by Aria Cole
“Oh, I don’t think so, Gran.” I tried to wave off her polite concern. I felt the ground under my feet shift. Was I not important enough for him to wait until he could speak to me? What could be so pressing that it couldn’t wait another hour? I was foolish to think that he cared. Maybe the time we had spent together wasn’t as precious to him as it was to me.
“Please don’t think ill of him, it must have been something very important to pull him away. I got the sense that he was not too pleased to be leaving.” She winked at me and offered a small smile.
Heat crept up my face. Gran had always been able to read me like a book. She chattered on, and I tuned out, my heart shuddering to a slow stop as I realized I wouldn’t see him tonight, maybe not even tomorrow night. I sighed, slumping in my chair and feeling like the day had gone wildly downhill in just the course of a few hours. What could possibly have pulled him away? And why hadn’t he waited to tell me before he left?
“Are you ready to read, dear?” The question pulled me from my thoughts.
“Yes, Gran.” I smiled brightly and held up the copy of The Little Prince, a French classic Gran had requested.
“Good, honey. Now where did we leave off?”
I began to read, my thoughts drifting away to Beau behind the wheel of his truck, driving all day and night to get to whatever had pulled him away in Pennsylvania. And I was here alone. Why hadn’t he even tried to tell me? A quick stop before he left? Was it too much to ask? Or was I expecting too much?
He was the only person I’d ever been with, and I didn’t want to be one of those girls, but deep down I wanted to be one of those girls and scream and beat his chest and tell him I’d just lost my virginity to him last night and now he was gone. The soreness between my legs was the only reminder that it’d even happened at all.
Chapter 12
Beau
An old Merle Haggard song pumped through the stereo as miles upon miles of highway stretched before and behind me. Here I was, somewhere over the New York and Pennsylvania state line, and my mind was three hundred miles away on the little saucy redhead who shared my bed last night.
That I’d kissed like the devil had possessed me this morning.
I still hoped she was feeling the sting from my hand on her ass.
It fucking killed me to leave her this morning. But I didn’t have another choice. The call had come in just after I’d gotten to the job site.
Emergency. Next of kin. Signatures needed.
The words rattled on repeat in my brain. I should have seen this coming, in some regards I blamed myself for being so far away, but damned if I’d let a mistake like this slip through the cracks again. As soon as I arrived in Pennsylvania, I’d have to walk into that room and take charge, something I didn’t like to do, but a position everyone seemed to look to me to fill.
The music filtered through the cab of my truck as I drove, sending my mind back to simpler times before life had taken hold. Everyone chooses their path in life, has their reaction to a hardship, in my case, I’d turned to woodworking, putting everything I had into my business. Age and experience taught me that all too often others turned to a darker side, a coping mechanism to forget the pain instead of dealing with it.
Thank god I’d opened up to Ms. Fair about this very situation a few weeks ago. She’d become a sweet, grandmother-figure for me, an effect she seemed to have on many. Her gentle nature was a balm for my wounded soul. Similar to the effect her granddaughter had on me.
As soon as I returned, I planned on finding Scarlet. I’d knock down the door of the damn mansion if I had to. I was hoping this would be a there and back trip, a day or two at most, but God knows it could be longer. It would all depend on what exactly I was dealing with when I got there.
The sun shone brightly across the evening sky, lighting up the horizon in a blaze of color. My mind fell back on every single moment with Scarlet under my body last night. I knew she probably still felt the pinch this morning, but if anything, she’d seemed more alive. Happier. The rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes nearly blinded me with beauty. She was a vision walking out into my kitchen this morning, and it was my full intention to do everything in my power to keep her there.
A Patsy Cline song filtered across the radio waves, and my heart instantly plummeted. One of my mother’s favorites. ‘You Belong to Me.’
I remembered her listening to it on repeat and twirling around the kitchen as she sang, the soft threads of her floral dress whispering around her legs. She was like an angel, a dream in my three-year-old perspective. I loved her more than anything, the evenings spent rocking on the porch with a book, the mornings with pancakes and freshly plucked cherries.
I had an idyllic childhood, simple, to be sure, but it was all the carefree happiness a little boy could ask for, until it was all ripped away.
I didn’t understand the diagnosis then, but I still remember the chaos at the hospital. I remember the funeral. I remember my dad’s tears. I remember my dad crying for days in their bedroom after she was gone. My memories up until the age of three are filled with laughter and love, but every one after is painted with a tar-black brush, until Scarlet.
My father pulled away after that. He was still a good dad. He tried, I knew that. But I think he was too broken to go on without her. He passed when I was only twenty, years of hard work and carrying a broken heart too much for him. I threw myself into my business after he was gone, only going home to collapse in a cold bed at the end of the night. I’d come a long way since then, barely crawling my way out of the darkness intact. Those days made me realize how utterly lonely life is without someone to spend your nights and days with. I’d come to realize life just wasn’t worth living if you didn’t have someone to laugh with, share the joys and the smiles with. My father’s descent into darkness and my own experience with loneliness had taught me that.
I ached to hear Scarlet’s voice, feel the velvet threads of her sweet red hair beneath my fingers. I craved her.
Chapter 13
Scarlet
It’d been two days since I’d seen Beau.
It’d been two days since Gran had heard from him.
“Maybe you should call Beau, make sure everything is okay?” I offered nonchalantly as Gran and I sat, The Little Prince and tea spread out between us. I’d fallen asleep with tears hovering in my eyelids, desperate to know how he was, craving his velvet voice and intoxicating touch.
“Oh, I’m sure he’s fine, dear. If there was a problem, he would have called.” She patted my knee before taking a sip from her porcelain cup. “But what if something did happen to Beau? Who would the police even contact? I think you should call him.” I knew I’d crossed the line as soon as I said it.
“Oh? You think so?” Gran’s knowing eyes assessed me quickly before returning to her tea cup. “Maybe I’ll give him a call this afternoon. Make sure he’s all right like you said,” she offered, and I knew she was doing it only to appease me.
“Good idea,” I mumbled, slumping in my chair, wondering if it would be too much to shake her and demand she call right now!
“Chapter six, right?” She picked up the book between us and pressed it into my lap, a sweet smile on her face.
I returned the smile and opened the book, starting to read about faraway lands and destiny.
I didn’t give two licks for any of it. I wanted to know if Beau was okay. “Everything all right, Scarlet dear?” Gran asked, pulling me from my thoughts and forcing me to focus on the text in front of me.
“Yes, it’s just hot out today.”
“Well, maybe you should go upstairs and lie down. I heard a truck door out front, so I’m going to wander out there and see if it’s Beau.”
My eyes widened instantly as my heart galloped out of my chest. How had I missed the sound of a truck door?
“Oh, maybe I’ll check with you.” I stood, straightening my dress and knowing she saw through my act instantly. She smiled and looped her arm with mine anyway.
“I thought you might want to walk with me, make sure he’s okay and all.” Her coy smile sent heat radiating up my cheeks.
We walked around the edge of the house, and Beau’s black pickup came into view, his broad physique taking long, elegant strides to us.
“Welcome home, Beau!” Gran clasped her hands together, and with more energy in her step than I’d seen all week, she touched his cheek lovingly with an open palm.
My eyes cut to Beau’s, our gazes held suspended in the static energy between us.
“You must be parched, let me get you something to drink. Scarlet made some sweet tea this morning...” Gran continued mumbling as she turned back to the house. “I’ll be right back!”
My gaze tore back to his.
If I’d thought for a minute he’d forgotten about me, I was dead wrong.
His intense eyes burned up the space between us, nearly emptying my lungs of all oxygen. Slow, quick pants wracked my body under his heated gaze. I licked my lips and watched as he crossed the distance in long strides, his hand reaching for my elbow instantly.
“Scarlet.” He caught my elbow and hauled me against his broad, rigid form. His mouth covered mine, tongue slipping between my lips as his hands roamed my back and bottom. I’d missed him so much it physically hurt.
“Beau,” I breathed, a thousand words choking my throat and none of them breaking free.
“Sorry I was gone so long,” he said, his lips grazing the shell of my ear when he spoke. “I have to make a few calls, but I want to see you. Come to me tonight.”
I only nodded, nearly choking on my own tongue.
“Until later, petite rouge?” His rakish grin danced up my body.
I sucked in a breath and croaked, “Later.”
“Here we are, dears! A glass for each of us.” Gran stepped over the threshold then, a small tray of sweet tea in her hands.
“Gran!” I pulled out of Beau’s embrace, hoping she hadn’t spied us.
“Let me.” Beau took the tray from my grandmother, passing each of us a fancy crystal glass, such a delicate gesture in his rough hands. “It’s good to be back.” He winked at me and held his glass up in a toast.
My cheeks flamed deeply as the three of us toasted before drinking the sweet amber liquid.
“If you don’t mind I’ve got some things to take care of before the special reunion I have planned tonight.” Beau spoke to Gran, every hair on the back of my neck standing up with his private innuendo.
“We’ll have to catch up later, Beau.” Gran smiled deeply, and I wondered who was more smitten with him, me or her.
“Will do, ma’am.” Beau replied before casting a sidelong glance my way. “Ladies.”
He nodded and walked off.
Just like that, he was gone again, leaving me up at this big house alone, my thoughts walking away right along with his sexy gait.
I sighed, feeling drained from just the few minutes of being in his presence, having to pretend there wasn’t more between us, when every fiber of my body wanted to run to him.
I turned, heading up to my room for a short nap to calm my nerves and rest before tonight.
Flopping on my bed, I pulled a pillow over my head, trying to calm my racing thoughts and vibrating body before drifting into a restless sleep. Beau Loup enchanted me, like a fly caught in his web, I couldn't escape, and I didn’t even want to.
I woke later that evening after the sun had set and dusk was settling in. I shook my head and caught my bearings before I remembered that Beau was home.
It had been too long. I needed to be in his arms, just for a few minutes, just for the reassurance that he was back. I searched the kitchen for something to bring him when my eyes landed on two freshly baked cherry pies. Gran definitely wouldn’t mind if I brought one to Beau.
I skipped down the steps and out the patio doors, navy brushing the landscape in dark shadows. I picked my way down the path to the orchard, then twined my way in and out of the trees on the way to his cabin.
I walked out of the orchard and turned the corner down the driveway to his house, past a small grove of trees, and then the space opened up. I smiled when I saw his truck parked out front.
I sped up when I saw the golden glow of a light on in the kitchen.
I nearly tripped over my own feet when I bounced up the steps to his porch.
I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Beau, fresh out of the shower and wearing only a pair of low-hanging sweats on his hips.
His eyes locked with mine. “Scarlet?”
Chapter 14
Beau
Scarlet stood on my porch, a pie held in both hands. I took the pie from her and set it on the table before pulling her into my arms, running my palms down the elegant slope of her back, resting my outstretched hands across her ass as my lips locked with hers in a fevered kiss.
“Thanks for the pie,” I murmured between kisses, kicking the door closed and pulling Scarlet into the kitchen with me, pressing her body against the counter and not giving her a single chance to interrupt me. I needed her. Whatever else she may say after this, I needed her fucking lips on mine.
“Beau.” She pulled away from me, heavy pants wracking her body.
“Love kissing the breath out of you.” I placed another soft kiss on the tip of her nose. “Couldn’t get you off my mind while I was gone. Missed the fuck out of you, petite rouge.”
My palms roamed her skin, lips covering her neck in decadent kisses. “Thank you for waiting for me.”
“Of course, I would. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I know it was hell… I had to leave. I broke our date.” I pressed my forehead against hers. “I had to go save my sister.”
“Your sister?” Her eyes widened before understanding settled in.
“She’s an addict.” I confessed. “She’s been on and off the wagon for a few years now. I’ve tried to help her however I can, but the last time I let her come to my house she stole some of my stuff to pawn.” I paused, feeling pain burn in my throat. “She overdosed Monday night. I got the call from a hospital in the town she was living in. She at least had me listed as her emergency contact on her phone. I’m the only person she’s got, can you imagine if they wouldn’t have been able to find me?”
“Beau...I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” She pressed her palms to my cheeks, her touch soothing my anxiety in small increments.
“It’s not something I talk about. After my mother died, it was harder and harder on her. It’s hard for a little girl to be motherless in the world. My father was starting to decay then. He was a shell of the man he once was. The man who played with us and laughed with such joy slipped away to a lonely man who only received comfort from alcohol. My sister wanted to belong, she longed to be loved. She fell in love with the wrong men and the life of oblivion and escape swallowed her up. Over the years I tried to get her help but one day I couldn’t find her anymore--she just disappeared from my life. So when I got the call I had to go. Please tell me you forgive me for running out. I tried to find you, but Gran said you’d gone for a walk. I was desperate to tell you I was leaving, and I’d be back as soon as I could manage it. But I couldn’t find you, and I had to get there as fast as I could. I drove ten hours straight to find she was on a heart monitor. Seeing my little sister in that bed,” I ran a hand through my hair. “Worst day of my life.”
“How is she now?”
“She’s in good hands. I brought her to rehab. When I got there, she had been committed to the hospital. I told her I’d pay for ninety days if she’d commit to all of it, they have a facility attached right to the hospital. It’s one of the best detox facilities in the country. She’s always bailed early. But hopefully, this time it takes.”
“Should you go back? Don’t stay here for me, Beau. I can wait longer.”
“If I go back now it’s only if you are with me. I need you, Petite Rouge. The only thing that kept me going was getting home to you. I’m no good to her there, sitting around nagging. Besid
es, she has to be isolated now. They said thirty days without any familial contact.” I trailed my palms down the curve of her spine. “I need you so much, Scarlet. I can’t breathe without you.” I kissed her then, nipping her bottom lip with my teeth.
“You're are one of the only people in this world that matters to me. I love you like I've never loved anything in my life.” I backed her against the counter, my hands pushed into her hair while I planted kisses along her jaw. I needed her to know she was everything to me. I’d run to the ends of the earth to keep her safe and hold her in my arms.
“I love you too.” Her hips arched against mine as the words tumbled out, the warmth charging through my heart with every syllable.
“You don't know what it does to me to hear you say that.”
She sighed as I trailed a hand down her thigh, inching the hemline of her dress up.
“I'll spend a lifetime worshipping the ground you walk on.” I pulled the dress over her head, revealing creamy skin to my love-drunk gaze. I lifted her small form onto the counter and peeled the cotton panties down her thighs. Heartbeats rioted in my chest at the sight of her silky, sweet pussy.
Trailing a single fingertip along the delicate skin of her mound, I lived for the shallow pants wracking her body in response to my touch. Her body was heaven on earth, the sweet moans falling from her lips like a siren song to my damaged heart.
“My beautiful, Scarlet.” I praised as my eyes caught sight of the freshly baked cherry pie sitting on the counter. Plunging my fingers into the warm, oozing fruit, I dragged the confection across her sweet mound. Sugary sweetness painted her creamy skin and left my cock pounding underneath my pants.
