Page 107 of The Dom with the Clever Tongue

“So she’s gone to Los Angeles again?” her mother asked.

“Yes. She’ll be back again late tomorrow night though. Short trip this time.”

“Oh good, you don’t have long to be lonely then.”

Actually Mom, about that...She let the chance slide past, waiting for something better. Tonight she and Malachi were having an all-night Skyrim thing, since neither had to be up for work in the morning. No sex – they only did that when they were all together, but it was getting to the point that Scarlet knew that was eventually going to change.

Her mom went on to talk about Scarlet’s aunt and her latest dating debacle, then about her work, then about her rhubarb, then about Jeeves digging up a flowerbed.

“How’s work?”

“We got a lot done this week. Jude and I busted our butts to get the reno done on the Kirkland house, and that means I get an extra day off tomorrow. He wanted to get Friday off because there was no one to watch Zenobia, since Q and Sabrina are both working, Reece is gone and I was working.” She’d asked Jude why he didn’t bug Malachi to watch the baby, and he said it was because Malachi kept trying to teach her how to swear. She smiled to herself. Their guy could be such a goof.

“What’s that face for? Are you falling in love with that baby, young lady?” Her mother grinned.

“If I had the right equipment, you’d probably have a grandchild on the way already. Reece is so in love with that kid they worry she won’t give her backsometimes.”

Her mother’s expression turned serious. “If you’re thinking of taking that step, Scarlet, you should ask Reece to marry you first. Your children deserve that stability.”

“A family can be stable without a wedding, Mom. Look at Jude, Q and Sabrina. They’ve been together longer than half of my cousins’ marriages lasted, already. Besides, you wouldn’t be pressing for me to marry her if she was a man.”

Jorah was quiet for a moment and looked like she was choosing her words carefully.

“Weddings make relationships harder to set aside. You make a promise in front of your friends and family that you’ll do your best to make this relationship last. It makes it harder to walk away, I think. You’ve won the right to marry to her, and I think it’s a waste if you don’t take advantage of it.”

“I’m not going to marry someone to make a political statement, Mom.”

“I know, I know, but you love her. I know you do.” She took a sip from her steaming mug and slid a plate of cookies in front of Scarlet. “Eat. I think you’re even skinnier than the last time I saw you.”

Too much sex. Scarlet forced down a laugh. The three of them had been in bed so much since they’d gotten back together a month ago that they’d all lost weight. She assumed that would slow down, eventually. It was a good thing that her construction job gave her an excuse for all of the bruises.

Out of politeness, she took a cookie and thanked her mother, not that she was particularly hungry. “The way things stand at the moment, Mom, Reece and I can’t get married.”

Her mother’s dark eyes widened and she leaned back in her chair. “But why not? Are you two going through a rough patch? God, just don’t tell me you’re breaking up. I adore Reece! It’s that Malachi’s fault, isn’t it? I knew he was trouble from the moment I laid eyes on him. Men like that are always more trouble than they’re worth.”

Scarlet’s brows shot up. That was automatically where her mother’s mind went, of course. “Men like what?”

“You know, the handsome ones that swagger.” She grimaced “They walk around like they own the place and turn everyone’s lives upside down. Your fatherwas like that.”

She tried not to snort. The man she had spent time with on vacations when she was a kid was a balding plumber whose demeanor had never made her think he’d been trouble in his day. She’d always kind of assumed her parents had broken up because he was too staid for her mom, who would have been a bra-burning feminist if she’d been born in the right decade.

“It’s because of Malachi, but it’s not his fault.”

Her mother grabbed her hand and squeezed it within an inch of its life. “Oh, honey, I knew it! As soon as he came sniffing around Reece, I knew he was going to make a move. What are you going to do?”

“Mom, Mom, stop!” She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “It’s not like that.”

“You’re too willing to forgive anyone anything, you know that? Maybe she didn’t see it coming, but if she was truly committed to you, she wouldn’t have fallen into his trap.”

Scarlet’s mind immediately jumped to the vulnerable position Malachi had tied Reece in the night before. They’d done all sorts of naughty things to her and made her come until she begged them to stop. It was true that the man had all sorts of traps in mind for Reece, but Scarlet was heavily involved in his depraved plots, and had many of her own. Besides, when Reece complained, there was never a safeword that followed to back it up. An orgasm, yes, but not a safeword. Then there was the cuddling and talking until the wee hours.

This wasn’t how she’d envisioned telling her, but the woman’s imagination was running rampant. “Mom, listen. We both love him. He’s part of our relationship now. I just wanted to come by and tell you that this is working for us and is probably going to be long-term.”

Her mother’s eyes widened. “He’s...you...” Whatever she was going to say either got lost on the way out of her mouth, or she didn’t have a whole question formulated yet.

“Yes, I love him too. Romantically, not platonically.”

She shook her head. “It’s those friends of yours that have convinced you that this is normal. You don’t have to follow the crowd, Scarlet. You can choose your own path.”

---