sighs. “Interesting decorating.” I give Maddie the look of ‘is this bitch for real’ while tilting my head.

  “Thank you,” we
all say together.

  “I’ll show you where the room is, but I’ll need some time to get my stuff out. I’m leaving for two weeks for a training, so my room has clothes and suitcases everywhere.”

  “Okay. I’ll wait, until you’re done, before going in there, if that’s okay?” Katy tries to hide her snark.

  “Sure, no problem.” I try to let go of Rhett’s hand, but he comes back with me. “What are you doing?” He closes the door and kisses me.

  “What? You’re leaving for two weeks, and I won’t be able to touch you, when I want. Do you think Maddie can sleep with someone else, so I can have you in my arms for the night?”

  “I’d like that, but I also know that Katy wouldn’t like it.” I try to get out of his arms, but he’s stronger.

  “I don’t give a fuck what she likes and doesn’t like, especially for my life. I love you, and I’m with you. We’re good, okay?” I nod. “Now, can I help you pack, and then get you naked?” He wiggles his eyebrows at me, and I slap his chest. “Is that a no?”

  “You’re incorrigible. Tucker has too much influence on you.” We get to packing up for the conference, plus some of my personal items, so Katy and Emma can unpack some.

  “When you come back, why don’t you just move into the main house with me? You’re there most of the time anyway.” I grab the back of his neck to kiss him. “Now, that is a yes. I’ll have Maddie box up your stuff.”

  “I think I have everything that I need for the next two weeks packed, but I can buy what I forget. I have clothes for tonight and tomorrow, plus my personal items, like letters from you, and everything in that top drawer.” He smirks because that top drawer, as he calls it is the “naughty drawer,” and he enjoys adding to it. Last time we added to it, he bought gray silk ties. I reminded him that I don’t have a headboard, so he tied my hands behind my back. I think that was the best orgasm of my life.

  “Yeah, Emma can’t see that.” He smiles.

  “You don’t want her to know what kind of a freak you are?” I laugh, as he starts to tickle me, and he pushes me down on the bed. Rhett’s eyes change from playful to one full of lust, as I wiggle underneath him.

  “Charlie,” he moans. “I want you so bad.”

  “I want you, too.” I move my hands to the belt of his jeans, when we’re frozen by the knock on the door.

  “Daddy? Charlie? Uncle Tucker won’t let us have ice cream, until you’re done packing.”

  “Fucking Tucker,” we both say together, before laughing. We get up to move everything closer to the door, before opening it to see Emma trying to look under the door.

  “Did someone say ice cream?” I say excitedly, and she looks up at me with the biggest smile.

  I can see how Rhett fell in love with her so easily.

  Rhett

  Charlie leaves for Dallas this morning, but I'm so glad that she's moving in with me. Now, if I can get Katy to allow Emma to move in with me, and she moves to Mars, then life would be great. It's about three in the morning, and I watch Charlie sleep. I know that she's in dreamland, as her nose crinkles and twitches. I've spent so many nights watching and memorizing everything about her. She silences the anger and rage that I'm constantly trying to keep hidden from everyone, especially lately since Katy and her dad have come back into my life. I close my eyes, remembering running into Mr. Stillman for the first time, after coming back from college. I was at the feed store with Savannah.

  “Knock it off, will you?” Savannah laughs, as I try on another girlie, cowboy hat. She's been feeling down, since her miscarriage. She thought time at home with her brothers and horse would help the grieving. “Oh, this is great. This is the one that you need to buy. The pink one with rhinestones all over it.”

  “Do you think my hair looks alright with it? I read in Cosmo, when picking out the right cowgirl hat, that my hair needs to look good.” I valley girl flip my imaginary hair, which makes Savannah laugh so hard, that she snorts, which gets me going.

  “Didn't your parents teach you good store etiquette?” The booming voice behind me sends rage through my veins. I slowly turn, seeing the man who destroyed my life, Katy Stillman's father.

  “No, they were too busy being dead,” I snap. “I didn't realize that you knew any etiquette, sir.”

  “Mr. Stillman,” Savannah remarks without looking at him. “Rhett lets go. We need to finish the shopping.”

  “What are you doing here? I thought you Livingstons moved.”

  “No. We all took turns going to college to run the ranch. I just got back from graduation,” I say with a big smile on my face. I want to tell him to ‘stick that up your ass’.

  “I guess the information that I paid for was wrong.” He glares at Savannah, which makes me look to her.

  “Paid for? You keeping tabs on me? Your daughter is living in Europe away from me, so you should be happy.” I smirk. “My life is not your concern. It never was, and right now, you can walk away. Come on, Savannah.”

  “Coming, Rhett.”

  “Savannah, you were getting money from him?” I ask her, when we get out of earshot of Mr. Stillman.

  “I'm sorry, Rhett. I shouldn't have done it, but we needed money for the ranch, while you were in college. I told him the truth, though. He knew that you were coming home.”

  “He wanted me to know that he manipulated you. I'm disappointed that you allowed him in, but I'm not mad at you. I can't wait to prove him wrong about me.”

  “What about Katy?”

  “I want nothing to do with her. She's not for me, and I know my soulmate is out there, but until then, there are plenty of Ms. Wrongs for me to have fun with.” I wiggle my eyebrows, and she punches my chest, telling me to grow up. We spend the next few hours shopping and spending lots of money to feed the horses, expand the stables, and fix up the cabins, plus the house for the chef.

  I feel Charlie stirring next to me to get me out of my thoughts. “You okay?” She yawns.

  “Yeah. I've been laying here watching you.” Charlie snuggles into the crook of my neck and uses her finger to trace my abs.

  “You look lost in thought.”

  “I'm not going to lie. Being around Katy, stirs up a lot of resentment from my past.” I can't lie to her.

  “Do you still have some unresolved feelings towards her?” She seems worried.

  “The only feelings I have towards her are anger. She kept Emma from me for so long. How can I not hate her?”

  “You share a daughter together, that's how. No matter her reasoning you have a chance now to be Emma’s dad. If,” Charlie sits up wrapping the sheet up around her chest to look me in the eyes, “feelings develop, please don't string me along. Just tell me.”

  “Where is this coming from?” I sit up, moving her long, blonde hair off her shoulder, as I kiss her. “I love you and want to spend my life with you.”

  “I love you, too, but there’s a difference between Katy and me. She’s not only the mother of your child, but you have a history with her. There’s a bond there that I don’t have with you at the moment. I’m not going to lie and say that I’m not jealous that I couldn’t give you your first child.”

  “Hey, don’t think like this, okay?” I take my finger under her chin, so she looks at me. “Baby, you have something that she’ll never have.” She sniffles, before whispering what. It breaks my heart, looking at her bloodshot eyes filled with tears. “My heart. Your name is tattooed on it, and you know tattoos, once it’s there, you can’t have it removed. Cross my heart.” I make the motion of crossing my heart, like when we were little, which brings a smile to her face. “Now, can I show you how much I love you?” I start kissing her neck with butterfly kisses. “I love this part of the neck, because if I kiss it just right,” I leave a soft kiss on the vein running up, “you tilt your head for me with a soft moan, giving me permission to devour you.”

  She smiles at me as she lays back on the bed, but not before dropping the sheet, exposing her breasts and hard nipples, and I lic
k my lips. I take the harden nipple into my teeth and suck on it. Charlie takes her other hand and kneads her neglected breast, which is turning me on even more, and I moan watching her. I take her nipple out of my mouth so I can see if she’ll take over on the other breast, too. I decide to give her pussy a good licking.

  I climb under the sheets, and she spreads her legs for me. I kiss her thigh, starting at her knee, working my way up her sweet spot. I can smell how turned on she is already. If I had to die a way of my choosing, I want it to be between her legs with my tongue in her sweet pussy. I find her clit and suck on it before nibbling on it. Charlie’s breathing hitches, and I slide my tongue into her opening. I close my eyes, listening to her breathing changing with each lick, finger on her clit, or inside her.

  “Oh, God,” Charlie moans, letting me know that she’s in heaven. I love exploring her body. She brings her legs up around my neck to control the pressure I give her. I often joke with her about trying to suffocate me in her pussy, and she asks me if that’s a challenge. I better be careful, or she might take it as a yes.

  I take my time licking and sucking on her clit, so I make sure to give my fingers a workout to get her ready for my hardening cock. “Rhett, faster please.” She begs me, which makes me want to savor every moment. She starts to buck her hips up, so I snake my hands from her ass to her hips, holding her down. I want to control her orgasm this morning, not her. “Rhett. Damn it. Let me come. I need to come. Faster. NOW!” she growls at me, and I can’t help but laugh, which makes her groan out in pleasure frustration.

  “Charlie,” I pant, after looking up at her. “If you’re so damn impatient, play with your nipples for me darlin’.” I wink. “I’m taking my time, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

  “You have a seven-year-old daughter sleeping downstairs, who likes to get up early, if you don’t let me come so I can get your cock inside me, then you’re not getting off until I say so.” She counters with me.

  “Fuck!” I hate when she’s right. I pull the sheet off of us, as I climb up her body, stopping at her hard nipples. I bite down on the nipple, and a whimper escapes from her mouth. While she’s rubbing her nipple, I slide into her hot and wet pussy. I never start pumping right away because I love the feel of my cock inside her. It’s like she was made for my cock.