“Thanks for waiting, Ma. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said before bending down to kiss her cheek. I moved toward the front door where Mace watched his mother get in her car and drive away. Looking down, I noticed a bag in his hand.

“What are you doing ?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t what it looked like.

“Staying the night, babe,” he answered, completely matter of fact.

Hell to the no!

“Like fuckery you are! I don’t need nor want you to stay. I’m a big girl and I’m perfectly capable of being alone.”

His eyes shone with amusement that I was really not feeling. “Suck it up, princess. I’m not leaving.” He made his way round to the sofa, dropped his bag and shucked his shirt .

Crappity crap crap crap !

It was hard enough talking—or arguing rather—with Mace when he was fully clothed, let alone half naked. He walked past me to the hall closet where I kept spare pillows and blankets. Pulling out what he needed, he made up the sofa, clearly not listening to me.

I stood there staring like a twit, simply because I was. The sight of Mace sans shirt left me a drooling mute, even when he was pissing me off. Pulling myself together, I turned away clenching and unclenching my fists in an effort to calm myself down.

“I expect you to be gone when I get out of the shower,” I threw over my shoulder, stomping off toward the downstair’s bathroom. Not a chance was I stepping foot in the other knowing some creep had been in there.

Just before closing the door, I swear I heard him chuckle, “Game on baby.” Something told me Marcy might be right; Mace was going to be an annoying jackass until he got his way. Question was, how long could I hold out before I forgave him?

I stepped out of the shower and reached for the lone towel I kept in the rarely used bathroom. Wrapping it around myself, I realized I didn’t have any clothes down here. That meant I’d have to make a run for it.

Knowing my luck, I’d fall face first on the stairs.

Opening the bathroom door, I didn’t bother to look around; I just made a mad dash for the stairs. Halfway up, I heard a laughing Mace yell, “I’ve seen it before, baby. I’ve licked and tasted every inch of your perfect ass. Run all you like, I’ll catch you again.”

I had no doubt he’d try his damndest to do just that too. .

Stomping my way back down stairs after I dressed in my ugliest pajamas, hopefully turning Mace off, I heard the shower running. Mace was in the shower and I’d used the only towel in the bathroom. Shit.

I ran upstairs as fast as I could to grab one. Apparently, I wasn’t fast enough, because as I rounded the corner, he was walking toward the kitchen wearing nothing but a smirk. The pile of towels I had been holding dropped to the floor. My jaw slack, my eyes followed his very naked, very firm ass as he casually strolled to the fridge, opened it and pulled out a beer. Turning as he popped the cap, he cocked an eyebrow and asked, “You want one, babe?”

Void of any coherent thought, I just stood there gaping like a fish out of water.

“Take that as a no then.” He scratched his chest and strolled by, dropping a kiss on my forehead as he passed. “Love them PJs. Love to take ‘em off too, but I’ve gotta get some shut eye. Night, babe.” Mace flopped down on the couch and got himself comfortable.

Forgetting about the discarded towel, I took my scattered brain and my PJs directly up to bed without a word. What the hell were you supposed to say to that?

I made sure the bathroom connected to my bedroom had its door firmly closed. Laying there tossing and turning for what felt like forever, I finally drifted off into a restless sleep.

Chapter Twenty-Five

I woke at the ass crack of dawn stretched out on Scarlett’s sofa after a rough night’s sleep. Waking at every sound had done nothing to cure the raging hard-on I was sporting. When I did sleep, I dreamt of Scarlett in every stage of undress. I dreamt of her in every position my mind could conjure up.

Reaching down, I took my rock-hard cock in my hand and began stroking, slow and steady with a solid grip. Picturing Scarlett on her knees in nothing but a strappy pair of gold heels, her mouth forming a perfect pouty O as she slid my length in and out of her mouth. My breathing and the rhythm of my hand increased as the scene played out in my head. Scarlett moving to a squat, her legs parted giving me a perfect view of her hand snaking down her flat taut stomach over the top of her bare pussy, the gold hoop in her swollen clit clearly visible as she parted her lips and plunged two fingers deep into her sweet cunt, her moans sending shockwaves to my heavy full balls.

My hand picking up, twisting my wrist slightly alternating pressure as I fisted my dick, I felt the exact moment Scarlett walked in the room and saw me. The thought of her watching me pleasure myself was more than I could take. I opened my eyes staring straight at her and what I saw did me in. I could see her nipples peaked through her tiny tank, her mouth slightly open and her chest heaving up and down; desire shone bright in her eyes. I hadn’t imagined the sound of her moan.

Just as I was about to come, I opened my mouth and told her, “It’s all for you, baby. Watching me makes you wet, doesn’t it?”

The tip of her tongue peeked out and made a swipe across her top lip as my dick jerked in my fist as I came. “Fuck!” I swallowed back the need to go to her as my cum shot hot and wet across my stomach, seeping back around my hand and fingers. I took a moment to recover, watching Scarlett gripping the back of the sofa, still clearly turned on. I slowly stood, and on my way to the bathroom, stopped beside her, lifted my hand and rubbed one still-wet thumb across her bottom lip whispering in her ear, “You’re welcome to join me next time. All you have to do is say the word, baby, and I’ll blow down your throat instead.” Her hitched breath and the sight of her sweeping up the taste of my arousal from her red bottom lip told me I was hitting my mark dead on.

My big plan to get Scarlett back was to plant myself in her life in every possible way until she had no choice but to give in. I knew she wanted what we had; it was just the idea of me hurting her again that was holding her back.

It was time to pull out the big guns and show her I wasn’t ever going to hurt her again. She was mine, plain and simple and I didn’t give two shits if she wanted to fight it. I’d fight harder to win her back.

“Stop laughing, get over here and help, or get lost!” I grumbled at Trip who was rolling around on the grass laughing. I’d spent hours sweating my ass off and listening to him giving me shit, but if this worked, it would be worth it.

“Sorry, dude, you’re on your own,” he said through his burst of laughter.

“Sorry-assed spoiled little shit. One day, I swear to God, one day you’re gonna have to do something like this after you piss your woman off,” I muttered, stopping to take a long pull of my cold beer.

“Not likely, bud. Don’t need a woman and don’t wanna keep one if this is any indication of what you gotta go through for a piece of tail,” he said, nodding toward the large area I was working on.

“Shut up and pass me that box, moron. Besides, you know she’s worth it, and wasn’t it you who told me to pull my head outta my ass and fix my shit?”

Dropping the box at my feet, he smirked. “I said fix your shit, not hand in your man card!”

“My man card’s still in my pants, now help me out before I beat your ass,” I answered, throwing a pair of gloves at his chest.

“In your pants is the only place it’ll be staying until she forgives your stupid ass too,” he chuckled.

“So what’s the big plan? I can’t see Scar taking you back this quickly.”

“Cheese,” I said smiling at the plan I’d come up with after Scarlett left for work this morning.

“Cheese? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think a dairy product is gonna help you.” He looked confused.

“Tacky cheesy displays. I’m gonna annoy her into taking me back.” A triumphant smile broke across my face thinking of all the ways to annoy Scar back into my arms.

“This could go bad, real bad. I’ll help, but I’m staying clear outta Scar’s way. I don’t feel the need to get punched in the junk.” He had a point there.

“You help me out, and I’ll do all I can to save your sad excuse for equipment, dude,” I said, smirking at him.

With the two of us hard at work, we managed to get my first plan done in no time. Standing back admiring our handiwork, Trip clapped me on the back and smiled. “Looks like it’s go time. I’m out.” I looked up to see Scarlett pulling into the drive.

Damn, I hope this works.

Standing back, I waited until Scarlett walked over to the edge of my masterpiece. Leaning in, I kissed her forehead as she looked around in what I could only guess was shock.

“What the hell is that?” she asked. I wasn’t quite sure how to gauge her reaction.

“Flowers,” I simply answered, my eyes flicking from the front yard to her face and back again.

“I see that, but why did you rip up half my front lawn to plant hundreds of flowers in the shape of a heart?” She was trying hard to look annoyed, but I could see the edges of her mouth tipping up.

“Well, because I wanted to get you flowers. This way everyone can see how much I love you,” I answered matter-of-factly.

“You went out and spent a fortune on God knows how many pots of flowers, dug up half my front lawn, and planted them in a heart shape bigger than me? Because you love me and you want everyone to know?” she summarized, looking slightly annoyed. Damn, she was cute when she pulled the cranky face.

“Yep, I gotta get cleaned up. I’ll be over a bit later, babe.” Kissing her on the cheek, I took off toward mine and Trip’s, leaving Scarlett staring after me.

Just before I made it to the other side of the road, she yelled out, “You won’t be coming over, Mace, the door will be locked!”

I waved over my shoulder smiling at Trip sitting in the front window watching us with a huge smile on his own face, and yelled back, “Sure I will. We’ve got a movie to watch!”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Honey, I’m home!” Uh, excuse me? Mace walked further into the house, threw a few DVDs on to the coffee table and made for the kitchen with a stack of pizzas in his hand and a grocery bag dangling from his fingers.

“You’re not home. You don’t live here, and how did you even get in?”

“I have a key,” he smirked, dropping the pizzas down and dumping the contents of the bag he was holding onto the kitchen bench.

“Excuse me?” That’s it. That was all I had. Where the hell did he get off? How did he even have a key, and wait, why all the food? “Why do you have so much food? There’s enough junk here to feed an army.” The bench was covered with more sugary crap and junk than anyone in their right mind could eat.

Leaning closer, he pecked a kiss on my shoulder and went about putting popcorn into the microwave. “I promised Jude I’d watch the twins, so the twins are coming over. They’ll be here any minute.”