Chapter 28 Is This Sexting?
Dakota
My phone pings with a text from my web developer, and I click the link to see that he’s got Calder’s furniture live on the
site already. I scan through them, reading the details and proofing for any mistakes. They look amazing. A little out of place
on a clothing boutique website, but my developer placed them on their own tab, so it works.
I send the link off to my social media girl and tell her to do a few posts, just to get the clicks going on it before I text
to Calder.
Dakota: Check it out! You’re live, baby!
Calder: That’s trippy. And looks way too expensive. No way is anyone going to buy that shit.
Dakota: Hush. You don’t know that.
Calder: Are you sure we shouldn’t drop the price? Your T-shirts aren’t that expensive. My shit looks way too overpriced next to your
stuff.
Dakota: My friend Tatianna’s line is higher-end, so I think it’s fine. Just let it sit for a bit. You said yourself you weren’t in
a hurry to get rid of them.
Calder: You’re the boss. My ass still hurts btw. Hockey should be interesting tonight.
Dakota: Maybe I should have sprung for the BPD.
Calder: I’ll take a whip to the ass over a big purple dildo any day.
Dakota: I thought you like to keep an open mind when it comes to all things kinky?
Calder: Even I have my limits, Ace.
Dakota: Does this count as sexting?
Calder: I don’t know. Are you turned on?
Dakota: A little.
Calder: Then, yes. And same.
Dakota: I love checking stuff off our list.
Calder: I know you do.
Dakota: Good luck at your game tonight.
Calder: Thanks, I’m going to need it.
The sound of a loud throat-clearing interrupts my texting and I glance up from my phone to find a stunning redhead standing
before me with a teasing smirk.
She whacks my feet propped on the checkout desk and tuts, “Ma’am, I’d like some service, please.”
“Kate! How the hell are you?” I pull my feet down and run around the desk to give her a big hug.
“I’m great! How are you?” She squeezes me back and hooks her thumb toward the door. “I was just signing some books at the
store, and thought I’d pop over to say hi. It’s been a while.”
“It has.” My lips purse as I take in the sight of her. She looks amazing.
Kate Smith is probably the most famous person in Boulder, but no one would ever know it.
She writes erotic romance novels under the pen name of Mercedes Lee Loveletter and hits all the bestseller charts.
She even has a movie and a Netflix show based on one of her series.
She owns an independent bookstore just around the corner that specializes in these charity-book box subscriptions, and we collab a lot for T-shirt merch to go into her boxes.
Kate’s a mom, a wife, and a boss-ass bitch that I constantly admire.
“How are the boys?” I ask, leaning on the counter to catch up.
She blows a strand of red hair out of her eyes. “They’re good. Playing all the damn sports and making it impossible for me
to write. Oh, and Tucker broke his leg last week and is in a cast.”
“Oh my God!”
“I know.” She rolls her eyes. “We have to push him in a wheelchair everywhere. The other day at Target, he was so pumped because
he got to use one of the electric wheelchairs. You’d have thought I took him to Disney World. And this isn’t even his first
broken bone at the ripe old age of nine. Landon isn’t much better. Do you know how hard it is to write smut when your kid
asks you to scratch his knee with a wooden spoon handle every other day?”
I let out a chuckle. “I’m afraid I don’t.”
She shakes her head and leans on the counter. “But enough about me. I was coming to check in on you. Your divorce is final
now, right? How are you doing?” She gets a thoughtful look in her eyes as she reaches out to rub my arm affectionately.
“I’m great!” I beam and then flinch when I realize I actually mean it.
“Really?” Kate looks shocked. “How great?”
I’m just as amazed by my response as she is. “Like super great.”
“Great!” she peals happily. “Is there a new man in your life that’s contributing to some of this greatness?”
“Um...” I frown as I try to figure out how best to answer this. “Not really? I mean... kind of. It’s complicated.”
Her brows lift. “Girl, I’m a best seller of complicated .
What book trope are we talking about here?
Friends to lovers? Second-chance romance?
Workplace relationship? Tell me you’re hooking up with one of these young college kids you always have running around here.
I would die for a juicy reverse–age gap sapphic romance right now! ”
“God no.” Before knowing Kate, I had no idea that there were different tropes or themes out there in romance. She’s opened
my mind up to a whole new world since I met her. I think for a moment and then chuckle. “Ummm... I guess you could call
it enemies to lovers.”
“My freaking favorite!” She rubs her hands together, and her eyes narrow as her writer brain kicks into overdrive. “The tension
in those books is so much fun. And I love how the two characters constantly fuck with each other and you never know what’s
coming next. There’s such brutal honesty in hate-to-love stories.”
“There’s no love happening, I assure you.”
She rolls her eyes. “You know what I mean. It’s fun because the hate makes it unexpected. And the ribbing and poking and the
arguing makes the moment they say fuck it and bang that much more intense. Who’s the lucky guy we love to hate?”
My mind races with her very astute reflection on what’s happening in my life without even knowing exactly what’s happening
in my life. It’s freaky how much romance novels can mirror real life.
“I can’t tell you who it is. It’s casual, so we’re keeping it on the down-low. Sorry.”
She purses her lips together. “Smart, smart. A secret affair is super hot too. Little taste of the forbidden. Rarr.”
I wish it was more secret . Every time I have had to drive up the mountain, I pass Wyatt and Trista’s house and it feels so weird. Like they know I’m
just coming over to bang.
Calder is right: I need to get over my hang-up about him coming back to my house, but I just don’t love the vibe there anymore.
It feels tainted somehow... both by Randal and by the major blowout I had with Calder there seven years ago. I don’t want
our past to ruin our present.
Plus, I love the mountain. It feels like such an escape every time I go up there, and Calder’s cabin is the perfect love shack for us to explore each other’s bodies. Like how I did last night with that whip.
My cheeks heat as images of Calder’s perfect ass streaked with red lines flood my mind. That cat-’o-nine-tails was meant to
be a joke, but Calder shocked me when he suggested I try it out on him. I don’t think Randal’s toxic masculinity would ever
have allowed him to give up control like that, but Calder seemed more than happy to let me explore this kink.
There is something so insanely sexy about a bearded, tattooed, super alpha male giving in to his lady. And I think Calder
knows what he’s doing, because it made the sex we had afterward completely mind-blowing.
“Hey, congrats on the Best of Boulder, by the way!” Kate says, whacking my arm playfully. “I can’t believe you haven’t won
that before.”
“Oh, thanks.” My cheeks flush with her praise.
“Miles and I are going to the banquet too as a part of the Boulder Business Bureau, and I can’t wait to see you up there accepting
your award in a couple weeks.”
“Gosh, I need to look for something to wear to it.” I run my hands through my hair, anxiety prickling in my belly. “Time has
just flown by the past few weeks.”
“Well, good sex does sort of mess up the space-and-time continuum.” Kate laughs knowingly. “Will you bring your secret fling
with you as a plus-one?”
“No way,” I exclaim, shuddering at the thought. Calder would probably laugh in my face. “We are casual, so I will be flying
solo.”
“Mmm-kay.” Kate eyes me skeptically. “Well, we’ll be there with bells on and can’t wait.” She leans in to give me a tight
squeeze. “I’m just happy to see you glowing, girl. Randal tried to suck all the joy out of you, but I can tell that you are
in a really good space. Even if this enemy stays an enemy, at least he’s helping you get your sex sparkle back.”
I chuckle. That’s one way to put it. But she is right. I feel satiated, not just sexually but emotionally.
I feel alive.
As she walks away, I think some more about what she said earlier about the enemies-to-lovers stuff. Calder and I have surprisingly
been getting along lately, and I weirdly miss the teasing spark we used to have.
I never thought I’d yearn for the day he called me a Karen.
Is he just being nice to me because he knows all the dirty details about Randal? I don’t want to be treated with kid gloves
like I’m some kind of victim. That’s not what this sexual awakening is about. Maybe it’s time I poked the bear again.