Heartless: A Small Town Single Dad Romance

Rhett: You know Medusa?

Willa: Not personally, no.

Rhett: Remember the part about not looking her in the eyes?

Willa: I’ve always kind of liked Medusa. If I were her, I’d wanna turn men into stone too.

Rhett: Pretend Talia is Medusa. But a version we don’t like.

This bitch is like a splinter I can’t get out. The sight of her nails sliding over Cade’s neck burned itself into my mind. She’s droned on and on about herself, and I’ve endured it with a level of politeness I’m extending to her only because she birthed one of my favorite people in the world.

And that must count for something.

“You have to be so sick of living out here.”

I smile flatly, staring at the squealing kids in the huge bouncy castle. “Not really,” I reply while avoiding Summer’s eyes. Because the last time I looked at her, she held her hands up beside her head and made little devil horns with an evil scrunched-up face.

“Aren’t you bored though? I mean, I grew up here. I know what it’s like. Once you’ve had a taste of the city, it’s hard to come back.”

“I mean, Calgary isn’t exactly Paris,” I quip because she’s acting like it’s some glitz-and-glam place.

“But what do you do all day? I’d go crazy. That’s why I had to get out, you know?”

“No, I don’t know,” is my reply, because my patience is wearing thin, and my personality only allows me to keep my mouth shut for so long. The pressure is mounting and giving into my redhead streak is hella appealing right about now.

“Excuse me?” Her big blue eyes go wide, her pink lips turning down.

Of course, she has to be smoking hot. Cade couldn’t have been married to someone ugly to make me feel better about myself. I’d even settle for average looking, but no, she’s a ten. An eleven.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I clarify. “I love living out here. Your son is smart and fun. The land is beautiful. Cade works hard to provide for him. I’m not bored at all.”

A wolfish smile spreads across her lips. “Oh. I see.”

I refuse to react. “You’re going to need to clarify.”

“It’s okay. Us ladies can have our secrets. We’re not so different, you and I.” My brow quirks at her, and what I want to say is that we could not be more different if we tried. “I recommend enjoying him while you’re here. But don’t hold your breath. That man is as cold as they come. I thought getting pregnant might tie him down. And it did.”

My mind reels. “Pardon me?”

She waves a hand and carries on. “Birth control, no birth control, who’s really to say? You know? But he was still boring. He married me like it was ticking a line off a to-do list. I mean, sure, his dick is big, but that can only make up for so much. You’ll see. Robbing the cradle will eat away at his honor eventually.” The smile she turns on me is vicious. “Enjoy the ride while you’ve got it. I’ll still always be the mother of his child.”

I promised myself I’d be cool around this woman. I stood in the mirror and gave myself a pep talk, and I only do that when I’m drunk and convincing myself to sober up. But I’ve been telling myself to give her the benefit of the doubt, to not judge her, to not be jealous of her, and here I am doing all of those things.

“Alright. Well, that’ll do it,” I announce, clapping my hands.

She blinks innocently, but there’s a pleased curve to her mouth. Every word she picked was carefully crafted to get under my skin. And I let her. What can I say? I’m a heart-on-my-sleeve type of gal.

“What will do it?”

I give her the fakest smile I can muster as I turn to walk away. “I’m not in hell yet, lady. Don’t need to spend my time hanging out with the devil.”

A small scoffing sound erupts behind me, but I don’t stop. I stride across the field, ignoring the looks I’m garnering as I try to keep a serene expression on my face. I have a feeling I’m giving major serial killer vibes at this current juncture.

The way my hands have curled into fists might also be a dead giveaway.

When I step into the house, the screen door crashes shut behind me with a rattle and my confidence shakes in perfect time. The bridge of my nose burns, and I shake my head to clear away the tears that are springing up in my eyes.

It’s the middle of the afternoon at a child’s birthday party, and I need a fucking drink so I can process what that she-devil just told me. Or forget it entirely.

I pull a bottle of white wine from the freezer. It slips in my clammy palm when the screen door slams again. I keep my head down, setting the bottle on the counter and pulling the tinfoil wrapper off the top.

“What are you doing?” Cade’s voice is concerned. He’s so big that he blocks out a chunk of the light filtering into the kitchen.

“Having a drink,” I mutter.

I don’t have to look directly at him to know that he’s just crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance.

“Why?”

“Because I need one.”

“Willa. Look at me.” His tone leaves no room for argument, so I plant my hands on the countertop and stare back at him. “Good. Now tell me what’s going on.”

“That’s why I need a drink.”

Cade’s tongue swipes across his teeth as he regards me. “Tell me what happened, and I’ll pour you a drink myself.”

“Your wife just told me she got pregnant on purpose,” I blurt. “I think her words were birth control, no birth control, who’s to say?” My voice is shrill and panicked.

And then this man really sends me for a loop, because he fucking laughs. “Ex-wife.”

“Why the fuck are you laughing? I just told you that the smoking hot viper bitch in your backyard tricked you into knocking her up.”

His shoulders shake, and one heavily veined hand props up against his forehead to cover his eyes. “Of course, she did.” He sounds amused, flabbergasted.

“Is this funny? Aren’t you mad? She just admitted to being an atrocious person and you’re suddenly Mr. Giggles? She said you were robbing the cradle with me!”

He laughs harder, wheezing out, “Mr. Giggles?”

“Ugh!” I growl in frustration, too worked up to sit here and laugh about her baby daddy entrapment scandal.

“And you had to be married to someone who looks like a Victoria’s Secret model,” I rave as I rummage the drawers to find a wine opener. “And she’s got that stupid, breathy voice that I’ve only ever heard in porn.”

Another drawer. No corkscrew. I spin on Cade, who is giving me his full attention now. “I swear to God if she lays her shiny manicured claws on you one more time, I’m going to cut her hands clean off.”

“You’re so vicious, Red,” he says with a stupid glint in his eye, like this is all just hilarious to him. “Are you jealous, baby?”

I turn away again, not wanting to look at how hot he is and see her with him. I am having a full-on meltdown, and I hate everything about this situation. I’ve never felt like this before, and it’s fucking confusing.

“Yes, I’m jealous. She’s had everything with you and I’m just the fucking nanny.” God, I hate the way those words sound coming out of my mouth. Heat sears my chest. Embarrassment fuses with a heavy dose of envy.

I pull a drawer open and rifle through it to busy my shaking hands.

My fingers run up against something silky in the drawer full of scissors, elastics, clips, and Post-it notes. I grab and pull and peer down into my palm.

The black panties I dropped in that coffee shop all those weeks ago.

Turning back, I dangle them in my fingers. Cade doesn’t look surprised at all; he just regards me with his Annoyed Scowl.

“You kept these?” I demand, sounding petulant even to myself. “You told me you threw them away.”

“I lied,” he grits out.

“Why?”

“Because you’ve never been just the nanny, Willa.” My chest lurches as I look back at him, feeling suspended in time. “You’ve always been more. The woman I wanted but wouldn’t let myself have.”

“I could really use that drink now,” I say, still staring at him.

“No. You’re going to stand here and listen to me.” He prowls toward me in a way that sets my heart racing. My blood heats in my veins.

When he’s standing right in front of me, he tips my chin up and forces me to look into his eyes. “I’m not mad about whatever Talia told you because I don’t give a fuck about her and her antics. I have Luke. Wouldn’t trade him for the world. How that came about doesn’t even matter anymore because I truly just do not care.”

My heavy breathing acts as a backdrop to the deep rasp of his voice.

“Do you know what I care about though?” His fingers bite into my skin. “You, Willa. I care about you. You have nothing—and I mean nothing—to be jealous of.”

“But she’s had everything. Everything I didn’t even realize I wanted, and she just took it all for granted and walked away. And now she’s here acting all entitled, and I’m so jealous that my teeth ache with it. I have never, never felt like this, and I want it to stop.” The last part comes out pleading, like he can take away the ball of anxiety lodged in my chest.

“You don’t want what she’s had. You want more. You deserve more. And I’m going to give it to you. Nod if you understand me.”

With a deep sigh, I nod, eyes locked on his. Heart racing in time with his. “But she—”

He cuts me off. “I thought I told you to stop and listen to me?”

“You did but—”

“If you can’t stop running your mouth with that self-sabotaging bullshit, I will shut it for you.” His hand cups my cheek tenderly. “I love Luke. You love Luke. And the three of us feel right together. Tonight she’ll be gone and you’ll still be here. At the end of this summer, you’ll leave, but you’ll be back. Because there’s no way in hell that this ends here. I won’t allow it. We’re going to figure this out. You got me?”

I swallow hard, searching his dark, serious eyes, his furrowed brow, the look of intensity on his face. The little voice in my head says he’s joking, but I know Cade well enough to know he wouldn’t joke about this.

“But—”

In the blink of an eye, he’s adjusted his grip to pop open my jaw and stuffs my panties inside. My irises widen as he works the fabric in and I stand stock still, too shocked to stop him. Too turned on to want to.

“There are no buts about it, Red. Now get your palms flat on the counter and bend over.”

I still stare at him wide-eyed, a little shocked by how quickly this conversation has flipped. With a gentle hand on my shoulder, he turns me away, and I let my hands slide across the bare countertop.

“That’s my girl,” he murmurs, pushing down between my shoulder blades so that my torso presses against the counter, the edge of the cool marble biting into my hips. “Teasing me with this dress all afternoon. The only thing I can think about is bending you over and checking what you’re wearing underneath.”

I moan against the fabric in my mouth, hips shimmying as I arch my back in a silent invitation for him to check.

“Should I check?” His calloused fingers run up the back of my thighs, taking the hem of my favorite dress with them as they go. Goose bumps erupt across my back, and I hear his breath hitch when the soft fabric clears my bare ass and bunches at the base of my back. “Filthy girl. Walking around out there with no panties. You were hoping I’d check, weren’t you?”

I press my cheek flat against the cool marble and look back at him, his eyes fixed on my ass. I nod. Because yeah, I wanted him to check. Wanted him to haul me into the bathroom and fuck me against the wall. Fuck the nerves right out of me.

But I’m here, bared to him in the open of his kitchen with a party happening only a few hundred meters away.

His hands massage the globes of my ass, and I lift my head to see out the window and check if anyone might be coming.

“What are you looking for, baby? You think I’d stop just because someone walked in?” His fingers glide down between my legs, and he runs two gentle fingers through my wet folds. “Maybe Talia will catch us, and I can make things abundantly clear for both of you. Because I can promise you, I’ve never fucked anyone the way I fuck you.” I clench and moan.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” His voice is all gravel. “I wouldn’t care. You’re mine, Willa. And I don’t give a fuck who knows it.”

His fingers slide in, smooth and slow. One hand presses down on my back as he leans forward to whisper, “Is that what you need? You need me to bend you over right here and now, then send you back out there dripping my cum down your pretty little thighs to prove it to you?”

My mind races. Fuck. Is that what I want? I barely need to think about it. I want that so badly I ache with it. The pads of my fingers slide on the counter as I glance over my shoulder and nod.

“Good,” he bites out, scrambling with his belt. “Because I want that too.”

Within seconds he’s dropped his pants and impaled me on his cock. And there’s nothing soft about it. My body clamps around his steely length the minute he shoves himself into me.

One of his big hands wraps around my hip while the other presses down on my back, holding me in place.

“You look so good on my cock, Willa,” he growls as his thighs slap against mine, and I arch myself up, pushing back at his every thrust, feeling just as wild and unhinged as him in this moment.

Like he can read my mind, he leans over my back and grits out, “You want it all, Willa? The house? The babies? The ranch?”

I nod again because it’s all I can do. I want all that. With him.

“You want me, Willa?”

“Yes.” I cry out against the soft fabric, nodding frantically as he slams into me. I want him so badly it hurts.

“Good. Because I’m sick of holding back with you. You’re not going anywhere. You belong here, with me.”

He lifts me, arm wrapped around my stomach as he clutches me to his chest. His stubble rasps against the shell of my ear. “Rub your clit while I’m fucking you. Let me tell you how it’s going to be.”

My head falls back against his shoulder as one hand gathers the fabric of my skirt. The opposite one immediately dives between my legs and rubs circles while Cade holds me tight.

“You’re going to spend as much time as you want at our house,” he says, while thrusting into me slowly. “You’re going to work whatever job you want. Wherever you want. But you’ll always have a place here. A home here. I’ll make you coffee every morning. I’ll leave you all the Post-it notes you want. I’ll cook your dinner every day. I’ll eat your pussy in the hot tub before bed every damn night.”

Yes.

I whimper, almost sagging in relief at his confession. I didn’t even realize how badly I needed to hear that he wants me. For more than just a few weeks.

His voice is firm and then he stops, pressing a stubbled kiss to my exposed neck while his hands roam my breasts and I focus on breathing through my nose.

“But this pussy is mine, Willa.” He drags his lips over my skin until I can’t even think straight. I press harder on my clit, feeling myself barrel toward that finish line. “Mine to fuck.”

Yes.

I rub back on him as he holds me close. Every sensation magnified, more intense somehow. The scrape of his beard. The pressure of my fingers. The light-headedness seeping in.

My teeth bare down on the fabric in my mouth.

I shake in his hold.

“Mine to fill.”

Yes.

With that he pushes me onto the counter and unleashes, right as my vision blurs and I convulse, crying out his muffled name. My entire body surges with fire as I come apart beneath him.

We’re just energy, and heat, and breath. I’ve never been so thoroughly consumed in my life. Never had sex with such an edge to it.

“Mine.” His growl is downright feral as he explodes inside of me, hands tracing my back reverently. A man of such dichotomies. Hard words laced with love. Rough hands filled with tenderness.

Immediately, he reaches up and removes the fabric from my mouth. I pant and suck in air, which has more to do with the power of my orgasm than the gag he fashioned for me. His breaths are heavy and uneven, our skin is damp.

And even though I don’t think I can get any hotter than I already am, when he pulls away and puts one hand on each globe of my ass to watch me drip his seed, I do.

When he adds, “Just like that,” I press my forehead to the cool marble and let a quiet, breathy chuckle escape me.

“Jesus.”

With a firm slap, he huffs out a laugh, and it’s like I can still feel his eyes on the most intimate parts of me. I clearly have no shame because I make no move to stand. “Have I told you that you look perfect like this?”

I roll my forehead against the marble counter, still trying to get my bearings. “No. I think that’s a first for me.”

A satisfied noise rumbles from behind me, and I feel the soft slide of fabric covering my legs, followed by the gentle press of a kiss against my back. “Feeling better now?” Cade asks, pulling me up gently, hands never leaving my body as he turns me to face him.

“I’m feeling something alright.” I smile a little shyly at him. I mean, how can I not? The things that come out of this man’s mouth are downright shocking sometimes.

He eyes me skeptically, tracing my face with his gaze.

“I’m feeling better. Just . . . messy?” I glance down at myself. “I’ll just go clean up.” I reach out to swipe my discarded panties off the counter, but he grabs them first.

He gives me this evil smirk. A playful smirk? Maybe it’s a playful scowl? But it’s followed by, “No chance. You’re putting these on, and you’re going back out there like this.”

I shake my head at him, amused, as he drops to the ground and lifts my feet gently into the leg holes of the simple underwear. He presses a soft kiss to my stomach and then he’s up, moving around the kitchen, like this is all the most normal thing in the world. When I stop blushing enough to face him again, he’s poured me a glass of white wine and is waiting by the back door.

“Ready?” he asks with an outstretched hand and a lopsided smile on his face. A dimple I never even noticed has popped up. He looks boyish and beautiful. And like he might be mine after all.

“I’m going to walk out into a child’s birthday party with a big glass of wine and bright red cheeks?” I ask, just to clarify. Because it feels insane.

“Don’t forget about your freshly fucked pussy. But no one else will see that. I covered it up for you.”

“They’ll know though.” I point at him and walk in his direction.

The other side of his mouth pops up, and he hands me the wine before he leans in close and whispers, “Good,” against my cheek.