by Lucy Score
“Such a quaint home,” she said brightly. I followed her back the hallway to the living room. The deck doors were open, and music and laughter spilled inside.
Johanna turned away from the view and the fun outside and faced me, lacing her fingers together in front of her. “You’ve been avoiding me,” she stated.
“I have.” I didn’t see a reason to lie or make her feel more comfortable with the situation. “Most men do that when it comes to their ex-wives.”
“The divorce isn’t final yet,” Johanna pointed out. “And that’s what I’d like to talk to you about.”
“Believe me, if there were anything I could do to speed the process along, I would have,” I snapped.
“I want to call it off. I want you to give us another try.”
Baffled, I stared at her. “What about Ralston?” I demanded.
“He was a... poor choice. A mistake which I deeply regret.”
“And so you thought you’d just come back, and we could pick back up where we left off.”
Her cheeks flushed slightly, but it was the only show of emotion. “Quite frankly, yes. I’ve known for some time that I hadn’t made the right choice. I hurt you deeply, embarrassed you. And, for that, I’m sorry.”
She was speaking Klingon or Portuguese because I wasn’t comprehending a word she was saying. Nothing made sense.
“I don’t think I’m understanding. Why would I ever take you back?”
“We make sense, Devlin. Together, we make a very good team. If we get back together, this whole scandal goes away. I understand it will take some time before you can trust me, but I promise to be a good partner. The right partner.”
It was becoming clear through the fog in my brain. “You’re here because of Scarlett.”
“I wanted to give you some time to clear your head and possibly even forgive me. But I didn’t expect you to move on so quickly or with someone so… unsuited.”
“You sound like my mother.”
“Your mother is justifiably concerned. If you get re-elected, you have a very real shot at Congress in a handful of years, and from there, who knows where we could go. It’s your dream, and I can help you make that happen,” she insisted calmly.
“All I have to do is take you back?” I asked bitterly.
She nodded, looking hopeful. “We can find a new house together. It might even be fun.”
“Why is Ralston suddenly a mistake? Did he move on to someone else already?”
I saw the shadow in her eyes and knew my accusation had hit its mark.
“I see,” I said quietly.
“I made a mistake,” she pleaded.
I shook my head. “No. You didn’t.”
“And just what the hell is this?” a sweet voice drawled with Southern charm. Scarlett stood with her hands on her hips just above her tool belt. She wore jeans and a Bootleg Cockspurs tank top.
“This is Scarlett?” Johanna asked, aghast.
“Oh, you must be the lying, cheating, piece of garbage ex-wife. Bless your heart,” Scarlett said, batting her lashes.
Oh, shit.
The music stopped on the deck, and the door darkened with frames of four men all watching in rapt attention.
“Who’s that?” Gibson hissed.
“How the hell should I know?” Bowie whispered back. “I know all the same people you know.”
“Guessing she’s the ex,” Jonah added.
Jameson grunted.
If Scarlett noticed the audience, she didn’t care.
“Now what would a disgraced ex-wife be doing at her ex-husband’s lookin’ all pretty in her pearls?” she mused, tapping a finger to her chin. “Did you come to renegotiate the divorce? Are you here to lay claim to the Crock-pot and the fine china?”
Johanna had gotten both of those in the divorce.
“I’m saving my marriage,” Johanna said icily.
“Like hell you are,” Scarlett announced. She was pure fire to Johanna’s ice. She was magnificent.
“You’re obviously not feeling like yourself,” Johanna said, addressing her comment to me and dismissing Scarlett. “And I take ownership of my part in that. I was the one that sent you into a tailspin, but Devlin, you can’t accomplish all you’re meant to do with her by your side.”
“At least he doesn’t have to worry about me soliciting dick all the time,” Scarlett shot back.
I heard snickers from the deck. Johanna’s mouth dropped open. I doubted that she’d ever heard anything so crass before in her entire life.
“I beg your pardon. You’re a child and an ignorant one at that. You couldn’t possibly understand the kind of partner that Devlin needs.”
“He doesn’t need a fucking partner,” Scarlett enunciated. “He needs a best friend. Someone who will have his back, not end up on hers under someone else.”
Her brothers were howling with laughter behind me, and I inched my way toward them. I needed to put myself between Scarlett and Johanna, but I wasn’t sure if I could count on any of them for backup.
“You need to leave,” Johanna announced. “You need to leave so I can talk to my husband.”
“Oh, hell no,” Scarlett said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Johanna had six inches in height on her, but Scarlett had a good fifteen pounds of muscle in her favor. She also had a hammer and a few screwdrivers in her tool belt. “In fact, I think it’s time you left. You have to the count of three to get your non-existent ass out of this house.”
Johanna sputtered. “I’m not leaving. This is Devlin’s house, and I am welcome in it as long as he says I am!”
“Oh, are you?” Scarlett drawled. “Devlin?”
“Devlin?” Johanna glared at me, willing me to choose her.
I wanted to calm things down. “Let’s just take a step back—”
The Bodines groaned behind me, and I knew immediately I’d made a huge mistake.
Scarlett’s eyes narrowed at me. “Not good enough, McCallister.”
“Johanna, I think you should leave,” I said calmly.
Scarlett bared her teeth, and I knew it was too little too late.
“Devlin, I feel like we should continue this discussion—”
“Get out of this house now!” Scarlett shrieked. She took a threatening step toward Johanna who hopped behind the wingback armchair. “Take your skinny, cheating ass all the way back to Annapolis and find someone else to fuck over! And if I ever see your face around Bootleg again—”
She was reaching for her hammer, trying to wrestle it free. The sliding screen door imploded behind me as four bodies shoved their way through it. Gibson dove for Scarlett while Jameson and Bowie ushered Johanna down the hall toward the front door. Jonah blocked Scarlett’s attempt to chase her down, and I stood there wondering what in the hell had just happened.
“Get her out of here!” Scarlett yelled at the top of her lungs. “If she comes near Devlin again, I am shoving her in Rocky Tobias’s septic tank!” Gibson wrestled her to the ground and sat on her. Jonah jogged down the hallway to the front door. I could hear raised voices outside before he closed it.
I couldn’t quite comprehend what had just happened. All I knew is that the squirming ball of fury on my grandmother’s living room rug cared more about me than any appearance or any plan. She wanted to protect me when no one else in my family or circle of friends had been willing to.
I loved Scarlett Bodine. She might not know it yet, but she sure as hell loved me back.
Jameson and Bowie returned to the living room where Scarlett was swearing a blue streak.
“When I let her up, she’s gonna try to kill you,” Gibson predicted.
“Me?”
“You invited your ex-wife into your house. The woman who treated you like dog shit. You don’t play nice with that,” Bowie explained.
“Unless of course you’re hoping to get back together with her,” Jameson added.
Scarlett stilled and glared at me. “Devlin McCallister, if you even think for
one second of getting back together with that frosty, pearl-wearing beanpole, I will hold you down, shave your head, and... and...”
She was so mad she couldn’t even string together an insult.
“I’m not getting back together with her, Scarlett. I’m with you.” I probably should have chosen a less exasperated tone because she was now snarling into the carpet.
“Where’s your self-respect, man?” Gibson demanded.
“Fuck self-respect. Where’s his survival instinct?” Bowie wondered.
I shoved my hands into my hair. “I don’t even know what’s happening. Why is everyone mad at me?”
“Because you’re an idiot,” the Bodine men said together.
“I’m letting her up,” Gibson decided. “He needs some sense knocked into him.”
He slid off of Scarlett, and she jumped to her feet. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she demanded, shoving her finger in my face.
“I’m not really sure. Maybe you could help me figure it out?” I suggested.
She let out a groan of frustration and took the throw pillow off the couch and hurled it into the kitchen.
“On that note...” Jameson headed for the door.
“Why don’t we take the steaks and eat them anywhere but here,” Jonah suggested.
“Good luck,” Bowie said, clapping a hand on my back.
They disappeared through the trampled screen door, leaving me and the seething Scarlett alone.
39
Scarlett
“Why are you so mad?”
Devlin’s stupid question pissed me off even more.
“I walk in and find you and your ex-wife talking about giving it another try. And you ask me why I’m mad?” I shrieked. The pitch hurt my own ears.
“She was talking about reconciling. I was not!”
“I didn’t hear a resounding ‘oh, hell no’ from your mouth,” I shot back.
He sank weakly into the plaid wingback chair and rubbed his hands over his face. “Scarlett, I’m a little overwhelmed right now.”
“Do you want to get back together with Johanna?” I asked calmly, quietly.
“No! I don’t. That’s not an option or a possibility or something I’d ever want to revisit no matter what.”
I thrust my arms into the air. “Then why in the everlasting hell didn’t you say so?”
He frowned, confused. “I was trying to explain to her—”
I cut him off with a wave of my hand. “Devlin, I understand that seeing her was a shock, and I get that you’re required to be professionally courteous in most situations, but that woman lied, cheated, and deceived you and then decided you should take her back.”
“Wait,” he said, holding up his hands. “You’re not mad because she showed up here—uninvited, I might add?”
I looked up at the ceiling and prayed for patience. The etiquette was bred bone deep in this man. “No! Who could blame her? You’re a fucking catch, and she’s only just now realizing what a stupid disaster she’s made of her life because she got greedy! I’m mad because you felt like you needed to break the news to her so gently she still thought she had a chance!”
“Scarlett, not everyone is like you, and not every place is like Bootleg. There are rules to social interactions.”
“She hurt you, humiliated you, and put your career at risk. And you can’t even get a good ‘fuck you’ past your lips. I can’t send you back into the world being so vulnerable, Dev. I can’t do it!”
“What are you ranting about?”
He looked shell-shocked, like the survivor of a traumatic accident. That’s probably the way the abrupt end to his marriage had felt. Traumatic. And she’d come waltzing back in like the entitled asshole she was.
I crossed to him and knelt down in front of him. “You came here cracked, if not broken. And you need to take care not to put yourself in that position again. You opened the door to JoSkanka, and she walked right in, figuratively and literally. You can’t let her think she has a chance. You have to forget about being polite all the time and focus on being powerful.”
“I thought you were mad because I was talking to my ex-wife,” he said.
“Crap on a cracker! Catch up, McCallister. You’ve spent your whole life playing by the rules, and look where it got you. I want you to take charge just like you do in the bedroom.”
He looked around us as if worrying about an audience.
“See? That right there!” I pointed an accusing finger at him and rose to pace off my mad. “You’re concerned about how it looks, how it sounds. Why not just speak the truth and move on?”
“It’s not the way things are—”
“Done. I know. I know. Okay. But did it ever occur to you that things are done wrong?” I returned to him and put my hands on his knees. He looked dazed. “I’m not trying to be mean here, Dev. I don’t want you to ever be in the position that Johanna put you in again. And I sure as shit don’t want someone feeling like they deserve a second chance with you.”
“You’re acting like I’m some helpless child,” Devlin said, fully irritated.
Had he seen what she had when he came here? A man bent to breaking. A man alone and adrift. She wasn’t sending him back to the family that abandoned him and the woman who took advantage of him without improving his arsenal.
“I don’t think you’re a helpless child. I think you’re only willing to take what you want when you’re naked.”
“Now you’re being ridiculous,” Devlin announced, surging to his feet.
“I’m being ridiculous? I’m being ridiculous?” I jumped up, pushing away from him.
He stalked toward me. “Let’s get a few things straight,” he said quietly. I felt my pulse kick. He wasn’t the shell-shocked ex-husband now. He was a predator, a hunter. I loved him like this, all graceful power and single-minded desire.
The air charged between us with the change. It wasn’t just anger now. It was anger warring with want. And I could tell he liked it. This is what I wanted for him. But I needed to set him free. He needed to be able to stand on his own two feet without me.
“Why are you acting like I’m going to go back and never see you again?” Devlin demanded.
I didn’t want to say it. It felt wrong to say it.
“What are you keeping from me?”
Too many damn things. Until I knew I could prove that my father had nothing to do with Callie’s disappearance, there could be no Devlin and me.
“We aren’t going to work together,” I said quietly. My own words cut at me. He didn’t pull back, and I thanked God for tiny miracles.
“Scarlett, you and I work better together than anyone.”
I shook my head. I didn’t know how to tell him without telling him. “I’m a liability to you. I don’t operate the way you’d need me to.”
“Where is this coming from?”
“Dev, when we were at that party, people were nice to my face. But behind my back? They were gleefully discussing your mid-life crisis spent slumming it with a bumpkin. I won’t help your career. The one you’ve been working toward your entire life. That’s one thing that gazelle you were married to got right.”
“Fuck them,” he snapped. “And fuck her. This is our life we’re talking about here, Scarlett.”
“But we haven’t been talking about it. Really talking about it. We have sex. We hang out. But we both know you’re not staying here. And I don’t fit there. I’m not what you need.”
“You’re what I want.” The vehemence in his voice made me feel twin pangs of hurt and a desire so fierce I didn’t think I could stand it.
I wanted to be right for him. I wanted to have his back and have him on his back. But until I knew how that sweater ended up in my father’s house, I couldn’t ask him to be mine. I couldn’t demand that kind of commitment. Not when it would mean giving up everything he’d worked his whole life for.
“I think deep down you know it,” I said, pretending his last remark didn’t mean anything
to me. “Your parents know it. Your stupid, bitchy acquaintances know it. Hell, even Johanna knows it. Why do you think she was so confident you’d let her come back? They told her about me. I’ll hurt your career, and you’ll resent me. Or I’ll resent you for taking me away from my home and trying to turn me into someone I’m not.”
He’d stopped arguing, and my heart broke just a little bit.
“We don’t need to talk about this now,” he said finally. I couldn’t tell if he was resigned to the truth or regrouping.
I was relieved. “Look, the only thing we need to be discussing right this second is that when you go back to your old life, you aren’t the same polite doormat. You fought for me. You confronted my brothers for me. I expect you to do the same for yourself.”
“You want me to take what I want?” he said, low and rough.
I nodded, my eyes going wide at the change in him.
He kicked the ottoman out of his way, a show of temper I hadn’t seen from him before. Devlin exercised control in all things. And sometimes that control got in the way of real life. The only time he ever let himself off the leash was in bed with me.
“Bottling things up isn’t gonna help, Dev,” I reminded him. “You gotta let it out. You went mean on my brothers, which they deserved. Why can’t you do the same for yourself?”
“I have responsibilities,” he insisted.
“Fuck your responsibilities! Are they really your responsibilities if someone else dumps them on you?” And didn’t I know that first hand?
“You know what I want, Scarlett?” His voice was a rasp of gravel.
I nodded. I knew exactly what he needed. Release.
I reached for the waistband of his shorts.
“Get on your knees,” he hissed.
40
Scarlett
My legs went out from under me, and I sank to the floor and unzipped him. When I shoved my hand into the opening, I found him already halfway hard. “You like seeing me on my knees?” I whispered.
His cock swelled in my hand. Oh, yeah. He liked seeing me like this in front of him. Willing and waiting.