* * *
Tate
I wokeup with a warm body snuggled into me for the first time in months. Over a year?
Hell, after the divorce, I didn’t have sleepovers. I had a sitter who was usually a sibling, and they would have given me endless shit about overnights. Then Chance would hear and start asking about the complexities of stepmoms. As a result, I kept my dates limited to a few hours only. If we could fuck in that time, fine. If not, I had a career to keep afloat and a son to care for.
I rubbed my eyes. A warm lump at my feet made a trilling sound. A head full of messy hair lifted from my shoulder and blinked at me. Lilith was on my legs, and Scarlett was tucked into my side. She was as beautiful in the morning as she was every other part of the day.
A slow, sultry smile spread across those lips I wanted to nibble on. I could spend the whole morning—Fuck. Chance.
I scrambled for the end table, knocking over a framed something. The cat made a disgruntled noise and jumped off the bed. Scarlett got dislodged in my rush.
“What time is it?”
The play of emotions across her face explained in vivid detail how I’d said the wrong thing.
Shit, I was messing this up too. “Chance is at my parents’. I told him I’d pick him up by ten so we can go fishing today.”
She blinked back the hurt and theI knew itexpression. A flimsy and neutral expression in its place. She sat up and pushed her hair off her face. “Um.” The blanket started falling, and she jerked it up. It should be a felony to cover those creamy breasts of hers, especially when I’d left a couple of love marks on them. “My phone is in the living room.”
Where I’d tugged her skirt off after our first time. All her clothing was out there.
She hugged the blankets to her chest, and as much as I wanted to reassure her that I wasn’t loving and leaving her, that I hadn’t done this to make sure she got her money’s worth, I had to know how badly I’d slept in. Chance had been complaining about how little we did together, and I’d told him we’d moved here so we could hang out more. If I had stayed in Bozeman, I’d have kept getting rooked back into work.
I rolled up, not caring if any blankets stayed on me. “Let me get my phone. Then we’ll talk, okay?”
She glanced over her shoulder, her face half-masked by a mess of golden-brown hair, and nodded.
“I’m not ditching you.” I got up and searched the floor. Had my pants made it this far? “But I promised him we’d have most of the day together.” There. My jeans were peeking out from the hallway.
“You don’t want to disappoint him.” She dragged the blanket off and wrapped it around her shoulders, concealing everything. Next, she put her glasses on.
She wasn’t being flippant. She was the type to put Chance first too, but she was also the type to convince herself I was leaving her with no plans to come back.
I would return, and it wouldn’t just be for the best sex of my life. It’d be for more glimpses of the strong and quirky personality she’d shown me yesterday. It’d be to find out what embroidery project she was working on next. It’d be to take her on more picnics, or to brave Curly’s with me again, or to watch her ass while she pulled weeds.
I finished dragging on my pants. My shirt. Damn, it was in the living room. I rushed down the hall. In the kitchen, the time read 10:10.Fuck. When had I last slept in like this?
When had I last fucked all night until I literally couldn’t get it up anymore, then dived between sweet legs and gotten her off one last time?
Never. I’d never satiated myself that thoroughly before, but then, I hadn’t been with Scarlett Breen before.
I gathered all our clothes and brought them to the back bedroom. She was already in loose shorts and a sleep shirt, thin enough to see the plain white bra underneath.
I didn’t care. Her tits still looked amazing. I sorted her clothing onto the bed and shrugged into my shirt. “I’m late, but I want to see you again.”
Her smile was placating. “Sure.”
“I’m serious, Scarlett.” I waggled a finger between us. “This isn’t something I’m walking away from, but my son is important, and after what he went through with his mom and my work hours, I can’t let him down.”
Her features softened. “I understand. I really do. Go. You’re late.”
A buzzing came from my back pocket. I pulled out my phone. “Goddammit.” I had three missed calls from my parents. “I’ve gotta?—”
A sadness I didn’t like crept into her smile. “Go, Tate. He needs you.”
“I’ll call you.”
