Addict.
The word echoed in her mind. She pushed herself off him, stumbling back away from him. She wasn’t her sister or her mother. She was always in control of her desires.
Until now.
Until Alejandro Velasquez.
She put her hand on her mouth and turned away fromhim, not saying anything. She heard his heavy breathing and a few minutes later she heard his zipper as he did it up.
“I should be going. Have a safe trip,” she said.
“I’ll drive you,” he said.
“You don’t have to,” she said.
“I do. It’s late July in Texas and I’m a gentleman no matter what you might believe. It’s the least I can do.”
She nodded and went to find her shoes. As he led her to his car, neither of them said a word about what had happened. And when he pulled into the drive of her rented house, she bolted out as soon as he brought the car to a stop.
She didn’t look back but didn’t have to because in her mind she still saw the passion on his face when she’d straddled him and she knew that staying away from him was going to be harder than anything she’d ever done.
Chapter Six
Scarlet needed to go out and surround herself with people who just wanted her to be the edgy heiress. Alec had somehow found a way to make her remember all the things that she was usually much better at ignoring. Stuff like how much she had missed him...but more than that, how she missed a genuine connection with someone.
“Billie? Siobahn?”
Her little miniature dachshund came trotting into the foyer and Scarlet leaned down to scoop her up. Lulu burrowed into her neck the way she liked and Scarlet closed her eyes as she rubbed her dog’s back. Then she set Lulu back on the tile floor and the dog dashed off for the kitchen. She followed Lulu and found Siobahn sitting at the counter, shoulders hunched, staring intently at her smartphone screen.
“Siobahn? You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good. I can’t believe this. Now they’re saying it’s going to be the wedding of the century,” Siobahn said, scrolling on her screen.
Scarlet went over and took the phone from her friend,putting it on the counter behind her. “As if. It might be the tackiest wedding ever but that’s it.”
Siobahn smiled. “Probably all pink and frothy.”
“Definitely. That woman has an unhealthy obsession with tulle.”
“She does,” Siobahn said. “Where have you been?”
She grabbed two Fiji waters from the fridge and passed one to her friend. “I was meeting with the guy I hooked up with when I came to Houston.”
“That Mauricio guy?”
She wrinkled her brow. “Uh, well, it turns out that it was actually his twin brother, Alejandro.”
“Ooh. Interesting,” Siobahn said, moving over to the padded bench in the breakfast nook and patting the seat next to her.
Scarlet went over and sat next to her friend. She rested her elbows on the wooden table and held the water bottle suspended between her hands.
Interesting.
“Is he why we’re in this town no one’s ever heard of?” Siobahn asked.
“You needed to get out of the city, too,” Scarlet said. She hated to make it seem like she was selfish and did things just in her own best interests. “But yeah.”
“You’re right. I did need a break,” Siobahn agreed. “So tell me what’s going on with this guy.”