Insta-Ever After: A Flirt Club Novella Collection Read online

  28

  I can’t walk around my club with a hard-on

  Max

  * * *

  The club is filled with New Year’s Eve revelers. They’re all laughing and drinking, dancing closely as their inhibitions slowly vanish. My eyes scan the crowd, searching for Scarlett. It’s a big step for her to come out since that asshole fiance of hers left her high and dry. But I can’t say I’m upset she didn’t end up married last year. It had felt like a gift from God when she announced the wedding wasn’t happening. And now that it’s been a while and she’s had a chance to heal, I’m ready to make my move. I’m going to make her mine tonight.

  I see her the moment she enters, her silver dress hugging her curves and making her look like a fairy in the lights. White blonde curls tumble down her back and I want to wrap my hands in the strands and tug until she moans my name. Shit, I need to pull myself together. I can’t walk around my club with a fucking hard-on.

  She smiles at someone. Someone decidedly not me, and a wave of jealousy rushes over me. But then I watch her wrap another woman in a hug and the two of them start up a conversation. They wander to the balcony, and I just…watch. I don’t want to break through her peaceful moment with a friend. God knows she needs some happy in her life.

  The two of them finally sit on one of the couches and I can sense a lull in their conversation by Scarlett’s expression. Her friend pulls out her cell phone and I know this is the time to make my move. When the ball drops, I’m going to give her the kiss that starts our forever.

  I cross the floor, shoving through the dancers, not caring about the yelps of annoyance. I’m focused on one thing. Her.

  “Hi,” I say when I get to where she sits.

  She looks up my considerable height and offers me a beaming smile. “Hi.”

  “You look…” I can’t finish my sentence. I have no words to truly describe her.

  “You too.” Her cheeks turn red and I take a step closer.

  “Drink?”

  She nods then gestures to the crowded bar. “It’s busy.”

  I can’t stop my laugh. “It’s New Year’s Eve. Everyone’s out tonight.”

  My chest tightens at the flash of sadness in her eyes. “I’m glad you’re here. It’s been too long since we saw each other.”

  “Not for my lack of trying.” I’d called and texted, stopped by her apartment, even gone to her office to see her after everything went down with Bryce. She wouldn’t see me. She wouldn’t see anyone but her brother.

  “I’m sorry. I was embarrassed.”

  “What? You have nothing to be embarrassed about.” I take her hand and pull her to stand, the electricity between us sizzling. “You dodged a bullet.”

  A soft smile turns up her lips. “I realized that a little while ago. Especially since I hear Bryce is already divorced from the woman he left me for.”

  A slow song starts on the sound system and the lights go down to a dim pulse with the beat. I pull her onto the dance floor and wrap my arms around her waist. “You never should have been with him in the first place.”

  Her eyes are shining with something I can’t name. “Who should I have been with, Max?”

  I dip my head, closing the distance between our lips, ready to finally kiss her for the first time. But someone crashes into my shoulder and I have to release my hold on her so I don’t fall to the ground and take her with me. The air is filled with shouts and gasps as two guys attack each other on the dance floor. Fists flying, they pound each other’s faces in while one of my bouncers and I work to tear them away from each other. Sharp pain blossoms in my cheek as an elbow connects with my cheek and my vision goes white at the impact. Finally we cart the two of them to the door, a girl following behind us, her softly muffled sobs making me wonder what happened between the three of them. I can guess, but all I can think of is that these people interrupted the most important moment of my life with their drama.

  “Get them out of here,” I tell Vince, as he takes up my place at the taller guy’s back.

  “You’d better get the first aid kit, boss,” Vince says, gesturing to my face. I reach up and touch my cheek, my fingers coming away wet with blood. Damn.

  Scarlett is there, her small palm resting on my forearm. “Come on. Show me where you keep the first aid. I’ll get you patched up.” Her eyes are wide with worry.

  “I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re bleeding. Come on.”

  “You didn’t come here to play nurse. You’re here to have a good time.”

  Honestly, the thought of leaving her alone out here makes my skin itch with unease, but I don’t want to be the reason she misses out on her first night out in months.

  “Max, I came here to be with you. I don’t care about dancing or drinking. I just wanted…you.”

  A rush of need hits me square in the chest, its warmth spreading through my body. She wants me. Nodding, I take her hand and lead her up the stairs and to my office. In my small bathroom I grab the first aid kit from under the sink. She’s sitting on my desk when I return and her skirt has ridden up high enough that most of her thighs are exposed. Soft and creamy, she looks like a decadent dessert I want to eat.

  “Give it to me,” she orders, holding out her hands and grinning.

  I place the kit in her palms and take a seat in the plush leather chair behind my desk, desperate to hide my growing erection. She hops down, her tits bouncing under the thin fabric of the dress and I bite back a groan at the thought of what those breasts will look like when I have her naked and under me. Shit. I need to get ahold of myself.

  “Now, this is what you get for playing hero.” She opens the box and pulls out an alcohol wipe. “This is going to sting.”

  She’s fucking right. Fire races through my cheek as the alcohol hits my cut. But in a few minutes she’s applied a butterfly bandage and the bleeding has stopped. My pain is just a dull ache. Scarlett is standing between my knees, her fingers running over my cheek and a frown pulling her brows together.

  “What?” I ask.

  “I’m just…thinking.”

  I slide my hands over her hips and she stiffens. At first I think I should release her, that maybe she doesn’t want me in the way I’ve wanted her for years. “About?”

  She lets out a shaky laugh. “I wish I had a drink.”

  I laugh. “I was supposed to get you one.”

  “Instead you broke up a fight and got hurt.”

  Tense silence falls between us. I want to tell her how I feel. I need to know that I’m not alone in this.

  The clock on my wall chimes. “It’s midnight,” she whispers.

  “Happy new year.”

  “I don’t have anyone to kiss.”

  The fuck she doesn’t. Pulling her close, I shove her skirt higher up her thighs so she can straddle me. With every fiber in my being, I pray she’ll move closer. “You have me. You can kiss me forever if you want.” She settles over my lap and wraps her arms around me.

  “Happy new year, Max,” she murmurs.

  Her lips find mine and I nearly explode from the feeling. She’s sweet like strawberries and as my hands run up her legs and to her hips, I find nothing but smooth skin. Fuck, she’s not wearing panties. She came to my club, came here for me, and she’s not wearing a scrap to cover her tempting pussy.

  I break our kiss and murmur, “I need you, Scarlett.”

  She backs away and blinks at me. “What?”

  “I’ve been waiting until the time was right, but I can’t wait any more.”

  “I…I…” she stammers.

  “I know this is unexpected.” She grinds her bare pussy against my length and I wish I’d already freed myself from the confines of my slacks. I want to sink inside her, make her mine. I groan and thrust up against her. “I’ve wanted you to be mine for so long.”

  “Max, I came here because I need to ask you something,” she says on a moan.

  “Anything.”

  “I want to have a baby.
” Her words make my heart stutter as she stares into my eyes. Completely serious. Determined. “And I want you to give it to me.”

  29

  I’m not donating my DNA

  Scarlett

  * * *

  Max looks at me like I’ve just pulled the rug out from under him. I guess in a way, I have.

  “What did you just say?” he asks.

  “I said I want to have a baby, and I want you to be the sperm donor.”

  He frowns. “Wait. Donor?”

  I nod, getting off his lap. “I realized that the whole reason I wanted to marry Bryce was to start my family. But I don’t need a husband to have a child.”

  “Don’t you want one? A husband, I mean. I’ve heard the whole raising a kid thing is hard even with two people.”

  I shrug. “People do it alone all the time. I want a baby. I’m ready. I don’t want Bryce to be the reason I wait. He’s already taken enough from me.”

  He drags a hand through his dark hair and stands, the obvious erection in his pants drawing my gaze down his body. God, his lips felt so good on mine. I got caught up in it all, in the intense connection between us, the feel of his hands on my body, the smell of his cologne—rich leather and some dark spice. “So you thought you’d just come out tonight and seduce me to achieve your goal?”

  Unease curls in my belly at the hurt in his tone. “That’s not exactly what I’d planned.”

  “But you did plan it. You came here in that fucking dress, looking like my dream come true. Christ, Scarlett, you’re not even wearing panties.”

  “I can’t in this dress,” I say, and he lets out a groan.

  “Why now? Why me?”

  I bite my lower lip and avert my gaze. “I could go to a sperm bank.”

  He growls low in his throat. It’s a sound of pure male jealousy and it sends a thrill through me.

  “I wanted it to be with someone I care about and who I admire. You’re handsome, smart, caring, kind, and I know you’d never hurt me. Who would be better than someone like you?”

  “And you expected me to just agree and let you raise my kid alone?”

  There’s fierce possessiveness in his eyes and words. Oh, I hadn’t planned on this kind of reaction. “I didn’t want you to feel obligated to anything.”

  “Obligated?” The exasperation in his voice has a glimmer of hope burning in my chest. “It’s my fucking child. Obligated isn’t the right word. Devoted. That’s the word I’d choose. If I were to give you a baby, I’d be devoted to them—to you.”

  “So, you won’t?” I hold my head up high, but the disappointment is a crushing weight. I have to get out of here.

  “No, I won’t give you my sperm so you can take my child and live your lives without me.” I nod and fight to hold back the sudden wave of tears. His phone rings and he answers with a harsh bark of, “What?”

  He turns away from me, something on the other end of the line upsetting him. I use that as my excuse to leave. I was stupid to come here like I did, to get carried away in the fantasy of him. I should have just asked for him to go donate at the clinic, not let myself be swept up in everything I love about him.

  I make my way out of the club, down the stairs and out to the bitter cold of a New York City winter. Using my phone, I order a car to come get me and pray it takes less than the ten minutes the app suggests. Despite my coat, I’m freezing—shivering so hard my teeth hurt.

  “I’m sorry.” Max’s voice catches me off guard. Turning on my heels, I find him directly behind me, his expression pained. “I was harsh with you and I shouldn’t have been.”

  “I was presumptuous. I really didn’t come here to seduce you, but the way you were looking at me when we were dancing, and the way you ran your hands over me—you’ve never touched me like that. I let the fantasy take over.”

  He smirks. “What fantasy?”

  “The one I’ve had since I was sixteen. You holding me down, kissing me, taking me and making me yours.” My nipples tighten at the memories of the nights I spent dreaming of him.

  “You really wanted me back then?”

  I nod. I need to be honest about the crush I’ve always had on him. “You’ve always been the unattainable. I hated that you saw me as the annoying kid sister.”

  He shakes his head and steps close, pulling me into his arms. “You’ve never been that to me. It nearly killed me when you announced your engagement. I wanted it to be me so fucking badly. I’ve been in love with you for years, Scarlett.”

  Shock rolls through me. “You’re in love with me?”

  “Madly.” He presses our foreheads together. “I never knew how to tell you, and I couldn’t explain it to Logan. He’d kill me for wanting his baby sister the way I do.”

  “I’ve been in love with you all this time too,” I admit. “I never said anything because you always seemed so uninterested in me.”

  “I was interested. I was so interested it hurt. I forced myself to stay distant. You mean everything to Logan and I couldn’t risk damaging your relationship with him.”

  My heart lifts. “And now?”

  “Well, you’re talking about letting some random guy knock you up. The stakes have gotten significantly higher. No one is filling you with a baby but me.”

  I grin. “So you’ll do it?”

  “No.”

  I frown. “But you just sa—”

  “I’m not donating my DNA to you only for you to keep me out of your lives. I’m going to love you and knock you up, but only when you’re my wife. We’ll be a family and I’ll fill you with as many babies as you want.”

  My heart lurches. “Are you…proposing?”

  “Fuck yes, I am. Marry me, Scarlett. Start this year off the way it should have been a long time ago. Be mine.”

  I close my eyes and let the picture of my future come to me. I see him. I see us. And I say, “Yes.”

  30

  Cockblocker

  Max

  * * *

  I didn’t know one word could cause so much happiness. Scarlett’s whisper of, “yes,” has me pulling her into my arms and crushing my lips to hers right there on the sidewalk. Right now there’s nothing but the two of us.

  The car she called pulls up in front of the club entrance and she breaks away from me. “Can you leave work and come with me?”

  I don’t take my gaze off her. “I’m the boss, I can leave my club whenever I want.”

  Her grin is filled with elation, the sight making pride swell in my chest. I am making her happy. It’s me and no one else. I hold open her car door and watch her slide inside the sedan, then as though her heart is tugging mine along with it, I follow.

  She links her fingers with mine and nestles her body against my side, but neither of us want to share our intimate needs with the driver in the front seat. What I have with Scarlett, what I’m about to do to her, is for our eyes only.

  As soon as the car stops in front of her building, I’m out of the car and holding the door for her. She slides to the edge of the seat and I get a quick flash of perfect inner thigh from the hem of her short as fuck dress. I bite back a groan and hope I convey my desire for her in my heated gaze. I’m going to burst into flames if I have to wait much longer.

  We don’t speak as I pull her toward the lobby of her building and into the elevator, but as soon as that damn door slides shut, I close the distance between our bodies.

  “It’s not a long ride,” she pants.

  “I don’t fucking care.” I claim her mouth, sliding my tongue past her lips to dance with hers. Her moan vibrates through my entire body and it’s all I can do not to slip my fingers under her dress to test how wet she is right now.

  There’s a ding as the elevator stops and the two of us part, both breathing heavily, her lips swollen from my kiss. The walk to her door is eighteen steps from the moment we hit the hallway. Eighteen steps of pure torture. But her key is in the lock and the door is open, and heaven is in my grasp. I scoop her into my arms b
efore she steps into the apartment and she lets out a giggle.

  “Max! What are you doing?”

  “I’m carrying my bride over the threshold.”

  “But we’re not even married yet.”

  I shake my head. “Doesn’t matter. You said yes. Tomorrow we’re getting our marriage license and I’m taking you to the courthouse to make you mine.”

  “And tonight?”

  “I’m taking you to bed.” My voice is heavy with need and she’s perfection in my arms.

  Her room is small, the double bed taking up most of the space, but that’s fine. That’s all I need. I place her gently on her feet and stand in front of her. “This dress needs to come off,” I growl.

  She nods and slips first one strap, then the other over her shoulders. “And so do your clothes.”

  Her lips tempt me with their softness. I want to be kissing her again, but kissing her while we’re both naked sounds like a much better plan. Her dress pools to the floor and my mouth runs dry at the sight of her. Perfect full breasts, tipped with tight, rosy nipples are on display, just ready for my attention. “My God, Scarlett.”

  “What?”

  “You are my fantasy come to life.”

  She grins. “And you’re still dressed.”

  I tear at the buttons of my shirt, shuck my jacket, rip open my belt, and before long, I’m just as nude as she is, but where she’s soft and full, I’m hard as stone. My cock juts out and I’m unashamed of my need for her. This is what she does to me, what she’s always done to me. Her eyes widen as she takes a step forward. “Touch me,” I say, desperate to hold on to the control in my voice when my body is about to explode.

  She wraps her warm palm around my aching length and gives me a cursory stroke, the sensation enough to have me throwing my head back and groaning. I can’t take it. The feel of her hand on my sensitive dick is too much to bear. I need to be inside her when I climax. I need to fill her.