DOTTY (The Naughty Ones Book 3) (8 page)

Bleeding Eardrums

Dot

“You’re what?!”

I pull the phone away and grin at Paul where he’s entranced by the sports channel while rubbing my feet. My eardrums feel like they should be bleeding by now but I still giggle and go back for more as Percy and Indie start yelling and screaming things I can’t even begin to make out.

“Oh, Dotty. Is this…are you sure?” I hear Luci ask hesitantly.

This is why I chose not to video call them, because the look on my face right now? Evil. This is the single most exciting, happy moment of my life and they’ll ruin it if they start asking me shit I can’t answer.

Am I sure this is what I want? Yes, without a doubt in my mind I know that this man is my one. Funny, since just weeks ago all I wanted from him was some hot sex and no commitment. I must have been suffering a concussion to not see him as my one and only. That’s all that matters to me right now.

              “Dotty? You still there?”

“Still here, just wiping the blood from my ears is all,” I huff teasingly as they finally settle down.

“So? You sure?” Luci pushes, making me roll my eyes at Paul.

“Luci, the man has this wicked tiger tattoo from neck to pec on the left side, an ass I could bounce a freaking tractor off of, and the rest of him is just plain yummy. Not to mention he’s sweet and smart and lets me use my fabric softener on his clothes even if he smells like a florist shop all day. It’s pretty safe to say I’m all in.”

The screaming starts again and I let out a moan that brings on dead silence when Paul, appreciative of my compliments, pulls me down and comes over me, burying his face in my good spot.

“What’s going on? Are you guys getting nasty? Details!” Percy yells, making me laugh through a moan when he rips my pants in half and gets down to business with gusto.

“Gotta…go…talk later.”

They’re all yelling nasty shit at me before I can end the call and toss the phone to grab on to his thick hair.

“Hmm, you think I’m yummy, woman?”

“Oh, right there, so good, soooo good,” I mewl, shoving down on his head as he tortures me.

“Dotty, baby.”

“Yes, yummy. You’re so yummy all over I just want to lick you and suck on you everywhere.”

I’m panting by the time he stops teasing and comes up over me with a cocky grin.

“You can do anything you want with me, Miss Harper, this body is all yours,” he purrs down at me, licking his lips and wetting mine he’s so close.

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

I’m on him so fast he starts laughing and I smile to myself when that laugh turns to a groan and he purrs his pleasure.

“I told you, Summers. Yummy.”

***

My three weeks ended yesterday and while I’m not too bummed about it now that I’m engaged and in love with this fine specimen, I am so sad that we’re leaving today because Paul still needs to wrap up his business before we can call Wyoming home.

“Good-bye, stove. I’ll miss you. Good-bye, dishwasher. Don’t cry, I’ll be back soon enough and you can wash all the dishes you want to.”

So what if I’m talking to the appliances while Paul laughs his fool ass off. I am going to miss my home every second that I’m not here to love it and make it into the nest I want it to be.

This place is my dream and now that I’ve had a taste of that dream I am not happy about leaving it, even if only for a few months.

I actually thought about staying and telling Paul to screw off and go do his business stuff and come back, but then I realized I’ve turned into a sex fiend and I’ll die without him.

Of course I will be living in his apartment and giving up my shares in Delights, but I am so okay with all of that. It’s weird but I don’t feel any angst at all to be losing that part of my life.

One thing I am totally ecstatic about is seeing the girls and the rest of the family again because I miss all those crazy freaks. A little. Okay a lot! So what? They’re an acquired taste and my taste buds only seem to like bitter and tainted now.

“Babe, we need to go if we’re going to stick to the flight schedule.” He laughs when I kiss the refrigerator and turn to him with a scowl.

“You hush. You’re making me leave our home to go back to that stinking pit of exhaust fumes and you think I won’t cry a little. Meanie!”

The kiss I get is equal parts amusement and his own dose of regret. I should really be more supportive right now because I know that even he is not relishing leaving our new peaceful life on hold after we just started living again.

Darn it. Be a better mate, Dot.

“I’m sorry, babe. If I could ignore it all and just stay put I would, but the board is getting antsy and Alex is making a mess of all my plans. I have to go back now before I lose ground.”

Paul explained to me that he’s been systematically and very quietly whittling the company down for the last few years so as not to start any rebellions or upset the board of directors. The company as a whole will go to one person along with the existing board of directors, but the smaller offshoots he’s been dropping on the sly to lighten the load.

It’s so diabolical and smart I jumped him and had to resume the conversation only after two orgasms and a lot of appreciative petting.

In short, Paul has planned his escape from his grandfather’s legacy down to the last pen the company owns so that he can live here full time. With me, of course.

              “I know. It just sucks that I have to go back there with all those idiots waiting on me. Percy said Father’s been calling her, and that says a lot because he despises poor Percy ever since she put pudding in his gas tank. They seem to be getting worse and I just…I’m a coward. I wanna stay here and hide so I don’t have to talk to them about this. I was hoping maybe a year down the line they’d finally get a clue and realize their plan is not happening.”

Paul chuckles and busses my lips while pulling me out of the house to say good-bye to the boys.

“We’re together and you won’t be alone when you tell them, so you can breathe deep again and stop panicking, little lady.”

              Jules and the guys seem subdued and not at all happy to be saying good-bye, and I hug them all, despite Paul’s snarls, and promise to be back as soon as possible.

“You take care in that devil’s den, Miss Dotty. Don’t be letting any of them city-slicking assholes upset ya and you be sure to come on home soon, ya hear. We’ve got a wedding to plan and that strawberry patch thing to look into so you can make us that ice-cream shit you promised.”

“I sure will, Raff, just as soon as Paul gets things done.”

I don’t cry when Paul lifts me into his truck and buckles me in, and I manage to make it all the way to the airfield before the poor man has to carry my sobbing ass onto his jet and rock me as we take off.

“It’s not all that bad, baby. We’re still together, huh? We can make this work for a little while as long as we’ve got each other.”

“I know. I just realized I never had sex with you in the bathtub that’s near the creek is all.”

I’m more adventurous now and that tub was cute. I wanted to do him in it with the moon shining down on us because it seemed so magical when I thought of it.

“We’ve got all our lives together to fuck in weird places. By the way, I have a sex swing in my apartment.”

That earns him a slap and a giggle. He leans down and kisses me again.

“Let’s not tell Percy though, okay? She’s a straight-up freak.”

This Is My Life

Dot

Mother is a mess as I steadily and firmly tell her for the absolute last time that I’m not going through with their idea of a shotgun wedding, since I am indeed already in love and engaged to the man of my dreams.

I’m steaming mad when she starts trying to use her illness to guilt me, but when I go to rage at her Paul just squeezes my hand and shakes his head subtly.

We’ve talked about how to handle this for the three days we managed to hide out at his place without being shanghaied, and we agreed that I would stay calm and not go Dot on anyone.

According to him, and believe me I do not find his mirth at my expense funny, for a woman who previously described herself as a wallflower, I have a temper that is violently scary.

“But, Dorothea, you promised. You don’t want Mummy to relapse, do you?” she sniffles, looking up at me from beneath her lashes.

Relapse? If she doesn’t stop this I may let Indie loose on her and then a relapse will be the least of her worries. She’ll be needing wreaths. On her grave. The one beside Father’s when I give Percy the green light.

I may even let Callie “Biter” have a piece of that revenge pie.

“Mother, I promised you no such thing. I recall telling you that I would not marry Alexander and that it would be better for all involved if you printed a retraction and let everyone know that there won’t be a wedding. You and father just refused to listen.”

“But the SCANADAL.” She weeps, making my ears start ringing.

The scandal? That’s what she’s worried about instead of congratulating me on my happiness the way Gruffy did, sloppy kisses and all?

She was so thrilled I didn’t even bat a lash when she squeezed and fondled Paul’s butt a little longer than appropriate. For her, at least.

One good thing to have come out of all of this is that Paul and the men met, and Jack and Woody expressed some real interest in his plans and even offered him top dollar for his company.

It looks like I may be going home sooner than expected. If I don’t kill myself first, thanks to Mother’s theatrics.

Now I’m thinking I may agree with Paul. There is definitely something more than some old family marriage pact at play here. I am dying to know why they’re all so desperate to seal this deal and why it seems that Mother almost had a freaking coronary when she found out that I was marrying Paul.

“Rethink this, Dorothea. You don’t know this man. Alex has the worst things to say about him and—”

“And that is
his
problem, not mine. I love Paul and I am so marrying him, I don’t give two shits what you and this fucked-up Adam’s family remake have to say,” I yell, losing my temper finally.

It feels like my hair is on fire when I rise to my feet and I look down at her with a contempt that I’ve been striving not to feel since I started listening to the voice mails they left on my phone for three weeks.

Paul, my sweet, often amused darling, stands too and seems to have shed whatever anger he was carrying around these last three days.

“You’ll regret this, you little ingrate! We spent years feeding and clothing you and sending you to school! And this is how you repay us? What he sees in you I will never understand, but at least Alexander was willing to overlook your flaws and make you a member of the top echelons of society.”

Boooooring.

“We thank you for your time, Mrs. Harper, but Dot and I are ready to leave. Please do not expect an invitation to the wedding. We only want real family there. Come on, baby, let’s go see your real family. At least there no one pretends to be sick and they actually offer us coffee.”

That last part has her shrieking and I want to laugh myself sick when we reach the front door, only to have my father barrelling in, his face red and sweat soaked.

“There you are! You’re lucky I found you before I really lose my temper, Dorothea.”

Uh-oh.

I feel Paul go so tense behind me, he feels like granite and I think I hear his teeth grind to dust as he takes a step forward and gets into the other man’s face.

              “I suggest you rephrase that, fucker, or you’ll be talking out of your ass for the next twenty years. No one talks to my girl that way.”

Where is my phone?! I need to record this to show Indie and Percy! And Callie.

Father seems to pale and shrink into himself a little, and I have to say I am totally satisfied and a little turned on when Paul collects himself on a dime, straightens, and smiles while giving me his arm.

“Baby, let’s go.”

              This makes me feel all magical because right there is that moment when Patrick tells them, “Nobody puts baby in a corner.”

No freaking damn way will I ever forget this! I have got to text Callie; she’s gonna be green with envy over this. ight now. I feel like Rocky when he got to the top of the freaking steps!

“What are you doing, baby?” he asks as soon as he puts the car in drive and pulls out.

“Texting Callie about my hot
Dirty Dancing
moment. She is going to be pea green with envy, and I’ll have finally won the Swayze showdown. Thank you, babe! You just totally made this the second best moment of my life besides the totally cool way you proposed to me.”

“Well hey now, where’s the sex on that list?” he grumps, making me giggle because it is so like a man to see sex as trumping the Swayze.

Madness.

In my romance-clouded brain it is so number three, but I don’t think he’ll appreciate losing out to a dead Hollywood legend. Poor baby does not understand. Those movies sustained me through a lot of messed-up times.

              “The sex is one and the ring is two. This moment is definitely three,” I say at last, loving his smile and victory cry as he fist pumps the air.

“You bet your ass the sex is at one, baby. Bet your sweet ass.”

I have a feeling he may be high maintenance after all, but that’s totally okay.

“Where to, baby?”

I want to say home but I can’t, not yet because he’ll know what I mean and just feel guilty. Instead I grin and mouth
Gruffy
, watching him shudder and wipe his lips.

Gruffy gives tongue. Who knew?

***

Paul

I feel like I’m walking on cloud nine as I leave Jack, Woody, and Freddie Cage and take the elevator down to the first floor. Right now I should probably be going to the office and talking to the board about what I have just done, but I can’t seem to give a damn about any of it. All I want to do is go home to my Dotty and hammer her a little before making slow sweet love to her and crowing in victory.

I just took that very last step and offloaded the company that’s been a burr in my ass for years and I feel like celebrating it with my woman.

I also need to call Mom and Grammy and get them over to my place for the good news before convincing them somehow to move with us.

Mom won’t be too big of a problem, but Grammy’s so used to the city and her little poker buddies, it may not work out on that end. That’s about the only fly in my ointment at the moment, and I’m grinning like an ass as I slide into the car and the driver pulls away, smiling when I tell him to take me home.

It’s funny, I’ve been driving with Ramon for years and I never once bothered to talk to him besides the directions he needs or the odd hello.

I didn’t even know his name. Give Dot five minutes with that tinkling voice and cute-as-pie face and it’s like we now have another family member in our midst.

I’m not kidding, the woman invited him and his wife to Gruffy’s for Thursday night meatloaf. My baby loves meatloaf.

“You get it done, Mr. Summers sir?” Ramon asks, looking back at me from the rearview mirror.

“Yup and I even found a way to make sure some of the money Alex should get goes to charity, so I’m pretty happy right now, Ramon my friend. Pretty fucking happy.”

“Good job, sir. The little missus is sure gonna like hearing that, what with being homesick and all. I’m gonna miss you and the little hellion, though, I really am.”

“Yeah, but home is where the heart is, man, and I think my heart left hers back on the ranch. So there we must go,” I say prosaically, though I’m grinning like a fool.

We all know I’m just as happy about this as Dot is, so my stiff upper lip is just not possible.

“Here we are. Congratulations, Mr. Summers, and tell Dot that Hilda loved the recipe.”

“Will do, my man. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off and go on home to your wife.”

I run my way to the elevator and I don’t bother to act civilized as I run into the apartment and slam the door, my smile so wide it actually hurts when I look around and spot Dot on the sofa, crying a little as Alex scowls at me from his perch way too close beside her.

“What the hell are you doing here, you little asshole?”

My façade is not one I can hold anymore. I haven’t been very convincing at all since I walked into the office and this little shit gobbler grinned at me while apologizing for screwing up the account he was handling.

Alex seems to puff up and grins at me with a victorious smile that has my hackles rising. I know something is wrong as soon as I walk over to Dot and she seems to stiffen and go cold as ice beside me.

I take her hand, and though she doesn’t pull away, I feel how closed off she is from me.

“Just telling her everything she needs to know about you, Paulie boy.”

I could punch his lights out right now and loosen some of those fake-ass teeth of his without much guilt, but instead of letting my anger free rein I choose to push it all down and smile at him the way I smile at my enemies.

The look is threatening, malicious, and scary as hell. I know since one guy actually started crying once.

“Is that a fact, little man? And what exactly would that truth be since you seem to think you know me so well?” I ask quietly, my voice laced with acid.

“I told her all about how you’re only using her to get revenge on me for sleeping with your fiancée.”

Yeah, okay, this is not good. I was expecting it but when I feel Dot tense and try to wrench her hand free I feel like the world as I know it is teetering on the brink.

Time to fess up, I guess, but I won’t sit here and beg Dot to listen while this asshole gets a free show. I despise everything about my cousin, from his fake smile, oozing charm and stupidity, to the spite that I recognize those traits as being inherited from his grandmother.

Boy am I glad my family is normal. Or as normal as it’s possible to be for an ex-waitress who sees a psychic on a daily basis and a grammy who smokes cigars and sounds like a man.

“Get out.”

“Dude, you think you can just ignore this and downplay it? Dorothea deserves to know the truth, man, and she deserves to know that I’m willing to give her another chance at—”

“I said get the fuck out!” I roar, coming to my feet in a lunge that has Alex scrambling so quickly he trips and falls over the armrest before springing to his feet and running out.

The satisfaction that brings is short lived when I look down to see my girl staring at me, her face blank but for the almost imperceptible thinning of her lips.

“I can explain, baby.”

“Really? Because from where I am sitting it seems to me that you used me to pull a fast one on your cousin. Tell me, Paul, is it true that you were engaged?” she asks softly, her sing-song voice flat and cold as she looks at me with dead eyes.

I want to kiss her and hug her and plead with her to give me a chance to explain and sort this out, but I see her anger raging beneath the surface and I see the utter control it’s taking for her not to lose her cool and have an episode like the ones Indie told me about.

Knowing that I caused it would kill me and I don’t want her hysterical. I need her to listen.

Should have told her about Sarah, man. Stupid fucking mistake.

“Yes. A long time ago,” I admit, flinching when she swallows and I see her eyes mist.

If she cries I’m screwed.

              Right now I need happy Dot to peek her little head up and give me a fighting chance before I lose the one thing in my life I love more than the ranch.

“You never said.”

So cool and composed.
Dammit, baby, don’t do this,
I plead silently as I lower myself to the sofa and let my hands fall between my spread knees.

“I didn’t want to ruin it all by talking about that part of my life, baby.”

“And yet it’s okay for me to share all those embarrassing things about my own life with you? I told you about my parents and my birthday, and how I wished my whole life that they would love me. You let me humble myself to you, thinking we were an item, a real love match, when all the freaking while you were using me to get back at him?”

“No! That’s not true, baby. I do love you,” I yell, my panic rising faster when she collects herself and rises to her feet.

“Did you or did you not start this with the intention of using me?”