Page 11 of Don’t You Dare Marry Me (Love in Massachusetts #3)

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“So were you fired or did you walk out?” Abagail slapped her palm against the bedroom door, finding Nicola lounging on top of the blankets and the sheets, already naked, the strap pressed to her hips, and her nipples with clamps on them.

“Uh…what?” Nicola blinked hard, shaking her head.

“I think that was a rather blunt and to-the-point question. What didn’t you understand about it?”

“I walked out…” Nicola moved to sit up, crossing one leg under her body as she eyed Abagail over. “But it’s fine, because I still have this job.”

Abigail guffawed, loudly. She threw her hands up in the air and shook her head. “This arrangement is for a few weeks at best. Working as a waitress can last much longer than that.”

“I-I know.” Nicola cocked her head to the side, as if trying to judge where Abagail was going next with the conversation or what she’d done to fuck this all up already.

Abagail straightened her shoulders and took in a deep breath.

She’d known she was coming in hot to the conversation, but let’s face it, she was flat out pissed.

Not only had her day been long and awful, but she’d gotten a call from Tommie that Nicola had walked out right when there was a massive rush of customers.

“Why the hell would you give that up?” Abagail fisted her hands and put them on her hips. “Why the hell would you walk out?”

“Warren was there!” Nicola screeched. Her chest heaved, and Abagail saw it for what it was. Nicola was upset. Either by whatever happened at the bar that night, which Tommie had clearly forgotten to let Abagail in on, or by whatever had happened between Warren and Nicola that caused their breakup.

“So you walked out because your ex was there? How fucking immature.” Abagail threw her hand up in the air. “I know you’re young, but I thought you were better than that.”

Nicola’s jaw dropped.

“Get dressed. Because we’re not doing that.

” Abagail pointed up and down Nicola’s body.

Without another word, she turned on her toes and stalked out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

She needed to calm herself down, and she really needed to figure out exactly what had happened between Nicola and Warren.

This wasn’t just about revenge anymore. She was tired of both of them acting like children.

She could barely handle it with her own family.

She wouldn’t tolerate it with her lovers.

Nicola had to do better. Abagail walked directly into the kitchen and poured herself a stiff drink and knocked it back.

She poured herself a second one and wandered out into the main living area.

She was restless. No matter where she ended up, she had very little desire to actually sit down and relax.

“You said I had to come up with a plan for tonight.”

Abagail stiffened and closed her eyes. “Don’t worry, you’ll still get paid for your services, even if I tell you no or you tell me no.”

“Really?” Nicola winced, her hands clasped together nervously.

Abagail frowned. “I told you that I wouldn’t force you to do anything you didn’t want to do—ever. I’m not that kind of woman.”

“All right.” Nicola wrapped her arms around herself.

The tight white tank was way too thin, and Abagail could very easily see her dark nipples through it, and the fact that Nicola hadn’t removed the nipple clamps.

She was going to have to ignore that, because she really didn’t want to fall into old habits. “Warren got me fired.”

“You were fired because you walked out on the job.” Abagail sipped her drink, staring Nicola down. “Warren did nothing to force you to walk out.”

“I…” Nicola stopped, her lower lip forming into a pout. “You’re right, I did walk out before they could fire me. But he was trying to get me fired.”

Abagail pressed her lips together hard, waiting for more of an explanation. She hadn’t thought that she’d come home to more of the same drama that she’d wanted to leave at the office.

“Who’s to say Tommie would have believed him?” Abagail kept her look pointed. “I suggest you go back tomorrow and beg for your job back. If Warren continues to try and get you fired, then it’s an HR and personnel issue that needs to be dealt with.”

“Right.” Nicola didn’t look convinced though. She rolled her shoulders and eyed Abagail’s glass. She reached for it, snagging it from Abagail’s fingers and finishing it off. “That was good.”

Abagail hummed and frowned. Nicola was going to give her a run for her money, wasn’t she?

She was wild in ways that Abagail hadn’t quite understood, and even now she wasn’t sure that she had a full grasp on how that was.

If she cared enough, she’d ask Warren about it, but she’d promised Nicola that she wouldn’t talk to him about the fact they’d fucked.

Sighing heavily, Abagail stared at her glass. “Fill it back up.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Nicola curtsied slightly, the black miniskirt she was wearing sliding up her thighs as she moved. She practically skipped out of the den and toward the kitchen.

Abigail scratched the back of her head as she finally moved to sit down in a wingback chair and tried to relax. Had she really just invited another problem into her life? One that she didn’t have the time or the energy to deal with?

She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and stared at the text message she’d received earlier that day from Elia, her best friend.

They’d had such a falling out that winter, and it was all Abagail’s fault.

Ever since then, Abagail had been clawing at everything she could for control.

She clenched her jaw and continued to stare at the screen.

Elia: We should find some time to meet up so we can talk this out. I don’t want to lose our friendship.

Abagail hadn’t meant for that to happen, but it had.

She felt ridiculous for even having done what she’d done, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit that she’d been wrong either.

At least not to Elia’s face. She could to herself, and that just made her feel even worse than before.

Abagail pursed her lips and then bit her lower one.

Abagail: Yes. Let’s find some time.

“Who are you texting?” Nicola sat on the arm of the chair and handed the drink over to Abagail.

She instantly turned her phone off and turned the screen upside down so Nicola couldn’t see what she’d just been doing. The last thing she needed was for Nicola to pry into her personal life and add her two cents into the overflowing bucket of guilt that Abagail already dragged around with her.

“My best friend,” Abagail replied. But did she even have the right to call Elia that anymore?

She’d been such an idiot, and she had crossed far more boundary lines than she ever should have.

They’d kissed. Well, that wasn’t entirely true.

Abagail had kissed Elia, confessing her feelings and expecting Elia to reciprocate them.

But she hadn’t.

Abagail had known she didn’t.

So why had she tried to force her hand?

“Best friends don’t usually leave sourpuss faces.” Nicola pressed her finger onto Abagail’s lips and looked at her directly.

“Neither do exes unless it wasn’t a mutual break up.” Abagail looked directly at Nicola, trying to prove her point. There were things that both of them didn’t want to talk about, and these were those things. “You don’t bring up Elia, and I won’t bring up why you and Warren broke up.”

“I’m not allowed to talk about your best friend?” Nicola furrowed her brow at that. “Am I that much of a secret that you don’t even want her knowing about me?”

“No. Not at all.” Abagail took the glass from Nicola’s fingers and sipped it. “Elia is well aware that I have short term relationships and that sometimes I pay for the company I keep.”

“Sometimes?” Nicola pulled back at that. “Are you saying that you’ve paid women before me?”

Abagail hummed. She’d never outright paid for a woman to sleep with her before.

She’d never had to. Not that she had to pay Nicola to do that either.

But she was paying Nicola far more than she typically did to be in her presence.

She was accustomed to the fact that often the women she spent time with needed a financial boost, and Abagail didn’t mind playing that role in their lives for a short period of time.

In fact, it made her feel good. At least her money was going to someone who needed it instead of her spoiled nephew who was an entitled little prick.

“Abagail….” Nicola trailed off, the question still in her voice.

“No. I haven’t paid anyone to have sex with me before. You’d be the first.” Abagail took a sip of her drink and settled herself. “But I don’t do long term relationships. I thought I made that clear before. These few weeks that we’ll spend together are the only weeks that we’ll spend together.”

“I understand that.” Nicola slid her fingers along Abagail’s jaw, pulling her chin up so that they were facing each other. “So don’t you want to make use of the time that we have?”

Abagail shook her head again. “No. Not tonight. I’m not in the right head space for that.”

“What if I can tempt you into the right head space?” Nicola pressed her thumb to Abagail’s lips, pushing her thumb into Abagail’s mouth gently.

Abagail sighed, closing her eyes and tasting Nicola’s skin.

She flicked her tongue against Nicola’s thumb, and then she sucked on it.

She would love to have their bodies pressed together, to use sex to forget about her day, about the text that Elia had sent her, but it wouldn’t be right.

And even though she was technically paying Nicola for all of this, she wasn’t about to put either one of them in a situation that wasn’t befitting the arrangement they’d already made.

“No,” Abagail said simply. “Not tonight.”

“Tommie won’t hire me back,” Nicola whispered, her lips pressed against Abagail’s ear.

When had that happened? Abagail hummed, turning her chin to capture Nicola’s lips.

Abagail enticed Nicola into another, deeper kiss.

Abagail wasn’t sure that she wanted to hear another excuse that day, and one more from Nicola about why she didn’t have a job anymore might just set her over the edge into anger again.

Nicola pulled back, pecking Abagail’s lips gingerly before she grinned and slid onto Abagail’s lap, straddling her in the chair. She kissed her again hard, stealing Abagail’s breath as she ground down against Abagail’s thighs.

“I broke Warren’s nose,” Nicola whispered.

Abagail froze. “You what?”

Nicola’s lips quirked up to the side and she laughed lightly, happily. “I broke his nose with a really good right hook.”

“You’re kidding me.” Abagail’s jaw dropped. “What the hell did he do?”

“He tried to get me fired, and lied about some of it. Pissed me off.”

Abigail laughed in disbelief, shaking her head slowly. “So what you’re telling me is that I can expect a call from Estelle, asking to pay for medical bills to the best plastic surgeon I can find in the Boston area.”

Nicola shrugged slightly, but she didn’t look remorseful at all. In fact, she seemed pretty fucking pleased with herself. “Maybe.”

“God damn it,” Abagail muttered and dragged Nicola back in for another hard kiss. “You really need to grow up.”

Nicola hummed, pulling Abagail’s lower lip between her teeth and scraping it. “I think you like me like this.”

“I like your ability to fuck for hours without getting worn out. Yes.” Abagail slapped Nicola’s ass.

Despite Nicola’s best efforts, it wasn’t going to go beyond this tonight.

“I don’t like the fact that you walked out of a job that you might still have if you’d just stayed put and dealt with the situation like an adult. ”

“Like you’re dealing with it now?”

Abagail narrowed her gaze. “No. Not like right now.”

Why had she ever thought this was a good idea?

Nicola was barely twenty-five and Abagail had turned fifty.

She was literally twice Nicola’s age, and this situation really brought that out.

Abagail wrapped her hands around the backs of Nicola’s thighs and pulled her in tight before moving to stand up and turning at the same time, plopping Nicola down onto the chair right where Abagail had been sitting.

She grabbed her drink from the side table and raised an eyebrow at Nicola. “Grow up.”

“Abagail!” Nicola squeaked, but Abigail wasn’t going to give in to it tonight.

She ignored Nicola’s plea or objection, she wasn’t quite sure which one it was, and walked straight up the stairs to her bedroom. She needed the quiet to think, and to figure out exactly what she was going to say to Elia when they did finally get together again.

Elia.

Now there was a woman who was perfect for Abagail. Mature. Calm. Strong. And someone who knew exactly what she wanted and was willing to work through the tough times instead of just walk out on them. Abagail pulled off her work clothes and lay under the blankets naked.

She flicked open her phone, again reading the text exchange between her and Elia. If only Nicola was a little bit more like Elia, then maybe this wouldn’t be such a strain. But in all her years of dating, Abagail had never found anyone like Elia.

She was unique.

And Abagail was in love with her.

No one compared.