I believe at that point in the conversation, Scarlett is so overwhelmed that she just nods in agreement. I have plans to train my daughter and teach Rayne how to fill my shoes with CSS, but I certainly do not put that in writing.
“Will I be able to return to dancing?” she asks after I offer her millions of dollars to simply be my wife.
She still wants to be a nameless, faceless background dancer. Granted, she is young and only beginning her career, and I’ve never seen her dance. With the number of dancers that have visited her in the eight weeks of her convalescence, she is definitely loved.
“We will discuss it in more detail when you’ve healed and I’ve had the opportunity to talk to the artistic director of the ballet again,” I brush off her concerns.
“OrIdo.”
She flares hotly at the assumption that I’d muscle into her life, but I would. I am Beckett Myers, essentially a king in my realm. My needs are tantamount to all other concerns.
Now she just storms out on me. We have to get better at thisbecause I can't live with an enemy. So, I go to find her. Of course, the first place I look is Rayne’s nursery.
I stop in my tracks. Her long black hair cascades down her back as she stands at the window with her lounge pants hanging over her perfect ass, draping her in soft satin. Her blouse is unbuttoned and open while Rayne suckles at her naked breast, leaving the other for me to gaze upon. Truly, Scarlett is perfection. She looks out over New York City with the setting sun streaming in, highlighting her gloriousness in amber rays. My heart stops.If only she’d like me, is the thought that comes to mind.
“Did you need something?” she asks, making a half-hearted attempt to close her blouse when she discovers me staring.
“A truce. And for you to sit down while you’re nursing so you don’t fall over.” I step into the room as she takes a seat on the large, overstuffed rocking chair. “Where’s Gloria?”
“I let her take a break. I wanted some time with Rayne alone.” I see then that Scarlett has been crying.
“How can I do this better? Don’t be snarky; it’s something I’ve never asked anyone, ever…” I can’t take more of her caustic responses because, despite being powerful and influential, I am feeling a little vulnerable about my inability to elicit her adoration.
“Let me have some semblance of my life back. I understand your concerns, but you’re taking them too far, to the point where you are not protective—you’re mean. I just want to see my friends, nurse my baby, and exist in the world in a way that works for me. I’ll be whoever you want me to be in public. I understand you married me to save your reputation. You’re Beckett Myers, savior of the world, curer of cancer, a dashing billionaire who doesn’t have illegitimate babies with one-night stands. Beckett Myers is a saint who falls in love with his sister’s best friend despite himself and disappoints all the women in the world who’ve fawned over the ineligible bachelor.” She isn’t entirely correct, but right enough.
“If you want me to treat you like a woman in my world, then you’ll need to act like one.” Suddenly Rayne starts fussing, and Scarlett gentlyburps her and moves her over to suckle at the neglected breast.
My baby calms down immediately. It is impressive. I've seen babies wail and scream for hours, inconsolable, but my little one is content. I have a feeling it is because of her mother’s love and ease with her.
“You’re a natural,” I say in my own way, calling a truce.
“Here.” She stands up from her chair with her tits still out. “You can hold her.”
“She’s eating and is calm. I don’t want to disrupt that.”
I don’t really want to hold the child. I have held her on a couple of occasions. I am not afraid of my own daughter, but she is so delicate and tiny. I don't feel comfortable with her.
“Do you know the one thing your money will never buy me?”
“You don’t seem to have needs too far beyond my financial scope,” I quip back at her.
“Your money can’t buy a father who loved me. Or even a father who knew me. My mom had no idea who my dad was, and none of the men in her world were ever safe enough to know. Money can’t buy you being Rayne’s father. Holding her, showing her that you’re there for her even now when she’s little—it’s priceless.”
In that moment I see the woman she truly is, and I’d be a fucking liar if I didn’t admit to myself that I love what she is showing me.
“Fine,” I grumble, not wanting to give her too much power in this. I sit in the chair and try to make myself comfortable, preparing to hold my baby. “Isn’t she still feeding?” I don’t want her to gripe if she wasn’t done suckling her mother’s gorgeous tit.
“She’s just playing; she’s had enough.” Scarlett’s smile could ignite the world. “Arms out.” She hands the baby to me with her breasts on full display.
I am conflicted, wanting to hold my daughter but being aroused by her mother. “You should put those away; they’re very distracting,” I say.
Scarlett laughs gracefully as she closes her shirt and slowly buttons it up, knowing what she is doing to me. She has to know.
“These arehers,” she says with a sarcastic bite in her tone. “Your work here is done.” She undulates her gorgeous body and has me aching for her.
I turn my head to the baby.
Instantly, she steals my focus from her infuriating mother. The sweet little thing nestles into my arms, and I find myself stroking her hair, just as raven-colored as her mother's. Mine started going gray when I was in my early thirties, but I was brown-haired before I became salt-and-peppered.
