Stealing Hearts (Wild at Heart #1)

14. RHETT

14

RHETT

The whole drive home, I debate turning my truck around to go get Paige, but then I remind myself that Amber will probably flip the fuck out when she sees us together, so I stay the course.

When I get home, I can hear the yelling from the driveway. Jesus, what the hell is her problem?

The second I cross the threshold, Amber’s head swivels toward me like that girl in The Exorcist . “Please tell me it’s not true! Did you really marry that trailer trash?”

She sleeps around with half the town behind my back, and she thinks she’s entitled to call Paige names?

I bite my tongue and turn to my brother. Jace, who’s holding Austin, shakes his head and mouths, “Sorry.”

“Where’s Gabriel?”

“Down the hall. I’ll go check on him now.”

As long as my boys are okay, I know I’ll get through this. But then I see Austin’s puffy eyes and red nose, and my anger spikes. I might not be an expert at this parenting thing, but I know it’s not healthy for kids to hear their parents arguing.

Amber marches up to me, and I’m assaulted by her designer perfume. “That bitch spread all those rumors about me before we got married, and you never stood up for me.”

“They weren’t rumors if they were true.”

Her face gets red. “How could you? Paige Lewis, of all people. Do you know what people are saying about you? That you groomed her when she was little.”

“People” are saying this? Or Amber? “I don’t need to explain myself to you, but I will to set the record straight. All Paige and I ever shared when she was younger were hugs, the kind you give family. She had a harmless crush on me in high school, and after she told me you were fucking Kacey Miller—which you were—she and I went years without talking. So don’t bullshit me with that grooming crap. Paige was an adult when we reconnected.”

“When was that? Last week?” she asks sarcastically.

I can’t respond because, yes, it was a week ago, but that’s none of her fucking business. “Why are you crawling up my ass right now? Why do you care? We’ve been divorced three years.”

“Because I have to live in this town too, and people talk.” Her eyes narrow. “What’s the real reason you got married again? Did you knock her up?”

Jesus, no. “Paige isn’t pregnant. Maybe I married her because I love her. Did that ever cross your mind?”

She snorts. “You’ll never love anyone more than your stupid ranch, and you’ve made no secret about how much you hated being married to me, so no, I don’t buy it.”

Who is this woman, and what the hell did I ever see in her? “This stupid ranch bought you all of your designer clothes and that car you love.” We were doing okay before my dad got sick and I had to spend a fortune on that divorce attorney. Well enough to buy Amber all that useless crap. “But you know what? Maybe we need to reconsider the spousal support I pay you.”

Technically, I don’t owe her crap because we weren’t married ten years, and in the state of Texas that’s what would garner her alimony, but she’s the mother of my children, and I wanted to make sure she had the money she needed for the boys.

Amber pales. “You said you’d always look after me.”

“And you promised to be faithful. Apparently, we’re both full of shit.”

I need a drink. I head for the kitchen. I can’t believe I left Paige naked in the hot tub for this.

I grab a beer and smack it on the edge of the counter to pop off the lid. After I take a pull, I turn back to my ex. “I’m assuming since you brought the boys back a week early, they’re mine now?” Glancing at the calendar on the fridge, I note that we’re supposed to go back to switching every other week after her vacation time. But fuck that. “You can pick them up on the twenty-first.”

“But that’s two weeks away. I still have one more week with them.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have marched into my house uninvited and dragged me away from my honeymoon.”

She rolls her eyes. “What kind of honeymoon did you have if it took you half an hour to get here?”

Not the kind Paige deserves, but I don’t have time to deal with that guilt right now. “If you have a problem with me keeping the boys, we can make an appointment with our attorneys this week, and I’ll make sure we adjust the alimony so it reflects your complete disregard for our children’s emotional well-being.”

“What are you talking about? They’re clothed and fed.”

“You’re not the one who has to deal with how sick they get when you drop them off.” It’s always worse if she yells. Their pediatrician said it’s likely from stress.

“Whatever, Rhett. Just keep your wife away from me.”

I chuckle. “I doubt she’ll be inviting you over for coffee.”

“Why are you such an asshole?” She stomps to the door, but pauses to look at me. “Mark my words. This won’t last.”

Tell me something I don’t know.

Some part of me senses it’s gonna suck when Paige leaves, but my life’s a fucking mess. I don’t wanna wrangle her into my crap any more than she already is.

Finally, the Grim Reaper leaves. I lock the door behind Amber and take another swig of beer before I go looking for my kids.

I find them with my brother in the boys’ room. Gabriel is sitting on the bed, doing that rocking thing he does when he’s stressed out, and Austin is curled up in Jace’s lap.

“Hey, guys. Sorry about that.” I kneel down in front of the bed. “Can I get some hugs? I haven’t seen you two in ages.”

Austin holds out his arms, and I hug him to my chest. “Missed you, bud.” He sniffles, and I pat his back until his breathing calms. “Come here, Gabriel. Unless you’re too big for hugs.”

He shuffles down the bed, and I hold my other arm open to him. “Mama was mad.”

“She’s upset with me, not you. She might have a temper, but she loves you two to pieces.” At least, I hope she does.

Gabriel leans back. “She said you got married. Was she lying? Sometimes Mama lies.”

Fucking Amber. I blow out a breath. “Let’s sit down for this.”

My brother smacks me on the back. “I’m gonna take off, since you’ve got this under control.”

“Thanks, Jace. I appreciate you holding down the fort. I owe you one.”

“Anytime.”

After I sit on the rocking chair, I grab both my kids and pull them onto my lap. “Did y’all have fun on your vacation? You went to the lake, right?”

Gabriel shrugs, and Austin doesn’t say anything.

“Looks like you both got some sun. Did you go fishing?” Gabriel’s been wanting to do that for a while.

When they don’t say anything, I start to worry. “Were you with your mom or one of her friends?” Gabriel gives his brother a look, and my parental Spidey senses go off. “You can tell me, boys. I won’t get mad.” At you.

Gabriel looks down. “We were with one of Mama’s friends, this guy Quentin. But he wasn’t very nice. Mostly Austin and I just played outside by ourselves.”

“Was an adult with you?”

They don’t say anything, which tells me there was no adult.

I try to keep my voice soft so they don’t know how pissed I am. “Must’ve been nice by the lake. How close were y’all to the water?”

“Super close, but Mama said we couldn’t go in it. That was a bummer.”

My children were unsupervised at the fucking lake. It’s a small miracle they didn’t jump in.

I kiss them on the tops of their heads, grateful they’re home safe and sound. No thanks to Amber.

Gabriel starts to fidget. “Did you really get married?”

I was hoping he’d forget about that until morning, and we could all go to bed. “I did. She’s a nice girl. You’re gonna like her. Do you remember Danny? I have that picture of y’all on my desk that time we went to get ice cream when you were little.” He nods. “Paige is Danny’s younger sister. You’ll meet her tomorrow.”

“Mama doesn’t like her. She called her a tramp.”

“Well, that’s not true. Besides, we don’t call people names in my house.”

“Yes, sir.”

“But there’s no need to worry. Paige is a sweetheart. She’s not gonna change anything around here.” My ex-wife is something else. I have never called her boyfriends names in front of our kids. “Your mom is just stressed out about her job. How did her commercial go?”

He shrugs again, and I’m starting to wonder if she had a gig at all. Amber models sometimes, but I think she uses it as an excuse to run off whenever she wants to.

“It’s good to have you two back. I’m thinking maybe we need to go fishing now that you’re home. Since you didn’t have a chance to do that on your vacation.”

Gabriel’s eyes light up, but Austin is too tired to do more than snuggle against me.

“Are you hungry or did you eat dinner?” It’s late, but sometimes Amber loses track of time.

The boys want a snack, so I get them fed, clean them up, and tuck them into bed. An hour later, I’m ready to pass out, but I wanna check in with Paige. I feel bad I ditched her like that, but I didn’t want to put her in front of Amber’s firing squad.

But when I call, she doesn’t pick up. No surprise there. The woman never answers when I call. “Paige, it’s me. Just wanted to see how you’re doing. I’ll be back in the morning to pick you up. Hope you had a nice night.”

A nice night? After I left her naked in the hot tub? I roll my eyes at myself. Messages aren’t my strong suit, so I try to never leave them.

I flip on the baby monitor and crawl into bed. Gabriel’s big enough to ask for help if he needs it, but Austin’s barely out of nighttime pull-ups. If he has an accident, he’ll start crying.

As I stare at the ceiling, my mind wanders to Paige. I’ve never been as turned on as I was in that hot tub with her insane body pressed against mine.

The memory of her hot mouth around my cock instantly makes me rock hard. She looked like a water nymph with all that red hair. I was in the middle of an existential experience when I got that damn phone call.

Reaching into my shorts, I’m ready to replay that incredible blow job, to imagine what it would feel like to sink my dick into her tight, warm heat, when Austin yells out through the monitor.

I leap out of bed. By the time I reach his room, he’s vomiting.

But it gets worse.

A few hours later, I get a call that our fences have been cut again.

Fuck my life.