Covet (3 page)

S
carlet had rented
a car for the trip being that she wasn’t sure how long it would last, and taxis in Vegas tended to be pricey. She’d also run into an issue on her last visit where the driver had attempted to long haul her, making a 15 minute drive last 45 minutes in order to increase the fare. Scarlet, never one to take shit from anyone, had been close to pummeling him but instead threatened to call the police and the taxicab authority, making the fare suddenly go completely away.

So renting a car would be safer for her sanity.

Once she was in her economy sized sedan, she hit the 15 with the windows down, the desert air making her thick blonde hair swirl in the wind around her face. Something about Vegas always made her happy. She never had a bad time there and it represented her place of escape. Besides, she loved her parents, and despite her numerous disappointments, they were always happy to see her.

She considered texting them to let them know she was on her way but decided on something better; she would surprise her mom at work.

She knew for a fact Barrett wouldn’t be there because he hadn’t been there in almost a year. Last she’d heard he was in New York, working on an Elixir property. She’d been constantly nervous about running into him around Atlanta, and there had been a couple of close calls, but she eventually fixed that by gradually dropping every mutual friend or acquaintance they had between them from her life. Except for Ben, of course. But Ben was her brother. And she would never drop him. Not even for Barrett Evers.

* * *

E
lixir’s
new Vegas headquarters were swanky. They were just slightly off the strip on Industrial. It looked like they were possibly condos as well as offices, which would make sense. The Evers owned quite a few of the towering condo complexes that had been built up over the last couple of years in Sin City. Barrett’s brother Durham loved Vegas and she assumed he probably ran most of the operations here. Scarlet hoped she didn’t have to see him. Durham worked her last nerve. He always had. The man was way too in love with himself.

Barrett was very different. Despite the probability of him being a complete arrogant asshole, he wasn’t somehow. He’d avoided becoming spoiled and entitled like most men of his stature would be. And that’s why Scarlet had… Oh she couldn’t think about that right now. Better to focus on seeing her momma and explaining what she was doing in Vegas.

She parked in the garage attached to the building and took the elevator up to the fortieth floor. Last time she had visited the building had just opened. She was pretty sure the fortieth was the floor her mother worked on. She’d thought of texting Aunt Nancy to ask but decided to just go with it. Besides, Nancy was always busy and was probably with Barrett. She tried her best to avoid contact with her unless it was a true emergency.

The walls of the elevator were mirrored. She glanced in them to make sure she looked presentable. Scarlet had to admit, at least she looked good. Her wild blonde hair flowed halfway down her back. She’d worn some skinny jeans and an off the shoulder lavender sweater her mom bought her for her birthday. She’d stuck to Converse for the flight.

Now she was getting nervous. Maybe she should have texted.

The elevator finally stopped. Its doors opened and Scarlet stepped out into the main lobby and front reception area of Elixir Enterprises.

And the first person she saw was Barrett Evers.

B
arrett’s heart stopped beating
. Or at least, it felt like it as soon as he saw her.

What was Scarlet Bloom doing here?

He’d come out into the lobby to ask Arista to fax some paperwork to his father’s office in New York. And suddenly he’d heard the elevator doors open and there she was. His past come back to haunt him.

And she was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

“I’m sorry, can I help you?” Arista asked, walking from around the desk.

Scarlet looked at her, clearly speechless. He could tell she wasn’t expecting to see him. What was she even doing here at all? He’d just talked to Ben last week. Not that they ever talked about Scarlet but he definitely would have mentioned it if she was in Las Vegas.

“Scarlet?” he somehow managed to say.

“Yeah,” she replied, slowly. “I was here to see my mom. I had no idea…”

“Scarlet!”

Michelle was in the reception area now, her eyes wide. She looked back and forth between Barrett and Scarlet, not sure what to do. Michelle knew a little bit about their story, but not even close to all of it or even the most important parts. But she knew that Barrett was a topic that was off limits to Scarlet. You couldn’t even say his name without her leaving the room. And now here she was, unexpectedly in his presence.

So much for a day with no hitches.

“Hey, Momma,” Scarlet said. “I was hoping to surprise you. I’m sorry, I didn’t know that today would probably be a bad day for that. I should have texted.”

“Well, yes, that probably would have been smart,” Michelle said, briskly. “Come back to my office. We’ll talk about it. Mr. Evers, I am so sorry-“

“No need to apologize, Michelle,” Barrett said, still staring at Scarlet as she walked towards her mom. She wouldn’t even glance at him. Like he was a stranger or worse- someone she was scared of.

He suddenly found it hard to breathe. He hadn’t been in the same room with her for almost five years. And the last time he’d seen her was a day he had spent years trying to move past. And suddenly here she was. And she looked fucking gorgeous, dammit. Her hair was longer than it had been, her body just as curvy, even in jeans and a sweater. And those eyes… He knew he’d be useless today, just knowing she was this close to him. Dammit, Scarlet.

He must have looked how he felt because suddenly Arista’s manicured hand was on his arm.

“Mr. Evers, are you okay?” she asked, her face clearly concerned. “Can I get you something?”

“I’m okay,” he said, smiling thinly at her. “I just feel like I’ve seen a ghost. That’s all.”

* * *

“
S
carlet Abigail Bloom
, what on earth are you doing here?” Michelle asked as she closed her office door behind her. She was completely confused as to what was happening and today was just not the day for it. She was worked up enough over Barrett being here.

“I wanted to surprise you,” Scarlet said, quietly. “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

“You know I’m always happy to see you,” Michelle said, her voice softening. She took Scarlet’s hand, “I just don’t love surprises at work. It’s Barrett’s first day here and I… I just wanted it to go smoothly.”

“I feel terrible,” Scarlet said. “This was such a terrible idea. I should have called you. Or just met you at home.”

“Honey, if it was any other day it wouldn’t be a big deal. You just caught me off guard and- well, I’m just going to say it. I know how you feel about Barrett. This was probably the worst day for you to do this,” Michelle laughed. “But such is the way of a Bloom. We have the worst timing.”

Scarlet smiled, “This is true. I can’t believe he’s here. Of all the damn days.” She sighed, looking out the window. “Mom, you’ve got an awesome view.”

“I do,” Michelle grinned. “I earned this view.”

“You sure did,” Scarlet said, squeezing her mom’s hand. “I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you, sweet girl,” Michelle kissed her only daughter’s forehead. “Now tell me what the hell you’re doing here. Did you take some vacation days? Already? You’ve only been-“

“I quit,” Scarlet admitted, figuring it best not to beat around the bush. “I hated the job and I hated my life in Atlanta. I know you’re disappointed and Ben’s already given me the lecture. I hate to let you and Daddy down but- Momma, I can’t seem to find my happy.”

Scarlet’s tears were a shock to both her and Michelle. Scarlet was not someone who cried at the drop of a hat. But between her nerves and seeing Barrett, she didn’t know what to do or how to handle it.

“Baby,” Michelle said, her heart broken. “I know. It’s why I worry. Because, sweet child, I would love to give you your happy. Don’t you know it’s all I want? I wish it was as easy as finding it and handing it to you. But I can’t. We have to build our happy, my love. It starts with you.”

Scarlet nodded, “I know, Momma. I’ll try harder.”

Michelle shook her head, “It’s not about trying. You shouldn’t have to try. But it
is
about being honest with yourself. And I feel like that’s been what’s missing. You’re holding onto something, baby. And I can’t help but feel it might have to do with the man you just bumped into.”

Scarlet sighed. As usual, her mother was right.

B
arrett Evers couldn’t stop kissing
Scarlet Bloom.

Not since he’d seen her two months ago in a pencil skirt. She was an intern at Elixir for the summer, something he hadn’t known about until her first day. Nancy hadn’t told him a thing about it, much to his annoyance. He knew Scarlet had gotten the position either through her aunt or her mom and he was surprised no one had mentioned it. But then again, he’d been distracted lately, studying for the LSAT. His father was on him about it constantly, reminding him how important it was for him to have a high score on the first go, to make a lasting impression on the other board members.

But now that he’d seen Scarlet, nothing else would be on his mind for months.

He’d taken her to lunch that first day, amazed at how beautiful she was. He’d remembered her as Ben’s bossy little sister, the one with knobby knees and wild hair that she was constantly pushing off her face. Now that she was twenty, she looked completely different to him. The knobby knees were now attached to long, slender legs and her wild honey blonde hair was wavy and pulled back in a professional chignon, shorter pieces framing her face. Her features were perfect; large chartreuse eyes, a color he hadn’t been able to place until she was laughing with him over a club sandwich in the company cafeteria.

“I can’t believe that Ben’s little sister is old enough to be an intern,” he’d said, biting into his sandwich.

She rolled her eyes, “Did you think I would stay nine forever?”

He smiled, “No. I guess I never considered it. How’s Ben doing these days?”

Ben Bloom had been Barrett’s best friend when they were kids, before Barrett was shipped off to boarding school in Connecticut when they were fourteen. They’d kept in touch thanks to technology and had spent a couple of summers together working at Elixir for his father. Now Ben was a newly married man at twenty-four. He’d married his college sweetheart and they lived outside Atlanta where his wife taught high school English and Ben worked in the IT department at Elixir. He’d graduated magna cum laude from Georgia Tech and Rhett Evers had been more than delighted to bring him into the Elixir family.

Barrett hadn’t seen Scarlet since she was probably around thirteen. A lot had changed.

“Oh he’s good,” she’d said, sipping her water. “He wants to have a baby. It’s all he talks about. I’m like ‘Enjoy your honeymoon phase’ but he and Ashley can’t seem to wait. They’re determined to repopulate all of Roswell, Georgia I guess.”

“That’s crazy,” Barrett said. “But if it makes them happy, good for them.”

“That’s exactly what Momma says,” Scarlet sighed. “Ben is the white picket fence guy. Always has been. He’s so much like Dad in that way.”

Barrett nodded, “It’s not such a bad thing. I envy people who know what they want.”

They’d continued to talk for a good hour, almost making Scarlet late to go back to work. But Barrett, who really seldom took advantage of his status in the company, insisted on one thing before she left.

“Let me take you out to dinner,” he said. He could tell she was surprised, but not in a bad way.

“Okay,” she’d said. “What night? I don’t think I have any plans-“

“Tonight,” he’d replied. “And tomorrow night too, if you’re not busy. And maybe it’s best we have it the night after that too. You know, so we can make sure to catch up on everything.”

She laughed again, a sound he was already in love with.

“Sure, Barrett Evers,” she’d said.

Scarlet had left him then, walking quickly towards the elevator and back to her cubicle on the nineteenth floor. He’d watched her and couldn’t help but smile. Not just because she was beautiful. She was also so terrible at walking in heels, she stumbled twice on her walk away from him, something he found endearing. But Barrett knew, even from that one lunch- Scarlet Bloom was the woman he’d been waiting around for. And curiously, she’d been there the whole time. He’d just never known it until now.

* * *

H
e’d taken
her to a terribly pretentious restaurant in Buckhead, one where the entrees weren’t enough to satiate a toddler and afterwards they both agreed that they needed a burger- stat. So they’d settled for The Varsity in Alpharetta.

Barrett was blown away by Scarlet’s curves. Even in a pair of jeans, she was voluptuous. She’d worn those and a simple fitted blouse. When he’d picked her up in his tailored pants and collared shirt she’d worried she wasn’t dressed up enough.

“Should I change?” she asked nervously, biting her lip. He wanted to kiss that lip so very badly, to bite it and massage it. Truth was, he would have been happy staying in her apartment all evening with pizza and no clothes at all. But he knew she deserved more than that. Much more. And for what was admittedly not the first time in his life, he was happy to be fortunate enough that he could give her anything she wanted and more.

“No way,” he’d said, taking her hand. “You look perfect. Besides, we own the restaurant I’m taking us to. So no worries about how you’re dressed. But you look amazing, Scarlet. Don’t ever worry about that.”

It was brazen but he’d pulled her to him then, her eyes staring up at him and he kissed her, tenderly. She’d kissed him back, a good sign.

“Well,” she’d said. “That was even better than I hoped.”

“You’d hoped?” he asked teasingly. “So you thought about it too?”

“Barrett Evers, I’ve been thinking about it since I was twelve years old,” she’d confessed. “I did expect it to happen at the end of the night though.”

“Sorry,” he lied. “I just wanted the best part to happen first. I’m terrible at waiting.”

They’d been inseparable that entire week. Dinner every night, lunch every day. And finally a weekend spent watching movies and walking his dog, Rooster, in Piedmont Park. There were intense make out sessions but on their fourth night of after dinner shenanigans, Scarlet had a confession.

“Barrett,” she’d said, breathlessly after coming up for air after a particularly intense bout of kissing. “I don’t know how to tell you this without it being weird.”

Barrett was currently bent over, dealing with yet another enormous hard-on from all the dry humping.

“Its okay, Scar,” he reassured her, wrapping his arm around her. “You can tell me.”

“Okay,” she sighed, clearly nervous. “Barrett, I’m a virgin.”

Barrett tried his best not to react. He didn’t want her to be embarrassed or think he thought anything was strange about what she’d just told him. But part of him was relieved. He hadn’t known how to bring up the topic of sex with Scarlet. He didn’t want to seem presumptuous or pushy.

But he was also anxious. He was no virgin. He’d had his fun in college, though none of it meant anything significant to him.

Scarlet had been on his mind constantly the last few days. He couldn’t lie and say he hadn’t finished himself off at night thinking about her curves and how they would look bouncing up and down on top of him. Or how her face would look the first time he thrusted into her.

But he needed to play it cool. He didn’t want to ruin anything they had going.

“Scarlet,” he said, taking her hand. “As much as I want you, I am just glad to be here at all. If you want to go further or if you don’t-“

“No, you don’t understand,” she said, leaning into him. “I very, very, very much want to go further. With you. Barrett, I want you so bad. But I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me either and wonder what was going on. This is all incredibly new to me… I don’t even know what I’m saying right now.”

He stopped her rambling and kissed her, passionately, against the couch. She moaned against his mouth and for the next ten minutes they couldn’t stop touching and feeling each other. It was clear they were both desperate for the other and things were moving incredibly fast.

“Scarlet,” Barrett said, pulling away for a moment. “I want you more than fucking anything I’ve ever wanted. And since you shared that with me, I should share something too.”

Her eyes widened, “Okay. Anything, Barrett.”

“Scarlet, I love you.”

It was quiet for what seemed like forever. He could practically see the sentence he had just said hanging above them. Her eyes were wide in surprise and he couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Barrett had never said those words to anyone in his entire life. And after four nights he had said them to Scarlet Bloom. He might have had more money than most of the people on the planet, but his heart was completely in the palm of her hand right now. And even his bank account couldn’t save him from possible annihilation.

“Barrett,” she whispered. “I love you too.”

He kissed her again, long and hard. As he did, she slipped off the cardigan she’d been wearing. It was lavender. Scarlet loved that color and it looked wonderful on her olive skin. Underneath it was an incredibly lacy bra. He paused to take it in.

“Wow,” he said. “That’s one beautiful piece of underwear.”

She smiled, “I just bought it. For you.”

His eyebrows went up, “You did?”

“Yep. A girl doesn’t want to lose her virginity in something plain and boring. There’s more if you take off my jeans.”

He kissed her as he unbuttoned her Levis and slid them down her beautiful legs. Underneath she wore an incredibly lacy thong. It matched the bra of course.

Barrett couldn’t stop staring, “Holy shit, Scarlet.”

Suddenly she was shy, “Do I look ridiculous?”

“Are you kidding?” he said, sliding up her body, running his hands up her thighs and hips, cupping her ass, “I feel like the luckiest fucking guy on the planet right now.”

She smiled. It was the perfect thing for him to say.

“Your turn,” she said, leaning back. “Take it off, Barrett Evers. Let me see.”

He unbuttoned his shirt, his hands curiously shaking. He was so in awe of her. Her body. It was the stuff of dreams. He couldn’t believe he’d be the first to ever touch it.
And hopefully the last
he thought.

Soon he was down to his boxer briefs and it was Scarlet’s turn to be flummoxed. Barrett had a body of beautiful granite. He was all lean muscle. Large pecs, hard abs. He looked like something out of Men’s Health Magazine.

“How is it,” she said, running her hands up his chest as he leaned over her, “that you get to be insanely wealthy, and smart, and funny, and incredibly hot? How is this fair?”

Barrett blushed, “I have no idea how to respond to that.”

“No need to respond,” she whispered against his mouth. They were both breathing quickly, both full of nervous energy and lust. “No need to talk at all. Take me to the bedroom. Please.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her up. God, she was sexy. He kissed her softly on the lips.

“I’ll do anything you want,” he said. “There’s nothing I need more than you.”

Barrett’s bedroom consisted of an enormous king sized bed with four large posts. Now that he was here with her he couldn’t help but be grateful he bought this place. It overlooked downtown Atlanta. The curtains were open, the lights dimmed. Barrett couldn’t help but think there was no one in the world as happy as he was right now.

Scarlet, for her part, was scared to death. In a good way, of course, but she was still nervous. Long ago she had wished for a night like this, never thinking it could be possible. But here she was, with Barrett. About to make love. It was almost too much to handle. Her heart thumped against her chest.

He gently laid her down on the bed, taking in the sight of her body again. It was so lush, so incredibly sensual. He couldn’t get over it. The erection in his briefs couldn’t be hidden. It was painful how much he wanted her; how much he needed her.

“I love you,” she said again as he slid her panties down, revealing her sex.

“I love you so much, Scarlet,” he whispered. He’d pulled his own underwear off and was completely naked above her.

“I’m a little nervous,” she confessed as he slid the straps of her bra down her shoulders. He kissed her lightly on the collarbone. Her bra was the kind that fastened in the front, which was very convenient.

“I’m nervous too,” he said. “It’s because this means something, Scarlet. The things that make us nervous are the important things. And besides, I like to think of it more as excitement.” He kissed her hard, his knuckles brushing against her nipples. “And if you couldn’t tell, I’m very excited.”

She laughed softly underneath him, touching his face.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said. “One more thing, before we do this.”

“Of course,” he said, kissing her neck.

“Don’t break my heart, Barrett Evers,” she said. “I couldn’t take it.”

He looked at her again, into the chartreuse eyes that would never leave his memory.

“As long as you don’t break mine either,” he said. “Because I couldn’t take it. You’ve ruined me for anyone else, Scarlet Bloom.”

They kissed again, the kind that only stops when someone has to breathe.

“Please,” she begged. “I need you.”

He pushed himself slowly inside her, not wanting it to hurt, but knowing it would. That part he didn’t like. But the feel of her. God. It was like nothing he had ever experienced and he couldn’t help but groan as he pushed himself further into her.