Free Scarlet Fever - Hill Country 2 by Sable Hunter

  “Scarlet, what’s my name doing here? And it’s crossed out.”   He looked back down at the paper.   “Escort service.   And it’s marked out”
    He turned the papers over, reshuffled them and looked at her hard.   “Explain.   Did you come here looking for sex?   If not from me, from a gigolo?   I don’t understand.”   Scarlet paused, just looking at him, trying to determine if he was angry.
    “I wanted to know what it was like to make love with a man.   Just once.”   There was no inflection in her voice, she wasn’t looking for sympathy.
    “Why is my name crossed out?”
    “It was just a day dream; the whole list is mostly just a wish list.   When I got here, I realized that I couldn’t go through with it.   I changed my mind.”
    “Why, because of the stupid things I said?”
    “No because you’re so beautiful.”   She looked down, unable to watch his face, afraid of what she would see.
    “I’m glad you ditched the escort service idea, that’s just stupid.   Why didn’t you want to take the time and find someone and cultivate a relationship with them?”   Scarlet blanched.   He was talking as if he had never held her close, never whispered warm suggestive words to her that had turned her insides to mush.
    Time to come clean.   Regardless of the outcome, she owed him an explanation.   She would just have to get his promise that what he learned would go no further.   “I don’t have time to cultivate a relationship.”
    “You don’t have time.”   He acted like he didn’t believe her.   “You’re too busy to learn to love somebody.”   Alex was disappointed in her, she could tell.
    “It’s not so much that I’m ‘busy – don’t have time...’ ”   Scarlet’s voice was soft, but serious.   “More like I’m running out of time.”   At his look of confusion, she clarified.   “It’s a bucket list, Alex.”
    “A bucket list?”
    “Things I want to do while I’m still . . . . .all right.”   She spoke slowly.
    A dawning comprehension cleared his eyes.   His tone dropped from irritated to panicked.   “What are you saying?   Are you sick?”
    “The operation that corrected my foot had complications.   They gave me the wrong anesthesia and my kidneys were damaged.   It’s been seven years, and they’ve progressively weakened.   Soon, it will be dialysis, a transplant, or   . . . . . . or…” she stopped talking.
    The next second he fell to his knees in front of her.   “No, no, no.”   He pulled her up in his arms and held her close.   His arms didn’t give an inch, he only tightened his grasp until he was practically squeezing the breath from her body.   “Tell me that there’s some mistake.   Tell me that you’re getting back at me for my cruelty.”
    His immediate and intense reaction melted Scarlet’s heart.   Her arms crept around his neck and she rubbed her face against his.   His face was wet!   O God, he was crying.   “I’m sorry, Alex.   Please don’t cry.”
    He pulled back and took her face in his hands, framing it.   Rubbing his lips over her eyelids, he kissed her eyes closed.   Punctuating his words with kisses, he whispered.   “I’ll do it.   I’ll do it.   I’ll do it.   I‘ll make love to you.”   He kissed her cheek.   “Scarlet, I want you.   God, I want you so bad.   I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you, but now . . . .”   He gently pushed aside Annalise’s dress and pulled her into his lap. Shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts, he looked her in the eye.   “I want to know everything Baby.   I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through this.   When do you start your dialysis?”   He was talking so fast, she couldn’t get a word in edge wise.   When he stilled and waited for her response, her words froze in her throat.   When she didn’t answer right away, he tilted up her chin to look into her eyes.
    “I can’t do dialysis.   I don’t have any