A wide grin lit up Isaiah’s usually stern features. “Well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out, Little Red. The guy likes you. Nobody I know rents a fancy apartment for someone they aren’t related to and furnishes it all up just because they feel sorry for someone. The boy’s got the hots for you, kiddo.”
Scarlett scowled. “He definitely does not have the hots for me, Isaiah. Geez, you ought to see a picture of his current girlfriend - tall, curvy, blonde, dressed to kill. Looks like a fashion model or actress. No way can I compare to her.”
“Why would you want to?” he asked incredulously. “Hey, I can imagine the type you just described. She might be pretty but ain’t nothing special. Those type of women are a dime a dozen. Not like my Ananda. She’s one of a kind, and as beautiful as she is on the outside her real beauty comes from within. I wouldn’t trade her for a hundred of those women you described. And you’re one of a kind, too, Red. In a league of your own. Your guy Jackson there knows that, too. I guarantee you.”
She snorted derisively. “Okay, sure. Whatever you say, Isaiah. How many more bags of stuff are still in your van?”
He shrugged. “No more than two or three. I’ll go bring them up while you start putting your things away. Be right back.”
Scarlett knew it was ridiculous to even ask if he needed any help, since the buffed up former bodybuilder could still bench press hundreds of pounds without breaking a sweat. The paltry collection of her remaining belongings didn’t even weigh fifty pounds.
It was a hot day outside, already over eighty degrees mid-morning, and she was thirsty and sweaty from the exertions of moving her stuff. The sparkling stainless steel refrigerator had a built-in icemaker and water dispenser, so she grabbed one of the glasses from the cabinet, frowning as she noticed that a few additional items had been added to the shelves - glasses for wine, martinis, margaritas. She filled her water glass and drank half of it down before deciding to open a few more cupboards. Knowing Jackson, she thought darkly, she wouldn’t have put it past him to stock up the kitchen with even more items he deemed necessary.
Scarlett pursed her lips in annoyance as she flung open the door to the pantry cupboard and saw that the previously empty shelves were now almost overloaded with all manner of staples - cereal, pasta, canned goods, coffee, spices, olive oil, sugar, flour, and more. Her suspicious mind then compelled her to open what turned out to be a fully stocked refrigerator. There was a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt, juices, what appeared to be half a dozen or so fully prepped meal kits, a six-pack of beer, and a couple of bottles of wine. The freezer yielded frozen vegetables, ice cream, more ready-to-eat meals, plus chicken, ground beef, and fish.
“Son of a bitch!” she cursed as she all but slammed the freezer door shut. “Now he thinks he has to feed me, too? Hey, why stop with a fancy apartment filled with furniture and a fridge stocked with food? I’m shocked the controlling bastard didn’t throw a brand new car in. Doesn’t matter, I guess, that I don’t know how to drive.”
Isaiah only chuckled anew to notice Scarlett fuming when he arrived a moment later with the rest of her things - including Penny. He handed the oversized stuffed pony over to Scarlett gratefully, as though it had been an affront to his overpowering masculinity to carry it upstairs.
“What’s the matter now, Red?” he asked as he dropped her backpack and suitcase in the living room. “You sure live up to your nickname, by the way. That temper of yours runs hotter than the cayenne peppers my granny used to grow back in Louisiana.”
But when she stomped her foot and showed him all the food in her fridge and pantry, Isaiah merely shrugged and helped himself to a bottle of juice. He hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol in well over a dozen years, ever since meeting Ananda.
“So what? So the dude buys you a few groceries. Probably just a little housewarming gift. Let me see the rest of this place, and then if you don’t need help unpacking I’d better head back to the gym.”
Scarlett went through to the bedroom to carefully arrange Penny on the bed as Isaiah explored the living area. But at his whistle, she frowned and hurried back out.
“What was that for?” she asked warily.
Isaiah was standing in front of the built-in desk - in front of which a new ergonomic desk chair had been positioned - and pointed at the shiny silver and black item that sat on top of the desk. “Looks like your guy might have bought you a couple more housewarming gifts.”
She stared in disbelief at both the brand new laptop computer and the shrink wrapped package that contained a new smartphone, recalling how Jackson had teased her about her old phone being a veritable dinosaur. But she had never imagined that he would go so far to replace it, along with a new computer, both of which looked to be top of the line.
“Is he even serious?” she asked aloud, dropping into the new desk chair limply. “He’s taking this whole thing way, way too far now. Someone is going to get his ass royally chewed out.”
“Uh, oh.” Isaiah backed away rapidly. “Hey, I’ll just check out the bedroom and bathroom real quick and then show myself out. You make your, uh, phone call, Red, and I’ll see you at the café on Monday. Let me or Ananda know if you need anything, but sure looks like you have everything and more right here.”
Scarlett was barely aware of Isaiah closing the front door behind him as she depressed the button on her speed dial for Jackson. Since returning home a couple of weeks ago, she’d continued to hear from him almost every day, usually a quick text or email. Both of them had kept their communication casual - very intentionally so on her part - and neither had made even the slightest reference to that steamy kiss they’d shared at the airport.
Her cheeks flushed now to recall the incident, scarcely able to believe that she’d acted so boldly and rashly. While she had certainly never been afraid of confrontation or speaking her mind, at the same time she had never pictured herself in the role of femme fatale. In fact, the very idea of her trying to seduce a man or even put the moves on him was laughable. In the past, it had seemed like more of a mutual attraction sort of thing between her and the guys she’d dated (translated - had sex with). She couldn’t really recall which of them had made the first move but she knew for a fact that she’d never planted a wet one on a guy without warning the way she’d done with Jackson.
She had been equal parts embarrassed, mortified, and intensely aroused at the culmination of that kiss, and had practically jogged through the airport after that, totally ignoring the odd looks she received, especially clutching an enormous stuffed pony. She had sent up silent prayer after silent prayer that Jackson wouldn’t bring the incident up, that he would have been just as eager to pretend it hadn’t happened as she was. Thus far her prayers had been answered, and his texts and emails had remained as casual and lightly teasing as ever.
Now, however, she was prepared to leave him a very different sort of message, one that had absolutely nothing to do with physical attraction or a passionate kiss that shouldn’t have happened. Scarlett was good and pissed off, could almost picture the steam rising from the top of her head as she mentally rehearsed the ass chewing she was about to bestow on the arrogant, controlling bastard.