Page 29 of Rules in Love
“You don’t know?” she repeated, almost sounding unsure if she’d heard me right.
“Yes, I don’t know. I don’t know what to do, Scarlett. I have to be honest. I am terrified of being alone with you.”
“Oh. Well, that’s something every woman wants to hear when she invites a man in.” Chuckling nervously, Scarlett appeared to be having trouble working the lock. For my poor nerves, the jangling keys sounded almost as loud as the thunder, still rolling through the skies. “I promise I won’t bite, and maybe you can tell me exactly what it is about me that scares you so.”
The door swung open, the keys rattling again as she pulled them free and stepped inside.
It was all up to me.
I knew Scarlett’s home would be styled as beautifully as she always was, but I had also expected a bit of a mess. Surprisingly, it was spotless, huge, modern, and—courtesy of open blinds and the lights outside—awash with the muted tones of the large stained-glass window overlooking the street. My hesitancy to enter meant she was a few paces ahead of me, and her stunning silhouette drew me deeper inside.
She looked back playfully, her hair falling into her eyes as she smiled and motioned farther down the hall. “Coffee?”
“Umm, maybe a quick cup of tea if you have some. Otherwise, I’ll be up all night, and I have to get up early for a workout. Shit, I’m double-parked too, don’t forget.”
She giggled. She was giggling at me, and I loved it. “Wow, you are a rule follower, aren’t you? And of course I have tea. I am English, don’t forget.”
My feet squared against the timber floor as I froze at the entry of her kitchen, my mouth agape. The soft-mint, almost white cabinetry, white marble benchtops, stained wood floors, and pops of color in framed prints and rainbow stools, were so perfectly her I could imagine no other person ever living there. “This place is amazing. How—?”
“Teddy. It’s a Digby family home. He’s practically royalty, if you didn’t know. They own this one and the two beside it.”
“So, King Theodore is next door?”
“Kind of. Mrs. Horowitz, your new biggest fan, is next door, and then Teddy. It’s lovely, like our own little community. Oh, and never call him King Theodore to his face. He would die of a swollen head…and I’d never hear the end of it.” As she spoke, she reached behind, lit the flame on the stove, and plopped the old-fashioned kettle—the kind my nanna had—in place without looking. Impressive. She then tried to kill me. “Okay, now take off that shirt.”
“Uhh… What?”
“Your shirt. Take it off. It’s wet and dirty. I’ll get you one of Teddy’s from the laundry.”
Please say wet and dirty again.
My fingers fiddled with the collar of my shirt, waiting for my brain and cock to battle out the merits of de-robing before her. “Is this your way of asking to see me naked, Red?”
She shrugged, then leaned over the kitchen island. “Can I get you something to eat?” That was an unfair question. I reached for a kitchen chair, covered my shame bystanding behind it, then shook my head. “Suit yourself. I’m starving.”
A bright-red apple that Snow White would find irresistible was selected from a fruit bowl while I caved and undid the top two buttons of my shirt. A second later, I forgot what I was doing. Those emerald eyes never left mine as she took a large, seductive bite.
That is a lucky piece of fruit.
I abandoned the chair and gravitated toward her, wanting that apple to be replaced by any part of my body but one in particular. My right foot slid over the shining oak boards, and at that very moment, just as my toes clumsily—deliberately—bumped against hers, there was a knock at the door.
Scarlett rolled her eyes, placed the blessed fruit down, and excused herself.
As they tend to do, the apple just sat there staring at me.
I couldn’t help myself. My fingertips traced the outline her mouth had left on the red skin and white flesh, and I was tempted to take a bite just to be closer to her lips. I thought of them on my skin, her teeth on my flesh, and died a little inside.
I was rock-hard and jealous of an apple.
Mumbled conversation and intermittent meowing traveled down the hall.
Get your shit together and nude up, Austen.I was still trying to figure out if I should take off my shirt when her footsteps approached. I went for it, and my heightened senses meant I heard each button clunk against the floor just as she reappeared, carrying a cheesy grin and a Tupperware container that looked older than us.
“For you, from you know who.” Scarlett’s feet skidded as she came to a sudden halt. The grin vanished, and her eyes widened as they took a long and expansive tour over the peaks and valleys of my puffed-out bare chest and sucked-in stomach. Slowly, that grin was reborn—albeit more naughty than cheesy—as she handed the container over like there was nothing unusual in this situation. “I think my neighbor plans on making a move on you, and I have a feeling she’d be all kinds of kink—”
Our fingertips connected. It was a mere brush but one that sent waves of heat through my body. I wanted more. I claimed her hand, pulled her toward me, and once again, Scarlett Grant made time itself stop.
A squeaky, moany kind of sound came from deep within her as her hand landed on my chest. The heat of her breath tickled my cheek as she sighed and smoothed her fingers down my stomach, tracing each line until she found my hip. She looked down, gripped me tighter, and another moan I never wanted to forget left her lips. I knew she could feel me hard against her, and I rolled my body, pressing lower into her belly, right above her pussy so she could feel it even more. “Oh, wow. Is that what you were afraid of?”
