by M. J. Perry
“I’m tipsy.” She smiled, and I knew it was time to tell her about my sister. “Ruby rang me,” I told her quickly.
Sarah looked wide-eyed at me. “When?”
“After we left your place,”
“And you’re only telling me now? God, Scarlett you’re a pain in my ass! What did she want?”
“Money,” I told her.
Sarah choked on her drink. “What the fuck.” She screeched.
“I hope you told her to get stuffed.”
“I told her I didn’t have any, and she told me to sell my house.”
“She’s a selfish bitch. I take it she didn’t tell you where she was?”
“Nope, when I asked her she basically told me to fuck off. Even when Matt and I explained what was going on, she said it was my all fault. She was a stranger to me Sarah, definitely not my little sister at all.” I said sadly.
“That bitch. Do you think when the police find her they will let me have five minutes with her so I can give her a piece of my mind? I’d like to slap her around a bit too. She’s a scrawny little thing I bet I could seriously kick her ass.”
I let out a giggle. That’s my Sarah; she was a mama bear when it came to me. “I don’t think they’ll allow that, babe”.
“Damn. Well, I’ll just have to imagine it then.” She giggled obviously imagining it right then.
I laughed. The situation wasn’t funny at all, but Sarah was. She and Ruby have never got on. Ruby always said Sarah was trying to take me away from her and Sarah just didn’t like how Ruby treated me. Sarah saw through the act Ruby put on I guess whereas I had my blinkers on.
“The other guys might find her first Sarah.” I sobered on that thought. Sarah reached over to take my hand.
“If that happens we’ll deal with it.”
“I know I just hope we don’t have too.”
I shook my head. “No more unhappy thoughts.” I’d deal with them tomorrow.
I lifted my drink and Sarah touched her glass to mine.
“Nope, all thoughts should be on James and all the naughty things he’s going to do to you tonight.”
I blushed and looked over at James. He must have sensed my eyes because he turned and gave me a smile, one full of promises.
“I’m looking forward to it,” I said honestly.
“Oh, I bet you are. He’s one huge hunk of a man.”
“Yep, and I was one lucky girl.”
Chapter Ten
Scarlett
James rang a taxi for Sarah at closing time at her request, he’d offered to take her home but in her words and luckily not in front of him she told me she didn’t want to be responsible in the delay of our sexual gratification by getting a lift home with us.
Once we’d seen her into the taxi James and I left Tag the bartender to lock up and we left too. He held my hand all the way home. We didn’t really speak, but the atmosphere in the car was thick with desire, his and mine, I felt like the air was choking me. When we arrive at his house he practically dragged me from the car making me jog to keep up with him. As soon as we stepped through the front door he pounced on me.
It was crazy it was fast, and it was bloody hot! Clothes went flying everywhere. Our teeth, tongues and mouths attacked each other in the best way and when he picked me up with his big hands under my bum and pushed me against the door, I was breathing so hard I thought I might pass out. His eyes burned into mine and he entered me in one thrust. I cried out from the intrusion, both pain and pleasure coursed through me making my back arch. James waited a second to let me adjust then he began to thrust, so fast that it didn’t take long for me to see stars. When I finally came down from my high James had his head in my neck. He groaned, and I felt him empty himself into me. He held still while I caressed his back with both of my hands, soothing us both because it had been one hell of a ride.
Once we’d both caught our breath, he pulled out of me carefully. Wrapping his arms around me to keep me close he carried me into his bathroom letting me slide down his body so he could adjust the shower.
“I missed you.” He said his voice gruff. How sweet was this man?
“I missed you too.”
I brushed my lips over his chest before I stepped into the shower. James came up behind me and helped me wash and then it was my turn, I caressed his body, taking my time and loving it. I loved taking care of him and he loved it too judging by the moans and groans coming deep from his throat. His fingers moved over my mound and into it cleaning it softly and it was the sweetest thing. He turned us under the spray to rinse the bubbles off us then he grabbed my shampoo and washed my hair. Oh, my god. After he finished, he conditioned it too. I felt so relaxed I could barely keep my eyes open. I leaned back against his chest when my legs started to get weak. He quickly but gently rinsed my hair and helped me out of the shower and wrapped a huge towel around my body and a smaller one round my hair. After he finished drying me he dried himself, and I watched as drops of water dripped down his chest. I licked my lips. I felt exhausted, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to chase the droplets with my tongue. Drying my hair as best I could I sighed in delight when James picked me up. He carried me to his bed and I normally would have protested about sleeping naked, but I wanted to feel him skin to skin. I lay there and listened to him turning the lights off in the house and checking the locks. I fought to keep my eyes open long enough to say goodnight. Finally, I felt the bed dip and his hands came under my armpits to haul me up higher so he could curl his body around mine. His chest against my back, our legs tangled together.
Bliss.
“Night babe,” He said into my hair.
“Night honey,” I whispered.
It was the second best night’s sleep I’ve ever had. The first being when I’d fallen asleep with him still inside me.
Chapter Eleven
Scarlett
I woke up to an empty bed with the sun shining through the window. We’d forgotten to draw the curtains last night. I hopped out of bed and went to the bathroom to do my business. I found James’ t-shirt on the floor from the night before and slipped it over my naked body; there was no way I was going to walk out of the room with nothing on. I headed to the room I was using and grabbed a clean pair of knickers and went in search of James. I didn’t have to look far. He was sitting on a stool in the kitchen and he turned as I approached. As if it was the most natural thing in the world to do I walked straight to him and kissed his lips softly. His hand shot out to grab my wrist and before I could move away, he pulled me between his legs and kissed me hard and long. By the time he let me up for air I was gasping for breath. He liked the effect he had on me if the smirk on his face was anything to go by.
“That’s a proper good morning kiss.” He informed me.
“Good to know,” I said breathless.
“Sit down and I’ll get you a coffee babe.”
“Thanks.” I was grateful because I didn’t think I’d be able to walk that far on my jelly legs. Just a kiss and I became putty for him.
“I’ve got the bar covered all day so I’m all yours,” he said as he placed my cup in front of me.
A whole day of James, I’m a lucky girl. I smiled excitedly and I’m sure it wasn’t lost on him that I liked this idea.
“What do you want to do?”
Well, I knew what I wanted to do, but I wasn’t forward enough to tell him I wanted to spend the whole day in bed. “I don’t mind,” I said instead. I was just happy to have him to myself.
“How about we shower then we can go for a drive and take a picnic?”
Ah, a picnic. How romantic. I’ve always wanted to have a picnic. Mike wasn’t interested in the countryside or anything like that. He liked clubbing, drinking and posh restaurants. I however longed to be romanced by picnics, wildflowers and the countryside.
“That sounds lovely.”
“I know this great place. It’s in the middle of nowhere and not many people know about it. We should have some privacy.” H
e grinned.
I looked forward to the privacy. Maybe my dream of making out on a picnic blanket with the birds tweeting around us would come true. I was definitely excited for that.
“That sounds good.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re on board, now drink your coffee and we can jump in the shower.”
“We?” I enquired.
“You didn’t think I was going to let you shower alone did you?”
“Well, I’d hoped you wouldn’t.” My hormones went haywire and when James put his hand out for me to take I felt faint with anticipation. I couldn’t wait to feel his naked body against mine again.
“I feel like a teenager,” I said.
In the throes of my first lust, I left unsaid.
“You do? All I have to do is think about you and I get hard.” He sounded annoyed, but I wanted to laugh and do a happy dance at this information
“That’s a bad thing?” I asked instead.
“I’m thirty-four, not fifteen. I don’t like walking around with a hard-on but I think of your body or even just your smile and I’m hard as a pike. I used to be able to control myself.” He groused.
I giggled. I felt sexy, really sexy and a bit smug too. At least I wasn’t the only one suffering.
“I’m glad you find this amusing.” He scowled. I giggled more. He wasn’t really mad at me because his eyes were shining with amusement.
****
The day was great. I had so much fun with James, more fun than I could remember having in a long time.
After our very enjoyable shower where we got each other off using our hands and mouths, we got dressed and left in his car to go to a bakery for our picnic things. The bakery wasn’t far from Harrison’s and James must be a frequent visitor because they all greeted him by name. We drove for about half an hour until James parked in a layby right next to a field of wildflowers and apple trees. It was breath-taking and I couldn’t take my eyes from the beauty of it. He got out and came to my side, grabbed my hand, the basket and then the blanket and we walked through the trees until we made it to a clearing of sorts. It was still full of flowers but there was the odd bit of grass and that’s where we sat. He was right about it being private; we didn’t see one person or even one car while we drove down the road.
We talked about everything and nothing and it was so nice to relax and enjoy his company. I learnt that James used to be a detective with Matt, but his father became ill and he couldn’t cope with the pub anymore so James took a leave of absence to help. When his father died from cancer, he couldn’t bear to sell Harrison’s because it meant so much to his father so he took it over and left the force. James said he didn’t miss being a detective, but his eyes gave him away, he had a sad look about him when he talked about it, it was a big transition from a busy life full of bad guys to paperwork and customers and I could understand that. He told me that he and Matt had grown up together and had always been close which I’d sort of guessed.
He also shared that he’d never been married and hadn’t ever had a serious relationship, preferring to keep things casual. Alarm bells began ringing in my head at his words because I didn’t do casual; I’m not the type of girl to share and a lot of the time casual means non-exclusive. I chickened out of asking him what he wanted from me, I felt that it could wait until I wasn’t trying to hide my panic attack and I didn’t want to ruin our day. There was no warning vibe pushing at me, he was telling me how it was as if it didn’t apply anymore so it gave me hope and besides, our connection and how he acted with me did not spell out casual; neither did his words from the first time we’d made love.
When he asked me about my past relationships, I told him about Mike. He didn’t say a word through my story but when I’d finished, he told me Mike was a fucking idiot. It’s good to know we were on the same page. I told him about my parents and how close we all were, and then I told him about Ruby. I told him the good stuff. Like the time we went to a theme park, and we went on the water rapids, my mum, dad, Ruby and I. The cart we were on got stuck under one of the pipes that are there to splash you every once in a while, my dad was sitting under the pipe and he got absolutely soaked. We were all hysterical by the time we’d bumped out of the corner and Ruby had laughed so hard she fallen off her seat. I told him about the days when we’d come home from school and mum had baked cookies ready for us when we walked in the door. So many happy memories and it was nice to share them with someone other than Sarah. My parents were so in love. It didn’t matter where they were or who they were with, my dad always came straight to my mum when he saw her and kissed her. It used to totally gross me out when I was younger but as I grew up I realised how lucky they truly were to have found each other.
I wanted that.
I thought I already had it and I thought James felt the same but I wasn’t going to rush and I wasn’t going to put myself out there too much, it was too soon. I wasn’t brave enough yet. While we talked we ate lunch, then lay on the blanket snuggled up and watched the clouds shift in the sky. James had his hand stroking my hair where it lay on his chest, my hand stroked his stomach under his shirt and we stayed like that for a long time.
It was peaceful, it was bliss.
All my worries vanished and flew out of my head. This was why James was so amazing; he made me relax without me even knowing I was doing it. It started to get chilly so eventually we packed up our stuff and headed home and that brought us to now, me sipping my hot chocolate sat on the sofa and James talking on the phone. We were watching a film when it rang and he said he had to take it. He’s only gone a few minutes before he joined me again, putting his arm around my shoulders and guiding my head back to his chest.
“Sorry, it was Matt.”
I jerked up. “Ruby?” I asked anxiously.
“It’s not Ruby,” James reassured me. I let out the breath I was holding.
“Well it’s about Ruby but she’s ok. She was seen going back to your house. She didn’t have anything in her hands, but she could have tucked something into her pockets. We’ll need you to check if anything else is missing.”
“I don’t know how I’ll know as my house is such a mess, but we can check. I don’t have anything else of value that she could pawn though. She already took what I did have.”
“I know babe, but just in case we’ll have to check.”
“Ok.” I could feel my body tensing up again; I’d been so relaxed all day I should have known something would happen to spoil it. I slammed my cup down a bit harder than I should have and my drink spilt. “Shit.” I cursed.
“Scarlett?”
“Can’t I have just one day where I haven’t got to deal with her shit? I’ve had a great day and now it’s ending on a sour note because of my sister again.”
“Well, how about after we’ve been to yours we go about making sure our day ends on a high?” He wiggled his eyebrows at me and I laugh like he wanted. I bent and slipped my shoes on.
“Plus you can get more clothes.”
I turned to look at him finding his eyes studying my face.
“Yes, ok.” I agreed and his face got soft.
“You can pack a suitcase.”
“A suitcase,” I said bewildered.
“Maybe two suitcases, Do you have two suitcases?”
My mouth dropped open. “Two suitcases?”
“Yes. Do you?”
I nodded.
That is a lot of clothes! It would be like I’m moving in. Oh god is that what I’m doing. I think this answered my question about being casual without actually having to ask him. His eyes are warm and he’s watching silently as I have a mini panic attack.
I mean, its ok deciding what I feel is real, but to be practically moving in before a week has gone by, well that’s scary. He took my hand and entwined our fingers pulling me close.
“It’s ok Scarlett. You can trust me.” He promised.
“I already do.”
“Good.” He kissed the end of my nose.
; ****
Once we got to my house, I found that Ruby had taken more jewellery. Why she didn’t take it the first time I don’t know. At a guess, I would say Gran’s jewellery didn’t make as much as she thought it would. She’d taken the three gold sets I had of matching earrings, necklaces and bracelets. They weren’t worth much. She probably wouldn’t get a hundred pound for all of them. I should be upset she’d stolen from me again, but I wasn’t, she was welcome to them. I should have given them away months ago. They were reminders of Mike that I didn’t want.
“Is there anything missing?” James asked.
“Nothing important,” I replied.
He sighed. “What did she take?”
I shrugged. “Just some jewellery Mike gave to me.”
James followed me from room to room and then waited patiently while I packed my clothes into the two suitcases he’d dragged off the top of the wardrobe for me. I filled them making sure I packed all my sexy underwear and nighties. I liked sleeping in James’s t-shirts and even naked with him although I still felt shy, but my nighties were the bomb, they were sexy, lacy and short and I hoped James liked them too. Next I packed some heels, my make-up and my hair dryer because my hair never looked good when it had to dry naturally and I’d really missed it.
James lugged the cases to his car while I looked through my post. I noticed the answering machines flashing light. I pressed the button as James came back and my mood went straight down the toilet.
“Scarlett. It’s Mike. Will you please ring me? I haven’t got your mobile number so I can’t even ring you on that. I need to speak to you. It’s really important. It’s about us. I still love you baby and I want us to try again. Please call me back.”
I stared at the phone like it would come alive and bite me. “What the hell,” I whispered clenching my fists. “That idiot, that bloody idiot! How dare he ring me after this long and say all that? He didn’t even apologise for what he did. It’s been nearly a year since he cheated on me and he thinks we can pick up where we left off?”
