Chapter 10 Connor #2
Scarlett is looking around the living room, at all the photos my grandfather hung up. She stops in front of the wedding photo of my parents and looks back at me.
“Because you’re ruining my sister’s wedding, Connie.”
I ignore the ridiculous nickname and step closer to her. There are no sharp objects near her, unless she plans on smacking me with a photo frame, so I think I’m okay being near her.
“What happened?” Reaching out, I brush the back of my fingers along her cheekbone. Her skin is soft under my hand and for a second, Scarlett’s eyes close and she tilts her head into my hand.
She opens up so easily, like a flower blooming under the sun. When she lowers those walls, she built around herself, she’s the softest angel.
Her eyes open and she glares at me. “Don’t think I forgive you.”
“I wouldn’t dream of making that assumption.”
“I still hope you choke on those damned cupcakes,” she says.
“I’ll get on it as soon as you tell me what’s wrong.”
Scarlett sighs and--to my regret--pulls away from me. Moving around me, she walks around the living room, inspecting every little thing closely. It’s strange to picture her here, a place I avoided her being.
“I went to the Butter & Bloom today to make sure my sister’s cake was going to be delivered on the wedding day, as planned.
” Scarlett turns to look at me, anger shimmering in her eyes once again.
She crosses her arms. “Shane told me that my order had mysteriously disappeared from their system, even though I paid a deposit and received a confirmation.”
“Is Shane still with us?”
“Of course. I wasn’t going to harm him surrounded by witnesses, especially when the woman in the kitchen seemed to be pulling the strings.”
That would be Jane. My ex. From high school. When I moved back, Marion told me to keep my distance because I was going to give a lot of people a lot of false hope because they’d assume I was somehow available. Especially because I decided to stay.
“I’ll talk to her.”
Scarlett looked at me flatly. “I don’t want a cake from some woman who thinks she’s in love with you. She’s probably going to poison it. It’ll be the most interesting thing that's probably happened in this town since you.”
I walk closer to her, and she rounds the couch, walking further away. “Are you jealous, baby girl?”
Scarlett laughs humorlessly. “She can have you. I only need you until my sister is married.”
I step in her way so she can’t escape. She’s pressed against the corner by the windows, the light streaming in from outside making her blue eyes appear clear as glass.
Leaning in, I brush her hair over her shoulder, letting my fingers graze along her pulse point. Her pulse jumps under my hand, pupils dilating as she stares up at me. She smells like sweet jasmine and warm sandalwood and it’s the most intoxicating scent.
“You don’t have to lie to me, hellion,” I whisper. “I know you’re angry, rightfully so, but there’s no need for lies in our relationship.”
If looks could kill, my family would be planning my funeral right now.
“We’re not in a relationship, Connor.”
“Not right now, at this moment.” I lean in even closer, until our noses almost brush.
“Not ever,” she protests. “What’s done is done.”
She arches up, closer to me, her eyes focused on my mouth. Fuck, I want to kiss her. My body craves her like sustenance. The heat radiating from her body, the scent of her perfume, the softness of her skin are an intoxicating mixture.
“Connor,” she breathes.
I press my mouth against hers. Scarlett makes a sound, her hands coming up to my chest. Instead of pushing me away, though, she wraps her fists around my shirt and pulls me in closer. Mouth parting softly, she allows me access to taste her and now I’m the one who’s moaning.
Scarlett is arching up, pressing her body against mine, one hand thrust in my hair. She tastes as sweet as I remember, like a rare delicacy. My mind is playing tricks on me and filtering out the last year and a half, almost as if it doesn’t want to remember the time I spent without her.
“We can’t,” Scarlett murmurs on my lips. “I still don’t forgive you.”
But she’s still kissing me. Still pushing her hand into the back pocket of my jeans and pulling me closer to her, rocking against my erection.
“And yet you’re still fucking insatiable.”
In response to that, she bites my lip, not enough to draw blood, but definitely enough to leave an impression.
Pushing me away, she walks to the other side of the room, her back to me as she takes a deep breath.
“Scarlett--”
“Don’t play with me, Connor,” she says, her voice hard. “This is hard enough as it is.”
“I’m not fucking playing, Scarlett,” I growl.
She turns, her hair flying like a purple curtain, lips bruised from my kiss.
“Don’t forget to eat the cupcakes.” Her smile is fake and sugary.
I guess we’re still not talking about us, not even after that kiss.
My skin suddenly feels too tight, and I can’t wait another second, let alone days, to hold her again.
I also know I’m pushing her too far too fast, and that way lies disaster.
“If I die, I won’t be able to help with your sister’s wedding,” I say.
Scarlett laughs. “Oh, don’t worry about that, if you die, I’m going to drag you back from hell. Now that that’s settled, I have to go fight with your lover.”
“If you mean Jane, she’s not my lover.”
The horrified look which crosses her face makes me laugh. “Jane and Shane? Small towns are so weird.” Scarlett chews on her lip. “I think they’re trying to ruin our stay because they think I hate you. We need to prove to them that everything is fine.”
I’m standing by the arched entry of the living room and Scarlett pauses on her way out, tilting her head back to look at me.
There’s a turbulence of emotions in her eyes and I know I’m responsible for all of them.
As if getting her back isn’t going to be hard enough, the whole town is conspiring against me now.
“We should go to the Christmas Market, if you haven't already. It’s a good place to be seen and that should convince everyone that everything is fine.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to explain you to my family,” she says.
“You mean I’ll finally get to meet them?” I ask. Her arched eyebrow tells me she doesn’t miss my sarcasm. “Look at that, all it took was a break-up and a botched wedding.”
Grumbling something under her breath, Scarlett looks away, her cheeks coloring a faint pink.
Even when we were together, I never worried that she didn’t introduce me to her family.
I certainly didn’t want to introduce her to mine.
Regardless of all that, I knew I was going to marry her, and nothing was ever going to keep me away, so whether or not I met her family was a moot point.
“I’ll see you tonight at six outside the Inn,” Scarlett says.
“I’ll be there, baby girl.”
“Stop calling me that!” With a look over her shoulder, she walks into the kitchen, presumably to get Harvey.
I’m wrong. The town isn’t working against me. This stupid little boycott of theirs is going to work in my favor because now I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to see Scarlett.