by Alison Ryan
Scarlet smiled, “This is true. I can’t believe he’s here. Of all the damn days.” She sighed, looking out the window. “Mom, you’ve got an awesome view.”
“I do,” Michelle grinned. “I earned this view.”
“You sure did,” Scarlet said, squeezing her mom’s hand. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you, sweet girl,” Michelle kissed her only daughter’s forehead. “Now tell me what the hell you’re doing here. Did you take some vacation days? Already? You’ve only been-“
“I quit,” Scarlet admitted, figuring it best not to beat around the bush. “I hated the job and I hated my life in Atlanta. I know you’re disappointed and Ben’s already given me the lecture. I hate to let you and Daddy down but- Momma, I can’t seem to find my happy.”
Scarlet’s tears were a shock to both her and Michelle. Scarlet was not someone who cried at the drop of a hat. But between her nerves and seeing Barrett, she didn’t know what to do or how to handle it.
“Baby,” Michelle said, her heart broken. “I know. It’s why I worry. Because, sweet child, I would love to give you your happy. Don’t you know it’s all I want? I wish it was as easy as finding it and handing it to you. But I can’t. We have to build our happy, my love. It starts with you.”
Scarlet nodded, “I know, Momma. I’ll try harder.”
Michelle shook her head, “It’s not about trying. You shouldn’t have to try. But it is about being honest with yourself. And I feel like that’s been what’s missing. You’re holding onto something, baby. And I can’t help but feel it might have to do with the man you just bumped into.”
Scarlet sighed. As usual, her mother was right.
Five Years Ago…
Barrett Evers couldn’t stop kissing Scarlet Bloom.
Not since he’d seen her two months ago in a pencil skirt. She was an intern at Elixir for the summer, something he hadn’t known about until her first day. Nancy hadn’t told him a thing about it, much to his annoyance. He knew Scarlet had gotten the position either through her aunt or her mom and he was surprised no one had mentioned it. But then again, he’d been distracted lately, studying for the LSAT. His father was on him about it constantly, reminding him how important it was for him to have a high score on the first go, to make a lasting impression on the other board members.
But now that he’d seen Scarlet, nothing else would be on his mind for months.
He’d taken her to lunch that first day, amazed at how beautiful she was. He’d remembered her as Ben’s bossy little sister, the one with knobby knees and wild hair that she was constantly pushing off her face. Now that she was twenty, she looked completely different to him. The knobby knees were now attached to long, slender legs and her wild honey blonde hair was wavy and pulled back in a professional chignon, shorter pieces framing her face. Her features were perfect; large chartreuse eyes, a color he hadn’t been able to place until she was laughing with him over a club sandwich in the company cafeteria.
“I can’t believe that Ben’s little sister is old enough to be an intern,” he’d said, biting into his sandwich.
She rolled her eyes, “Did you think I would stay nine forever?”
He smiled, “No. I guess I never considered it. How’s Ben doing these days?”
Ben Bloom had been Barrett’s best friend when they were kids, before Barrett was shipped off to boarding school in Connecticut when they were fourteen. They’d kept in touch thanks to technology and had spent a couple of summers together working at Elixir for his father. Now Ben was a newly married man at twenty-four. He’d married his college sweetheart and they lived outside Atlanta where his wife taught high school English and Ben worked in the IT department at Elixir. He’d graduated magna cum laude from Georgia Tech and Rhett Evers had been more than delighted to bring him into the Elixir family.
Barrett hadn’t seen Scarlet since she was probably around thirteen. A lot had changed.
“Oh he’s good,” she’d said, sipping her water. “He wants to have a baby. It’s all he talks about. I’m like ‘Enjoy your honeymoon phase’ but he and Ashley can’t seem to wait. They’re determined to repopulate all of Roswell, Georgia I guess.”
“That’s crazy,” Barrett said. “But if it makes them happy, good for them.”
“That’s exactly what Momma says,” Scarlet sighed. “Ben is the white picket fence guy. Always has been. He’s so much like Dad in that way.”
Barrett nodded, “It’s not such a bad thing. I envy people who know what they want.”
They’d continued to talk for a good hour, almost making Scarlet late to go back to work. But Barrett, who really seldom took advantage of his status in the company, insisted on one thing before she left.
“Let me take you out to dinner,” he said. He could tell she was surprised, but not in a bad way.
“Okay,” she’d said. “What night? I don’t think I have any plans-“
“Tonight,” he’d replied. “And tomorrow night too, if you’re not busy. And maybe it’s best we have it the night after that too. You know, so we can make sure to catch up on everything.”
She laughed again, a sound he was already in love with.
“Sure, Barrett Evers,” she’d said.
Scarlet had left him then, walking quickly towards the elevator and back to her cubicle on the nineteenth floor. He’d watched her and couldn’t help but smile. Not just because she was beautiful. She was also so terrible at walking in heels, she stumbled twice on her walk away from him, something he found endearing. But Barrett knew, even from that one lunch- Scarlet Bloom was the woman he’d been waiting around for. And curiously, she’d been there the whole time. He’d just never known it until now.
********
He’d taken her to a terribly pretentious restaurant in Buckhead, one where the entrees weren’t enough to satiate a toddler and afterwards they both agreed that they needed a burger- stat. So they’d settled for The Varsity in Alpharetta.
Barrett was blown away by Scarlet’s curves. Even in a pair of jeans, she was voluptuous. She’d worn those and a simple fitted blouse. When he’d picked her up in his tailored pants and collared shirt she’d worried she wasn’t dressed up enough.
“Should I change?” she asked nervously, biting her lip. He wanted to kiss that lip so very badly, to bite it and massage it. Truth was, he would have been happy staying in her apartment all evening with pizza and no clothes at all. But he knew she deserved more than that. Much more. And for what was admittedly not the first time in his life, he was happy to be fortunate enough that he could give her anything she wanted and more.
“No way,” he’d said, taking her hand. “You look perfect. Besides, we own the restaurant I’m taking us to. So no worries about how you’re dressed. But you look amazing, Scarlet. Don’t ever worry about that.”
It was brazen but he’d pulled her to him then, her eyes staring up at him and he kissed her, tenderly. She’d kissed him back, a good sign.
“Well,” she’d said. “That was even better than I hoped.”
“You’d hoped?” he asked teasingly. “So you thought about it too?”
“Barrett Evers, I’ve been thinking about it since I was twelve years old,” she’d confessed. “I did expect it to happen at the end of the night though.”
“Sorry,” he lied. “I just wanted the best part to happen first. I’m terrible at waiting.”
They’d been inseparable that entire week. Dinner every night, lunch every day. And finally a weekend spent watching movies and walking his dog, Rooster, in Piedmont Park. There were intense make out sessions but on their fourth night of after dinner shenanigans, Scarlet had a confession.
“Barrett,” she’d said, breathlessly after coming up for air after a particularly intense bout of kissing. “I don’t know how to tell you this without it being weird.”
Barrett was currently bent over, dealing with yet another enormous hard-on from all the dry humping.
“Its okay, Scar,” he reassured
her, wrapping his arm around her. “You can tell me.”
“Okay,” she sighed, clearly nervous. “Barrett, I’m a virgin.”
Barrett tried his best not to react. He didn’t want her to be embarrassed or think he thought anything was strange about what she’d just told him. But part of him was relieved. He hadn’t known how to bring up the topic of sex with Scarlet. He didn’t want to seem presumptuous or pushy.
But he was also anxious. He was no virgin. He’d had his fun in college, though none of it meant anything significant to him.
Scarlet had been on his mind constantly the last few days. He couldn’t lie and say he hadn’t finished himself off at night thinking about her curves and how they would look bouncing up and down on top of him. Or how her face would look the first time he thrusted into her.
But he needed to play it cool. He didn’t want to ruin anything they had going.
“Scarlet,” he said, taking her hand. “As much as I want you, I am just glad to be here at all. If you want to go further or if you don’t-“
“No, you don’t understand,” she said, leaning into him. “I very, very, very much want to go further. With you. Barrett, I want you so bad. But I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me either and wonder what was going on. This is all incredibly new to me… I don’t even know what I’m saying right now.”
He stopped her rambling and kissed her, passionately, against the couch. She moaned against his mouth and for the next ten minutes they couldn’t stop touching and feeling each other. It was clear they were both desperate for the other and things were moving incredibly fast.
“Scarlet,” Barrett said, pulling away for a moment. “I want you more than fucking anything I’ve ever wanted. And since you shared that with me, I should share something too.”
Her eyes widened, “Okay. Anything, Barrett.”
“Scarlet, I love you.”
It was quiet for what seemed like forever. He could practically see the sentence he had just said hanging above them. Her eyes were wide in surprise and he couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Barrett had never said those words to anyone in his entire life. And after four nights he had said them to Scarlet Bloom. He might have had more money than most of the people on the planet, but his heart was completely in the palm of her hand right now. And even his bank account couldn’t save him from possible annihilation.
“Barrett,” she whispered. “I love you too.”
He kissed her again, long and hard. As he did, she slipped off the cardigan she’d been wearing. It was lavender. Scarlet loved that color and it looked wonderful on her olive skin. Underneath it was an incredibly lacy bra. He paused to take it in.
“Wow,” he said. “That’s one beautiful piece of underwear.”
She smiled, “I just bought it. For you.”
His eyebrows went up, “You did?”
“Yep. A girl doesn’t want to lose her virginity in something plain and boring. There’s more if you take off my jeans.”
He kissed her as he unbuttoned her Levis and slid them down her beautiful legs. Underneath she wore an incredibly lacy thong. It matched the bra of course.
Barrett couldn’t stop staring, “Holy shit, Scarlet.”
Suddenly she was shy, “Do I look ridiculous?”
“Are you kidding?” he said, sliding up her body, running his hands up her thighs and hips, cupping her ass, “I feel like the luckiest fucking guy on the planet right now.”
She smiled. It was the perfect thing for him to say.
“Your turn,” she said, leaning back. “Take it off, Barrett Evers. Let me see.”
He unbuttoned his shirt, his hands curiously shaking. He was so in awe of her. Her body. It was the stuff of dreams. He couldn’t believe he’d be the first to ever touch it. And hopefully the last he thought.
Soon he was down to his boxer briefs and it was Scarlet’s turn to be flummoxed. Barrett had a body of beautiful granite. He was all lean muscle. Large pecs, hard abs. He looked like something out of Men’s Health Magazine.
“How is it,” she said, running her hands up his chest as he leaned over her, “that you get to be insanely wealthy, and smart, and funny, and incredibly hot? How is this fair?”
Barrett blushed, “I have no idea how to respond to that.”
“No need to respond,” she whispered against his mouth. They were both breathing quickly, both full of nervous energy and lust. “No need to talk at all. Take me to the bedroom. Please.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her up. God, she was sexy. He kissed her softly on the lips.
“I’ll do anything you want,” he said. “There’s nothing I need more than you.”
Barrett’s bedroom consisted of an enormous king sized bed with four large posts. Now that he was here with her he couldn’t help but be grateful he bought this place. It overlooked downtown Atlanta. The curtains were open, the lights dimmed. Barrett couldn’t help but think there was no one in the world as happy as he was right now.
Scarlet, for her part, was scared to death. In a good way, of course, but she was still nervous. Long ago she had wished for a night like this, never thinking it could be possible. But here she was, with Barrett. About to make love. It was almost too much to handle. Her heart thumped against her chest.
He gently laid her down on the bed, taking in the sight of her body again. It was so lush, so incredibly sensual. He couldn’t get over it. The erection in his briefs couldn’t be hidden. It was painful how much he wanted her; how much he needed her.
“I love you,” she said again as he slid her panties down, revealing her sex.
“I love you so much, Scarlet,” he whispered. He’d pulled his own underwear off and was completely naked above her.
“I’m a little nervous,” she confessed as he slid the straps of her bra down her shoulders. He kissed her lightly on the collarbone. Her bra was the kind that fastened in the front, which was very convenient.
“I’m nervous too,” he said. “It’s because this means something, Scarlet. The things that make us nervous are the important things. And besides, I like to think of it more as excitement.” He kissed her hard, his knuckles brushing against her nipples. “And if you couldn’t tell, I’m very excited.”
She laughed softly underneath him, touching his face.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said. “One more thing, before we do this.”
“Of course,” he said, kissing her neck.
“Don’t break my heart, Barrett Evers,” she said. “I couldn’t take it.”
He looked at her again, into the chartreuse eyes that would never leave his memory.
“As long as you don’t break mine either,” he said. “Because I couldn’t take it. You’ve ruined me for anyone else, Scarlet Bloom.”
They kissed again, the kind that only stops when someone has to breathe.
“Please,” she begged. “I need you.”
He pushed himself slowly inside her, not wanting it to hurt, but knowing it would. That part he didn’t like. But the feel of her. God. It was like nothing he had ever experienced and he couldn’t help but groan as he pushed himself further into her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, seeing her wince for a moment.
“Yes,” she gasped. “You’re just… Very big.”
He laughed, “I’m not that big. You’re just very tight.”
She threw her head back and he kissed her neck as he thrusted deep inside her, feeling her stretch around him. He could have come right then, such was the pleasure. He kissed her instead and tried to concentrate.
“Barrett,” she sighed. “More. You can give me more.”
“Scarlet, I could do this all night. All week. All my life,” he whispered, thrusting into her faster now, quickening his pace. “You feel incredible. I love you. I love you so much.”
For the next hour there was just the sound of gasping and flesh meeting flesh. A sheen of sweat moved across both their bodies a
nd Barrett had to keep himself from finishing numerous times. The pain had subsided for Scarlet and she was now an insistent lover, begging him for harder and faster thrusts.
“I want to come for you,” she said. “I’m so close.”
Barrett knew it was rare for women to come from intercourse alone. Not impossible but more difficult. But he never would have known that with Scarlet. She raised her hips to meet his rhythm, whimpering.
“I’m so close,” she called out. “Please. More.”
Before he knew it she was coming, her scream filling the room and causing him to come himself, flooding her with his seed. It was an orgasm that felt like it was ripped from his soul, such was the ecstasy he felt. He called out her name as she kissed his mouth. He found her lips and kissed her tenderly as he slowly finished.
“Fuck,” he said as the orgasm slowly dissipated. “Fuck. I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
Scarlet blushed underneath him. He’d never seen something so sexy, her after-sex glow was unbelievable.
“So I did okay?” she asked innocently.
He laughed, “Are you kidding? You were un-fucking-real. The best. Amazing.”
She touched his face again, a sweet smile across her lips, “I wanted to be. For you.”
He could see her nipples were still hard and even just the memory of what she felt like inside had his cock stiffening again. At that moment he was grateful to be young. Because he wanted to have Scarlet many times before the night was over.
“Scarlet,” he said, sliding into her again. “I need you.”
“Have me,” she gasped as he began slowly fucking her again. “Have me forever.”
Chapter Eight
Barrett had decided to leave the office for lunch. He needed air and space. He’d told Arista to tell anyone that called that he’d be back at two. Part of him wanted to peek in on Michelle and Scarlet. But he knew that might make things worse. It was clear Scarlet hadn’t been happy to see him. It was a fact that broke his heart all over again. What the fuck was she doing back here and back in his life? It had taken him this long to try to forget her and as soon as he thought he had a handle on it, there she was again. Fuck.