by D. A. Young
Ian winked at him. “It means you’ll finally be all out of fucks to give, old friend.”
Chapter Six
“Ayyyyyy! It’s the real estate agent! How ya doin’, darlin’?” Guy grinned as Sidra walked through the kitchen door of the Sullivan household. He gave her a big hug that she returned enthusiastically.
“Good to see you, Guy,” Sidra smiled genuinely, because it was true. Although she gave Noelle crap for living in the country, secretly Sidra really loved coming here. The good vibes that the little town exuded would be enough to make Ebenezer Scrooge want to Whip and Nae Nae. “Real estate agent?”
“Cause yer always puttin’ someone in their place, Ms. Sidra,” he said with a chuckle, and she joined in.
“I like it!” Sidra exclaimed. “It’s professional and to the point.”
“Exactly like you,” Darby drawled as he walked in from the family room and gave her a hug as well. “Now gimme some sugar. How ya feelin’?”
Sidra reached up and kissed Darby’s bearded cheek. “Anxious to be ashamed of what I’ll get into this week. How about you? Everything going okay?”
“Oh, you know me. Better than some, worse than others,” he laughed. “Pip, let’s grab her bags. Where are the other two musketeers at?”
“I drove Noelle’s car, and they’re in Jack’s. They should be arriving shortly.”
Guy grabbed two suitcases in each hand and looked at the remaining four. “Well damn girl, how long are you stayin’?”
Sidra crossed her eyes at him and replied, “Alexei was kind enough to provide me the use of his jet. So that means I didn’t have to pay extra money for more than one bag. Which really means, that instead of limiting my shoe choices and working my outfits around what shoes were selected,-”
“Uh-huh, got it,” Guy interrupted, looking pained as he shouted, “Holt! Come grab some of Ms. Sidra’s bags! I’m headin’ back to the office to do payroll,” he explained to an amused-looking Darby. “We’ve got to handout checks and Christmas bonuses before quittin’ time.” He beat a hasty retreat with her suitcases, leaving Sidra to frown at his back.
Next to her Darby chuckled, “I think you lost him at shoe choices.”
“Well don’t ask a question, if you don’t want the answer,” Sidra sniffed, before turning serious. “Listen, Darby, before the girls arrive, I want to show you something.” She hesitated. “It has to do with Avery.”
Darby stilled, his friendly expression, replaced with one of growing concern, “What about her? Is everything alright?”
“Not really,” Sidra said carefully, “It actually has a lot to do with Pierce. Have you seen or spoken to her?”
“No, she got in last night, and I’ve been travelin’, checking on all of my clients. Just got in myself this mornin’,” he replied grimly and crossed his big muscular arms. “Yer makin’ me real anxious, Ms. Sidra. I’m not gonna have to whup somebody’s ass two days before Christmas, am I? I would hate to be on Santa’s naughty list.”
“Boy, please. You live for the naughty list,” Sidra scoffed, handing him her phone. “Take a look. I was hoping we could keep her spirits high because she seems a little down.”
Darby took the phone and pressed play on the link. As always, the sight of Avery Monroe caused his heart to beat ridiculously fast. She wasn’t drop dead gorgeous like Sidra or exotic-looking like Noelle. To Darby, she was so much more than that. Her big, brown eyes were so full of life and happiness; those luscious, pouty lips, always poised to give one of her cheerful smiles, or her sense of humor that filled him with happiness. Avery radiated kindness and sincerity. Just being around her was like coming in frostbitten from a blizzard in the Arctic, and she was the soothing warmth to heal you. Not to mention her curvy body and sweet laugh. Yeah, he’d dare anyone to leave the room when she was laughing that amazing laugh. Every single time he heard it, Darby fell just a little bit harder. Fuuuuck. He was so far gone over a girl that belonged to someone else.
Hmmmm. Wait a minute. Maybe she didn’t belong to someone else. As the video progressed, Darby’s warm and fuzzy feelings were replaced with those of cold, hard rage upon seeing Avery’s realization that her fiancée was cheating on her. Then they turned to mild surprise when he saw who with. He couldn’t say he was really surprised after the things that he’d seen and heard. Darby gave a long admiring whistle when he saw what happened next to Pierce and his companion. “Well damn! Looks like ol’ Piercey boy and his lil’ bit of sugar were barkin’ up the wrong tree. If I wasn’t so pissed off right now, I’d be really turned on by the fact that Ms. Avery looks like a lady but brawls like Kane the Undertaker.”
“Yeah, I figured you’d say something like that. The reason I’m bringing this to you is because, you guys seem like good friends. Perhaps she needs a man’s perspective of sorts. D, if you could have seen how sad she was this afternoon,” Sidra shook her head in frustration. “I just hate that, and nothing Noelle and I said made her feel better. She didn’t even like my gift, but I made her put it on anyway.”
“Oh Lord, I don’t even wanna know what you did now,” Darby drawled with amusement. “But I tell ya what; I’ll talk to the ‘Brooklyn Brawler’ if you handle yer business with my lil’ brother.”
Sidra stiffened. “I’m not quite sure I know what you mean, Darby.”
Before Darby could answer, Holt walked in and gave her a big hug, before picking up where Darby left off. “We country boys don’t keep secrets from each other, Ms. Sidra. Besides, aren’t you gettin’ tuckered out tellin’ yourself that lie?”
Darby nodded his head in agreement, and Sidra stuck her tongue out at both of them. “Nope, I can go the distance; just like I’m sure you guys can, regarding Kat and Avery.”
The two men just looked at each other, silently agreeing that she did have a point. Sidra smiled smugly. “Uh-huh. How about we all just agree to stay out of each other’s business then?”
Outside, car doors slammed. “That’ll be Noelle and Avery. Why don’t you two go help them? I’m going to go look for my precious baby.”
She walked out of the kitchen in search of Ruby. Holt and Darby watched her go in silence. Holt finally spoke, “Should we tell her that älskling is with Casey?”
“Nope!” Darby said cheerfully. “We’re just gonna do what she suggested we do. After all, Sidra knows best.”
They exited through the back door and walked down the steps just in time to see Noelle and Avery exit the vehicle. Darby was filled with pleasure to see the woman he thought of more than any other, past and present combined. He couldn’t contain the big smile spreading over his face.
She was a vision of loveliness with her plaid beret sitting atop her long, brown waves and black dress coat that nipped in at her waist then flared out. Her feet were encased in tall, black, high-heeled boots. He’d long ago stopped believing in Santa, but Darby wouldn’t be mad at him if he delivered a naked Avery wearing just the beret and boots under his tree, stocking, or bed. He groaned softly as his dick grew painfully hard in the confined space of his jeans.
Holt chuckled knowingly under his breath, and Darby muttered, “Bite me.”
“Hi, guys!” Noelle called cheerfully, and Avery echoed her greeting.
“Well aren’t you two lovely ladies a sight for sore eyes,” Holt drawled. “I brought my appetite and Spritz cookies. Guy’s bringin’ the mulled cider and his finest batch of moonshine. What are we eatin’? Guy and I have been tryin’ to guess what’s for dinner all day.”
Noelle laughed, “Now Holt, you know I couldn’t send you off without a proper meal. I promise you won’t be disappointed. Jack’s been keeping an eye on the oven all afternoon for me. We’re just waiting for Vivienne to finish her greens over at the guest house. Alexei and Kat should be here shortly as well.”
Holt bent down to give Avery a peck, grinning widely at Darby’s murderous glare. “Hey, Ms. Avery, what’s good?”
“Hi, Holt; Good to see you!” Avery beamed and handed him a
bag full of Christmas wrapper. “If you could just take this bag in, I can grab the rest of them. Did I hear you say moonshine?”
“Wouldn’t be Christmas without it. Nonsense, love; this big strapping guy wouldn’t stand for you carryin’ anything,” Holt said, winking at her.
Darby shoved him out of the way, which wasn’t easy to do considering Holt was just as big as him. Holt laughed and trudged back to the house with Noelle. “He’s absolutely right, darlin’. As long as I’m around, you don’t have to worry about stuff like that. How’ve ya been?”
Avery observed him with a smile. With his cropped, red hair, forest green eyes, wicked smile, and muscular body, Darby couldn’t toss a rock without hitting a woman eager for his attention. His larger than life personality and devil-may-care attitude always promised a good time, and as she’d witnessed in person, he had to beat women off with a stick just to have some breathing room. But if you knew him; then you knew there was more to him than just a pretty face and good time. Everything about Darby exuded strength. Aside from family, being with him was where she felt safest.
Avery wished she could say that she didn’t find him to be attractive like those other women; but like the Toy Story aliens to “The Claw”, she, too, was inexplicably drawn in. From the start they’d clicked, and during Jack and Noelle’s separation period, Darby had proved himself to be a true friend, not just to her, but Noelle as well. Calling every day to check on them, what should have been brief touch bases turned into hour-long chats about any and everything.
“I like to be around good energy, Ms. Avery.” He once explained to her, with mischief in his eyes, “If I can make someone pee in their draws or at least smile once, I’ll consider the day a win.”
“I see. Was that why you texted me ‘Okay, I hid the body. Now what?’ because it was supposed to be funny?” Avery had replied tartly. “I called Noelle freaking out and had to listen to her hysterical laughter for five minutes straight!”
“Well then, mission accomplished, right?” he asked innocently; and unable to resist him, Avery gave in to the laughter she was trying to suppress as Darby continued to look pleased with himself.
Lord this man could make her laugh with the outrageous things he said and did. But it was the way he spoke, in that deep southern drawl, that had her stomach all twisted up in knots every time she heard it. In her opinion, his voice was hotter than Omari Hardwick, Boris Kodjoe, and Adam Levine combined. The old Avery was ashamed that she’d been engaged to another man and secretly lusting after another. But the new Avery, a single, sex-starved, hussy, just wanted to go for broke with Darby Sullivan; as in broken headboards and a voice broken from screaming with pleasure to match.
Suddenly that leap her heart used to give in his presence didn’t feel so traitorous with her newly single status. “I’m great. We accomplished quite a bit at the resort today. But there is still a lot to do when we get back. How was your trip?”
“Keeping up my clients’ shenanigans is always a process. Sometimes it’s a tryin’ one, other times it’s entertainin’. This particular trip was relatively easy. My team and I were escorting a sultan and his ten wives to meet bride number eleven,” Darby said, grinning at her shocked expression.
“You’re joking! What does he need ten wives for?” Avery scoffed. “How’s he satisfying all their needs?”
“Well, sugar, he’s not. As a matter of fact, he offered my team and I triple the amount he was payin’ for us to sleep with all of them on bride eleven’s wedding night,” Darby replied cheerfully as he gathered the rest of her bags, missing the glare Avery gave his back. “This everything?”
Avery was stunned at the white hot jealousy stabbing through her chest and piercing her heart. She wanted to ask him if he had, but due to his brutal honesty, she feared his answer. “Yeah, that’s everything. Well, it’s getting pretty cold out here, we’d better go in.”
She started heading towards the house, aware of him walking behind her. Suddenly self-conscious of her ample backside, she walked faster. Those women probably looked like supermodels, so why wouldn’t he say no to an offer that attractive? Darby was an extremely virile man; surely he had needs. How did he satisfy them? And with whom? Avery felt sick to her stomach. Here she thought that they knew things about each other, but in reality, they’d barely scratched the surface.
Aware that the atmosphere had shifted, Darby tried to figure out what was wrong. He’d started laying the foundation for a really good joke when she abruptly walked away. Not that he was complaining. The view of her swaying hips and voluptuous behind in front of him was getting him all kinds of hot and bothered. He felt like scum for thinking thoughts like that about her, but it was starting to come as naturally as breathing to him now. Should he break his cardinal rule of staying away from good girls and see if he had a chance? Could he? In the past they’d proven to be more trouble than they were actually worth and each encounter had dented his armor, but surely Avery was different? But what if she wasn’t completely done with Pierce the Pussy?
He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he almost ran into Avery as she spun around with a determined look in her eyes. “So what did you do?”
“Huh? What are you talkin’ about?” Damn, now he couldn’t remember what they were talking about. She quickly reminded him.
“I’m asking about the sultan’s wives. Did you take him up on his offer to sleep with them?” Darby realized that she was mad, and her anger was directed at him. Sparks flew from her brown eyes, and he couldn’t help but feel hopeful. Was she jealous? Possibly as interested in him as he was in her?
“Why are you asking me?” Darby asked cautiously. He knew all the right things to say and do to get in a woman’s panties, but he’d never attempted anything like that with Avery. No sir, he valued their friendship and the fact that she was in a committed relationship. But all that would change if she gave him the signal. For now, he just wanted to be sure signals weren’t being crossed.
“Never mind, I guess your avoidance just answered my question.” Avery turned away and continued her trek to the house. Darby picked up his pace and soon caught up to her, but he kept walking past her. He walked up the porch stairs and quickly set her bags down. Then he marched back down the stairs to meet her, a determined gleam in his eye.
“That wasn’t avoidance, Ms. Avery. You wanna tell me what’s got you so hell bent out of shape?” he asked seriously, and she shook her head.
“Forget I said anything. It’s none of my business how you spend your personal time. I mean, the multiple women thing is every man’s fantasy, right? How could you refuse?” Avery forced a laugh, feeling foolish of the possessiveness she was feeling for him. She focused on the curls of smoke coming out of the chimneys behind him. They were just friends, and though he gently flirted, that was something he did with all women. It was in his blood and couldn’t be helped. “Just cross it off the bucket list.”
“How could I refuse??? Easily, that’s how,” Darby said frigidly, and his tone was colder than the thirty degree weather they were standing in. Avery looked up at him and cringed at the shards of emerald ice Darby’s eyes had turned into. His jaw was working furiously as he struggled to speak.
“Lemme explain somethin’. All men have fantasies that they want to make real at some point in their lives. Some are sexual, yes, but there are other more worthwhile fantasies to pursue and turn into a reality.” His gaze remained locked with hers, as he pointed back towards the house angrily. “Such as meetin’ the love of your life, marryin’ her, and fillin’ your dream house with pretty babies. To me, that’s better than anythin’ of a sexual nature.” Darby shook his head, eyes now filled with disappointment. “I’m not sure what I did to give you such a low impression of me because I’ve done nothin’ but treat you with respect. But from this point on, I’ll be sure to stay clear of you. Enjoy the rest your visit, Ms. Avery.”
He strode away from her and walked back towards the porch. After grabbing her things,
Darby entered the house without a backward glance. Avery was left alone in the cold, feeling terrible about her witchy behavior.
***
After waving at Jack, who was on a call, Sidra went upstairs to Ruby’s room. Although every room in the Sullivan home was beautifully decorated, the nursery was by far her favorite room. Decorated in shabby chic décor, all the furniture was made by her father and uncles. Soft twinkling lights were strung up on the ceiling, and black and white pictures of Ruby, with all of them, adorned the walls. This room was a true labor of love.
Sidra tiptoed to the crib and peeked into it. She couldn’t help but smile at the adorable, little girl who’d stolen her heart the moment she got a glimpse of Ruby’s red, squalling face. Reaching into the crib, she softly touched the silky curls. Her long, thick lashes touched her plump, pink cheeks, and she blew soft raspberries as she gently snored.