“That’s something else I can help with,” I offer.
The snarky reply I know is coming is cut off when we hear raised voices coming from inside the house that are loud enough to penetrate through the closed front door.
There isn’t another car parked in the driveway, so it must be one of Natalie’s neighbors.
We both stop, and Douglass cocks her head. It takes barely a second for recognition to hit us both.
“Douglass, wait.”
The front door must be unlocked because Douglass flings it open and is rushing inside before I can stop her.
Every part of me has dreaded the moment I would see my ex again. I’ve gone five blissful years without so much as a glimpse of the bitch. Last I heard, and it wasn’t by choice, she had moved in with Chase.
“…give me my goddamn money!” Amelia shouts from the back of the house.
Douglass unceremoniously drops the grocery bags in the hallway and disappears inside the kitchen.
“What’s going on?” Douglass demands.
I stop in the entryway, a huge sense of relief pouring over me when I see that Amelia isn’t here. Natalie is sitting at the small round table, a pinched expression on her face and a cordless phone clutched in her hand. She must have it on speaker.
“Oh, great. Heard you came crawling back. Didn’t take you long to start sniffing around my boyfriend. You always wanted what I had,” Amelia’s voice replies in a derisory tone, but it’s what Douglass says that has my eyebrows hiking up.
She props a hand on the table and bends slightly at the waist, glaring at the phone. “And it didn’t take you long to start sleeping around and cheat.Again. Or have you been cheating on Chase all along? It’s kind of your M.O.”
How did she know that, and when did she talk with Chase? She’s only been in town for a week or so, and the only time she and Chase were ever in each other’s orbit was when she tutored him in high school.
As soon as she says it, Douglass looks over at me with contrition, and I send her a“We’ll be discussing this later”narrowing of the eyes.
“You need to fuck off and get a life. What I do or who I do is none of your concern,” Amelia snaps.
“Douglass, not now,” Natalie whispers, shaking her head. She takes the phone off speaker and stands up from the chair with effort. “I’ll go to the bank tomorrow,” she says to Amelia, walking out of the kitchen.
Douglass heaves a huge, defeated sigh, and it speaks volumes. I push off the door jamb where I’d been leaning a shoulder, and she holds up a finger at me when I approach. Her face is stony and her mouth downturned.
“Not one word.” She tries to sidestep me, but I block her path. “Jordan, I need to get the groceries or else the frozen stuff will melt.”
Placing two fingers under her chin, I lift her face, giving her no other alternative than to look me in the eye. “I don’t give a shit about Amelia or Chase. Talk to me. You’re clearly upset.”
Her timidity evaporates, and those gorgeous verdant-grays finally focus their attention on me. “Why do you care?”
I meet her fire with my own and back her up until her body is trapped between me and the wall behind her. Taking my time, I drag a finger down the curve of her neck, savoring the silkiness of her skin and the breathless moan she tries to hold in. My senses come alive at how responsive she is to me, and it just makes me want her more. I look forward to the day I finally breach those fortifications she constantly throws up in my presence. The heat that exists between us will char me to cinders and ash, but it’ll be worth it.
“I care.”
And because I need her in my arms, I pull her to me and hold her. And just like I knew she would, her body fits exquisitely against mine.
Douglass fists my shirt and drops her head to my chest, and my cheek finds the perfect resting spot on top of her head. I only have a minute to relish the feel of her in my arms before the screened door to the back patio smacks shut.
She pulls away when Natalie comes in, looking guilty as hell.
“Why are you still giving her money?”
“You know why,” Natalie weakly replies, putting the phone back on its charger on the kitchen counter.
“Should I go?” I ask, not wanting to intrude on a private conversation, even though my desire to stay for Douglass’s sake is preventing my feet from moving.
“You’re fine where you are,” Natalie states.
