by Mia Ashlinn
“Just ask, Micah.”
Micah probed Caedon with his eyes, and Caedon shifted uncomfortably. “You have more money than you know what to do with yet you chose a house that is in serious need of attention. Why?” Caedon smiled knowingly. Micah wouldn’t care about the price tag, but he probably couldn’t understand why Caedon wouldn’t.
Unfortunately, Caedon had perpetuated the arrogant snob persona too well. Now he had to explain his decision which frustrated him. But he sucked it up and did it. “Because I want us to do this together…for Ella and for ourselves.”
Micah’s eyes lit up and a wide smile spread across his face. The joy Caedon saw made his heart nearly burst with his own excitement.
He’d been right about this decision. Thank God. “Caedon, I can’t believe you did this. I love y—” He seemed to choke on his words, falling into a fit of coughs before finishing with, “it.” Excitement pounded through Caedon’s veins. He could’ve sworn Micah was about to say that he loved him. When he didn’t, Caedon cursed inwardly. I’m just crazy. Hallucinations are taking control of my brain.
“I’m glad,” Caedon finally clipped out around the lump clogging his throat. Abruptly, he opened the car door then got out and mounted 156
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the stairs. He unlocked the door then opened it wide. “Come in and see.”
Micah did. He followed Caedon as they made their way through the entire house from the bottom of the dusty basement to the top of the creepy attic. They looked at everything in tense silence. Returning to the wide, open living room, Micah finally spoke again, firing off questions. Answering them as quickly as he heard them, Caedon found a smile forming on his face. He’d missed the curious side of his writer.
It only took a few minutes for Micah to get to the question that Caedon wanted to discuss most. “Are you going to hire someone to fix it up?”
Caedon shook his head. “No, we’re going to do it together.”
“What?” Micah gasped. “We don’t know anything about fixing a house.”
“And so?” Caedon asked, frowning. “If anyone can do it, we can.
It’ll be a bonding experience, and Ella will love it when we surprise her.”
Micah chuckled. “She’ll love it if we don’t burn the house to the ground beforehand.”
“We won’t,” Caedon told Micah. “I have faith in us.” His words held a wealth of meaning. It was a meaning they didn’t discuss. The words just lingered in the air. Shifting uncomfortably, Caedon sighed.
“When do we start?”
“How about now?” Caedon asked. Walking away from Micah, he strolled into the kitchen and retrieved a couple of brooms from the storage closet he’d stocked last night. After Micah and Ella had gone to bed, he’d snuck in a trip to Garrett’s Groceries with Brooklyn and Addy then a quick jaunt over here. “Technically, I don’t own the place yet, but I talked to the realtor early this morning. She said that since I am paying cash, the paperwork would be pushed through quickly. So by this time next week, it’ll be ours.” Three Rings and a Rose
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Micah furrowed his brow. “How the hell did you find it already?
You have only been here a couple of days.” Oh boy. Truth time. “Well, I called my real estate agent from the plane before liftoff. I figured that a house is a good investment, and I didn’t plan to leave without you two by my side. So it made sense to just buy one. Then when I got here, Brooklyn drove me and Addy into town. We passed this house on the way, and I asked them to stop to look at it. I fell in love with it immediately, and I hoped you both would too.”
Walking over, Micah slapped him on the back. “You did a damn good job. I love it, but I know that Ella is going to die over it.” Caedon beamed. “I know.”
“Well, let’s get to work. It looks like we have a lot to get done, but I’m more than ready if you are.”
“I’ve never been more ready in my life,” Caedon whispered with a secret smile. Never.
* * * *
Raising her legs, Ella propped her bare feet on the coffee table in front of her, careful not to knock over the coasters and drinks scattered around the glass top. She laughed boisterously as she watched her two heavily pregnant pals prance around the makeshift runway in the middle of her store. The brightly colored blankets Shannon had brought were not exactly the same as an elevated, high gloss catwalk like Ella was used to, but it worked just fine. Not to mention, they matched the plain overhead lighting and inexpensive boombox flawlessly. No flashy flood lights or showy sound systems for them. Thank God.
Ella didn’t miss the fussy fashion shows. She hadn’t exactly relished the pounding music that inevitably gave her a headache. And the lights were a pain in the ass. They’d blinded her more often than not. She didn’t even want to reminisce about the clothes she always 158
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feared destroying in one way or another. Looking back, she’d hated the career she’d fallen into by accident. She just hadn’t realized it until after she’d left it behind. This kind of playful fashion show was more to her liking.
“I don’t understand why in the hell we’re doing this,” Ella announced between giggles, “but Maddie, you’re a fucking genius. If I weren’t a taken woman, and you had a horse-size dick, I would kiss you—tongue and all.”
Next to Ella, Maddie merely smiled. “If you change your mind and want to try walking on the woman side with me, you have my number, chickadee.”
“Yeah, I have your number memorized, sugar,” Ella joked then elbowed Maddie. “1-800-my-pussy-is-prettier-than-yours.” Not seeming fazed by Ella’s ribbing about her notorious cat lady ways, Maddie laughed. “My pussy is prettier than all of yours.” Katie-Anne sniffed indignantly as she lowered herself into the oversized lawn chair that Shannon had also brought with her. “I have two men willing to argue with you about that remark, Maddie.” Jaycee snorted then dropped down into the lawn chair next to her.
“Yeah, well, so do I.”
With a smug grin, Shannon exclaimed, “Ha! I have three men. I win.”
“Yes you do,” Maddie agreed as she stared off in space at some unknown thing. “Three is pretty fucking hot. Where do I sign up?” Ella shook her head. “I’d be careful what I wished for, Maddie.
There’s something in the water.”
Rolling her eyes, Maddie snatched her giant bottle of water off the table and waved it in the air then took a dramatic swig of it. “That’s why I brought along a two-week supply of Voss. I won’t even brush my teeth with the tap water in this town.”
“Speaking of something in the water…” Shannon trailed off with a grin wide enough to make Ella squirm in her seat. “Someone never shared their dirty little secrets with us.” Three Rings and a Rose
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Four pairs of eyes zoomed in on her, and she really did squirm.
Shifting in her seat, she felt herself flush. She had changed the subject on purpose after her men had left. Looks like I didn’t do a good enough job. Think, think, think. Damn, I’m turning into Winnie the Pooh!
Once again, Ella attempted to divert everyone’s attention from her. “So Maddie…why are we watching Jaycee and Katie-Anne try on dresses?”
Apparently willing to play along, Maddie answered her question.
“Katie-Anne and I decided to start a new maternity line of clothing, and I have been really struggling with some of the more formal dresses. So since Katie-Anne’s husbands wouldn’t agree to let Katie-Anne travel for our business meetings, I thought it would be a good idea for me to bring the dresses along for her and Jaycee to try on while I’m here. They have completely different body types, and they are both very pregnant.”
Something odd struck Ella in Maddie’s explanations. Something didn’t make sense. But she couldn’t put her finger on it, and Shannon didn’t give her much time to figure it out before going back to the gossip she obviously wanted to hear. “I want details on how Micah went from hiding-in-the-closet bisexual hunk to
sharing you with Mr.
Lifestyles of the Rich and Fuckable. And I really just have to know how they convinced you.” Breaking off, she winked. “I want you to tell me in every glorious, explicit, dirty detail. The dirtier, the better.”
“When am I not dirty and explicit?” Ella asked cheekily.
Lowering her feet to the floor, she stood and stretched. Aw hell. I might as well tell them everything. They’re not going to leave my ass alone if I don’t tell them. And it isn’t like I don’t want to brag. I’m a gossipy, gloating wench like that.
With a sigh, Ella sank back down into her chair then crossed her legs on top of the table once again. Admiring her neon-orange painted toenails, she relaxed as she shared last night’s events with her friends.
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“Okay, fine. I’ll tell you guys since you pulled my leg,” she grumbled mockingly. “I know how hard it was for you to get me to talk.”
“I know hard,” Shannon retorted, “and that was not it.” Ella stuck her tongue out. “Maybe I wanted to tell you all, but I was going to wait until later.”
Katie-Anne shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Don’t give a fuck. Just start talking, woman.”
Blowing Katie-Anne a kiss, Ella asked, “When you put it like that, how can a girl resist?” She grinned, patently pretending to have not heard Katie-Anne’s curse, as she got to her feet and flittered around the wrecked room. She picked up the clothes, food, and drinks they’d abandoned everywhere. Without meeting their eyes, Ella went on.
“When we talked, they were very open and honest with me about everything. I respect—”
“I’m calling bullshit,” Katie-Anne interjected before Ella could finish.
“Me too,” Jaycee and Maddie chimed in together then giggled at their synchronized response.
“Hell yeah, there’s more to it than that,” Shannon commented.
“You wouldn’t have just changed your mind after all this time on a whim.”
With a sigh, Ella rounded on them. “Fine, you pain-in-the-ass thundercunts. I think they’re in love with each other, too. That’s the difference. That’s what changed my goddamn mind.” She huffed and crossed her arms. “Happy now?”
Four gasps came from all around her.
“Holy shit,” Katie-Anne said when everyone’s shock seemed to fade—even if only slightly. “You think that Caedon loves Micah, too?”
Ella noticed that Katie-Anne only seemed shocked that Caedon had feelings for Micah, not the other way around. But she disregarded it. “Yes,” Ella confirmed. “I know it caught me off guard, but my biggest reservation—outside of their jealousy—was that I couldn’t be Three Rings and a Rose
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the thing that came between them. If Caedon loves Micah too, that is not the case. So I can have my cake and lick it, too.” Jaycee groaned as she sat up. Shifting a couple of times, she frowned. Her unhappiness appeared to be more in response to her sudden discomfort than Ella’s declaration. “What made you come to this conclusion?”
“That’s easy,” Shannon answered for her. “They fucked each other in front of her. Lucky hooker.”
A giggle bloomed in Ella’s chest, and she released it freely. “I wasn’t that fucking lucky.” Pausing, she gathered her thoughts. “They just had something between them that I didn’t notice before.”
“How so?” Maddie pressed curiously as she stood then started picking up the drinks from the coffee table in front of her.
“For example, Micah touched Caedon, and he sighed. It was noticeable—very, very noticeable. But instead of being macho and jerking away, Caedon seemed to enjoy it. I heard him sigh, too. Only his was more subtle,” Ella babbled. Without conscious thought, she started toying with her hair, twisting and twining the locks around her index finger. “Honestly, I’m pretty sure that I was the only one who even heard him.”
Sighing, Ella quit playing around and got back to work. She meandered through the store, nervously rearranging the things that didn’t need to be disturbed considering the disaster the rest of the room was still in. “Oh. They both said a couple of things that most men don’t tell their friends—ever.”
Shannon sat back in her chair as though she were getting comfortable for a nice, long chat. Knowing her nosy friend, that was probably the case. Ella might need to hire a crane to get her out of here. Or at the very least, she’d have to call the woman’s three husbands. “Tell me more,” Shannon urged nosily. “Lots and lots and lots more.”
“Shannon, back off. That isn’t our business,” Katie-Anne scolded as she struggled to her feet. Once she had gotten up, she helped 162
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Jaycee get to her feet as well. They both headed for the back room where they’d been dressing and undressing for the fashion show.
“We’ll be right back. I think we’ve both been in these dresses long enough.”
The front bell jingled, indicating that someone had entered the store, before the girls made it out of the room. Only no one should be coming in. She’d left the door unlocked, but the sign had been turned to say Closed. When Ella spun around and spotted the woman in the doorway, she understood why the intruder had disregarded the sign.
Leila.
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Chapter 16
Ella glared across the store at her—and every other woman in town’s—arch nemesis, Leila Schilling. The disgustingly beautiful brunette bombshell met her stare-for-stare as she stepped into the store fully and let the door shut behind her.
Unlocking their gazes, Leila swept her eyes across the room slowly as though perusing the adult items Ella carried in her store.
Then with a moue of distaste, she strode across the floor and stepped onto the blankets they’d spread for the runway. Glaring down at the fabric hatefully, Leila muttered something so low that Ella couldn’t hear her.
“Can I help you?” Ella snapped, having grown tired of Leila’s ridiculous show of bitchiness.
Leila brought her eyes up and smirked. “Well, hello there, Ella,” she said before nodding to the other three glowering women and then Maddie. “Girls. I thought I would swing by to chat. It seems like someone forgot to invite me to the”—pausing, she sniffed haughtily—“party.”
Maddie being Maddie didn’t appear to be the least bit impressed by Leila. She eyeballed her with a snort then turned away and quietly returned to cleaning. Sometimes I wish I could be more like her. More classy. Be the bigger person. Well fuck that. I’m not.
Dropping the bag she’d just picked up to the floor with a heavy ka-thump, Ella padded across the room in her bare feet. As she walked, her fists drew up—and up—until they were clinched so tightly her knuckles ached. She knew that she wouldn’t punch Leila.
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No matter how much she wanted to. But she could imagine what it would feel like and how much she’d enjoy it.
Mental images of rearranging the heinous bitch’s pale, porcelain skin assailed Ella, and she grinned. With each step she took, another fanciful vision of a way to mar Leila’s too physically perfect face beset her, and her smile widened. From blackening her enemy’s smoky eyes to pulling out a handful of her lustrous, wavy hair, Ella thought of it and visualized it.
By the time Ella reached Leila, her cheeks burned from the smile that had grown there. “If I remember correctly, you are not allowed to be in my store, Leila. Judge Caldwell prohibited you from stepping foot on the premises.”
Several months back, Leila had been arrested for attempting to shoplift some items from Ella’s store and assaulting Katie-Anne. The town’s judge had let her off rather easy with a warning and some pitiful amount of community service, but he had done one thing right.
He’d told Leila to stay away from Ella’s store. So far, she’d stuck to it. That was obviously no longer the case.
Leila lifted one shoulder, shrugging carelessly. With a toss of her mahogany hair, she cu
rved around Ella then headed for the group of chairs where Shannon still sat alone. Lowering herself into the seat Maddie had deserted, she smiled maliciously at Shannon.
Before she said a word though, Jaycee and Katie-Anne stalked toward the two women and sat down in their own seats across from them. They crossed their arms over their distended bellies menacingly and frowned as though waiting for a reason to beat the living hell out of Leila.
“Get your ass out of my store, Leila,” Ella ground out, her teeth grinding together so fiercely that she cringed. “I have warned you time and again to stay away from me, my friends, and my fucking store. I don’t want to even breathe the same fucking air as you.” Ella barely recognized the steel in her voice. She’d always been one to speak her mind, but this was more. This was almost too much.
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Even with a short temper and a big mouth, she’d not dealt with the furious tremble that arose inside of her or the fierce need to protect herself and every other woman in the room.
Most people wouldn’t blame her. Leila had pulled shit on pretty much everyone she came into contact with—the females, that is. She was sweet as cherry pie to the men. But when it came to feminine competition, Leila would do whatever, say whatever, and be whatever it took to triumph.
Shit, she’d tried to break up Jaycee and her husbands more than once. When that hadn’t worked, she’d lured an unsuspecting Shane in and attempted to get in between Katie-Anne and the man she eventually married. Luckily, she’d failed with both of them, and she’d left Shannon alone completely. However, her best friend, Mary, hadn’t. And she’d wound up in jail for a whole host of crimes after she’d been beaten up by Katie-Anne and Jaycee.
If they got to whip Mary’s ass, why can’t I go after Leila?