Page 140 of When There Was You
He braces his arms on either side of me and leans in close. “What, exactly, is your fantasy here?”
“You’re already knocking it out of the park, Mr. Glistening Axe Man. But if I was going to expand on it…” I turn around and check that Emmy’s still inside, then change to a whisper. “I might just want you to force me to my knees right there in the dirt…or have you tie me to a tree and fuck me senseless.”
“Shit. Now I’m getting a boner.”
“Me too. Or, you know, the female equivalent.”
His lips land on mine in a blistering kiss, and tingles erupt down my spine.
“You are pure trouble, Sundance. Now do me a favor and bring me a glass of water.”
“Because you’re hot?” I run the pad of my finger across my lower lip.
He cocks his head. “Um…yeah?”
“No, I want to hear you say, ‘I’m hot.’ Because you. Are. Hot.” I rub my palms together for emphasis.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Good thing you love me.”
He grunts an acknowledgment and adjusts his package. My gaze snaps to his crotch. “We’ll continue this conversation about your lumberjack fantasy later.” It’s a promise.
I shake my ass at him as I walk up the steps.
“Tease away—I’m coming for that.”
“Promises, promises.” I smack my right cheek for good measure before slipping through the front door.
When I rejoin Butch and hand over his water, Hemi is steadily barking at a car crunching down the gravel drive. “Who is it?”
“Goddamn it. I think it’s Darlene.” He slugs down the entire contents of the glass and hands it back to me. “Baby, go inside. Keep Emmy occupied, okay?”
“Alright.” I head in and check on Emmy, who’s still playing with her Barbie Styling Salon, pretending to give the redheaded doll in one of the chairs a haircut. She chatters away, nailing the stylist role to the max.
I quietly walk back to the window overlooking the front. Darlene stands by her faded yellow Valiant. Butch’s defensive posture says it all: arms crossed, stance wide. Hemi growls, hackles raised, and Butch hushes him.
Darlene approaches, her pink-and-white striped short-sleeved blouse tucked into high-waisted pale denim. Her perm has relaxed, those tight curls now loose waves. Within a few minutes, she’s gesticulating wildly with her hands as she glowers at Butch.
He grows increasingly agitated, his own hand jerking into the air for emphasis before he casts a nervous glance toward the house.
The two verbally spar several more minutes while Emmy continues prattling on to her hair customers without a clue about what’s transpiring in the front yard.
Butch frowns, his hands balling into fists at his sides. More words are batted between them. Then he gives Darlene a final, vehement head shake and she stalks to her car. Her head whips, eyes flaring at Butch as she yells one last thing. He doesn’t answer, but I can tell he’s pissed, his jaw visibly pulsing from here.
When the car’s out of sight, he picks up a nearby rock andhurls it down the driveway. Then he turns abruptly and strides in the opposite direction with Hemi hot on his heels.
I launch out the door and jog to catch up. “What did she want?”
His irate eyes meet mine. “She’s not letting this go. Despite what the courts decided. She wants to see Emmy.”
“Oh no.”
“Obviously, I told her no fucking way,” he spits out. “But now I’m wondering if she’s just going to keep showing up.”
“Yeah…that’s not cool.”
He rakes his fingers roughly through his hair. “And one of these days, Emmy’s going to be outside when it happens. And then what? What will she think? What will she want? Am I doing what’s best? Should I talk to Emmy about it?”
