King (Maine Silver Foxes #1)

Chapter 18

K ing

“Mia?” He was still waiting for her to acknowledge his last comment. “You understand what I’m saying?”

He was relieved to see the slow smile spread across her pretty face. He didn’t want to lose this woman before they had a chance to see where things might go.

“Got it, King.” She began to straighten her clothes. “So what now?”

He reached between them and did up his pants. “We go back to the cookout. I want you to meet my daughter, Scarlett.”

Mia’s head snapped up, and the eyes she pinned on King flared with panic. “No, no, no! Not today, King, please. I don’t think that’s a good idea with your ex around.”

He studied her for a minute, running his hand over his lower jaw. Maybe Mia was right—today wasn’t a good day, especially since Sheila was hanging around. But it would also give him the opportunity to set his ex straight on a few things and warn Scarlett that there was another woman in his life.

“Okay, darlin,’ I’m not gonna push you into anything you’re not comfortable with.” Her expression relaxed, and he sighed heavily. “We’ll finish the day out and talk later tonight, okay? And plan on spending tomorrow with me.”

Amusement twinkled in Mia’s eyes. “Bossy much?” Her tone said that she didn’t mind. This time.

“If I had my way, we’d spend the rest of the weekend in my bed with you sitting on my dick.” As soon as his rough words left his mouth, he watched the arousal cloud in Mia’s eyes. Oh, yeah. He knew how to get his woman hot and bothered, but King made a note not to get carried away with his demands. He knew he was a dominant son-of-a-bitch, but there was a way of getting what he wanted without scaring the woman off.

They walked back to the cookout together, and just before going their separate ways, King planted a brief, hard kiss on Mia’s lips. He didn’t give a shit who might be watching. Smirking at the warm color staining her cheeks, he released her hand and turned to walk to where Scarlett and Rae were sitting.

His granddaughter was napping. Scarlett was sitting cross-legged with a plate of food on her lap. His mouth turned down when he saw that Sheila was next to her and her accusatory gaze was on him in a way that told him she’d witnessed the kiss. Well, too damned bad. He and Sheila weren’t together anymore, and he was about to make that crystal clear to her.

“Nice,” Sheila snarked. King knew exactly what she was referring to. Scarlett looked on in bewilderment, her eyes darting back and forth between her mother and her father as she nibbled on a piece of chicken.

King glared down at Sheila. He didn’t sit down because his gut told him that one or both of them weren’t going to like what he had to say, and he might have to walk away to curtail his anger. Scarlett didn’t usually side with her mother, in fact she went out of her way to remain neutral when they had confrontations in front of her, but there was always the possibility that his daughter wouldn’t welcome another woman in his life.

He crossed his arms and took a stance, deciding to get right to the point. “Sheila, we’re not together anymore, and we’re not going to get back together. So you can get that thought right out of your head. You made your bed, now lie in it. Stop interfering in my life, stay away from the women I’m involved with, and from here on out, unless you’re specifically invited, stop assuming you can just join in when Scarlett and I have something planned.”

Sheila’s jaw dropped before she pulled herself together and countered angrily, “I have a right to spend time with our daughter.” Sheila was a beautiful woman unless her features were twisted and flushed with anger, as they were right now.

King didn’t bother pointing out that the day had been planned for him and Scarlett to spend some time together. Her husband Zack had to work, and Scarlett hadn’t planned on coming to the cookout. But these days King hardly saw her, so he’d called and talked her into joining him there. And yes, he’d known that Sheila would probably be there, but she hadn’t been asked to join them.

“Yes, you do,” King growled back in response to her heated declaration. “On your own time, and that doesn’t include with me. We’re divorced for a reason, Sheila. Most exes don’t want to see each other, never mind spend time together.”

They’d been divorced long enough for her to realize that. He could tell that Sheila was pissed. She didn’t like hearing the truth, but that was just too damned bad. A few hard truths never hurt anybody, and it would prevent unnecessary shit from occurring in the future. They continued to glare at each other until Sheila huffed and jumped to her feet.

“You’re a bastard, you know that? You’ve always been a bastard!” She hauled off and slapped King across the face. Several shocked gasps followed in response from the people who were close by. King rocked back on his heels but didn’t budge from his spot.

“Mom—”

King raised his hand to stop Scarlett from getting involved, and she shut right up.

Sheila continued in a scathing tone, “Thanks for reminding me why I divorced your sorry ass!”

King snorted. She hadn’t divorced him because she’d thought he was a bastard, and his sorry ass had given her more than she’d deserved in the divorce. “You divorced me because you thought the grass was greener on the other side and you wanted your freedom.” Glancing at Scarlett, he could tell that she was growing uncomfortable with their exchange. “I’ve met someone,” he said by way of explanation before turning his attention back to his ex.

Sheila hissed, “So what are you going to do, flaunt all your floozies in front of Scarlett and Rae—”

King took offense to that and stepped forward; his jaw clenched. “You want to rephrase that?” He snarled, satisfied to see the fear in Sheila’s eyes. She knew she’d gone too far.

Sheila swallowed and glanced down at Scarlett. “I’ll call you later,” was all she said before stomping off.

Well, that went well. Sheila was a hothead and always had been, but he was satisfied that he’d gotten his message across. He continued to stand with his arms crossed as the silence between him and Scarlett grew, thankful that Rae had slept through the brief storm.

“So you’ve met someone?”

King glanced down at his daughter and nodded. “Someone special, kid. I like her a lot.” Now that Sheila was gone, he sank down onto the blanket. “Her name is Mia.”

“Will I like her?”

Scarlett’s expression was hard for King to read. His daughter was good at hiding her feelings when she wanted the truth. But there was nothing for him to consider. “I think so. I hope so.” He was sure of it, and then his tone hardened. “But it won’t matter if you do or not. She’s in my life, and if I have my way, she’ll stay in it.”

After a tense moment, a slow smile spread across Scarlett’s face. “I’m glad, Dad. You deserve to be happy.”

King should have been surprised, but he wasn’t. Scarlett was a caring and loving person. She’d want both of her parents to be happy, and if that meant bringing someone new into their lives, she was okay with that. Sheila and King hadn’t fought a lot, but Scarlett had seen that they weren’t happy together, that they’d lived separate lives in the same house far longer than they should have.

“So when will I get to meet this floozy?” Scarlett joked.

King threw his head back and laughed. It was on the tip of his tongue to invite her over on Sunday, but he wanted to spend the day with Mia, just the two of them. He had plans for them that included the things he’d alluded to in the truck—they were going to spend a good portion of the day naked and in bed, Mia sitting on his dick and rocking her hips to bring them both to heaven.

At that very moment, the woman in question came into view and King let his gaze move slowly over her, fighting down the tingle in his dick because, fuck, he wasn’t going to get an erection while he was sitting next to his daughter. He was vaguely aware that Rae was stirring, and Scarlett was reaching for her.

He couldn’t take his eyes off Mia. As if something had passed between them, she glanced his way and smiled. The woman teased him by pursing her lips and throwing him an air kiss, then looked around to make sure that no one had seen her. King laughed again. She was going to pay for teasing him.

Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.