A Touch of Scarlet

by Liz Talley

  He looked at her flatly. “That was misconduct. Not a selfish need to maintain my career.”

  “Are you calling me selfish?”

  He didn’t say anything.

  She rose and took her turn at pacing. “Look, I know things will be tough if we pursue a relationship—”

  “If? I thought we’d already embarked upon a relationship. Not just sex. Remember? You’re willing to toss that away?”

  “I’m not tossing it. I simply have to leave.”

  “For how long?”

  “Not sure.”

  He leaned back. “I see. Well, that will be small comfort on cold, sleepless nights.”

  She wanted to feel his skin beneath her hand, but didn’t touch him. Had it been only last night she’d dozed in his arms, content as she’d ever been? She’d lay there, listening to the owl hoot and slapping at the occasional mosquito, fantasizing about a life she’d never known. A life with a man she could love, and who would love her back.

  One phone call had changed everything.

  “I will come back to Oak Stand at some point. I have to get my car,” she said, knowing her voice sounded unconvincing. Life could get crazy for an actor juggling filming schedules on two different coasts. Not to mention Bert had left her a message about a possible advertising campaign with a cosmetic company. They wanted her lips on their ads.

  “Sounds like you believe that.” He sighed. “I’m such a stupid ass. I knew this would happen. Knew the moment I saw you that I would fall for you and it wouldn’t work.”

  “Don’t say that. Two people can be different and still have a relationship. Neither one of us has to sacrifice who we are to be together.”

  He shook his head. Regret leaked from him, permeating the room. She felt it to her core. “It won’t work, Scarlet. You’re on a path that will always lead you away from me, and I’m not going to follow you around New York or L.A. like some damn lapdog. I need to have purpose. And you need to shine. We’re too different.”

  She rubbed her eyes. Was he right? Maybe they were merely two ships passing in the night, two stubborn ships unable to change course. She wiped her eyes. “You want this to be goodbye?”

  “It is what it is.”

  His attempt to comfort her made her angry. “There you go again, scratching lines in the sand, making up rules for the way life should be. Who says I have to stay and be the little woman? You are giving up. Not even caring enough to fight.”

  “I can’t give up on something that never got out of the starting gate.”

  “We got out of the gate. We had sex three times last night. That’s out of the gate, mister!”

  “Calm down, Scarlet,” he said, patting the chair arm next to him. “Sit down. Please.”

  “No. You sit down,” she yelled, even though he was already sitting. “You don’t want to make it work because it’s easier for you that way. You get to say, ‘I screwed Scarlet Rose and then I dumped her.’”

  “Please sit. We’ll talk about this like rational adults.”

  “No. No, I won’t. Everything is screwed up. I shouldn’t have gone with you last night. I shouldn’t have opened my heart to you.” Scarlet felt her emotions gallop out of control. Her heart squeezed so hard in her chest she thought she might die. It had happened again. She’d fallen for a man and he didn’t think her worthy enough to take a risk on. How had she been so stupid?

  He watched her with a mixture of resignation and wariness, but he didn’t try to calm her.

  She dropped to the couch and put her head in her hands. She didn’t want to cry, she wanted to pretend everything away. Adam was right. Their relationship was impossible. She jumped to her feet. “I’ve got to get out of here. I can’t deal with this right now. I can’t go through this another time.”

  Adam rose and grabbed her arm. “Scarlet, don’t leave this way. You’re being overly dramatic once again.”

  She twisted her arm from his grasp. “I’m not being dramatic. I’m being honest. We were a mistake from the beginning, and nothing, not even last night, can change the fact we’re not meant to be. You said so yourself weeks ago. I’m not the right kind of girl, yet I let myself believe in a fairy tale. This isn’t some movie or romance book. There isn’t always a happily-ever-after. Sometimes things end and no one is happy.”

  He flinched and stepped back. He didn’t seem to know what to say, and she damn sure had no words to make anything better.

  She picked up her purse and headed for the door.

  He didn’t follow her. When she took one last look over her shoulder, she felt something in her chest break loose and flood her with grief. He watched her heart break from the center of his living room. She couldn’t believe this was happening. That they were over.

  “I’m sorry, Scarlet,” he said. “I want you to stay. Direct the play. Plan a future. But I can see it was never in the cards. We want different things from life and maybe there is no way to overcome that. Sometimes the timing is wrong.”

  She had no words left in her. So she turned and walked out of his life.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  ADAM STARED UP AT THE myriad of lights above him. He almost lolled his tongue out but was afraid it would be overacting.

  “Cut!” Tipsy Nolan yelled.

  He pushed himself to an elbow and studied a grinning Marco, clad in a flowing cloak. “Watch that damn sword. You almost emasculated me.”

  “If emasculate means cut your cajones off, then I nearly accomplished my mission.”

  Adam gave the former gang member a scowl and rose from the dusty wooden floor of the high-school stage. The dress rehearsal had gone smoothly and Tipsy had pitched only two fits in the past hour. He figured the show would go on.

  He’d intended to not show for the play, but his sense of duty won out over his utter despair. She’d left yesterday. Jared had seen her roar out of town and hadn’t bothered with a ticket because he’d been in the middle of eating a banana split at the Diary Barn.

  Adam wanted a do-over on their last moment together. Maybe then he wouldn’t feel so damned empty. Maybe then he could have fixed what had broken so easily between them.

  Perhaps Scarlet had been right. Perhaps he should have fought for their future together. But what difference would it have made? She’d still be gone. He’d still feel broken.

  The only bright spot had come when he found the stolen videotape in his desk drawer. The thief could have made a copy, but Adam would never know unless the person came forward. Still, something about the gesture spoke of forgiveness. He liked to think that threat had been neutralized, and if it hadn’t, he would deal with whatever repercussions came his way.

  “Okay, that’s a wrap, folks,” Tipsy said, her bright pink fuzzy shoes clacking up the steps to the stage. The shoes looked like something out of a black-and-white movie. Except the color, of course. “Everyone be here at one o’clock for hair and makeup. No exceptions.”

  The guys looked at each other with horrified expressions.

  “I ain’t wearing no makeup,” Juan said. “My old lady’s coming and she ain’t seeing me looking like no—”

  Tipsy clapped her hands. “This is theater, gentleman. Not a beauty salon. On this stage, your job is to become someone else. Don’t forget to tell your old lady that.”

  With that, Tipsy sashayed away.

  Adam’s radio crackled to life. “Chief, give us a twenty-one.”

  He dialed dispatch. “Hinton,” he said into his phone.

  “Some lady called in about a body part on Leonard. At least that’s what it sounded like. She was hysterical,” Jared said.

  A body part?

  Adam rushed out the double doors of the auditorium into the late-afternoon sun. “What sort of body part? Are you sure this isn’t a prank?”

  “Sounded real. Want me to check it out?”

  “No, I’ll go, but send backup.”

  “Ten-four.”

  Adam slid into his cruiser, fully alert but suspicious abou
t the nature of the call. He’d never in his ten years as a police officer had someone find a body part. A body? Yeah. A part? No. Very strange.

  He headed southeast toward Leonard Road. The sun had dropped in the sky, but still caused heat to radiate in waves off the asphalt. It took him four minutes to reach the turn to Leonard Road, and two more to pull in behind a black convertible BMW.

  What the hell?

  He glanced at the license plate. It was Scarlet’s car, but she wasn’t in sight.

  Terror filled him as he automatically checked the gun on his belt. Could Scarlet be in trouble? Harvey’s hard smile invaded his thoughts. Surely he hadn’t done anything to Scarlet.

  Adam flipped open the snap on his holster and opened the door, stepping onto the gravel on the side of the road. It did not escape him that he stood almost exactly in the spot where he’d pulled Scarlet over for speeding. The day he’d first laid eyes on the woman who would flip him upside down, yank him sideways and hang him out to dry.

  He hoped like hell she was okay.

  He drew his gun from his holder and cleared the car, surveying the perimeter. He could see no one at all. He needed backup quickly so he reached for his radio, and then he heard it.

  Crying.

  The sound caused his hackles to rise. What the devil was going on? He holstered his gun and walked around to the front of the car.

  Scarlet sat on the pavement, knees drawn up to her chin, crying as if there were no tomorrow.

  She looked at him with the most fragile look he’d ever seen, and if he hadn’t been so damn relieved to see her unharmed, he might have chewed her ass out.

  “What in the hell are you doing, woman?”

  She shook her head and continued to sob.

  He looked left than right again, wondering if he were on some kind of prank show. Like maybe Ashton Kutcher might jump out and shout, “You’ve been punked!”

  But no one was there.

  “Scarlet, I got a call about a body part.”

  She threw something at him. It pinged against his boot.

  “You are stupid!” she shouted, unfurling from her position against the bumper of the car. She wore a pair of high heels and a very short skirt. His mind registered the fact she was off her rocker, but it also sent a message to nether regions about long, bare legs and a spectacular ass.

  He took a step back. “Have you lost your mind?”

  She jabbed a finger in his chest. Right beneath his badge. “You didn’t even bother to come to the airport. You were supposed to come get me.”

  “Jared said there was a body—”

  “It’s my heart, you jackass. That’s the body part, the one you stole and threw away.”

  He blinked. “You called in a false report?”

  She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “So arrest me.”

  He didn’t know what to do. The crazy broad had called in a false report. But then again the crazy broad stood in front of him. In Texas. On Friday night.

  She hadn’t gone to Los Angeles.

  She’d stayed.

  “I—” He snapped his mouth closed.

  She pushed her hair back. “You are the biggest idiot in Howard County. Don’t you know the hero always comes for the girl?”

  Huh?

  He begged his brain to click, whir and figure out what in the hell she meant. Maybe he was an idiot. Maybe he’d always failed at relationships because he didn’t understand women. Especially not the rather complex one glaring at him.

  “You wanted me to stop you from achieving your dream?”

  She crossed her arms. “No, I wanted you to want to stop me.”

  “I don’t understand. I thought—”

  She pressed a finger over his mouth. “Stop. Aunt Fran was right. I’ll have to do everything in this relationship.”

  She pulled her hand away.

  He stared, not sure what to do. She no longer cried. Instead she looked aggravated, yet pleased with herself.

  “Let me ask you something.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Do you love me?”

  He swallowed. Did he love her? Was that what this was? This constant pressing in his chest, sort of like indigestion. And the ever-present yearning for her smile, her laugh, her cranky frown when she didn’t approve of something he said. He thought about her night and day, wondered where she was, who she was with. Was that love? “Uh, yes?”

  “You don’t sound sure.”

  “No, I’m sure. I love you.”

  “Good,” she said. Then she slapped him.

  “What the hell?” he said, grabbing his cheek. Damn, she’d put her weight behind that.

  Scarlet strolled toward his police car. He watched as she placed her hands on the trunk and spread her legs. “I intentionally assaulted you. Are you going to arrest me now?”

  “Are you out of your goddamn mind?”

  “Yes. You not only stole my heart, but you also wrecked me mentally. So, come here and frisk me.”

  He stalked toward where she stood. “Scarlet Rose, stop playing games and tell me what is going on in that beautiful, but also scary, head of yours. Why are you doing this?”

  She rolled her eyes. “If you arrest me, I can’t be at an audition, can I? I’d probably have to do more community service.”

  Then the reason for Scarlet’s whole fabricated call and ensuing slap hit him. She wanted him to arrest her.

  From somewhere deep inside him, laughter welled. “Oh, my God. You are the craziest women I’ve ever had the pleasure of—”

  “Pat me down. I could be packing heat.”

  “Oh, you’re packing heat, all right,” he said, trying not to smile, but failing. He hadn’t felt too much true happiness in his life. Life mostly felt like business, with no time for gut-wrenching laughs and silly daydreaming beneath the glow of fireflies. Scarlet Rose had changed that the minute she’d asked him to kiss her. And she’d cemented it into his heart by coming back to Oak Stand, choosing him over a role as a bisexual hooker.

  He pulled the handcuffs from his belt.

  “You’re going to cuff me?”

  “You’re dangerous,” he said, clipping one cuff around her left wrist. “Besides, I thought you liked being cuffed.”

  “Only if they are lined with fur,” she said, as he snapped the other over her right wrist. Now her hands were immobile. Exactly what he wanted. Scarlet at his mercy. His mind tripped to his thoughts after the first time he’d ticketed her, the way she’d arched over the car, tempting him, and the way he’d guiltily desired to have her under his control.

  “Now I’m going to pat you down,” he murmured in her ear. She shivered. He smiled.

  He slid his hands down her shoulders, reaching beneath her arms to brush the undersides of her breasts, pausing to flick the rigid nipples he encountered a little higher. She sucked in her breath.

  “Why, Officer, I think this is inappropriate.”

  “Do you give up your rights?” he asked, sliding his hands over her ribs before cupping the curve of her hips and pulling her spectacular ass against the hardness of his erection.

  “Ooh, Officer, is that a nightstick or are you glad to see me?” She giggled, grinding her bottom against him.

  He leaned forward and brushed his lips against her ear and whispered, “You’ll never know how glad I am to see you.”

  She rested her head on his shoulder. “I think I do.”

  He kissed her neck and spun her so she faced him. Her eyes shimmered in the Texas sunset. He lifted her and placed her on the trunk of the car, settling himself between her knees. She looped her cuffed hands around his neck and kissed him.

  It was sweet as summer melon, and for the first time ever, Adam’s blood didn’t sing at a kiss. His heart did.

  She pulled back and looked deep into his eyes. “I love you, Adam.”

  “But what about the audition? About Hollywood and that director?” he asked, thrilled with the declaration she’d made, but afraid too much still stood betwee
n them and a happy-ever-after.

  “I drove away, thinking you and I were through. That Hollywood and this role were my new beginning, my key to happiness. But I couldn’t get a flight until morning, so as I lay in the hotel room in Dallas, bawling my eyes out, it occurred to me I’d stepped out on the chance to be truly happy. To be truly loved. Not for a month or two, but forever.”

  “You think this is a forever kind of thing?”

  “That’s why I’m here. Everything happens for a reason. You leaving Houston. Me canceling my villa on the Riviera. Oak Stand. A speeding ticket. Community service. Fate.”

  He slid his hands up to cup her face and kissed her tenderly. “It won’t be easy.”

  “Nothing worthwhile ever is, but I want you.”

  He smiled. “I’m going to have to take you in.”

  She laughed. “I was counting on that. Rick smoked a brisket and all this drama has me starved.”

  “You really didn’t call in a body part, did you?” he asked, pulling her close so he could nibble on the sweetness of her neck.

  “No, Roz helped me. I waited at the airport, missing three flights, hoping you’d show up to bring me back. But sometimes a gal’s got to do things herself.” She licked his ear, heating his blood and making him forget they were in plain sight on the side of the highway.

  The blast of a horn ripped him from the perusal of the sexiest earlobe he’d ever had the pleasure of sucking into his mouth.

  “Now, that’s what I call po-lice harassment,” Bubba yelled, pulling up parallel with them.

  Normally, Adam would have been appalled at being caught necking on a county highway while in uniform. But today he felt too good holding the woman he loved in his arms to worry about it. Misconduct be damned. Scarlet tipped her head and smiled at the man in a Dallas-size diesel truck. “And he’s good at it.”

  “When you going to sign me up for the squad, Chief? I’m seeing more benefits than dental in wearin’ that uniform.” Bubba grinned as he readjusted his Texas Longhorns ball cap. “’Course, I already got a broad.”