Chapter Forty

Weston

I reach over and take Scarlet’s hand. We’re headed back to Eastwood, and though I should probably be a dozen other things, I’m happy. Scarlet is coming home with me.

“Why did you start conning people?” I ask, giving her hand a squeeze.

“I realized I could,” she confesses. “It wasn’t like a dream I had when I was a little girl to grow up and be a con artist.”

“What did you want to be when you grew up?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know. For a while there, I wanted to work at a zoo, but then things changed and I realized I didn’t have options. Especially after I dropped out of high school to take care of Heather and Jason.”

“You did go back, right?”

“Right. My dad showed up again and was able to look after them. Luckily, because our mom died shortly after.” She looks out the window, and it hits me how different our childhoods were. “I’ve always worked. I had to. Hell, someone had to, and it sure wasn’t Mom. I busted my ass for my family, and when I realized I could get more money doing something as harmless as flirt with a guy…I still shouldn’t have done it, but, well…”

I rub my thumb against her hand. I don’t want to judge her. I don’t want to look at her any differently than I did before. “How’d you pick people to scam?”

“Well, my go-to scam was to hang out in bars at expensive hotels. Men—usually married men away on business trips—were easy. I mean easy to con. Not easy to sleep with. I didn’t sleep with them. I just took their money and left. Which was supposed to sound better but, fuck, I’m terrible.”

I laugh, giving her hand a squeeze. “Honestly, I find this all really interesting.”

“Well, that’s good, I guess. And to answer your question, I’d read the room. Find a guy who had something to prove. The more desperate, the easier they were to take money from. And you’d be surprised at how distracting a low-cut top and a good pushup bra can be. I picked a lot of pockets after ‘accidentally’ spilling a few drops of whiskey down my cleavage.”

“Yeah, that would be distracting. Even for me.”

She smiles, but I can sense her discomfort. I don’t approve of what she did, of course. It’s illegal and I’m a cop.

“I used to think of myself as a version of Robin Hood who kept the money I hustled instead of giving it to the poor. My family was poor so it kind of makes sense.” She shakes her head. “The people I conned were rich assholes who were more than willing to cheat on their wives. Losing a couple hundred bucks here or there wouldn’t have hurt them and maybe it taught them a lesson in cheating. Instead of getting a sexy one-night stand, they got stood up and got their cash stolen.”

“That’s a way to look at it.”

“It doesn’t make it right. I know. If I could take it back, I would. There’s a lot of stuff I’d take back, and I’m not just talking about cons.”

“I’ve done things I’m not proud of too.” She looks cold, so I take my hand from hers and turn up the heat. “I’ve never conned anyone, but there’s plenty of things I’d do over. Specifically, my marriage.”

“Has she been back?” Scarlet asks hesitantly, and I debate on telling her what happened at the bar yesterday. She’s already upset.

“Yeah. She showed up at the house, and I told her to leave. Then Jackson and I went to Getaway—”

“You took Jackson to a bar?”

“During the day. They weren’t open yet.”

“Oh, that’s better. I was going to say you really fell apart on me and I was only gone a day.”

“I did fall apart. But anyway…we went to talk to my brothers, and Daisy followed. She tried to get Jackson to leave with her.”

“Oh my God. What happened?”

“I had her arrested for an attempted kidnapping. Her parents got a fancy lawyer right away and she was released. We’re supposed to have family court in the near future, so nothing will happen until it’s reviewed then.”

“Are you fucking serious?”

“Unfortunately.”

“So she’ll be back.”

“Yes, but hopefully the next time she does, I’ll be officially divorced and will have all the paperwork I need to legally have full custody of Jackson.”

Scarlet nods and falls silent for a few minutes.

“Do you still want to be with me?”

“Yes.” I slow, getting stuck in construction-zone traffic. The clouds are starting to give way to blue skies.

“Are you sure? I’m not a good person, Wes.”

“What you’ve done and who are you are different from each other. You’re not a bad person, Scarlet, and I believe that with my whole heart. I’ve seen you, the real you, and over the last few weeks, I fell in love with you. I never thought I’d love anyone again.”

“And I never thought I’d love anyone at all.” She pulls her arms in toward her body. “Not even myself.”

I turn away from the crawling traffic to look at her beautiful face. Tears well in her eyes and she’s working hard to keep them from falling.

“Loving you and Jackson came easy,” she whispers. “But loving myself…hell, it was hard to remotely like myself most days.”

“You’re worthy of love, Scarlet. Admitting your faults isn’t easy to do, and you have.”

Scarlet nods, wiping away her tears. “Thank you, Weston.”

“For what?”

“For believing in me. My past is dark, but the rest of my life doesn’t have to be.”

I take her hand again. “It won’t be.”

*

I lug the biggest suitcase to the top of the stairs. Scarlet is behind me, carrying her other bags. I pause at the top of the stairs, looking down the hall at the guest room. My bedroom is on the opposite end, and even before this whole mess, Scarlet kept her stuff in the guest room closet.

She dozed off on the way home, giving me time to think. I’ve always been cautious. Too cautious. I married Daisy because it made sense. We’d dated long enough to warrant a proposal. I loved her because she was safe and familiar, and look how that turned out.

I trust Scarlet when she says she wants to change. She did nothing to make me question her judgment before, and I know the worst thing you can do to someone who’s trying to better themselves is to constantly remind them of the mistakes they made.

I’m done being cautious when it comes to love. I’m letting my heart guide me this time.

“Where are you going?” Scarlet asks when I take her stuff into my room.

“I love you.” I set her suitcase on the floor by the bed. “I want us to be together and I want to make sure you know I’m not going to hold the past against you. We can’t move on and enjoy the present if we’re constantly looking backward. And I want to move forward with you.”

Scarlet drops her bags to the ground. “I love you, too.” She steps forward, closing the distance between us, and it’s like I can’t get enough of her. I grab her and throw her on the bed. I move over top, settling between her legs. She rakes her fingers up over my back, and I’m turned on already. I press my hardened cock against her, and she bucks her hips against me.

I bring my head down, kissing her hard before moving my lips to her neck. She reaches down, fumbling with the button on my jeans for a moment before popping it off and shimmying them down my legs. She pushes me to the side, hooking one leg over me and taking hold of my cock. I look down, groaning when I see her long and slender fingers wrapped around my dick. She pumps her hand up and down, swirling her thumb over the tip and spreading precum down my shaft.

Then she lets go and moves down. With a swift movement, she yanks my pants the rest of the way off and takes a hold of my cock again. But instead of moving back up to where she was before, she takes me in her mouth, tongue flicking the tip of my cock.

I let out a moan, falling back onto the mattress. I spread my legs, watching her suck my cock. She moves slow, teasing me, and then speeds up only to slow again. Fuck, she’s good at this. My eyes flutter shut, and I enjoy her mouth on me for another minute before pushing her away.

“I wasn’t done yet,” she says coyly.

“You’re going to make me come already.”

“That’s the plan. I want to take care of you.”

I sit up, grabbing her by the waist. “Letting me fuck you is taking care of me.”

She moans and falls back against the bed, one arm landing above her head. “I’m okay with that.”

I kiss my way down her torso and pull her leggings down, dropping them on the floor. Then I trail kisses up her thigh, stopping right next to her tender core. She tenses, anticipating what’s coming—which will be her in just a few minutes.

I put my mouth over her, letting out a breath of hot air and teasing her through her panties. Slowly, I stroke her, though so gently she’s pressing herself against me.

“I need you, Wes,” she groans, reaching down and taking my hand. “I need you to make me come.”

She doesn’t have to tell me twice. With a growl I move back up, kissing her lips as I slip my hand inside her panties.

“You’re so wet,” I moan.

“You made me wet,” she replies, and I might come right here without her even touching me. “Now make me come.”

I circle her pussy with a finger, inching closer and closer to her clit. Her entire body is tensing as she waits, and as much as I want to keep teasing her, I know I can’t hold out much longer. I stroke her clit, soft and gently at first. She’s easy for me to read, but that’s only because we’re so in tune with each other while we’re making love.

Going off her cues, I speed up my movements, rubbing her clit faster and faster until her body stiffens and she loudly cries out. With her pussy still spasming, I move down, removing her wet panties and parting her legs.

I put my mouth over her and flick her clit with my tongue.

“Oh, God,” she moans, squirming against me. Her hands go to my hair. I lash my tongue out again and again, not stopping until she’s coming so hard the sheets grow damp beneath her.

My cock is dripping, pulsing so hard and begging to be inside of her. Her head is to the side, mouth still open. One of her hands is gripping a handful of my hair so tight it’s painful, but the pain feels good. I move up, cock going right to her center.

“Weston,” she pants, feebly wrapping her arms around me. I push in, rocking my hips slow and steady. It feels so fucking good to be inside of her. I push my big cock in deeper, feeling my eyes roll back and an orgasm build inside me.

She curls one leg up, and I hit her at a new angle. Her pussy tightens around my cock, and my pleasure hits a peak. I come so hard my vision darkens, and I collapse on top of her, sweating and breathing hard.

I roll to the side, reaching for my boxers for her to use to wipe herself up with until she can get into the bathroom. I didn’t mean to come inside of her, but I was too caught up in the moment to grab a condom.

Scarlet uses the bathroom and comes back to bed. I pull the blankets over us both, and she snuggles in.

“Where’s Jackson?”

“Quinn and Archer’s. It’s safe there with all their alarms, and Archer is home today.”

“Good.” She rolls over and cups my chin with her hand. “I love you, Weston Dawson.”

“And I love you, Scarlet Cooper.” I kiss her again and lay down, pulling her onto my chest.

I didn’t play it safe. I listened to my heart instead of my head this time around, and right here in bed with Scarlet is exactly where we’re supposed to be.

“Wes?”

“Yeah?”

“What if Daisy does run that article?”

“I don’t think she will. Blackmailing me like that will look bad in family court. I reminded her of that when she was in handcuffs.”

“But if she does anyway? Your family will hate me.”

“They won’t hate you,” I assure her, though I am a little anxious about them finding out the truth. Dean can be judgy and Mom can hold a grudge like it’s nobody’s business. Dad is more practical, which is where I got it from, and while he might not have an easy time trusting Scarlet for a while, I don’t think he’ll object to us being together.

“I really like your family.”

“They like you too. But,” I start, being honest. “Finding out the truth from an article will be a hard pill to swallow.”

“Maybe we should tell them. Now.”

“Now?”

“Just in case.”

I trace the curve of her hip with my finger. “I really don’t think we have to. And if the people in the county can be that easily swayed in who to vote for, then maybe I don’t want to be in charge of keeping them safe.”

Scarlet laughs. “I’ll still feel terrible.”

“Don’t. If losing the race means I get to be with you, then I’ve won.”