Chapter Three

Aidan

STACEY? TRACEY? MACY? LACY? I can’t remember her name, but her eyes are a familiar shade of fucking furious. She’s in my doorway, peering around my body and up the stairs. “Hey, darling. A little busy right now. What can I help you with?” I give her the smarmy drawl, but this bomb isn’t defusing. Fuck.

“Who do you have in there tonight, Aidan?” the woman squeals out, hands clenched on her hips. “Huh? Who is hiding in there?” Her tone is loud and screeching as she directs her question upstairs. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Her blue, anger hazed eyes meet mine. “You told me you’d call me. Did you change your number? I’ve been calling you.”

“Baby, baby. You knew it wasn’t more than a night,” I say, trying to keep my voice down. “I don’t do callbacks.” It’s kind of a lie. The fact that this woman isn’t memorable in any sort of way tells me why I didn’t call her back. I can’t even picture what she looks like naked. The wildcat in front of me is making me nervous so I can’t turn around, but I sense Magnolia is behind me, upstairs, listening to this madness.

“Don’t do callbacks? What the fuck are you? A gigolo?” the wildcat yells.

Raising and lowering my hand, I signal for her to keep her voice down. “I have neighbors,” I say. “Please keep your voice down.” Shaking my head, I wrap my brain around this situation. If I were downrange, I’d have several plans ready to go. Backup plans for backup plans. Why should I treat this any differently? My mind spins a quick, effective plan.

“Bullshit. Your neighbors? You have a woman in there,” she hisses. This is what fucking around in a small town has gotten me. I knew it would come to a head and my past women would collide, it was inevitable, but I didn’t envision it happening on a night that seemed so different. “Don’t you? Answer me! My friend told me not to go on a date with you, but I didn’t listen because you seemed like a decent guy.” I cringe. Internally. I’ll fix this in any way I can. Even if that means putting a Band-Aid on a gaping, oozing gash.

“Listen, sweetie, I don’t have just any woman in there. My woman is in there. My girlfriend,” I say, nearly choking on the last word. “That’s why I didn’t call you back,” I explain, keeping my voice down in hopes Magnolia doesn’t hear my seething lies. “I hope you understand, it’s not personal. I didn’t expect it. It happened suddenly.” Wildcat is buying the story, I can see her heart breaking inside her eyes, the fury slipping—anger turning into despondent sadness. “She’s important to me.” Nail in the coffin.

Finally, she breaks eye contact, glancing down at the welcome mat she’s standing on. “Oh,” she says. “You could have called me back even if it was to tell me this. Now I feel stupid.”

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I sigh, making sure not to make any noise and close my eyes in relief.

“I hope she can fix you,” Wildcat sneers.

No woman can fix me. Not in a million years. Not after all of the damage that’s been done. I’d never tell anyone that. Especially not this insignificant woman trying to make me feel bad about my life. Instead, I nod and screw up my face in what I hope looks like sentimental agreeance. “Sorry for the confusion,” I say. “Have a good night…”

“Polly. My name is Polly,” she says, shaking her head, then turning on her heel, tail tucked, all the way back to whatever section of hell she rode in from.

“Fuuuuuuuck,” I hiss out under my breath and steel my nerves to try to amend my night with Magnolia. Closing the door slowly, I try to formulate something intelligent to say, a way to explain away the things I said, and my whoring ways. Magnolia knows I’m not a one-woman man, maybe she’ll just shrug and attack me with her sweet pussy. I walk up the stairs, one at a time when I usually bound up them in a couple leaps.

When I get to the top, I’m met with her piercing, accusing gaze. It’s anything but indifferent. She’s scrutinizing me. “Am I going to fix you or let you stay broken?” she says, pressing her lips into a firm line, feeding me Wildcat’s words. Her tank top is askew, and her hair is a brown, sexy mess. My mouth waters and my cock throbs, I grab it to reposition and her attention slides down. Yes, familiar territory.

“Fix me,” I say, trying to set the mood where I’d like it. “If you can.” I quirk one brow.

“I’m your girlfriend, huh?” she replies, tilting her head to the side.

I blink slowly and run a hand through my hair. She watches my abs as I move. “You weren’t supposed to move a muscle. Or hear any of that, for that matter. She was upset.”

Magnolia crosses her arms across her chest. “She was screaming. How could I not hear that? The question remains, am I really your girlfriend after one date, after one kiss? Or do I tell my friends you lie when confronted? When you feel uncomfortable?”

Sweat beads on my forehead even though my air conditioner is set to freeze my balls off. My breathing quickens. She better be the best lay of my fucking life. “Are you blackmailing me into being your boyfriend?” Not without my permission, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to be attached to a woman in Bronze Bay. Perhaps it would even clear my bad name if I gave it a real shot. I tick through the women I’ve been with and there’s only one who could hold that torch. She’s standing in front of me right now. Why Magnolia? I know she’d never show up at my front door with a pitchfork. She has a family. People she cares about and has to maintain manners for.

“Would I really blackmail the man who I want to give me orgasms? That would be bad for business.”

I smirk, blowing out a breath. “Business?” I ask, approaching her. “That’s what this is?”

“I need instruction on dating and sex in this decade and you need…someone who has a good reputation,” Magnolia returns, backing away, her bare feet soft on the tile floor. My cock does that thing when it lets me know I’m not in control anymore, standing up so proudly that readjusting would be a waste of time.

“Well, well, you are far shrewder than I thought you were capable of,” I counter.

“Just because I haven’t been with a man since my ex doesn’t mean I suck at business transactions. I’m not a kid,” she says, reminding me of the average age of the women I’ve been with up until now.

“How do I know you have a bad reputation?” I ask, lowering my lashes when I’m standing in front of her and can scent her in my oxygen.

Magnolia leans up on her toes and juts her chin up. I kiss her on the mouth, a wet slow lavish gesture. “Face it, all you really need is one woman who sticks around. A woman you’re seen with. A woman who isn’t different every night of the week. A woman who has good standing in the community and who will be faithful.” I realize what this means, and it’s still a little shocking. I have to be faithful. One woman. Just one.

“I give you lessons on dating and you give me consistency.”

She tilts her head back and forth. “Something like that.”

“You’re that desperate? Don’t get me wrong, I’m probably the best teacher you can find in this town, but you’re also taking on my bad reputation.”

Magnolia narrows her eyes. “Not if I fix you.”

I narrow my eyes in return. “Ah, I see.” All at once I’m not sure Magnolia Sager can’t fix me. The bad, dark feelings cloud my mind and I know I have to do something to remedy that. Do what I always do. Clearing my throat, I pull her close and slide her tank over her head and toss it on the ground. I do the same with her bra. The sunset is glowing on the horizon, filling my glass box with orange light, highlighting her beautiful body. I press a kiss on the center of her chest and then another on her lips. She’s hesitant to release me, and that knowledge gives me power. Pulling away, I pin her with a crooked grin as I hit my knees.

Those black lace panties come down with her skirt and she inhales sharply when her body is fully exposed. I gasp sharply when I see her bare, for me, standing in front of me with more confidence than I expected. I’m not sure what I thought she’d look like naked. I’m usually a pretty good judge by looking at a fully clothed body. Her hips are narrow, and her stomach is flat. Her breasts are shapely and symmetrical, still full and more than plentiful. Her legs have the curves of a runner. I can’t see her ass because her pussy is in my face, but my hands slide around, and the firmness feels like a fucking textbook round ass.

I swallow hard. “You are fucking perfect, Mags,” I say. In this dazed moment, I briefly forgot she doesn’t like to be called anything but Magnolia. I can’t form sentences, or I’d correct myself. Running my hands over her body while she breathes heavily is all I can manage at the moment. She hasn’t been touched like this in who knows how long. If I can manage, I need to take this slowly, letting her savor every sensation. Swallowing hard, I mentally ready myself for the challenge. Not that I’m usually a taker in the bedroom, but at the moment I’m feeling a bit over my head with regards to my self-control.

Glancing up to her face, I see her eyes are closed, her lips slightly parted. She opens her mouth to say something, then closes it again. Standing, I grab her hip bones and back her up to the living room until she’s against the sofa and no longer a fall risk. Magnolia looks up at me, and the trust I see there churns my stomach—forces the truth in the intimacy at play. As a whole, if you ignore the intimate details of fucking, it can be just fucking. If you let emotion slip in, even just a little bit, it turns everything into something else entirely. That’s what I avoid. That’s why I don’t remember what Wildcat looks like naked. Why I don’t recall who I slept with last weekend. Why my heart is beating out of my chest right now at the realization, I’m letting it slip. For a woman I barely know because she deserves intimacy. Connection. Even if I’m the fucked up sap who has to give it to her.

With her neck in both of my hands, I lean her head back to give myself a better angle to kiss her senseless, my thumbs controlling her chin. Her skin is smooth, her cheeks pink, and the scent of her arousal urges me on, regardless of my hesitance in giving in, breaking my own rules. The kiss is deep, and I’m controlling every nuance and I think maybe if I can dominate her completely, I won’t end the night a fucked up mess. Gliding my lips over to her ear, down her neck, I end with one nipple in my mouth and drag my lips over to capture the other one. Magnolia moans, her hands fisting the back of the couch.

Swallowing hard, I grit my teeth against the urge to flip her around, slide my dick home, and fuck her wild. Magnolia sighs, relishing the moment, and with tight control, I dip my head lower and kneel, pressing kisses on her flat stomach as I part her legs with one hand. Her thighs tighten as she spreads her legs opening me to her soft, wet playground. At first, I play with her gently, testing, rubbing, gliding, to find out what makes Magnolia tick. When I let my middle finger slip inside the warm, tightness, she screams out, clutching my hair in her hands. “You like it when I’m inside you,” I say, licking my lips as her pussy clenches around my finger.

“Yes. Inside me,” she repeats back to me, voice harsh. Magnolia scoots back so she’s sitting on the back of the sofa and opens her legs farther, an invitation. Her gaze dips down just as I look up at her and her face is this masterful mix of pure pleasure and blatant honesty. “Basically any which way you can touch me, I like,” she adds when she realizes she has my undivided attention.

“Noted,” I say, leaning in to kiss her clit, my gaze on hers, my finger working inside her. I want to see the second my lips close around her. Magnolia buckles under the pleasure and I scoot in to place her legs over my shoulder so I can eat her more easily. Taking out my finger, I insert my tongue into her as far as I can and begin lapping at her with a furious pace. Her thighs clench my neck and I’m surrounded by the scent of her impending orgasm. It’s slick folds and sexy moans, and my dick is straining against my jeans in the most unbearable way.

“I’m coming,” she announces moments later, her words a sigh of relief. She runs her hands through my hair and leans her head back when the orgasm rocks her body. I feel the waves on my tongue strong and deep, and I’d give anything to feel that clenching on my shaft.

“You look good coming,” I announce when her legs have turned to jelly and her grip has loosened. Sucking at her clit now that it’s sensitive, I swirl my tongue on the nub. She moves her hips against me, obviously not done with my attentions. “How many more you think I can give you?” I say, breaking my mouth from her pussy. When she whimpers, I slide a finger back in and watch her eyes roll back in her head as I rub her G-spot.

Magnolia heaves a long, beautiful sigh. “I’m afraid to answer that,” she responds, taking her legs off my shoulders to stand on her own, effectively cutting off access to my buffet. “It could go on and on. It’s been so long since I’ve felt...” she stutters. “Anything remotely close to that.” Her face goes solemn.

I take her in my arms, picking her up. “What’s the mean face for?” I ask, walking her into my bedroom.

“Mean?” she asks, pulling away to look at my face.

She looks away quickly. “Mean might not be the right word. I rocked your world and you’re looking a little glum, that’s all.”

She sighs and buries her face in my neck. “I didn’t realize what I’ve been missing, that’s all. All of this time alone. Hell, all of the years I was married, it’s never been about me. Not like that. Like what you just did,” she says. “I feel so stupid.”

When we’re in my bedroom, I drop her onto my bed. She grabs the headboard, pretending to be overly interested in it. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. All of this is making me crazy. This night is already shot to fucking hell, anyways. “He was a moron, you have nothing to feel stupid about.” Right? I don’t know the guy, but he must be some special sort of stupid to cheat on a woman like her.

Magnolia sighs long and exasperated. “It should have been a sign,” she says under her breath.

“Get used to it, honey. Tonight, it’s only about you.”

When her gaze finally meets mine, she brightens at my words. My attention. Her face like the goddamn sun after years of darkness. I’ve never wanted to claim a naked body more than I want hers right now. Not because I’ve marked her as unfuckable for the night, either.

Because I’ve never cared enough to realize there is worth in waiting.

I dive into the bed and bury my face into her wet pussy. I settle in for the night even if my dick is anything but settled. When she comes for the third time on my nose and face, she screams my name so loud that I come in my motherfucking pants.

There’s the difference. There’s the fucking difference. Groaning, I drag my slippery lips up her body. Her eyes are closed when my mouth lands on hers.

I kiss her with my eyes open.