by Sierra Brave
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, sweetie…stop this mess and take me back already.”
Scarlett’s jaw dropped and she sat in shocked silence, feeling as if someone had punched her in the gut. Is that how he always saw me…a spineless pushover he could treat any old way? “Never gonna happen.”
“I know I did wrong, but you have to believe me. I didn’t set out to cheat. It was just an accident.”
Her eyes widened and she shook her head in astonishment. “An accident? I guess you slipped and your dick landed inside her?”
Robert laughed and Scarlett gritted her teeth, infuriated by his audacity.
“Robert, you’re a total, piece of shit. You don’t deserve me.”
That comment put an end to his laughter and invoked his nasty temper. “What? Don’t go getting ahead of yourself now! You lost a little weight and are looking a lot better but don’t start acting like you’re too cute for me now.”
Nostrils flaring, Scarlett let him have it. “Bitch, I’ve been too cute for you for a long damn time. I just didn’t know it. Never call me again!” While ignoring his raised voice and indignant screaming, she slammed down the receiver. She picked it back up and slammed it down again, smacking it against the base several times before jumping to her feet, her fists balled tight. Son of a bitch! Why did I ever put up with him talking to me that way?
She plopped her rear back down on the couch. He was always quick to raise his voice but even though his bark was bad, Robert’s bite was nonexistent at least as far as she could tell. Normally, he saw reason after a short bout of venting and a cool-down period but he always insisted on having things his way.
Scarlett gritted her teeth as her cell phone started ringing. Unbelievable! She just told him to get lost. She’d give him a piece of her mind this time! After digging in her purse, she pulled out her iPhone with its girly, blinged-up case and answered without looking at the display. “Are you deaf or just stupid? I just said not to call me anymore!”
“Scarlett?” The voice on the end was low and had a cute, Appalachian twang.
“Oh, Davis, it’s you.” She could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment even as an excited giddiness fluttered in her belly.
“Hey, I was thinking you probably had time to get home by now and I was getting a little worried.”
Scarlett bit down on her bottom lip. She wasn’t use to a man doting on her and hadn’t realized how inconsiderate she was being. “I’m so sorry. I should have called you as soon as I walked in the door. I haven’t been home long and I was so tired, I just kind of collapsed.”
“It’s okay. I don’t mean to crowd you. I just needed to make sure my lil’ filly got home alright. It’s a long drive, and the mountains can be tough to navigate in the winter.”
“You’re not crowding me. Thanks for caring.” Her heart was pitter-pattering.
“Of course, I care. I feel a lot better now that I’ve heard your voice. Now I just wish I could put my arms around you.”
“Yeah, me too.” Scarlett closed her eyes, and she could practically feel his big, strong hands clasping her hips and moving down to grab her ass. “I wish I could have taken you home with me.”
“That would have been nice,” he said softly. Even his voice was sexy and sweet. “So are you sure you’re okay. You sounded awful riled up when you answered.”
“Oh, sorry about that…just not in the mood for telemarketers,” she fibbed. Scarlett didn’t want to tell her new man that her old one had humiliated her so badly she had been too embarrassed to celebrate Christmas with her family. Before Davis could question her further, she changed the subject.
“So, Davis, what are you doing next week for New Year’s?”
“Well, usually, I just hang out with family, have a few beers and set off some fireworks.”
“I’m sure that’s a lot of fun but do you think you could miss out on it and come to my company’s New Year’s party with me? The big boss goes all out—good food, champagne, loud music, ridiculous games and lots of silly hats and noisemakers.”
“I’d be a fool to turn down all that but if I’m going to come all that way, you have to promise me a New Year’s kiss.”
“I think that can be arranged.” Scarlett smiled to herself, trying to still the skyrockets going off inside her.
“Then it’s a date,” he promised.
Chapter Two
It took a couple of extra cups of coffee, but Scarlett managed to get through her first day back at work and was actually rather productive, but the most difficult part of her return was staring her right in the face. After taking a deep breath, she knocked on the back door of her parents’ two-story, Georgian-style home before entering and stepping into the dining area of the eat-in kitchen. “Hi,” she called out while poking her head around the kitchen cabinets.
Her mother, Kerry, stood from her perch on the apricot-colored couch in the living room, where she had been diligently working on her needlepoint, and headed Scarlett’s way. Her father, Brendan, greeted her from the stove, where he was stirring his famous homemade spaghetti sauce.
“Hey, Princess.” Brendan stopped what he was doing to dote on his baby girl.
“Hey, Daddy.” Scarlett offered him a smile.
Meanwhile, Kerry closed in before throwing her arms around Scarlett’s mid-section for a hug.
“Mama missed you so much.” Kerry squeezed Scarlett around the waist. As her mom’s blonde hair tickled her chin, Scarlet turned her head away and raised her neck.
While patting her mom’s back, she replied, “I missed you too. Did you guys like the presents I dropped by before I left?”
Kerry released her hold on Scarlett’s ample frame. “Yes, dear, but we would have much rather opened them with our baby right here with us. I don’t know why you felt the need to run off.”
Scarlett sighed, sitting down at her place at the table and placing her napkin on her lap. It wasn’t as if she didn’t already expect her mother to book this guilt trip, but knowing what was coming didn’t make it any more tolerable.
“Sorry, Mama, I just couldn’t face everyone who knew I was expecting a ring. There would have been so many questions about where Robert was. I didn’t want to have to tell them what happened. I know I would have burst into tears at some point, and I didn’t want to bring everyone down and ruin Christmas.”
Her dad spoke up. “Having you here could never ruin Christmas but we understand.”
“Speak for yourself,” her mother said, adding, “I still don’t understand what’s going on with you and Robert. You two have one little fight and all of a sudden the wedding is off? Robert called here looking for you and sounding all kinds of pitiful.”
“Now, Kerry.” Brendan set a big plate of pasta with red sauce down in front of Scarlett. “You know she’s going through a very tough time. Don’t go putting in your two cents worth.”
Scarlett smiled. “Thanks, Daddy. I’m glad someone is on my side.”
“I’m on your side.” Her mom frowned as she accepted her plate.
Scarlett wiped her mouth and put her napkin back in her lap, dreading her mother’s next words. There was no way her mama would give up until Scarlett laid it all out for her in no uncertain terms. “I need you to understand that Robert and I are done.”
“But…”
Her mother looked as heartbroken as Scarlett had felt when the figurative bullet hit the bone but she had to interrupt. “No buts, Mama. He and I didn’t just have a spat. I caught him cheating on me. I put up with a lot from him but I won’t stand for cheating.”
Kerry frowned but nodded all the same. “I understand but are you sure he cheated? I just can’t imagine him doing such a thing. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding?”
Scarlett pursed her lips and took a deep breath. Robert had always had her mother snowed. He made a point to put his best foot forward when her parents were around. Her dad never seemed to buy into it, but Robert’s Sout
hern gentleman act worked like a charm on her mama. I’m no better. I didn’t see through him either until I used the key he gave me to sneak into his apartment to make a surprise dinner. Unfortunately, Scarlett was the one who got the surprise. Robert was supposed to be at work…but nope. She walked in to find him with some random Tinder pick-up bent across the arm of his couch while he rammed her from behind. I seriously doubt that was the first time.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t have to imagine it. I walked in on them, and unless they were having a naked wrestling match, there’s no mistaking what I saw.”
Her father set his glass of iced tea down on the table loud enough to make a noise. Anger flashed in his eyes but he kept his cool. “Did you get some time to clear your head up in the mountains?”
Scarlett considered the question. She had been too busy taking in the majestic scenery, making love with Davis and swallowing down his family’s secret to do much thinking about the next steps in rebuilding a future that didn’t include Robert. In fact, her head was a bit of a muddled, mushy, lust-fueled mess. Initially, she saw Davis as the perfect distraction from her heartbreak. She had expected a fling but had gotten so much more. Davis came on fast and strong. Scarlett had been swept away by what could only be described as an immediate connection between kindred spirits, and the sex had been intense. “Actually, yes and no…the minute I caught Robert cheating we were through. I didn’t leave town to think about our relationship. Like I said, I was just hiding out, but while I was away, I ran into some…complications.”
“Oh?” Kerry’s gossip-loving ears perked up.
Scarlett sighed and smirked. As soon as I walk out the door, mama will be on the phone, spreading this news to every aunt and cousin. Half the town will know before I can make the ten-minute drive back home. As disconcerting as it was to have her mother blasting her business, at least the dissemination of new information would take the sting out of everyone finding out Robert had cheated on her.
“While I was in the mountains, I met someone nice.”
As soon as the word nice left her lips, her mother’s bright smile fell and the stain of disappointment colored her expression. After reaching into her purse, Scarlett grabbed her cellphone and then brought up the selfie she had snapped of her and Davis before leaving. Turning the phone’s face toward her mother, Scarlett watched as her mother’s jaw dropped.
Kerry reached out and snatched the phone. “Who is this?” Her eyes were so wide it looked as if they were about to pop out of her head.
Scarlett smiled. “His name is Davis and he’s super sweet and a great guy!”
“Where did you meet him?” her dad asked as he put a bowl of salad down next to her plate. He sounded cautious and worried.
“He lives in the house next to the cabin where I stayed over Christmas.” Scarlett poured herself a glass of sweet tea from the pitcher in the middle of the table and gulped down a couple of big sips.
“He’s gorgeous. How did you get him to take a picture with you?” Her mom asked, nearly drooling all over Scarlett’s phone.
“Gimme that!” Scarlett snatched her phone back and then dropped it into her purse. “We took it right before I left, and for your information, it was his idea. He asked me to pull over and send him a copy as soon as my phone got back in range down the mountain.”
“How would he even get it?” Brendan asked, totally missing the point.
Scarlett rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Daddy, he’s not a hermit. He’s a real person with a job and stuff to do that takes him into town. There’s nothing but homes and horses on Horse Mountain. He has to drive to go grocery shopping and…well, everything.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain…” Her mama started but stopped midsentence and pursed her lips.
Scarlett recognized the gesture and frowned. Obviously, she can’t believe a hottie like Davis would be interested in a plus-sized girl.
“Not every guy is into teeny, tiny women.” Scarlett twirled her spaghetti around the teeth of her fork.
“That’s right,” Brendan said, holding out the basket of garlic bread for Scarlett.
She took a slice. “Thanks, Daddy.”
He nodded. “Real men like curves. You should know that, Kerry.” He lightly poked at the side of his wife’s fleshy hip.
As her mother giggled, while exchanging flirty looks with her dad, Scarlett held back the urge to wretch. After swallowing her bite of garlic bread with great difficulty, she washed it down with another sip of tea.
“I never thought Robert was good enough for you anyway, princess.”
“Thanks, Dad. Unfortunately, I did. I shouldn’t have tolerated his attitude for as long as I did.” Scarlett frowned. “He had the nerve to call and ask when I was going to get over it and take him back.”
Her father’s jaw dropped but her mother lowered her fork, a hopeful look in her eyes. You’ve got to be kidding me! ?
“And what did you say?” Her mom asked.
“Kerry,” Scarlett’s father raised his voice just a hint. “He cheated on her. Of course, she told him to drop dead.”
“Did you?” Kerry lifted an eyebrow and leaned in as if she was going to have to catch Scarlett’s answer and hold it in her hands. Someone’s chomping at the bit!
“Pretty much.” Scarlett sopped up some sauce with her bread.
“If he wants you back, he must be sorry. I know Robert loves you, and you are twenty-seven now.” Her mother’s words stabbed at her. She might as well have stuck her spaghetti sauce tinged fork in Scarlett’s heart.
Brendan dropped his fork. “Kerry! I’m surprised at you.”
“I’m sorry but I want grandchildren before it’s too late,” Scarlett’s mom replied, not looking up from her plate.
“She’s moved on! Right, Scarlett?” Her father looked at her expectantly.
Scarlett nodded while chewing her food. Talking about her ex sucked, but there was no getting around her parents’ need to chew the fat off every detail of her life.
Her mom huffed. “You just met this new man. Once the newness wears off, there might not be any future with him.”
“Davis, his name is Davis, Mom.”
“Fine, there might not be any future with this Davis.”
With a heavy heart, Scarlett took a sip of her drink and cleared her throat. “Look, Mom, I understand where you’re coming from. Believe me, it was really hard for me to admit I’d wasted three years of my life, but I won’t be taking Robert back…ever. As for Davis, I’m going to see how things go, but even if we hit a dead end, no Robert.”
Kerry lifted her hands in front of her and nodded. “Okay, baby, your dad and I are behind whatever decision you make.”
“Thanks,” Scarlett replied, not believing her mom a hundred percent.
* * *
Scarlett hopped out of the shower and then dried off with a large, fluffy beach towel before wrapping it around her generously proportioned figure. As she started brushing her teeth, her phone rang. She left her bathroom, walking into her bedroom and making her way to the phone on the bedside table.
“Mom?” she asked, assuming she hadn’t heard the last on the subject of Robert. The voice on the other end informed her she was half right. She definitely hadn‘t quashed the subject of her no good ex, but her mom wasn’t the one calling.
“So you already hooked up with someone else behind my back? I can’t believe you’re still angry at me when you turn around and do the exact same thing!” From the tone of Robert’s voice, his mood was somewhere between fury and tears.
Mama! She called my ex? How could she! Scarlett’s blood boiled. She was going to have to have a word with that woman but first, she had to get Robert off her case. As he continued his rage-filled whining, she rolled her eyes, not feeling the least bit sorry for him and his pitiful, cracking voice. “You and I broke up the day I caught you screwing around. What I do and who I do it with is none of your concern. Don’t call me anymore.”
Robert m
anaged to yell some obscenities before she could cradle the receiver but Scarlett hung up on him before he could say much. When the phone rang again a few seconds later, she picked it up and slammed it back down without seeing who was calling and then she unplugged it. A few minutes later, her cell phone started up. Scarlett dug the phone out of her purse. Sure enough, Robert’s number was on display. After hitting ignore, she blocked his number and then put the phone on vibrate.
After returning to the bathroom, she hung up her towel before heading to her dresser and retrieving a pair of snuggly pajama pants and a t-shirt. She dressed for bed and then checked the locks. She turned off all the lights with the exception of the lamp on her bedside table before she slid between the sheets. As she reached over to pick up a romance novel she was about halfway through, she thought better of it, picking up her cell phone instead and taking a look at the picture of her and Davis.
Her heart skipped a beat as she looked at his handsome face and remembered his breath at her neck and his hands gripping her considerable ass. Her gaze slipped over to the nightstand drawer, where she kept a small, bullet-shaped vibrator. Mmm, let me stop before I get too worked up. After having Davis’s huge cock inside me, buzzing the tower might not do it for me anymore.
As she turned the lamp’s switch, the room went dark. She nestled into her covers and turned over on her side. Closing her eyes, she said her prayers and hoped her dreams would be filled with Davis.
Chapter Three
“What are you going to wear?” she asked as she smoothed her sleek, gray bob back behind her ears with a gloved hand while she sat on a barrel next to one of the horse stalls at the Bank’s Horse Ranch and Training Center.
Pausing his brushing of a good-natured quarter horse named Sally, Davis sighed. “I don’t know, Gram. I haven’t really thought about it.”
The old lady frowned, her thin lips drawn tight as she shook her head. “How can you not have thought about it? You have to look nice when you meet Scarlett’s co-workers, not like some broken-down, dime store cowboy!”
