Page 36 of The Dom with the Clever Tongue

“I haven’t lived with you in five years. My dietary habits are no longer your responsibility.”

Jorah Graydon laughed, smoothed her long blonde hair and settled back in her chair. “How’s the new job going? Is your new boss being good to you?”

“Jude’s been great. The hours are better, he treats me like the other guys, and none of them seem annoyed that I’m a girl. He pays better, too.”

“That’s great! I knew you’d find a good company sooner or later. That last guy was a jerk. So how’s Reece? I haven’t seen the two of you in a week. It’s weird that you’re here without her. Although she must be busy with sewing right about now?”

Scarlet stirred her hot chocolate then grabbed a cookie. She tried to dunk it but her cup was too narrow. Breaking it in half worked like a charm. “Yeah, she’s sewing. My eyes were getting buggy so I told her I was going to come visit for a while. Malachi’s there to make sure she doesn’t faceplant on her machine. She’s barely slept in days. I can’t keep up.”

“Is that boy still hanging around? If he was gay I wouldn’t even bat an eyelash. No straight man would hang around with you two this much if he wasn’t seriously interested.” Her mother frowned.

“He’s a nice guy, Mom. It’s not a big deal. He’s just lonely. He had a bad breakup a while back and he never really got over it. His two best friends are busy with work and wives, and they don’t have time to see him much.” Scarlet cringed. She’d made him sound slightly pathetic. It wasn’t really like that, but how was she supposed to explain what his role with them was to her mother? She’d neverhesitated about telling her mother she was bisexual when she was fourteen, but this…this was different.

“Well he should go out and get himself a girlfriend if he’s that lonely. If you’re not careful he’s going to steal Reece away and you’ll have no one to blame but yourself. You’re too trusting, string bean.”

Shit. She knew where this conversation was heading. “Mom, don’t even bring up Teressa. It’s not the same thing at all.”

“I wasn’t going to bring her up. She got bored and wandered off. You know I don’t blame you for that. It was sad for both you and me, though. I thought she was a keeper.” Her mother’s eyes filled with sympathy. “But then, if she hadn’t taken up with bitch-face what’s-her-name you never would have met Reece. There’s no comparison there. Teressa was around longer, but Reece has a much gentler soul. If you get past her business persona.”

Scarlet blew on her hot chocolate and sipped it. Ouch! Had her mother made it with lava? It scalded the roof of her mouth but if she complained, she’d have an ice cube floating in it in a second.

She gave her mother a half-smile. “You’re afraid she’ll leave me for Mal, and you’ll have to get used to someone else.”

Her mom shook her head. “I’m afraid she’ll go temporarily insane and leave the best thing that’s ever happened to her. I’m just looking out for her best interests.”

Scarlet rolled her eyes and dusted her hands off over her plate. “Mom, you’re such a dork, but you’re pretty awesome, so I forgive you. And you’re not fooling me, by the way. There’s no way you made these cookies.”

Outrage, denial, and finally ruefulness cycled on Jorah’s face. “Fine. So I didn’t make these. It doesn’t mean I couldn’t. I’m good with cookies.”

“You are,” Scarlet admitted. “But we both know better than to eat your meatloaf.”

Chapter 9

When was the last time he’d hung around at a girl’s place to help her sew? Never. He may as well wear a t-shirt withI’m available if you want to jump my boneson the front.

“Help” was an exaggeration. It was more like watching Reece sew and grabbing foreign sparkly items for her. Reece occasionally employed his muscles to rip seams or carry bolts of cloth.

He wandered over to the second of the clothes-wearing dummies set up in the middle of the living room floor and tried to look knowledgeable as he circumnavigated it. The dress was blue and long but he needed a real woman in it to tell much. A pile of bags off to one side contained the yet-to-be-improved gowns. A rack with gowns hanging from it held completed ones.

The place resembled a clothes shop hit by a hurricane – a rainbow-inducing hurricane at that. Prom dresses seemed designed to scald the eyes with their brilliance.

The front door banged shut. Scarlet must be back.

“What do you think?” Reece had paused, mumbling a little with two pins in her mouth.

“Not bad.” He scratched his goatee. “Could use another sparkly thing on the bottom to lure those unsuspecting males. Other than that, thumbs up.”

Reece took the pins from her mouth. “Lure? Unsuspecting?” She shook her head. “Not good for teenagers. I’m not clothing date rape bait.”

He decided that birds with their mating displays had nothing on what women did to attract men.

In the process of attaching a lace panel to the magenta gown her dummy wore, Reece bent her knees to stick another pin into the fabric lower down. The cozy temperature in the apartment meant he’d taken off his coat and she’d only bothered to don a simple black dress. It was nicely short. Whenever she squatted, the dress revealed a devastating vista of ample thighs. More than once he’d been hit with an impulse to put his hand there.

Not polite. The girl was Scarlet’s, not his.

“Is that the one you plan to wear, Malachi?” Scarlet said brightly as she tapped up to them in low-heeled boots, jeans, and a snappy black leather coat.

“Pay me enough and I’ll do anything. Except wear aircraft landing lights.” He flicked the trail of shiny spots. “I’m allergic to them.”

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