Forbidden Kisses (3:AM Kisses Book 9) (15 page)

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T
he Hollow Brook Country Club
is smaller, far less opulent than the one in Bel Terra, but then, Bel Terra has always been far bigger than life, far too opulent for its own good and that of its patrons. Perhaps that’s the real reason my mother and father couldn’t make it work. They wiped the shine off that phony town and saw right through the grime underneath. All that glitters isn’t always gold, and neither was their partnership. As much as I hate to admit it, there is a level of peace that’s taken over in the years since their split. Before those dark days, there was a lot of yelling, a hell of a lot of shouting matches that preceded the main event, that preceded my mother’s personal living hell. My heart breaks just thinking of the ways my parents tormented one another. They’re both good people who just so happened to have their relationship meet with a tragic end.

The country club’s house band plays light jazz, adding a touch of casual elegance to the otherwise stuffy environment.

“There they are.” Scarlett presses her tits to my chest while keeping her eye on the table that seats our family. Crap. My balls ache at the touch of her skin. As soon as Scarlett stepped into my truck tonight with that tiny red dress hugging every sinful curve, I knew I was in far too deep to ever admit. Tonight is the night Scarlett and I have committed to going for the proverbial gold, and I’ve already made the decision I’m not holding back.

“Listen to me.” She pinches my chin and forces me to look at her. “I want a performance that will make a ten-dollar whore blush. You got that?” Ironically, it’s her face that’s lit up like a stop sign.

“You sure about that?” There’s a dare in my voice, and as soon as she picks up on it, her eyes widen like lily pads.

“I’m sure.”

A dark laugh rattles my chest. “Hold on to your skirt, sweetheart. Things are about to get heated.” My arm finds a home over her waist as I shuttle us over to the table set dead center of this decrepit establishment.

Bradley and Mom rise as soon as they see us, and those smiles they were wearing long before we ever arrived at the table quickly diminish once they pick up on our body language.

“We’re so glad you could make it,” her father grunts, shooting me a warning shot with those tired eyes.

“Yes.” Mom rakes up all of the fake enthusiasm she can muster. My mother is a lot of things, but enthused to see me with my arm around my future stepsister she is not. “Please take a seat.” She points to either side of Knox, and I grimace. Not one thing I have planned for Scarlett tonight involves my brother.

Sabrina and Duncan rise to scoot down to make room for the two of us. Scarlett’s sister stares at me as if she’s seeing me for the very first time. Her eyes slowly raze over my features, and I can feel the uncomfortable burn. She’s wearing a hot pink low-cut dress that might as well come down to her navel, and already she’s leaning over in an effort to introduce the girls.

Duncan tilts his head over at Scarlett with that mournful look I’ve seen a thousand times before in guys who woefully regret the decisions they’ve made. Of course, he regrets cutting Scarlett loose. She’s beautiful and smart and a hell of a good person. I’d include nice, but that might actually be a lie. Nevertheless, he’s a douchebag who deserves the twisted sister he’s chosen because his cheesy ass isn’t good enough for Scarlett to begin with. I scowl at him until both he and Sabrina find their way into their new seats. It’s me who lands next to Scarlett’s ex, and I want it that way in the event he decides he wants to play games with her feet or any other part of her body. I’m not giving this idiot another chance to break her heart. What kind of fucker dumps a girl just to go for her sister? And now she has to put up with the fact this idiot might be sticking around for a lifetime? I’m just as pissed as she is, if not more. I nod to Lawson to move it, and one by one our siblings scoot over until Scarlett and I have the two seats closest to the couple we soon hope to evict from their happy thrones—our parents.

“So, is this still a thing?” Bradley’s finger drifts from his daughter to me.

“What’s a thing?” Trixy leans in with her eyes sprung wide as if she’s about to hear the juiciest bit of gossip, and she is.

“Yup.” I wrap an arm around Scarlett, and both of my siblings’ jaws unhinge. I don’t dare look at Lawson because if there’s anyone at this table who can take me it’s him. “Scarlett and I are happening.” I nod to our siblings. “The cat’s out of the bag. We’re officially together.”

“What?” Lawson rumbles, glancing to his sister with a stone-sober look that spells out the fact he’s gearing up for a beatdown more than he is a round of congratulations.

“Relax, Law.” Scarlett widens her eyes at him with a veiled threat. “We’re in
love
.” Her fingers thread through mine, and that simple act has the power to satiate something deep inside of me. Both my dick and I know that it will take a little more physical contact than that to quell this ache building inside of me, and that physical comfort can only come from Scarlett herself.

Mom leans in, wild-eyed. “Can you hold off on the physical affection until later—
much
later?” She’s speaking through her teeth, batting her eyes manically as an elderly couple comes over and are briefly introduced as Dr. Muller and his wife, Ruth.

“What a lovely brood you’ve got here.” Dr. Muller beams as he takes us in as a group.

Bradley puffs with pride. “Team Kent-Toberman is enthused to make it official. Both Lynette and I have always wanted a large family, and now we’ll get a supersized one at that.”

Ruth nods over at Scarlett and notes our conjoined hands. “And all of the significant others that come along with it! The holidays are going to be something special to behold.”

“They’ll be special all right.” I plaster a grin to my face as I look deep into Scarlett’s turquoise eyes. “My new sister is something to behold. The holidays will be great.” I peck a quick kiss to Scarlett’s lips, and her entire face lights up magenta. “I already know who I want to find in my stocking come Christmas morning.”

“What the fuck?” Lawson belts it out so severe I half expect a kidney punch, but I’m not taking my eyes off my new spitfire of a loving sis.

The Mullers scoot off in a fit of gasps and sputters.

And I turn back to find every eye at the table affixed on us.

Knox has his brows hiked into his forehead as if he’s not buying it. I knew he’d be the hardest to convince.

Lawson calmly places his palms over the table. “Dude, take your hands off my sister, or I’m going to have to kill you.”

Scarlett and I amicably disband as the waitress comes by and takes our orders. A strangled silence seeps in again once she leaves.

Trixy leans in with a stunned expression that makes me feel like an ass for dragging her into this mess. “So, like, is this even legal?” She flicks her finger from Scarlett to me. “I mean, I’m not the only one who thinks it’s kind of gross, right?”

“Sure, it’s legal,” Sabrina answers for us. “But, believe you me, gross or not, it’s temporary. Scarlett wouldn’t know how to hold on to a man if her life depended on it. Someone like Rex here needs a real woman, one who’s been around the block to show him a good time. Isn’t that right?” She gives a little wink, and the heel of a shoe rides up my leg, causing me to jump in my seat.

Shit. I knew this chick was coming on to me.

Scarlett grunts at her sister’s lunacy, “My life doesn’t depend on a man. Never has, never will.” I give her waist a squeeze, and she straightens. “With the exception of my sweet Goober.” She manufactures a grin and pulls me in with the strength of a gorilla. My mind goes straight to the mattress, and for a second, I picture a nude wrestling match, her pinning me down, me pinning her down in far more practical ways.

Mom leans in with a scowl on her face that’s usually reserved for my father. “It’s legal, but it’s not right. The only thing that’s right is Sabrina.”

Scarlett sucks in an audible breath.

Shit. Did she really just go there? I know that Scarlett has a hard time trusting my mom, and once my mother’s dirty laundry is aired out, it will be that much more difficult to regain any trust, but to trash her future stepchild enrages even me.

“The two of you are simply infatuated with one another.” Mom softens toward the two of us, and something in me settles down a bit. “You’re both young and beautiful. The attraction was bound to be there, but for God’s sake that doesn’t mean you need to act on it. I suggest the two of you cool it for a time.”

“Date other people.” Bradley offers a furtive nod, and it’s starting to feel as if they’ve rehearsed this little break-up number. Ironic that while Scarlett and I are plotting their unified demise they’re off doing the very same thing.

Sabrina strums her blood red nails over her water glass. “Scar Scar has never been good at testing out the waters. She’s a clinger. She finds a poor guy, deems him ‘the one,’ and sticks to him like glue.” She says
the one
in air quotes. “I think something deep inside of her has fractured, and she simply doesn’t think she’s good enough to find anybody else.”

Scarlett growls at her older not necessarily wiser sister. “I’m about to fracture something.”

The two sisters initiate a stare-down.

Sabrina offers up a flick of the wrist. “I suggest we make a game of finding Scar Scar her very own Mr. Right.” She gives a hard wink to her baby sis. “And as for you, big boy, I have a feeling those estrogen floodgates never stop surging. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you had somebody new by your side later this very night.” Her foot rides over my leg once again, and I widen my knees, allowing her to fall to the floor with a thud. Sabrina nearly lands her face in the table in an attempt to keep her balance.

The food comes, and Bradley offers up a special blessing for his growing brood. It’s so heartfelt and kind I almost feel bad for contesting their union so soon in the game. Almost. The truth is, unless my mother comes clean, this coupling will fracture long before it ever adheres in the name of all that is legal.

Dinner wears on, and an entire procession of Bradley’s country club friends strut by with their tall, blonde, orange-stained trophy wives, all of which look as if they could be attending Whitney Briggs with me. It makes me wonder why Brad here didn’t trade up and become a platinum blonde silicone rewards member like his buddies. I watch as he holds my mother’s hand. The way he brings it to his lips for a casual kiss, the way he looks lovingly into her eyes as if she’s the only woman he sees. That, right there, is the way I wish to God my father had treated her all those years she sat faithfully by his side.

The waitress comes by to clear the dishes, and we watch as couples migrate to the dance floor. An entire new slew of the wealthiest couples of Hollow Brook stroll on by, and to each and every one I make it painfully clear that I very much find my new sister hotter than a kitchen fire. In fact, I’d heat things up significantly if I weren’t sitting so damn close to Lawson. I’m convinced if Scarlett and I turn up the furnace he’ll stab his fork through my balls with my next move.

Mom clears her throat while glancing lovingly up at Bradley. “So we’ve had a change of heart concerning the venue for the wedding.” Mom pinches her smile as if she’s unable to contain her joy, and my heart breaks a little for my father. Not once have I ever seen her brim with happiness around him the way she is now. “We’ve decided to host it right here at the country club!” she sputters as if announcing the fact they’re having a bouncing bundle of joy, and in a way they are, each other.

Sabrina wiggles in her seat. “I’ve always dreamed of a country club wedding!” She nudges Duncan hard in the ribs. “Of course, we can’t have one now that the two of you will be here. We’ll go with the marina instead. A sunset wedding with a twilight cruise around the harbor.” She brays like a hyena. “Scar Scar will be my
matronly
of honor, of course.”

“Scarlett’s not matronly.” It comes out stern like a warning. I don’t mind piping up to defend her. I’m sick of Sabrina’s blank check to destroy her sister any way she pleases. “Scarlett is anything but. She may not cover her face with war paint the way some people choose to or wear loud clothing that sirens out
look at my most beloved assets
, but she doesn’t have to.” My brows rise as I look to Sabrina because she’s the war paint princess with the dress that’s showcasing her tits. “Scarlett is a natural beauty.” I pull her hand to my lips and hold it there a moment. “Not to mention the fact she has a big heart.” It’s true. She only wants the best for her father, and right now, she’s not convinced that my mother is it. “Besides, you’re marrying her ex. It wouldn’t surprise me if she didn’t want anything to do with the wedding.”

Sabrina gives a few blinks of disbelief at the audacity that anyone actually spoke up against her lunacy. “Scar Scar loves both Duncky and me. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s—right.” Scarlett deflates as if there were about a dozen other answers, but she wasn’t able to give them. “I’ve moved on to much greener pastures.” She rubs a small circle in the palm of my hand with her thumb, and my heart gives a few violent kicks because it just so happened to be a private gesture she gifted me.

Does Scarlett want this? My heat index spikes at her touch, at the thought of Scarlett having a change of heart toward me. God knows I’ve done a one-eighty when it comes to her. I try to plaster on a smile in an effort to keep the charade going, but there’s something in me that wants to stay right here in this sober moment and not cloud it up with any false pretenses. The feelings Scarlett Kent evokes in me are very much real.

Her thigh rubs over mine, and my dick perks to life.

Crap. If she keeps this up, the only one acting around here will be her. Scarlett is pulling me in, reeling me into her heart with those crimson locks and that pirate smile. I’m glad she seems genuinely happy for Duncan even if he is ending up with her batshit sister. I’m glad she’s over her ex because I don’t want her pining over him. Deep down, I want her pining over me.