Page 18 of Coming Home

Unknown Number: Princess, I want to see you again. Tell me you feel the same?

I look at my phone, I am sure this is Shaun. Who has given him my number? Knowing that there are only a handful of people who have it, I am sure that he must have got it from Stephen. They are friends, and I am sure Stephen could sense that I like Shaun from the way I was with him at the gala.

While the text does give me a little hope that the feelings I have for Shaun are reciprocated. I have spent the entire afternoon deciding that I really don’t need that type of complication in my life now. I have to work; I have to succeed. I have to focus my time and energy on my career.

Everything else has to wait, including Shaun Marshall and my schoolgirl crush.

I drop my phone on my bed, not trusting myself to reply with dignity and decide to go into the ensuite to run the bath. I have done the numbers long enough, now it’s time for that warm soak and glass of wine.

23

Shaun

I have worked all day again or tried to, because if I am honest, my mind is only on Scarlett at this point. The kiss we shared just last night was so goddamn sexy, I get hard every time I think about it. Not how I normally spend my Sunday, but anything to do with her I prefer. I grab my phone, not sure what to do, or what to say to her, but really wanting to break the ice today.

I will text her. I have her number from Stephen. I called him for it this morning, wanting to speak to her after the club incident to make sure she was all right after our kiss and hoping that we could start talking some more. He was hesitant to give it to me, but I managed to talk him around. I admire his protective nature, but I assured him I wasn’t about to hurt her.

Shaun: Princess, I want to see you again. Tell me you feel the same?

I wait. I can see the text was read, so she has read it. But no reply. My heart is bouncing out of my chest for minutes, but still nothing. With a feeling of unease, I put my phone down just as it rings, and I jump to answer it, without looking at the screen.

“Scarlett, I…”

“Whoa, you answered quickly, and who is Scarlett?” Marcos' voice booms from the other end.

I run my hands through my hair for the millionth time in the last 24 hours. “No one you need to know about,” I say, sighing.

“Yeah, I heard you had the attention of a blonde woman at the gala on Friday, wouldn’t be her, would it?”

Marco was fishing for information, in a nice brotherly way, but still fishing all the same.

“OMG, this is THE woman!” he shrieks. “The one you talked about at family dinner! She must be special. Tell me all about this woman who has the city’s most eligible bachelor on a knife’s edge today?”

I have been holding my breath, so I release a sigh again, and Marco calms down sensing my distress.

“Tell me, brother, who has your heart in her hands? I can tell this one is special even through the phone.”

“Her name is Scarlett Foster…”

“No way, Scarlett Foster, as in the niece of Ray Sullivan of Heatherstone Enterprises. Oh, brother, you don’t do life the easy way, do you?”

“You know her?“ I ask Marco, slightly irritated that given she only arrived in town a little while ago, that other men have already noticed her. Especially Marco. We never share women, but we both have a healthy rivalry when it comes to members of the opposite sex.

“Brother, everyone has started to learn about Miss Foster ever since Ray paraded her around at the gala. You should know the wolves are out; she is fresh meat. New to the scene here, and from what I have heard, not only beautiful, sultry, and sexy, but quite intelligent and worldly as well. Most of the guys at the country club are talking about her. It appears that you are the only one to have made a move yet, though, so you are in the lead on this chase. But old man Ray has put the word out that she is not to be touched. Good thing you never really listen to old man Ray, isn’t it?”

I thought for a moment. The fact other men had their eyes on Scarlett infuriated me. I am not sure why I am so possessive over her, having only a few encounters, but I’d be damned if any other man will get her. I sigh again, like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. “I’ve got to go, catch you later, Marco.” And I hang up the phone before my brother can drop any more bombs onto my already dire situation.

I lean back into my chair and think about my next steps. How can I capture this woman’s attention? Again? She isn’t answering my text, I can’t call the house, I don’t have any other way of contacting her unless I drive over the house myself, even then Ray would probably shoot me on the spot or at least have me arrested for trespassing or something.

But I am not giving up. Fate has brought us together time and time again since the moment she arrived on US soil, and I am not one to back down from getting what I want.

I need her. I want her. And I am going to have her.

24

Scarlett

It is a fresh week, and I am keeping busy going through some more of the business files that Stephen gave me. Not everything so far seems in order. There are a few pages within the deal being brokered between Heatherstone Enterprises and Marshall & Co that don’t seem right; something about the numbers is off. I can’t quite put my finger on it.

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