Not A Chance (Sweet Nothings) Read online

  Nick put on his patient-father look. "Arden, people commit suicide for many reasons. Everyone who invested did it because they wanted to. They knew the risks involved."

  "But why would you pitch an investment like that to people like them? Why, Nick?"

  "Because the venture needed capital. My partner raised half of it and I had to come up with the rest. It should have been a very profitable investment, but it flopped. These things happen. We'll recover."

  Arden stared at him in disgust. "You'll recover. Clint Holbrook is having to sell his farm. Others have lost their lives. These people aren't businessmen...they're farmers. How could you do this?"

  "It's what I do, Arden. I don't want to work for your father forever."

  "How come you never told me about any of this?"

  "I've told you about the investment. You just weren't interested. I could tell you weren't listening. You never listen to anything I say."

  "Well I'm listening now. I truly thought you were a basically good and decent person. But this...this is low. And you don't even feel any remorse."

  "I refuse to be held responsible for the decisions of others. I presented an opportunity. Some folks took it, others didn't. That's their choice, Arden."

  She shook her head, biting back tears of frustration. "You didn't see those two people, frozen in their attic, clinging to each other. They were still young, Nick. They had their retirement years to look forward to. You took that from them. Justify it any way you want, but as far as I'm concerned, there's blood on your hands."

  Nick rolled his eyes and looked away. "Stop being so dramatic. You're acting like a spoiled princess."

  She laughed then. This was what Travis had often accused her of. "I lied to you. Something did happen between me and Travis. I didn't sleep with him. But I do have feelings for him."

  Nick seemed to harden all over with tension. "Arden, you and I are going to get married. Maybe it will be just a paper marriage. Maybe we'll live in separate bedrooms and screw around with other people. But I'm not losing out on this investment."

  "Ha! I knew it!" She pointed her finger at his chest. "You're just after my money. You're a lying, cheating, conniving..."

  "And you're no better than me with all your false declarations of love and fake orgasms all the time dreaming about some disgusting, worthless mechanic!"

  "This is over, Nick. I'm done." She threw the ring bag at him.

  He let it drop to the ground. "No you're not," he said. He strode toward her and before she could back away he was gripping her shoulders, digging his fingers harshly into her flesh. "You and I are going to marry. Because if we don't, your parents will disown you. You'll have nothing. And then you'll go running to your filthy mechanic. Which you may think is fun at first. But when you have to scrape and save to pay your bills and the novelty fun of having sex with a grease-covered, flannel-clad knuckle dragger wears off, you'll realize just how good you had it with me. So you're going to save yourself the torment and marry me now. And we're going to put smiles on our faces and look like the perfect couple to all of our friends."

  "Let go of me!" she shouted. She tried to shove him away, but he held tight. She kicked him in the shin, which momentarily broke his grip. He hauled back and slapped her with the back of his hand, his big class ring catching her cheekbone. It didn't break skin, but it would definitely bruise.

  Arden had never been hit before and was overwhelmed with a wave of terror and humiliation. She turned and ran as fast as she could. He didn't pursue her and she drove home and fled to her room where she proceeded to sob harder than she'd ever done before.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Arden had avoided seeing Travis for the rest of the week. She called him a couple of times to see how the baby was doing and to reassure him that they were still on for Saturday. But she was hoping the bruise from Nick's ring would disappear enough that she could at least hide it with makeup. But Saturday night came and it was still fairly visible. It had faded some and the swelling was down, but there was no covering it up. So she put it out of her mind.

  She climbed out of the shower and dried off. Then she put on pink lace bra and panties she'd just bought the day before. After admiring herself in the mirror for a few moments, she dressed in a pair of jeans and a white, button-up blouse. She kept the top three buttons undone. She tried the fourth, but then decided that would be too slutty. She brushed her hair. Tried it up. Then back down again. Then up. And finally left it down, hanging loose over her shoulders.

  The doorbell rang. She ran to her bedroom window. She couldn't see the front door, but she could see Travis's car in the driveway. Forcing herself to swallow down her excitement, she calmly walked downstairs and opened the door.

  Travis's smile vanished. He shoved a bouquet of roses at her and then reached for her face, leaning in close to examine it. "What happened?" he asked, his voice full of sympathy.

  Arden pulled her face back and shoved her nose in the roses. "This was nice of you."

  "Yeah. I haven't dated in forever, minus one-night-stands and short flings; so I didn't know whether people still brought flowers or not. What happened to your face?"

  "Come on, I'll put them in water." She led him to the kitchen where she got a vase from the china cabinet and put the roses in it. She turned to face him and saw he was still staring at the bruise. "Hey! I got new underwear," she said. And then she hooked her thumb in her waistband at the hip and pulled it down far enough to show the lace at the top of her panties.

  This worked for a moment. He grinned and turned a light shade of red in the face. "Nice," he said. Then his eyes drifted back up. "So...did you get in another fight or something? You're becoming quite the scrapper, aren't you?"

  She turned to a cookbook she had laid out on the counter. "You ready to figure out how to make spaghetti and meatballs."

  She felt Travis's hand on her lower back. "If it was Nick," he said softly, "I promise I won't let it ruin our evening. But I am going to have to kill him."

  She turned and looked up at him. "It wasn't Nick. It was an accident. And I don't want to talk about it."

  His expression was sober. His eyes narrowed slightly. "You're a pretty good liar. But okay. We won't talk about it. Tonight." Then he grinned. "Hey, I'm supposed to get a kiss, right?"

  Arden suppressed a grin of her own. "Wouldn't you rather end the evening with that?"

  He shrugged. "I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I was kind of hoping we could end the evening with breakfast."

  An unwelcome surge of heat turned her cheeks bright red. She could barely suppress a giggle. "Actually, I've got a recipe for that, too." And she turned back to her cookbook and flipped over to a page she had marked for a bacon quiche. Travis leaned on the counter, watching her every move, a cocky half-grin on his face.

  He glanced down at the recipe. "I do not eat quiche, Arden. That's something you should already know."

  Arden affected a sigh of frustration. "Yes, but I figured since there was bacon in it..."

  "Fry the bacon. Scramble the eggs. Toast the bread. It's easy and satisfying. What more could you want?"

  She looked up at him, allowing herself a moment to admire his solid chest and shoulders before meeting his eyes. "Yes, but this cookbook doesn't tell me how to fry bacon. Or scramble eggs. The toast I can maybe do."

  He took a step toward her, closing the distance between them. She waited, expecting him to do something dramatic. But he simply threaded his fingers into her hair and adored her in silence. His eyes roamed her face. It felt like he was touching her all over. But he wasn't.

  And then suddenly he stepped back and started looking around him. "Nice place. You gonna give me a tour?"

  Arden, bereft at losing his attention so suddenly, gaped at him. "A tour? Aren't you hungry?"

  "Sure. But I'd still like to see the place. Never been in a house this big."

  Arden shrugged. "Okay." She grabbed his hand, offering him her best, flirty smile, and led him out
of the kitchen into the dining room. "This table is an antique. It's got black, iron legs and the top is mahogany..."

  "It's lovely. What's upstairs?"

  She turned, momentarily irritated. Then her mood softened. "Nothing interesting. All the good stuff is down here."

  "Really?" he said, acting as though he were really interested. "Seems like I remember you saying your room was on the second floor. That might be interesting."

  "Why would that be interesting?"

  Travis shrugged. "You can tell a lot about a person by the decor of their bedroom."

  She grabbed his hand and walked backwards, pulling him toward the stairs and grinning up at him. "Why do I get the feeling I'm being conned?" she asked.

  He laughed. "You know exactly what's going on. You don't get to show me your pink underwear and then act all innocent all of a sudden."

  She laughed and then turned and ran up the stairs. He pursued, taking the steps two-at-a-time. She took a left at the top of the stairs and ran into her room. She stopped, halfway in and turned. He had stepped in the door and stopped, looking around in awe.

  "Holy shit," he said. "I had to share a ten-by-ten room with two brothers."

  Arden shrugged. "Yeah, well, after they had me, there were complications and Mom couldn't have anymore children. So they knocked out a wall between two rooms and gave me all of this space. They put in the bathroom over here." She walked through the entryway to her bathroom and waited for him to catch up.

  She had a huge, whirlpool tub. On the opposite wall was her sink and vanity which stretched along the whole wall. The mirror above was also full length. The surfaces were immaculate and organized. The floor was marble tiled. The shower itself was probably as big as Travis's whole bathroom.

  "Fancy," he said, clearly trying to sound unimpressed.

  She shrugged and smiled up at him. He had his hands shoved in his pockets and seemed slightly uncomfortable. These were not surroundings he often found himself in and she knew it had to feel weird for him. "You want me to fill up the tub?" she asked.

  This worked like a charm. "Yes, please," he said, grinning brightly.

  She skipped to the edge of the tub and turned on the water. When she turned around, Travis was gone. She stepped out of the bathroom and found him laying on her bed on his back, hands folded behind his head, boots kicking back and forth. "This is the biggest bed I've ever seen," he said. "I stayed at a Holiday Inn, once. But it wasn't this nice."

  "You're making too big a deal out of this," she said. She walked over and climbed onto the edge of the bed. She pressed her hands to his chest and swung one leg over, sitting on his hips. She couldn't help admiring his strong body and thinking to herself, all of this is mine. She leaned over him, moving her hands to the bed on either side of his head. She hovered over him for a few seconds, her hair hanging on either side of his face, hiding them both from the rest of the world. She could practically hear the energy humming through his body, and yet he waited patiently for her to make the first move.

  She leaned down and pressed her lips to his. He slid his hands up the outsides of her thighs and rested them on her hips. She kissed him on the cheek and then at the place between his eye and the curve of his nose. His hands tightened. She kissed beneath his jaw and then nipped at his earlobe.

  He groaned. "This is heavenly torture," he said, his voice already husky with desire.

  She giggled as she kissed his throat and slid her hands beneath his shirt, enjoying the soft hair of his chest and the firm muscles beneath.

  She backed up and he sat up. She pulled at his shirt, tugging it over his head and messing up his hair. She examined the tattoos on his shoulders while he unbuttoned her shirt. Then she closed her eyes in pleasure when she felt his lips on her breasts. She held his face against her chest and ran her fingers through his hair. He pushed her shirt off her shoulders and licked his tongue beneath the lace edge of her bra.

  She didn't allow herself to get too lost in him, remembering that the bath was running. She hopped off of him and slapped him on the arm. "Get your boots off my bed," she said, and then strolled toward the bathroom, unbuttoning her jeans. She turned to see him hopping on one foot taking off his boots. Then he grinned and followed her into the bathroom.

  They finished undressing in front of each other and took their time drinking in the sights. Arden turned off the water and stepped into the hot whirlpool, sinking slowly up to her chest in the water, the bubble jets massaging her lower back. He lowered himself in at the opposite end, leaning back and propping his elbows on the sides behind him.

  She sank beneath the water and came back up, slicking her wet hair back out of her face. He was smiling at her, watching her every move.

  "Give me a cigarette and a beer and I'm in heaven," Travis said.

  "You're not in heaven with me?" she asked, pooching out her bottom lip.

  He shrugged. "You're all the way over there."

  "Well I can fix that." She leaned forward and pushed off toward him. He grabbed her waist and pulled her down against him. He slid his hands up her sides and to her breasts. She gasped when he took one breast in his mouth. He slipped a hand between her legs and his fingers worked their way inside of her. She felt herself open up to him and the waves of pleasure slowly heightened until they burst inside of her and she gasped and panted and dug her nails into his shoulders as the spasming subsided and she was left trembling and breathing hard in his arms.

  She felt his chest shaking and realized he was chuckling. She kept her cheek pressed to his chest. His arms were wrapped firmly around her. She slapped him on the arm. "What's so funny?"

  "Nothing," he said. "I just thought it would be so difficult to get you here. I thought you'd make me wait days or weeks even. And here you just drag me up to your room as soon as I walk in the door. You couldn't wait to get my clothes off."

  She retreated to her side of the tub. "You were the one who asked to come up here."

  "Yeah, but you didn't argue. Admit it. You've wanted me all along."

  She stood slowly and stepped out of the tub, appreciating how his arrogant grin disappeared as he watched her, his eyes widening in appreciation. She grabbed a towel and started drying her hair. "Fine," she said. "I wanted you all along."

  He practically leapt out of the tub and took her in his arms. "God! We could have had such a good time during that snowstorm if you hadn't been so fucking stubborn."

  He lifted her off her feet and carried her toward her bed. She giggled and laughed. He tossed her on the bed and climbed on top of her, this time taking complete control of the situation, touching her and kissing her so passionately that she lost her breath. He went down on her bringing her back to the verge of orgasm. Then he came inside of her and it was all friction and sweat and blinding, glittering pleasure. Arden cried out more than once before he came with one final, powerful thrust, crying out through gritted teeth and bearing down on her so hard she felt she'd sunk halfway through her mattress.

  Slowly his muscles relaxed. Arden stared at the ceiling, hugging him with her arms and legs, listening to his breathing slowly even out. Finally he groaned in pleasure, his voice muffled by the pillows. "There is a God. And he loves me," he said.

  Arden laughed. Travis rolled off of her, onto his side. He propped his head on his hand and gazed adoringly at her, reaching out to touch her face. She felt both powerful and cherished. She reached out and touched his face and smiled as he closed his eyes in pleasure. She thought to herself that this must be what forever feels like.

  "I love you, Arden," he said softly, looking seriously into her eyes.

  For the first time she really heard the words and felt them deep inside of her. Tears sprung to her eyes and she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. "Oh, Travis," she murmured, nuzzling against him.

  He rolled onto his back and she lay curled up against him. They dozed in and out for a half an hour.

  "I need to tell you something," he said.<
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  She had been half asleep. "Hmm?"

  "I'm not doing this anymore." His voice was firm.

  Arden sat up on her elbow. "What?"

  "This," he said. "With you. In your parents' house. It just doesn't feel right. Tonight's fine. But not anymore."

  She crinkled her brow. "Why? They're not home."

  "I know. But it just feels wrong. It's their home. And...I don't know...I'm just not comfortable with it."

  "Maybe when you get to know them."

  "I don't think so."

  "I don't understand," Arden said. "Nick used to stay over all the time and my parents didn't care."

  Travis squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears with his hands. "I don't want to know shit like that."

  "Sorry. Sorry," she said, reaching for his face and stroking his cheek. "I'm sorry," she said again, trying not to laugh.

  He smiled gently up at her. "Just...no more. Okay?"

  "Okay," she said. She folded her arms on his chest and rested her chin on them. "Are you hungry yet?"

  "Starving. You should feed a guy before you take him to bed."

  They got up and dressed, partially. Arden in a long t-shirt and panties. Travis in his t-shirt and boxers. Then they went to the kitchen and cooked together, taking plenty of breaks to touch and kiss. They took their plates to the den and put on a movie and ate while they watched TV. After they ate they cuddled awhile and wound up making love on the couch. After which Travis fell asleep, having his belly full of food and being sexually satisfied.

  Arden dozed herself. They were asleep on the couch. Travis was behind her with his hand draped over her waist. She was laying on his other arm. When she woke up, the end credits to the movie were finishing. She patted Travis's hand, but he was sound asleep. She didn't want to leave him, but unfortunately she was desperately craving some chocolate fudge ice cream. She slowly pushed herself up. The room was lit only by the glow of the TV. When she went in the kitchen, she flipped on the hood light over the stove and, by its orange glow, located the ice cream in the freezer.