I lower my head to hide my silent snicker. “So, you know how I told you I almost screwed that up last time?”
“Yeah,” he says, sounding puzzled.
“Well, I excused myself to go to the restroom, and I called the headquarters and asked them if there were any similar availabilities in the area surrounding Blytheville.”
“And?”
“There is one. In the next town over—Trident,” I tell him.
“That’s like a five-minute drive,” he says.
“I know.”
“So, what happened then?” he presses.
“I told headquarters what I was offered for a compensation package and asked if they could make that happen in Trident. If so, I would go down there.”
Austin’s mouth is hanging open with shock. “There’s no way they’d agree to that salary in South Carolina.”
“They did,” I tell him. “I went back to tell the hiring manager about the other location and—we’ll just say no one was very happy after spending money to fly me up here, upping my salary and throwing in all the bonuses just so I could call Trident’s location. They kind of told me to leave and never come back.”
“Dang, Scarlett. I knew you were a fireball, but that’s like ... I don’t even know what to call it, but hell, you are incredible. You want something, you just go get it, and you’re taking care of your mama on top of it all.”
“Everything feels right, now,” I tell him.
“Everythingisright.”
“I haven’t really told my mom any of this, but as long as I get her out of here, I don’t think she’ll care where she goes.”
“You know what, there are a million adult communities for people who are fifty and older in Trident. It’s very residential—kind of perfect for your mom.”
“See. Perfect,” I tell him. Sometimes acting in the moment doesn’t screw me over. I won this time, I think.
“What about us?” Austin asks.
“Smother me a little more,” I tell him.
His lips curl into a greedy smile. “Careful what you ask for. Smotherin’ doesn’t mean the same thing to you as it does to me.”
“What does it mean to you?” I ask, curiously.
He stands up from the windowsill and walks over to me at a slow pace—the kind of pace I’m not a fan of yet. I might be moving down South, but I’m still a fast-paced kind of girl.
I decide to avoid complaining as one of his knees press into the bed and he pushes me down into the plush comforter. He climbs over me and my lungs fall flat. It doesn’t get old with him. Austin dips his head, and takes my lips with his, biting down and tugging gently. “For every tomorrow you will give me, I will make you wish there was never a yesterday,” he says.
I run my hands up the scruff of his cheeks and look into his beautiful eyes, seeing the truth written across his face, knowing there is nothing to be worried about. “Okay,” I tell him.
He leans back into kiss me again, scooping his arms under my back.
The door opens. “Scarlett,” Mom says. “Oh my God.” Austin jumps up and rolls off the bed.
“I’m so sorry, ma’am. I apologize.”
“Uh,” Mom says looking between the two of us. “Is there one like you for my age?”
I close my eyes and cover my face.
“I see where you get your sharpness from,” Austin says.
“Why don’t you two come downstairs? There will be plenty of time for boning later,” she says. Oh, God.
“Mom!”
