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Twice The Charm Ch. 01

By: cassandraharper



She was having a hard day. A day that she wished would start over from the beginning so that she could get out of the right side of the bed. She pushed her dark framed sunglasses up on her head, being mindful of her thick afro that seemed to cover her scalp like a heavy woolen blanket. She should have cut it like she had planned, but she knew that her little girl would throw a fit if she saw her mother with no hair. It had taken her two weeks to convince her daughter to stop running away from her the first time she had shaved it off, but hey, what could she say, she loved the short look. It didn't take any effort at all to look presentable when all she had to do was jump out of bed and go. She rubbed her bronzed shoulders wishing that she had applied more sun block then proceeded walking down the sidewalk to her daughter's daycare center.

"Manni, is that you?"

She slowly turned around uncertain if she should continue walking as if she hadn't heard a word or acknowledge the stranger. Their eyes met and her stomach dropped. This couldn't possibly be happening. "Stark?" Her voice sounded weak to her own ears from the moment it slipped past her lips. It was him, she recognized that bright red hair and those translucent green eyes anywhere.

"I go by Scott now," he corrected running a hand through his thick hair. He couldn't believe that he was looking at a piece of his past that he thought he would never see again. It had been almost four years since they had last seen each other, or to be more exact shouted obscenities at each other with her throwing a blow dryer and iron at him. It was safe to say that they hadn't parted in the best of ways. She gave him a wide eyed stare from her big, brown puppy dog eyes that reflected her discomfort at their unexpected meeting.

"That's nice, Scott," Manni replied making sure not to use the nickname she had often addressed him by when they were dating. Some old habits died hard. "What are you doing back here? I heard that you moved."

"Well, I relocated back to my old place. My mom is sick and I don't feel comfortable leaving her in the care of an at-home nurse. So I transferred companies again. I even afforded to get a better position at my job," he told her nodding his head.

"That's nice," she told him for the second time unsure of what to say. "Welcome back, I guess." She scratched the back of her head trying to keep calm. It's just that every time she was around that man her body would react to him whether with love or anger and right now she wasn't sure what she feeling, but she knew that she didn't like the fact that she still responded to his presence.

"So what are you up to?" he asked extending his long, pale leg to step on an ant or two. She always told him that he needed more sunlight.

"I'm actually going to..." her voice died leaving him a bit confused as he waited for her to finish her sentence. She never did which increased the awkwardness between them. "I'm so thirsty," she said more to herself than to him.

"Really? If you aren't busy, would you mind grabbing a drink with me?" he asked not allowing the opportunity of a one on one with her to go to waste.

"Actually--"

"Ms. Stanley, here you are!"

Her face cringed at the recognition of her daughter's care taker's voice. She was a nice woman, but she had the tendency to unintentionally let her lips run loose. "Mrs. Carmichael, I'm sorry that I'm late," she told her turning around in time to grab her overly excited daughter. She gave her a kiss on the forehead pushing back her brownish red hair from her golden face. Her hazel green eyes were droopy and Manni could tell that she had just awoken from her nap though she was full of energy. 

"It's alright, you called and told us that your meeting was going to run late so there was no problem. She was a good girl today and she even participated with Bernadette, right Star?" she asked the little girl who was now shyly hiding her face in the crook of her mother's neck.

"Bernadette?" Scott asked with a smile.

"Oh that's her little friend, but I swear that they spend more time fighting than playing together," Mrs. Carmichael told him with a warm smile. "Will I see you tomorrow, Star?" she asked poking the little girl who began to giggle and hold on tighter to her mother.

"Thanks again, Mrs. Carmichael."

"No problem, Ms. Stanley. I'll see you tomorrow." She handed Manni Star's bag which Scott took upon himself to hold for her.

She waited until the teacher had disappeared back into the building to turn to the six foot man towering over her. "You don't have to do that. I can manage," she told him reaching for the sack.

"Manni, don't be ridiculous. My hands are completely empty," he said already walking off without knowing in which direction she had parked. That was one of his problems, he didn't know how to listen.

Manni increased her steps to catch up with him while her daughter busied herself with playing in her hair. "Really Scott, I can do it."

"So you have a little girl?" he asked ignoring her attempt to grab the bag and put some distance between them. "How old is she?"

"Three," she answered unconsciously kissing her daughter's temple.

"She's adorable. And those eyes are killer. I bet she's a daddy's girl."

"Star doesn't know her father," she told him a bit irritated by the heat and his lack of consideration towards her desire to be left alone.

"What?" he asked stopping in his tracks. "What kind of man would abandon his wife and daughter?"

"I'm not married, alright? Besides, it's a long story and I don't really feel as if it concerns you," she told him feeling her temper start to flare.

"I figured since we're old friends, I could get a little privilege here and there."

"Friends?" she asked on a laugh. "The last time I remembered, when you left we both vowed to never see or speak to each other again. Now here you are acting as if you have some sort of amnesia."

"I actually would like to apologize for the way things ended between us. Will you give me a chance to make it up to you?" he asked looking down at her then at her little girl. She seemed too content making a mess of her mother's hair to pay attention to his presence.

"Scott."

"I'm not asking for you to give me another chance so that we can start over, I'm only asking to get to know you as a friend and to be like how we once were. Is that asking too much?" he asked unconsciously touching her arm. His hand burned into her skin through her light summer vest and she shivered.

"Maybe it is," she told him walking ahead and turning at the end of the sidewalk to get to her car.

"The way I see it is that you need a friend. Especially taking care of a child by yourself."

"Who said that I was doing it by myself?" she asked opening the back door of her car to strap her daughter in her car seat while she played with the keys.

"Then I take it that your boyfriend helps you?" he asked not sure why he needed to know whether she was available or not. It must be because he was still very much interested in her even after the way they had called it quits. "ummm Manni."

"I don't have a boyfriend either and don't think that I don't know what you're trying to do," she told him making sure that the child lock was on before closing the door.

"Manni."

"You think that you can see me in the street then randomly--"

"Manni!"

"What?!" she asked aggravated as she yanked on the driver's side door.

"You locked your keys in the car."

"What!" she yelled becoming panicked when she saw the car keys in her daughter's hands. Her daughter looked up startled by her loud exclamation and became scared.

"It's alright, you need to calm down," Scott advised.

"Calm down! How am I supposed to calm down? I didn't even crack the window because I was too busy trying to get rid of you to do that!" she told him hearing her voice break.

"If you stay calm you won't scare the baby," he told her smiling at Star through the window. She shyly hid her face as she smiled back kicking her little legs to and fro.

Manni took a deep breath nodding her head in agreement. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Just stay calm and let me handle it," he told her dialing Triple A on his cell. He hung up a few minutes later with a smile. "They're sending someone out and said that he should be here within the next ten minutes max. You really lucked out. The operator told me that he was just about to get off the clock and head home, but when I told her there was a baby in the car she told him to come straight over."

She looked at him frightened. "What would we have done then?"

"Bust your window and get it fixed later," he told her as if he was talking about the weather. He waited patiently with her until the technician came and opened the door for them making sure to leave it as wide as possible. He gave Manni a look that evidently showed his disapproval of her parenting skills then drove away shaking his head.

"I'm not a bad parent," she mumbled finally feeling her heart rate steady in her chest.

"No one ever said that," Scott told her trying to calm her before she bursted into tears. She did anyway making him pull her into his arms. It was so second nature for her to wrap her arms around him which she did and cried until she couldn't anymore. "You had a bad day?"

"That's an understatement," she responded embarrassed that she had cried in front of him so easily after years of not speaking together.

"I guess now you'll take me up on that drink?" he asked soothingly caressing her back.

"God knows the last thing I ever wanted to do was see you again," she told him with a heavy sigh.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Perhaps another time, but what I will do as a thank you is make you some dinner. Would that be a good enough exchange for you?"

"I'll follow you in your car," he replied waiting until she had the keys in the ignition this time before he closed the back door.

"Just hop in and I'll take you to your car."

"I didn't bring it," he told her resting his hand on the inside of her car door.

"Then how did you get all the way downtown? And how did you expect to follow?" she asked confused.

"I biked it."

"What?" she asked him incredulously. "Are you crazy? Why would anyone in their right mind want to ride a bike in this Florida heat?"

"How do you think I stay in shape?" he asked with a smile.

"By going to the gym you crazy nut! Hop in and I'll bring you back to get your bike."

He couldn't wipe the grin off of his pink lips. Manni was never one to tell him outright when she was worried about him. She preferred to make a big fuss instead. Somethings just never change. "It's not that far from my house. I live near the beach, remember?"

She nodded her head in understanding. She had forgotten that he had a house on Miami Beach. "Are you getting in or not?" He closed her door walking around the other side of the car to strap himself in then directed her to his bike. They didn't speak much on the ride to her place. She had a nice little condo not so far from the beach itself and on days when she wasn't working herself to death she would bring her daughter to splash around in the ocean. She loved it.

"Sea Coast Condos," Scott announced nodding his head in approval. The place didn't look all that bad.

"Thank you for announcing to the entire world where I live," she told him taking her keys out of the ignition. He was already out of his seat and ready to take Star out of the car by the time that she noticed she'd made a smart remark to the air. "You really shouldn't do that. She doesn't take too well to strangers," she warned him when she saw him reaching for her daughter.

"Don't be ridiculous, kids love me," he told her lifting the toddler from the car seat. Star began to wail as soon as he lifted her reaching for her mother with tear filled eyes.

Manni rushed to grab her heaving child frowning intensely at him when he wouldn't release her. "I told you that she's not used to strangers. Won't you listen to me when I talk sometimes."

"I'm not going to kill her," he told her lifting her bag from the back seat to throw on his shoulder. "Star," he called over her screams finally getting her attention when he stuck his tongue out at her. She looked at him confused then reached for it. He pulled it back into his mouth and she began to whimper again. He stuck it back out making a hideously bizarre noise that scared the tears out of her. She stared at him then at her mother who could only laugh and shake her head.

"It's ok," she assured her.

"Manni, I noticed that she doesn't speak much. She isn't mentally disabled or anything, is she?" he asked so genuinely concerned that she couldn't be offended by his question.

"No, she only starts to talk once she's gotten used to you and when that starts there's no stopping it," she told him closing the door then clicking the alarm button. She took him to the fifth floor unwillingly allowing him access into her condo though it had been her idea to invite him in the first place.

"You're acting as if I forced my way into your place," he remarked after noticing her expression. He placed her daughter on the carpet watching as she ran away to play with some toys.

"Don't get too comfortable," she told her with a risen eyebrow. "It's close to your bath time." Star frowned picking up a book and holding it up.

"This one," she mumbled.

"Ok, I know I promised to read it to you before your bath. I will so just give me a few minutes."

"Would you like for me to do it instead?" Scott volunteered bursting into laughter when the toddler shook her head. "I see that you're just as honest as your mother."

Manni smiled clearing her throat uncomfortably. "I'm going to start dinner."

"How about I make dinner and you get her ready for bed time," he suggested already walking into the kitchen and searching the cabinets. He was taking up too much space, she wasn't ready to be this close to him, but it had been her idea.

"I couldn't ask you to do that."

"Yet when we first met you had me wash and vacuum your car just for one date?" he asked with a sloppy grin.

She smiled shaking her head, "fine you do what you want. It's not as if you ever really listened to me any how." She smiled watching her daughter pop her head up from her barbie fun house to rush to the sofa. She pulled herself up waiting for her mother to join her. "Do you know that you are the highlight of my day?" Manni asked her kissing her forehead.

"Is it readn' time?"

"Yeah, it's time to read," she told her opening the story book. "The Swan Princess and her Ducklings," she began reciting the title then helping her daughter to pronounce the words.

Scott popped his out of the kitchen in amazement, "she can read?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't she be able to?" Manni asked confused.

"It's just that she's only three years old. Most three old years spend more time playing than...reading."

She smiled shaking her head. "She won't be three for too much longer. Besides, Star is a bright young lady. She can count to 25, she can recite her colors, fruits, and shapes, and she can say her ABC's forwards and backwards," she proudly boasted.

"Wow," he said shocked. "Let me guess, she'll be writing her first dissertation at the age of five?"

"Please, she likes chewing on the pencil too much to write her own name, but I'm working with her. She'll write to about M before she starts going crazy."

"Momma, read please," she told her tapping on her arm.

"Ok, I'm sorry," she told her smiling at Scott once more before picking up where she left off.

"That is crazy," Scott told her setting the table for their dinner once she'd successfully tucked Star in for the night. "Your child is a super genius," he praised. "I wish that I had a daughter like that." Manni took a big gulp of the wine she had only seconds ago poured into her glass pounding on her chest when she choked on it. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, let's enjoy this wonderful spaghetti and meatballs that you made."

"You don't have to act like that. You know that I'm not the world's best cook," he told her holding out her chair. It was good to see that he hadn't lost his sense of chivalry. "I hope that you will enjoy the meal."

She smiled taking a bite of the spaghetti and almost choking on the overly salty spaghetti sauce and meatballs, at least he had tried and that was enough to warrant a bit of praise. "You did a good job."

"Please, don't lie to me. This tastes like crap. How about we just order in some Chinese and call it a night?"

She laughed nodding her head. "I thought you'd never say that sooner." She left him to throw away their supposed dinner while she called in an order for them. "They'll be here in thirty minutes. Do you think you can hold out until then?" she teased helping him dry the dishes. "You may not make a good cook, but you'd make one heck of a man servant," she told him with a smile then shook her head and threw down the dish towel.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not supposed to be this at ease with you. This isn't us. We fight and yell and jump at each other's throats. You do remember that you told me I was the biggest, most naive idiot in the world, don't you?" she asked watching him dry his wet hands after placing the last of her plates in the drying rack.

"And you did call me the worlds most fake Hugh Hefner," he reminded her. "The thing is that we never really got to the bottom of the issue. I was too busy ducking from an iron to really try to resolve everything."

"So it was my fault?" she accused waiting for an answer. She shook her head walking away. "Well, Stark, it doesn't matter anymore because everything between us has already ended. It was for the best."

He scoffed in disbelief, "Manni, do you expect me to believe that it's really through between us?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" she asked dropping down into a love seat.

"For one, you invited me to your place and for two, you still haven't launched anything at my head yet. So if you still had an issue with out breakup I would be on my way to the hospital because of your horrible temper. I had to get five stitches on my head because of that encyclopedia you threw."

"What? Where?" she asked genuinely worried. She stood up lifting herself on tiptoes to see his scar. He pulled back his hair from his forehead and she saw the obvious pink mark just beneath his hair line. "I'm so sorry. I've calmed down a great deal since I've had Star," she told him as her fingers traced the smooth line. "I'm really sorry."

"Don't be, because of this damn thing I haven't been able to get you off of my mind for three years," he told her pulling her into his big strong arms and planting a smoldering kiss on her lips.

Twice The Charm Ch. 02



Author's note: Sorry guys, I realized that I did indeed screw with the timeline little. Unfortunately, I can't go back and fix it because this story has already been completed on my blog and I'm not going to change one tiny piece of it only for one website. It means that I would have to correct about three or four chapters on my blog and that's time that I could be using to continue with another story that I've started. So I'm just going to tell you guys that Star is three years old going on four. I'm very sorry for the mix up and I hope that this mistake doesn't take away from the story.

      Cassandra

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



His kiss was different than before. He was actually taking his time to taste every crevice of her mouth, dipping his tongue inside after gently asking for entrance. It made her knees shake to think that over the years Scott had afforded to become more attentive. She trembled a sigh feeling her knees begin to shake from the affect of his touch. His strong hands were all over her, gently coaxing the tenseness from her body as he lifted her off of her feet, pressing her closer against his tall, muscular frame. Her arms encircled his neck now that she was being held a bit higher giving her easy access to his throat. His five o'clock shadow grazed her soft skin causing excitement to ripple throughout her body. Her lips tasted his warm flesh only stopping to suckle on his rapidly pounding pulse.

She wrapped her legs about him moaning in surprise when he gently grasped her derriere exciting her senses even more. She could feel herself becoming wet from the damp, coolness in her satin panties. If she didn't stop them now, Manni knew that they would sleep together. "Scott," she tried speaking seconds before he once more devoured her lips, sending her further into distraction. Perhaps he knew exactly what she had been about to say, but whether that was the case or not, she found herself happy that he had stopped her.

Her hands traced a hot path to his silky red hair which she entwined between her fingers, pressing his mouth closer and, for the briefest moment, time seemed to stand still, just for the two of them, as their kiss grew longer in length and their moans echoed in the silence of her living room. She was beginning to shake with desire as her trembling hands dropped down to unbutton the collar of his shirt. She needed to feel his heat pressed up against her or she would lose her sanity.

"I want you," Scott told her slowly laying her down on her love seat. He looked down at her with desire filled eyes almost at his limit from the wanton yearning reflecting on her lovely face. His fingers traced her angled jawline and she leaned into his touch as her body trembled. "Why are you crying?" he asked a bit concerned.

"Am I?" she replied sitting up to wipe away tears. "I'm sorry, Scott, I can't do this."

"Alright," he told her nodding his head. "I won't force you, you know that," he said even though his evident arousal was painfully pressing against the front of his pants. "I'll wait until you're ready."

She snorted her disapproval at his statement steadily shaking her head. "We've hurt each other too much to want to try again, Scott. It would be too crazy."

"I know that we've both done and said a few things that we shouldn't have to get back at each other, but that was the past and I'm willing to--"

"Scott, please don't."

"Don't what?" he asked standing up and backing away from her. He placed his hands on his hips to keep them from reaching for her.

"Things won't work out between us. They never have since we first started and it definitely won't now. We've changed and we both have different responsibilities that we need to take care of."

"Are you talking about Star?" he asked looking down at her. "She's an adorable kid, Manni, and I have no problem with stepping in to be a father figure to her if need be. I'll accept the both of you."

Manni felt her heart tremble in her chest and she dropped her eyes to her tightly clasped hands feeling an overwhelming sensation of guilt upon her conscience. "Scott, there's something that I need to tell you." Her doorbell rang dissipating the heavy tension from between them.

"I'll get that," he volunteered when she didn't move. He returned a few minutes later setting the food down on her glass coffee table. "Are we going to eat now?"

"Did you use the twenty I had on the counter?" she asked standing to her feet to get them plates.

"Nope." He took the fork from her hand already going to town on the broccoli and shrimp before she had the time to plate it for him.

"Some things just never change," she commented sticking the twenty in his shirt pocket.

"What can I say? I enjoy the easy clean up method. That way we don't have to wash any dishes," he told her pulling her down beside him. He took the plates from her hand setting them down in front of them then handed her the second fork after opening the pork fried rice and steamed dumplings. "Tell me why you're so down today."

She heaved a sigh eating a forkful of the rice before responding. "I was chewed out by a client today. She told me that I was a horrible makeup artist and that I ruined her photoshoot."

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, she called my boss and we all had one big meeting because she was talking about pressing charges. Apparently, she was fired from the job; she wouldn't give us any reasons why except that the photographer didn't like her makeup and that I wasn't qualified at my job because I never wore any. I can't help it if that stuff makes my skin break out into a rash," she told him trying to choke on her sorrows with the help of a steamed dumpling.

"So what happened? What did your boss say?" he asked unable to stop thinking about how adorable she was when she brooded.

"He said that he would get to the bottom of everything, but until then I'm on probation," she told him. Her voice broke and she dropped her fork.

"It's alright."

"No, it's not, Scott, I'm sorry, but you know how much of a pessimist I can be. I've worked there for seven years and not once have I ever had a complaint and now instead of being on my side, he tells me that I'm on probation as if he were talking to some newbie or something."

He rubbed her back to help her calm down, "what will you do now?"

"I'm looking for a new job. I have an interview next week Friday. I haven't told him a thing. He'll find out once I'm gone that I've left," she said standing to her feet. She'd forgotten about drinks only noticing her mistake when her throat became unbearably dry. She handed him a glass dropping down beside him on the floor.

"It's not as if you have anything to worry about. You and I both know that once they take a look at your portfolio there's no way they'd deny you."

"That is true," she agreed not afraid to be a bit conceited. "It's just that I'm so hurt. Not once have I ever asked him for anything, not even a raise, and I work the longest hours so much that sometimes I don't even get to see Star."

"Who watches her when you're working so late?" He took a chug of his lemonade scrunching his face at the tart lemon flavor. "This could use a bit more sugar."

"It's sugar free," Manni told him turning up her nose. "It's much better for your health so you better finish it."

"I'll just take your advice on that. So who looks after her when you're not available?"

She ate some broccoli digging through the container for a plump piece of shrimp. "My parents. They spoil her rotten over there," she told him with a smile. "What I usually try to do is work late on Fridays that way she can spend the weekend with them, but every once in a while I have a late weekday or two."

Scott nodded his head taking a sip of the horrible liquid he was forced to drink. "Did they move?"

"No, they still live near West Palm Beach," she told him.

"So you drive an hour to your parents' house just so that they can watch your child? You must be able to afford the gas." She smiled getting ready to brag until she choked on a few grains of rice. He laughed as she began to turn red from embarrassment. "That's karma."

"I could have died and here you are laughing at me like a clown," she complained rubbing her throat.

"With CPR, we're taught that the victim is alright as long as they keep coughing. Once they stop is when you begin to worry. I was kinda hoping for the latter so that I had another chance to put my hands all over you." His eyes roamed over her body with desire and she cleared her throat.

"Is that the reason you came back to Florida?"

He shook his head finishing up the fried rice. "It's like I told you before. My mother's dementia is getting worse so I'm in the process of taking her out of the nursing home so that I can care for her myself. I never thought that I would run into you, but I'm glad that I did."

"Well, I'm not very sure about the way I'm feeling towards you," she told him setting down the container of shrimp and broccoli before she finished it off.

"I'm only guessing from the way you responded to me earlier that there's a little something still left in that closed off heart of yours." She didn't like the mocking tone in his voice glaring in his direction in response. "Manni, I told you that I would wait until you were ready."

"Am I not supposed to pretend that I didn't walk in on you and your secretary about to go at it?" she asked looking down into her half empty glass.

He didn't know what to say. "I know I was a jerk who took you for granted, however; if you'd only give me one more chance, I can prove to you that I've changed."

She shook her head running her hand over her fluffy afro. "Scott, our relationship is a liability that I cannot afford and will not undertake again. Nevertheless, I feel as if we can benefit from being friends which brings me to something very important that I need to talk to you about."

"Friends will be fine. That way if you ever need someone, other than your folks, to watch little Star I can do that for you. I work from home now so that's not a problem. She can run around until her heart is content."

"You're an accountant, how do you do that from home?" she asked forgetting what she was about to say.

"My clients e-mail me their information and I total it up and do the math. It's not all that hard especially since I have the brain span of a savant," he told her closing up the container. "But would that be a good idea?" he asked referring to his earlier comment.

"You having the brain span of a savant?" Manni asked confused.

"No, me watching Star from time to time. It might take some stress off of you knowing that you won't have to drive an hour to get her," he told her standing to his feet. "I just don't understand why her father wouldn't want to be a part of her life. It's just like men these days to lay down with a woman though they know that they won't want to deal with the responsibility afterwards. I tell you if I ever see this guy, I will give him a nice blow to the face," he continued his ranting as he went into the kitchen to put their used utensils in the sink.

"Has he ever seen her before?" he asked still becoming angry at the idea of Star's father not wanting to be a part of her life. "Does he even know that she exists, that he has a three year old daughter?" he asked grabbing the empty containers.

"He doesn't know because I've never told him," Manni admitted watching him head into the kitchen. She followed him leaning against the doorway for support then took a deep breath and repeated herself. Scott turned to look at her in confusion and she couldn't maintain their eye contact. "Star's father didn't know that she existed until today."

"What?" Scott asked still confused. "Does that mean that you told him about her on the phone today or something?"

"No," she told him shaking her head. "He found out today because it's the first time that I've seen him in almost four years...Scott...Star is your daughter."



Twice The Charm Ch. 03



Chapter 3: Halfway There. 

Scott laughed, shaking his head in disbelief, "you know, Manni, that was a good one. You really had me there for a second." He hung up the other dish towel in his hands still chuckling to himself.

"Scott, I'm being serious. Look--"

"No," he told her, spinning back in her direction before she had the chance to follow him out of the kitchen. "Serious is when you tell me that you hate my guts or that you have some kind of terminal disease, but what I do not take seriously is you joking around so tastelessly!"

He was upset. Very upset. She could understand, but what exactly did he expect from her? If she had known that one random day on the way to pick up her daughter, that she would run into him, she would have stayed in touch to let him know in the first place. "Scott, I know that you're upset."

"Upset is an understatement. I'm not sure what I'm feeling right now. Whether it's anger, hate, resentment, I'm not at all certain," he told her walking away from her. "This has got to be a joke because I know that you're not the type of person to do something so selfish and vindictive."

"That wasn't my intention at all," she told him, grabbing onto his arm to stop his pacing.

"Then what was it? Did you want to hurt me? Is that why you wouldn't tell me something so important? Or did you plan on using Star as a means to blackmail me later on?"

Manni felt her hand connecting with his face surprised that she had even been able to reach it in the first place. "I'm sorry, let's just calm down and talk about this like adults."

He looked at her too stunned for words then huffed a cynical laugh. "Now you want to be adults about things?" He snatched his arm away from her walking away.

"Scott, where are you going?" she asked though she was following him to the door. "Scott, please, just hear me out."

He snatched his keys off of her coffee table, unlocking the front door. "I don't have anything to say to you right now," he told her in a cold voice. "If I even look at you right now, I'm not sure what I'll do so don't look me up. You let me contact you when I'm ready. I just need some time to sort things out in my head."

She watched him leave then crumbled to the ground. This was one of the worst days of her life. She should have kept her mouth shut like she had planned all along, but after the way he was so righteously indignant on Star's behalf, she had to say something. It would have been wrong not to. Not like it had been right for her to keep silent in the first place, but she had had her reasons. Pain and hurt were one helluva hurtle to jump over no matter how many years had passed. And even now, though they weren't together, Manni was still feeling the pain from his betrayal.

Now that he knew, she would have to worry about custody. Would he try to take her baby away from her? What was she supposed to do now? Her only solution was to wait for him to want to talk and only God knows when that time would come. Her knees felt too weak to move, but Manni forced herself to stand and get ready for bed. Hopefully, tomorrow would be much better than today, she prayed turning on the hot water to take a shower. What she should have done was gotten his number before letting the cat out of the bag. That way she could try to call him though he had told her not to. Well, since he had a listening problem when he wanted to so could she. And if he wanted to duke it out over their daughter, then Manni knew she would do everything possible to win the fight.

"Bring it on Scott Carver," she told the shower head. She was ready for him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It took you long enough to come home," Scott replied, stretching his back from sitting on the hard marble floor of the hallway.

"Why are you here? I'm not ready yet," Manni told him receiving a confused look from him. She saw him reaching for Star and wanted to back away, but knew that it wouldn't be right. She bit her tongue instead, acting as if it was only normal for a father to want to hold his daughter that he hadn't seen in three years.

He gently took his daughter looking down at her with intense interest. "If I had paid attention the first time, I would have noticed that she has my grandmother's eyes," he told her.

"Were you crying?" Manni asked when their eyes met for the first time.

"Will you let me inside or what?" he answered instead, pressing a gentle kiss to Star's forehead. She looked at him quizzically then to her mother.

"It's ok," she told her. "Star, say hello to Daddy."

"Daddy?" she asked with peaked interest. "My Daddy?"

Scott smiled, holding her closely as more tears began to shed. "Yeah, your daddy." She gave him a big smile and since that moment he couldn't stop kissing her.

"Scott, you have to let her go. I need to put her to bed," Manni told him. Her guilt had exponentially increased since she'd found him at the door. He was an attentive father. Very caring and affectionate. He was just what Star needed and she had kept him from her.

"I'll do it," he volunteered not ready to let go of his daughter. She was so beautiful. So precious. Just thinking of all the time he had missed out on with her made his anger return. How could Manni have kept something so important, as them having a child, away from him?

"Scott."

"I said that I'll do it," he told her, inviting himself to the rest of her apartment while she sat on the couch worrying her fingernails. She needed to think of a plan. Something to stall for more time before he demanded joint custody. Or would he? Even if he did, maybe the court would favor her since he had never paid child support. Then again in order for him to do that he would have had to have prior knowledge of the child's existence. Manni dropped her head in her hands. She was done for.

"I'm not planning on taking you to court if that's what you're sitting there stressing yourself over," Scott announced, startling her out of her thoughts.

"When did you come back?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past ten minutes. Then I figured that I would let you torture yourself with your own rampant thoughts as I watched with a big smile on my face," he said, leaning against the wall instead of really joining her in the living room.

"You're furious."

"Tell me why."

"Why what?" Manni asked taking her fingernail out of her mouth.

"Why did you wait so long to tell me? Wouldn't it have been easier to just keep your mouth shut in the first place?" he asked looking beyond her. She hated when he gave her that cold look as if he wasn't in the same room with her though he was so near.

"What would you have liked for me to say?" Manni asked, sitting up straight in her seat.

"How about, Scott, you have a daughter? Doesn't that sound good enough to you?" he sarcastically stated.

"What do you want from me, huh? Did you really expect for me to come to you with news of my pregnancy when we had just ended things?"

"Yes," he firmly stated, pushing away from the wall though he didn't take any further steps. "That's what you do when you trust someone."

"Trust?" Manni asked him incredulously. "Did you really expect me to have any of that left in you when I found you between your secretary's legs? Would you have taken her titties out of your mouth to have a brief chat with me?"

"You should have told me," he said with a drop of his tone.

"Or would you have continued having sex with her while we had this much needed discussion?" Manni asked jumping to her feet when he began to walk towards hers.

He grabbed her shoulders, squeezing them tightly in his anger as they burned holes into each other's eyes. His own glistened over with fresh tears and he let her go. "Don't you think that I've replayed that day over and over again in my mind for the past few years? Is that why you didn't try to contact me?"

"Please don't think that I was being vindictive to get back at you," Manni told him. "I did try, but you were already gone. What was I supposed to do when you had left without a word?"

"I left because you told me to," he said sounding utterly vulnerable.

"Why?" she asked hearing her voice break. "You've never listened to me before. So why didn't you stay and talk to me? We could have worked it out."

"Really?" he asked revealing his disbelief.

"Maybe," she agreed wiping at her eyes. She heaved a sigh shrugging her shoulders, "I kept convincing myself that it was for the best. I mean, there I was happily skipping into your office to tell you the best news of the century and there you were inches away from sucking on the best pair of implants ever bought. What do you think was running through my mind?"

"I know, I know," Scott said, dropping down to the sofa while banging the palm of his hand against his forehead. "I was an idiotic, selfish, arrogant, egotistical bastard. And not once did I say that I was sorry—that I am sorry."

"So where do we go from here?" Manni asked with uncertainty dripping from her voice. "If you want to take me to court for joint custody, I'll find a lawyer—"

"Jeez, Manni, is that what you really think I would do?" he asked standing back on his feet to walk away from her.

"I don't know. I feel as if I don't know who you are anymore!"

Scott stopped his pacing to look back at her. She was right. She didn't know him anymore because he had spent the last three or so years changing from the selfish prick he was those years ago into the man that he had become today. "I want us to do things the right way," he told her. "No courts, no lawyers, no judges. Just you and me and Star. I don't expect you to accept me with open arms into her life, but I want to see her on a regular basis and when you don't have the time to be there for her, let me be there instead. I'm her father and we both deserve to catch up for lost time."

Manni nodded her head in agreement as she stared down at her feet, fighting back the tears. What he was saying was right, but it still hurt. The pain was still too strong. "Then what do you want to do?"

"I'll work around your schedule," Scott said reaching for her purse to grab her cell phone. "Here is my number and address. Call me or come by whenever you'd like to. You don't need to tell me in advance. I want us to try again for our daughter's sake."

She bursted into tears continuing to nod her head. "It'll take time," she told him sitting back down.

"I have nothing, but time to make up for all of the wrongs that I've done to you. Manni, are you willing to start over as friends?" He walked towards her extending a pale arm covered with light red hair and she stared at it for a few minutes before gingerly reaching out her own for a shake. "But we communicate," he told her. "As long as we communicate we can get through this. And eventually, not now because it would be too heavy, but eventually we'll really need to talk about everything that has happened."

"I know. Where are you going?" she asked when he had released her hand to walk away.

"Home. I feel exhausted."

"Aren't you forgetting your bike? I brought it in the other day. It's on the balcony."

"Thank you. I guess that would be easier than walking all over the place like a nomad."

She smiled at his efforts to lighten the mood. "Wouldn't it be wiser to take a taxi?"

"Don't judge me," he said disappearing then reappearing with his bicycle. "I'll see you both tomorrow?" he asked, hoping that she would give her consent.

Manni nodded her head, watching herself play with her fingers. "Come by the school tomorrow at three-thirty and I'll introduce you to the teachers. That way when I'm not able to make it there on time you can pick her up instead."

"Three-thirty it is," he replied opening the front door to let himself out. "And Manni?" She lifted her head to look at him, embarrassed that she was still sniffling. "Thank you."



Twice The Charm Ch. 04



Sharing wasn't an easy task and Scott wasn't making it any easier either. He left her with the biggest pangs of jealousy that she had yet to experience in her entire existence. And for the life of her, she didn't know if it was due to his attentiveness towards their daughter or his lack of attention towards her. Nevertheless, it was all working out for the past two and a half months, even with the high demands of her new job. Therefore, she shouldn't complain even if it was only inside of her head.

Scott opened the front door after Manni had rung the bell three times. He appeared before her disheveled and out of breath, but nonetheless appealing. "You're here already?" he greeted somewhat disappointed by her arrival.

Manni frowned up at him trying not to take it to heart. "I'm running late by two hours and you greet me with that? You're acting as if I purposely came early to cut your time short."

He stepped back giving her entrance into his two story home feeling his hands twitch with the need for skinship after a strong wind of her scent wafted to his nostrils. "Did you think about what we discussed the last time?" he asked redirecting his wayward thoughts.

"What?"

"About Star spending the weekend with me," he clarified leading her into the living room where his mother was busily helping her make a bridge with her building blocks.

"How is she today?" Manni asked keeping her eyes focused on his fragile mother whose hands were trembling far too much to properly set down the letter block K.

"She was great. Ran around naked after her bath and I couldn't get her to put back on her underwear. I finally had to bribe her with a new book for her to put some clothing on," Scott reported with a warm smile.

Manni shook her head grasping his arm to lead him into the kitchen, not wanting her daughter to end her time with her grandmother. "I meant your mother, Scott. How is she doing? Is she getting better? The last time, you told me that her doctor was trying to convince you to hire an at home nurse."

He leaned his slender, tall frame against his counter pushing back a few locks of red hair. He looked stressed. "Mom is fine," he told her nodding his head before he had even finished his sentence. "She didn't try to bludgeon me with anything today so maybe I'm still in her head somewhere."

"Scott, you know if you ever need help with her, I'm here."

"No, I couldn't ask that of you."

"What are you talking about? You're acting as if we've just met. Have you forgotten that we were once engaged. Besides, we practically grew up together," Manni said not hiding the fact that she had taken offense to what he'd said.

"Which is exactly why I couldn't ask that of you. You know that my mother's pride is strong. She wouldn't want you to see her this way. I guess that it's a good thing that she doesn't remember you," he said on a weak laugh.

"Hell, she hardly remembers you either." They locked eyes for a brief instant until she looked away. She shouldn't have said that and she told him so when he had turned away from her. Manni reached for him bringing him back to face her then gently touched his cheek to give him comfort.

"Don't," Scott said gently grasping her hand to remove it from his skin.

"Don't do what?"

"Don't comfort me or I'll want more. I'll misunderstand your good intentions and I'll take advantage of you," he told her not breaking eye contact. "If you do this again, I won't be held responsible for my actions."

Manni cleared her throat, dropping her brown eyes down to the mixed colored linoleum tiles of his kitchen, burning red, beige, and black into her corneas. "Star can stay the weekend. I guess this works out great for the both of us since I have a photoshoot scheduled that I have to help out with. Not that I was going to say no if I had the weekend off."

"Thank you. It must be hard for you giving up so much of your time with her because of me."

"Scott, doing the right thing should never be hard....with that said, I should have taken my own advice long ago."

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" he asked knowing that she was about to get Star's belongings to leave. That was the part of the day that he hated the most. When she left. Not that he didn't want his daughter to stay either, it's just that he rarely spent time with Manni. And it was becoming harder and harder to pretend as if he didn't want to.

She shook her head apologetically, "I'm sorry, I still need to pack a few things for this weekend and I also need to call my parents and inform them that Star will no longer be going to their place. They'll be disappointed."

"Aside from being disappointed, how are they?"

"Angry," she told him truthfully. "You know that I don't hide anything from my parents, don't you?"

"So I take it that that they know the whole shabang?"

"Yup. My father wants a one on one with you, he swears that he's still a professional boxer. I told him that you could probably tip him over with your big toe so now he really wants a match," she teased giving him a small smile.

"I don't expect them to be happy with my sudden disappearance nor my sudden reappearance. Especially if they knew about how things ended between us. I would like to see them and clear the air if possible."

Manni gave him a wide-eyed look of disbelief. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. Now that I'm a solid part of Star's life, I think that it would be beneficial for me to have this conversation with your parents and beg or grovel, if need be," he said folding his sleek yet muscular arms across his chest. "I mean, I can say that I'm a solid part of Star's life, right? I am, am I not?"

Manni smiled nodding her head. "Yes, you are and you've earned it. I guess that we should head out and give you some time to get your work done."

"It's already been completed since before lunch time. I'm a fast worker, remember?"

"Even with that said, I need to get her home and get her fed then put to bed."

"Actually, do you know what I've been thinking of?"

"No," Manni answered shaking her head.

He looked at her wryly continuing his explanation despite her interruption. "I was thinking that Star could just spend the night on days when I pick her up. That way, you won't have to rush over in the mornings to send her off to school or at night when you're already as tired as it is. I'll feed her, bathe her, get her ready, and drop her off. All you'll have to do is get to work on time. I know that it could be a big change for the both of us, however; I was thinking that if things worked out better than planned this weekend, we could sorta make it official." He looked down at his feet like a shy teenage girl on her first date, hoping that she wouldn't flat out reject him.

"I don't see why not. I have to admit that it was getting a bit tiring having to drive all over the place and spending all of that gas money," Manni told him. 

"Really?"

"Did you think that I would say no?"

"Kinda," he confessed nodding his head.

"Look, so far we've both been comporting ourselves as adults. Let's continue to do that. How will we know what will work or not if we don't take heed of each other's suggestions?"

"Valid point," Scott commented increasing his nods as if Manni were a politician and he was a hundred percent in aggreement with her candidate speech.

"I'll pack a bag of her things and bring them by next time--"

"Actually, I've got clothing of my own. I've been buying stuff since the moment you told me that she was mine."

"No," Manni corrected holding up a finger. "She is ours."

"Then I'll rephrase that. Since you told me that she was ours. At first I thought it was a bit ridiculous, but the more I thought about her and all the years that I had missed was the more I knew that I had alot to catch up on. And after a while, I couldn't stop myself from picking up things that reminded me of her. Her room is already fill with teddybears."

"She has her own room already?" Manni asked surprised.

"Yeah, I hired a decorator to come in and get the job done." She stared at him in amazement. "I told you, I couldn't stop myself."

"I'm not going to deny that I'm a bit wary and weary of all of this, but this is something that we have to do. I can't be selfish and keep her all to myself now that you're in the picture. I want to commend you on your efforts and um...I'm proud of you."

"Thanks."

Manni ignored his smile that was turning her legs to jello and continued her train of thought before it disappeared. "If you would like, we can start this idea of yours next week. It would work well being that she will be spending the weekend with you. That way she'll be habituated to staying here." She cleared her throat exiting the kitchen to scoop her daughter up for a big hug then grabbed her things. "Say goodbye to Daddy and Grandma, baby. We have to go home."

"I'll see you soon," Scott told her raining kisses all over her face, while she giggled and tried to squirm away, before letting her go.

"So you pick her up from school this Friday and drop her off Sunday night. Ok?"

Scott nodded his head watching her gently hold his mother's hand and stroke her hair finally giving her a kiss goodbye on the cheek to walk towards the door. "Ok. And Manni."

"Yes?" she answered turning back to him though one foot was already outside.

"Thank you. I really appreciate this."

"I owe you, after all," she reminded him waving goodbye as she disappeared down his driveway to her car with their daughter then drove out of viewing distance. Scott heaved a sigh, leaning against his closed front door as he stared up at his ceiling. His thoughts all along were correct. He was still in love with Manni.



Twice The Charm Ch. 05



It was strange sleeping without her little girl, even though this was well past the hundreth time that Star had stayed over with Scott. Perhaps it was because she had the weekend off for once why the notion was suddenly hitting her, but Manni knew that this "sharing is caring" project she had going on with her "baby daddy," so to to speak, was really starting to get to her. She rushed to answer the doorbell, not hiding the huge smile riding her lips now that Star was home. "Hi," she squealed, throwing the door open wide in her excitement.

"Mommy!!!!!" Star squealed likewise as she bounced in Scott's arms.

"If I didn't know any better, I would think that its been thousands of years since you two have seen each other."

"Hi Scott," Manni finally greeted after kissing her daughter to death.

"May I come in or is this a 'drop off the baby and the bag then leave' situation?"

Manni gave him a cynical smile, nevertheless, allowing him entrance into her home. "I'm not going to lie and pretend that your statement didn't pique my interests."

"Funny."

"What do you want?" she asked, putting Star down to the ground to check on the supper she was preparing.

"Wow, the thing is I can't even be offended by that because its so you." He followed her into the kitchen, making an effort to keep his eyes off of her derriere. He wasn't like the typical white guy who loved pancake butts, so to speak. He loved a woman who had a lot that he could grab onto and Manni was not deficient in that department. And that 'hug my body,' pale pink summer dress she wore was making it even harder for him to focus on his task of sneaking food out the pot.

"You know what I mean," she told him, pulling him out of his thoughts. "You've always dropped her off then rushed back home to be with your mother. Why the sudden change?" She lifted the lid off the pot almost needing to wipe her mouth from the appealing scent of her swedish meatballs.

"Two reasons or maybe even three," Scott replied, finding his eyes back on her backside as she bent over to check on her baking macaroni and cheese. "Yeah, there's definitely three reasons."

"And?" she pulled the glass baking dish from the oven, resting it on a wooden cutting board to cool before turning off the oven itself.

"One, I, ah, went ahead and hired the stay at home nurse. My mom's doctor has been hounding me to do it for months now and I finally took his advise after the old lady went upside my back with my own baseball bat. I haven't even seen that thing since high school!"

"What?" Manni asked in disbelief. "How was she able to remember where that thing was hidden when she can't even remember your own name?" she teased, wanting to lighten his mood. Her efforts were apparently well appreciated since he was now smiling like a hyena.

"Funny" he sarcastically replied, turning off the stove under the meatballs while she whipped up a small vegetable salad.

"Your other two reasons?" Manni asked not taking her eyes off of the knife as she cut the cucumbers like an expert chef.

"Two, because I missed you and three, because I could never say no to your cooking."

Manni chuckled, shaking her head, "I don't remember ever asking you to stay for dinner."

"That's because I have invited myself. I just said that I missed you. Do you have selective hearing or something?"

She cleared her throat though she didn't speak as she added the cucumbers to the rest of the already chopped vegetables then poured in Italian dressing and stirred. "Aside from the occasional baseball bat to the back, what was your other reason for hiring the nurse?" Manni asked instead, giving Scott's turned profile a side glance. There was no doubt that he was stealing a meatball from the pot.

"Delicious as always," he told her, confirming her previous thought. He rubbed his prickly chin, as he finished off the meatball, in deep thought.

"What's wrong?"

He grabbed a knife slicing the nearly cooled baked macaroni and cheese into squares. "The thing is, the nurse was a great idea because she has years of experience dealing with alzheimer and dementia patients so I feel guilty for not listening all along..."

"But?" Manni asked when he stopped speaking.

"But the main issue is that my mother hasn't been eating well and she has completely stopped taking her medication. I can't make her do it no matter how much I try to coax her to. Thus, the nurse is here to save the day, however, if things continue this way, I'll have to check her into the hospital." He put the knife down staring at the marble counter in front of him.

"Stark, I'm so sorry," Manni softly replied, wanting to console him, but his warning, from the other day, was ringing loudly in her ears.

"What's there to be sorry about?" he asked, feigning a smile. "My mother has lived a full life. I guess what is really getting to me in this entire ordeal is that when we found out about her condition, she made me promise that if things got this bad, I should just...just let her go. No hospitals, no doctors, no homes. Just let her die. How can I do that to my own mother?" He felt her soft hand on his back. The tension drained from his body leaving him weak.

"I can't say that I understand how you feel, but I know that what you're going through is difficult."

"Am I being selfish for trying to keep her with me even though she's ready to leave?" he asked, hanging his head and becoming enshrouded by his red hair.

"Hey...hey," Manni called, turning him to face her as she looked up into his sad, green eyes. "Human beings are selfish by nature," she told him, wiping at his tears. "You're only doing what any child would do. If I were in your shoes, I would fight until the very end as well. Don't give up."

"It hurts seeing her hooked up to all of those machines in our home. I can't sleep at night from constantly thinking about it."

"I didn't want to say this, but you were starting to look like crap," she agreed, nodding her head.

Scott smiled, showing her his pearly white teeth in the process. "I'm sorry, I didn't come over to cry like a maiden in distress. I came to eat you out of house and home."

"Give me a hug."

"I can't, not right now when..." he cleared his throat, looking at her bashfully. "Not when I'm feeling so...vul... open."

"I'm hungry," Star interrupted with a frown as she stared up at them.

"We're going to eat right now. Go and wash your hands then come back," Manni told her, kissing her on the forehead before she ran off. "You too," she said to Scott who pushed his hair back then leaned forward with his forehead exposed. "What?"

"Where's my kiss?" He gave her an innocent look that almost made her give him one.

She scuffed instead, turning away to set the table. "Over my dead body," she muttered, putting down the plates and utensils.

Scott washed his hands in the kitchen sink not wanting to leave Manni's side. With all that was going on concerning his mother, he knew that he needed to keep things in perspective, which included not losing sight of the fact that Manni was not interested in starting over with him in spite of his lingering feelings for her. But with his life becoming unstable with the possible demise of his mother, he found himself unable to control his reasoning to not depend so heavily upon her for emotional consolation. He needed to give her more space and give himself some time to get his fantasies of them reuniting out of his daydreams.

"Scott!"

"What? Why are you yelling?" he asked a bit startled.

"I've been speaking to you for the past five minutes while you were dazed off in lala-land. You're not even touching your plate anymore. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

Manni wiped Stars mouth. Her daughter had insisted upon feeding herself entirely without the guidance of her mother. Even with a gigantic napkin covering her clothing, she had still managed to rain more macaroni and sauce on the table and the floor around her instead of getting it into her mouth. "I was telling you that my parents would like to see you next weekend if you weren't busy. They figured they'd kill two birds with one stone being that it's also Star's birthday weekend (remember, her birthday's on Tuesday)."

Scott nearly choked on a meatball from Manni's news of her father wanting to see him. "What?"

"Don't give me that wide-eyed look. I told you my dad wanted to talk to you a long time ago. He has grown impatient. What should I tell him?"

"That I would like to be cremated," Scott replied still pounding on his chest in an effort to stop coughing.

"Daddy?"

"I'm ok, baby," he assured Star, gently caressing her soft cheek.

"Does that mean I should tell him that we'll be seeing them next weekend?"

"We?"

Manni looked at him incredulously, "did you think I was just going to feed you to the wolves? Of course, I'll be there to help you, in a sorts, and to eat the cake Mom will make for Star. You have to remember that my parents were in love with you. I at least have to...I don't know...make them see you in a good light for Star's sake."

"I don't want you making up excuses for me," Scott told her, shaking his head.

"Who said that it would be excuses? I only want them to realize that to err is human. We all make mistakes, but eventually we have to learn to forgive and let go, even if we haven't forgotten."

Scott slowly set his utensils down on his plate, giving her a fixed regard before speaking. "Have you learned to forgive and let go of what I have done?"

Manni shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she searched for a response. "I'm still learning. It's about time to let go, don't you think? It's almost four years since everything has transpired. I mean, it is four years since Star is turning four. I need to move on with my life. I realized that hate, anger, and unforgiveness can leave you frozen in time while the world continues to turn about you. I don't want to be stuck in the same place for another four years."

"Should I bring a gift for them?" Scott asked, unsure of what to say after her answer to his question.

"That would be a great idea."

He nodded his head, finishing his salad and macaroni. "And when you say next weekend, do you mean this weekend coming up or the next one because it's Sunday which means it's a new week."

"This weekend since today is Sunday which marks the commencement of a new week," Manni told him with a smirk. She was enjoying his discomfort. "Where are you going? You haven't finished your meatballs. You love Swedish meatballs," she said genuinely worried.

"To write out my will. I'll see you next weekend." 



Twice The Charm Ch. 06



They were having a staring competition, in her opinion, and Manni wasn't sure which one, between Scott and her father, would win. But Scott did look ready to sweat a couple bullets. "Daddy, would you stop trying to intimidate Scott," she told her father who had yet to wipe the intense frown from his eyebrows.

His eyes wandered to his daughter and his agitated wife making him decide to take the adult way out and actually speak instead of giving the man before him the silent treatment. "Come on in. I guess I should be a good host and offer you a drink?" He turned his bulky neck in Scott's direction waiting for a response.

"No thank you, sir. I'm not at all thirsty." He followed Manni's parents into the living room feeling ready to pass out. He had just literally spent fifteen minutes, in front of their door, in a staring match with Manni's 6'4" father who still had every ounce of muscle mass on his body that he had when he was a professional boxer. His mouth was drier than cotton and his throat felt as if he had had a large helping of saw dust for lunch.

"Daddy, you and Mom promised to be mature about this," Manni reminded her father as she stared up at him. 

He grudgingly nodded his head in agreement then scooped up his granddaughter for a kiss. "Star, happy early birthday, the puppy is waiting for you in the backyard. Go ahead and keep him some company. Grandpa and Grandma need to talk to Scott."

"Her father," Manni chimed in to correct her father.

"You...your," he cleared his throat then tried again. "Your father."

"Ok," she squealed wiggling out of his arms to play with the puppy they had bought for her a week ago for her impending birthday.

"Would you like any snacks?" Kiné, Manni's mother, asked courteously as she showed Scott to a seat in the living room.

"No, thank you," he once more replied. His stomach was flipping circles. There was no way he could even imagine eating something.

"Samuel?"

"Sure. I'd like some peanuts if we have any."

"Which kind? Salted or honey roasted?" she asked heading to the kitchen.

"Salted."

"Honey roasted," Manni and her father replied in unison.

"I'll just get both," she told them, disappearing to round up a tray of snacks.

"Sit down, son."

"Yes," Scott replied quickly dropping himself into the sofa across from Manni's intimidating father. Luckily, Manni sat beside him giving him a bit of comfort.

"Relax," she whispered to him. "My father isn't going to eat you up." He released a nervous laugh wiping the palms of his sweaty hands against his black slacks.

"So, what brings you back to Florida?" Samuel asked once his wife had rejoined them.

"My mother."

"Oh dear. Has she gotten worse?" Kiné asked genuinely concerned. Scott nodded his head looking down at his hands he was now wringing together. "I'm truly sorry to hear that."

"Thank you."

Samuel cleared his throat trying to hide the fact that he was also concerned about Scott's mother. Nonetheless, he remained undeterred in his quest for the truth. "I'm sorry to hear about your mother, Scott, but you know that I was never one to pussyfoot around something. So I'm just going to jump into it." He folded his muscular, dark chocolate arms across his chest turning his stern eyes upon Scott.

"Now, Samuel, I already told you that we should go about things differently," Kiné told him a bit disappointed by his manner of handling things. In all honesty, despite what may have happened in the past between her daughter and the evidently nervous young man sitting in front of them, she felt that it was their responsiblity to regulate the situation and work things out to how they saw fit.

"Look here woman--"

"Who do you think you're calling woman?" she asked ready to stand to her feet and give her husband a piece of her mind. She may be feets shorter than him, but that didn't mean that she wasn't capable of holding her own. 

"Exuse me, dear," Samuel apologized looking somewhat uncomfortable. 

"That's what I thought." Her light complexion became somewhat red with embarrassment as she realized she had nearly lost her temper in the presence of company. She ran her fingers through her thick, curled afro turning her attention back to her daughter and Scott. "I just want you to know, Scott, that I think Samuel and I should stay out of this in order to remain objective."

"Objective?" Samuel asked in disbelief. "How do I remain objective when he cheated on our daughter with his assistant then left her to raise a child on her own?"

"In his defense," Manni intervened, "Scott had no idea that I was pregnant with Star at the time. If he had known, things would have been somewhat different."

"What do you think this will solve for us to drag up the past?" Kiné asked looking at her husband.

"I don't see it as the past."

"That's because you tend to hold grudges."

"Now, Kiné, if that was us in their shoes, wouldn't you want to figure things out?"

"That's just it, Samuel, we are not them. Instead of sitting there and arguing things out, we should be able to leave them to solve this issue on their own. Let them talk about it on their own."

"There you go again with this 'peace is the answer to life' philosopy."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Mom, Dad, please don't argue over this."

Samuel grabbed a handful of honey roasted peanuts and threw them into his mouth before spitting them back out and glaring at his wife. 

"The roasted peanuts are in the yellow bowl," she told him openly smiling at his mistake.

"Look," Scott said finally speaking up since the argument started. "An apology has been long overdue for everyone. I know that it doesn't excuse what I have done in the past and I plan to work to earn a second chance, if possible, because I am sincerely sorry for the way in which I have handled everything concerning Manni and our relationship."

Samuel rolled his eyes, "don't think that I'll forgive everything just because you bat your big, green eyes at me. Do you know what hurts the most about this? It's the fact that you came to me and we spoke, man to man, about you marrying my daughter. I gave you my permission upon your promise to be wise in your ways and what did you do? You fooled around with some young lady in your office. Do you know how disappointed I was to hear that? I really wanted you for my son."

An immense boulder of shame fell upon Scott's shoulders at Samuel's words. "I know."

"Then if you know, why the hell did you do it?"

"Daddy," Manni replied more so for her sake than for Scott's. She wasn't ready to hear why he had wanted to bed another woman.

"No, I need to know why. I think that we all need to know why."

Scott rubbed his throat hanging his head low as he thought about it all. Many nights had passed with him demanding this very question to himself. Yet never had he once thought that he would actually have to verbalize it all. "Because I was stupid. At the time, Manni and I were going through one heck of a rough spot and, ah...I wasn't thinking."

"What?" she asked unable to understand his reasoning. "So because we were arguing you thought that it was alright to go out and have an affair? Did you do that every time we fought?"

"No, of course not," he replied already defensive. "It was just..."

"Just what?"

"It was different that time. I felt suffocated."

"What?" she replied standing to her feet. It was safe to say that her temper came from her mother. "What do you mean you felt suffocated? Did you not want to be with me anymore?"

"That's not what I'm saying at all."

"Then what are you trying to say, Scott?" she demanded looking down at him in expectation.

He stood up running his hand through his hair, the both of them forgetting that her parents were present in the room. "It was hell living with you for once," he told her. "You didn't want to do anything. You wouldn't get out of bed, you cried all the time, I tried to console you and you would explode. You weren't even going to work anymore. Do you know how hard it was for me to take care of you when you didn't give a damn about yourself?"

"Excuse me for going through a bout of depression. I never asked for it."

"I know that, it was just a side effect of the medication from when you had food poisoning, but at times it seemed as if you were happy that way. As if you were just sinking into darkness and you were content to die there. God, I remember there was a time you hadn't showered for a week and I had to call your mother to get you out of bed and into the bathtub!"

"So you're blaming this all on me?" she asked with her hands on her hips.

"No, no, I'm not blaming this all on you," he tried to assure her, but it was too late. She had already made her conclusions. "I made my mistakes as well."

"Yeah, you did. There were times when I didn't even see you at all. We barely spoke. You didn't even want to touch me anymore."

"That's because everytime I tried you cried. Do you know how that made me feel?"

"How it made you feel. It was always about you," she accused.

"No, it wasn't. It was never about me. Don't you recall how many sleepless nights I'd gone through to make sure that you were alright? I couldn't trust you by yourself because you were so far gone that you were contemplating suicide. I even begged you to go to therapy and you told me to go to hell. What did you expect, Manni?! I know that I wasn't doing much, but everything that I tried you shot right down. What was I supposed to do? I was at my wit's end."

She covered her mouth as tears came to her eyes. It was her fault that things had gone awry with Scott. "I'm sorry. I was in a really bad place, but I thought that if you loved me, you would understand."

"Of course I tried to understand, it wasn't you, but having to hear every night how much you hated your life and how insignificant everything was, I started to get weak. I kept reminding myself that it was the medication, but after a while it seemed as if you were believing the things that you were saying." He sniffled dropping back down to the couch to rest his head in his hands. 

"I even wondered if you still loved me. All of a sudden you weren't the Manni that I knew. You were consumed by depression and you wouldn't let me help you to get out of it. We were suffocating together and I needed to breathe. I know that that doesn't excuse what I have done, but you were content to die from suffocation whereas I couldn't breathe. And I wanted to live."

She cried. Her mother rushed to her comfort.

"Why didn't you say that things were this bad?" Samuel asked. "We could have helped you."

"We all have our pride," Scott told him looking down at his feet. "And that's exactly the same reason why I'm in this predicament." He stood to his feet to go outside for some fresh air. His throat felt constricted and ready to burst. He couldn't take it.

"It was all my fault," Manni told her parents once he had left. "I've always asked myself why our relationship had turned out this way, but it was all my doing."

"Don't say that, sweetheart," Her mother told her caressing her back. "At least now the air is clear and we can all work on getting past this. That includes you as well, Samuel." Her husband didn't argue for once only nodding his head in agreement. "Where are you going?"

"To talk to Scott," he threw over his shoulder joining him on the patio. His eyes were red almost as red as the tinge of his hair. It was obvious he was going through a hard time with it all. "Don't you feel better now that you've talked about it?" Samuel asked as a conversation starter. Scott looked at him though he remained quiet.

"Look, Scott, I'm sorry. Over the years I have formulated so many negative conclusions and assumptions towards you that I never once stopped to think about your true character. You were always so reserved so not once did we think about how much you were affected by Manni's ordeal. I owe you a big thank you and an even bigger apology. Would you be willing to accept them, coming from one stupid father to another?"

He smiled watching Star chase the puppy in order to grab the stick from it's mouth and play with it. "I know that right now is not the time to bring this up, but if Manni is willing, I would like to give our relationship another try. And this time around not even hell freezing over will make me leave her again. I have a lot of ground to cover, but I'm determined and willing to do that, if you will once more give me your permission, sir."

Samuel covered his mouth from a yawn as he contemplated Scott's words. "Let's allow time to decide. At least I now understand why your relationship turned out how it did, but I still need time to get my feelings straight. Besides, it all depends on that stubborn daughter of mine. The two of you have things to talk about.

"Thank you, Mr. Stanley."

"We can, however, start by you dropping this polite act. It's Samuel not sir nor Mr. Stanley. Just Samuel or even Sam."

"Alright Sam."

"Much better. Now on to the birthday party." 



Twice The Charm Ch. 07



The drive home was filled with silence, especially since Star, the non-stop human radio, would be staying with her grandparents for the remainder of her birthday weekend. They looked at one another from time to time, both wanting to speak yet uncertain as to how to start. 

As her mother had told her, the air was now clear yet somehow, to Manni, it felt all the more stiffling. Everything around them was riddled with detonation devices that were ready to go off with the slightest trigger. They both felt it, which was the reason they both decided to err on the side of caution and refrain from speaking.

Scott found it hard for him not to strike up a conversation. He knew that the things he had said had hurt Manni, but from the way she was positioned with her seat all the way back, as if sleeping, told him that she wasn't ready to speak to him. An hour had already passed this way with them nearly home and Scott knew that if they didn't continue the discussion they had started at her parents' home, it would be harder to do so in the future.

He cleared his throat as he turned onto his street then drove until he pulled into his driveway. "Are you going to continue ignoring this or are we going to talk things out?" he finally asked now that he had her on his territory.

"Scott..."

"Don't say that you don't want to. It's been long overdue, don't you think?"

She repositioned her seat feeling an immense sensation of fatigue overtake her. She wanted to go home and sleep. "What else do we need to discuss? Isn't everything out in the open now?"

"I need to know how you feel about things. Do you think that we'll be able to get past all of this? What's going through your head?" He looked over at her needing to see some sort of reaction written on her face. She didn't want him to.

Manni exited the car almost rushing to her own to get away from having to finish their conversation, but Scott had other plans. He quickly reversed his car horizontally to block her in. "You have two options," he told her from out of his window. "You can either drive over my lawn and hit my mailbox to get out of my drive way or you can be an adult and just talk to me. No more games. No more encrypted conversations. Let's just talk like two normal, mature adults."

"How do you speak when you're ashamed?" she asked him resenting the fact that her eyes were already watering.

Scott cut the engine before exiting his car to go to her. She looked too vulnerable standing there in the middle of his driveway while fighting back tears. "Ashamed of what, Manni?"

"Of knowing that everything was my fault. Our break up, all of our arguments, all of our issues."

"Don't say that," he told her wiping at her eyes. "You'll make it seem as if I'm throwing all the blame on you. I never said that I was innocent. I gave you a lot of crap and at times I was never really certain why you put up with me."

"I'm sorry. I should have went to counseling. I just don't know what came over me back then. I wanted to be alone and I never once put myself in your shoes. I stopped caring about your feelings. I took you for granted as if you would always be there."

"Manni, don't make yourself out to be the bad guy."

"Scott, you don't always have to be the nice guy. You're the same now as you were back then."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked maintaining control over his barely settled temper.

"Exactly what I just said. I was the one who always had to make you angry to get a reaction out of you as if I was some kind of manipulator or something. You never wanted to talk to me and tell me how you felt so I would pull your strings like you were my little puppet boy to get you to open up and speak. So I was the bad guy. Maybe you didn't feel as if I cared enough to truly listen to your wants and needs. I guess that's why you never truly confided in me."

"Manni--"

"We practically grew up together since high school and somewhere along the way we thought that we wanted to be together, but maybe it was all just...just an illusion. Perhaps what we really wanted was some kind of companionship since we were both only children and we never took the time out to make friends. We resonated with each other because we were both lonely and got caught up into thinking that it was love."

"Manni, stop," he told her not liking where their conversation was heading.

She looked up into his green eyes shaking her head, "everything between us, from then until now, has been a mistake. What if--"

"What are you talking about?" he interrupted frowning down at her. "Are you seriously going to stand there and tell me that we never really loved each other and that's why we couldn't stop arguing all the time? What? Were we just being complacent from the very beginning because we were both too lazy to get up and actually make people like us enough to want to spend time with us?"

"Scott, if we hadn't gone to separate universities, do you think that we would have even started anything in the first place? Yes, we were always together, but we hated each other's guts. It was so bad that we even argued about who would eat the last red Skittle."

"That was my favorite one," he commented disregarding the fact that it made him seem childish to say so.

"That's just it, we didn't know how to concede. I'm overbearing and dominate and you, even though you're a narcissist, you're quiet and you hate conflict. So what I'm saying is that we got our wires crossed into believing that we ever felt attracted to each other thus wasting our time and having a daughter who now has to suffer for our mistakes."

"Manni, I feel every ounce of emotion now that I felt for you back when we were in college and you came home the summer of our sophomore year. You're just as beautiful and breathtaking now as you were then. Are you telling me that you don't feel that? You don't feel this connection between us?"

She looked down at her feet uncertain of herself. "It's just that an hour is a very long time to think," she told him leaning against her car door. "When you said that I wanted to suffocate, I believed you because it was true. At times it was due to the side effects of the medication, but sometimes it was all me. I pushed you away, I mistreated you, and then I wondered where we went wrong when I was at fault from the very beginning. I was selfish to think that you would want to stay with me knowing that I'm an argumentative, hot-blooded person. That's why I'm telling you that somewhere along the way our signals were crossed and we should untangle them."

"And Star?" he asked not breaking eye contact away from her face.

"We'll continue like we are doing now. Nothing changes in that department. She needs you in her life."

"And what about you?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "even though I know what took place between you and your secretary was my fault...it still hurts. I'm sorry that I'm so selfish. That I'm always thinking about myself and my needs."

"Manni."

She looked up being caught off guard by his kiss. He wrapped his strong arms about her pulling her closer to intoxicate her with his taste as his warm tongue searched the crevices of her mouth. It reminded her of the first time that Scott had embraced her. It had been a little over a year since they had seen each other. And instead of returning her normal greeting, of playfully punching his arm followed by a slap to her back, he had hugged her gently splaying his hands against the small of her back in a show of possession. Then he slowly pulled her close as if they were trapped in a slow motion picture, silently pleading with her to not run away from the attraction building up between them since the day they had met, and kissed her in front of both of their parents who only watched stunned by it all.

When he had released her, she had felt flustered and unstable, barely able to speak and slightly dizzy, Manni could only sit down. And ever since that moment, they had become an official item. It had taken some time for her to come to her senses then, but today she was alert and refused to walk down the same path they had so many years ago.

She pushed him away glaring at him harshly though truthfully speaking, her insides felt like mush. "What are you doing?"

"Just proving to you that there's still something going on between us," Scott simply answered allowing his hands to slide down her back before returning to his side.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why shouldn't I?" he responded with another question waiting for her reply.

"Didn't I just tell you that maybe we were a bit too crazy when we were younger and confused our feelings of friendship for genuine attraction? That's the reason why I took advantage of you and made your life so miserable. Did you not say that it was hell with me? Do you really want to go back to that?"

"Yes," he answered straightforwardly. "It was hell with you, but without you it was all meaningless. I want to live here in hell with you."

"I'm not ready," she mumbled as her heart thumped in her ears. Scott may have always been the silent type, but that never stopped him from directly expressing himself.

"Then when you're ready, I'll be here. Like I told your parents, I'm not looking for some kind of quick fix apology to give you. I'll earn it. We were both wrong so we both need time to regain each other's trust."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you'll have to learn to trust that I will never again step out on you with another woman nor when you need me the most. And I need to learn to trust that you can change. You don't have to always be argumentative and on your guard with me, Manni. Just like now, without yelling and throwing things at each other, we can have a real conversation. So can we make a deal to work on that?"

"On what?" she asked slightly confused due to the after effects of their lip lock.

"You on trusting me again and me on trusting that you would rather talk things out with me than explode and transform into this beautiful, but crazy demon woman, who throws irons and encyclopedias," he teased.

She smiled nodding her head, "Scott, I just have one request out of all of this."

"What is it?"

"When you're feeling overwhelmed with anything, talk to me. I won't start fights with you anymore to get you to open up. You shouldn't have to express yourself only because you're angry."

"Alright," he readily agreed nodding his head. "And when you're ready to try again, let me know."

Manni cleared her throat while stepping on an ant or two, "we'll see how things go," she mumbled. Scott caressed her warm cheek then took her hand to lead her towards his front door. "What are you doing?"

"Bringing you inside to have dinner with me. We can start out on a platonic level then go from there," he told her unlocking his front door. "Now that we equally agree on something, let's not let this opportunity pass us by. I don't want anymore regrets in my life," he told her closing the door behind them. "So stay with me for dinner tonight."



Twice The Charm Ch. 08



"You've been MIA recently. Is everything ok?" Manni asked Scott as he stepped into her condo with Star bouncing on his back.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," she told him reaching up on tiptoes to rest a cool palm against his forehead. He looked paler than usually and his radiant red hair was somewhat dull. "Are you sick?"

Scott shook his head, removing Manni's hand from his hot skin. She had been correct in assuming that something was off with him. He was stressed from having to admit his mother into a hospital. The in-home nurse had quit after one of his mother's many violent bouts, leaving him to take care of her. And when his mother had once more refused to eat and take her medication, he checked her in after noticing that her weight was steadily decreasing. He was scared.

"Scott...Scott!" Manni called, watching him literally jump back to attention.

"Yes?"

"Seriously, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he snipped, resting Star's bag on the living room floor then setting her down to run off and play. "What is it?"

She frowned up at him uncertain of whether to speak or let him be. Manni knew for sure that something wasn't right, but she wouldn't force him to talk to her. They had promised each other three months ago, after letting the cat out of the bag concerning their breakup, that they would put in an effort to communicate. That promise had been in effect until a month ago. Scott was clamming up on her again just like old times. "Forget it."

"No," he said regretfully as he grabbed her arm to stop her from walking away from him. "What is it? Tell me."

Manni looked down at her feet calming the vulnerability she was feeling on the inside from his wishy-washy attitude. She ruffled the front of her afro then took a deep breath before giving him back her attention. "I know that this is a bit sudden, but I was wondering if you could keep Star for two weeks. I have an unexpected photoshoot in the Virgin Islands that I can't turn down."

"What's so important about that? It's not like you're the only makeup artist."

She almost took offense to his words, but decided to ignore them instead. "Since you don't know, I'll explain things to you. There are six main full-time, professional makeup artists in my division. Three are responsible for overseas trips and three for out of state trips. I'm in the out of state division; however," she continued before he could interrupt. "The three main makeup artists for international photoshoots are all suffering from food poisoning. They went to some ethnic food restaurant that they weren't used to and now they are all laid up in the hospital with IV lines in their arms. Since I'm the head of my department, it is my responsibility to lend a helping hand. Therefore, I cannot refuse."

"The thing is, right now is not a good time for me," Scott said with his eyes wandering to his watch. He had an appointment with his mother's doctor to see if she was getting better. If her condition improved, he would take her back home.

"Ok, I'll just ask my parents," Manni replied, picking up Star's bag to unpack it.

"Don't say it like that," he said in exasperation, putting his hands on his waist.

"Like what? You just told me that you can't keep her. No harm no foul. I'm not going to force you to do something that you can't."

Scott felt frustrated inside and his head was ready to explode from it all. He didn't know what to do anymore.

"Did you buy her this adorable dress?" Manni asked in surprise as she held up a pale green dress with the Care Bears on the center of the chest. "I thought we agreed that we wouldn't use this bag anymore since you have things for her at your place?"

Scott sighed unable to take his eyes off of Manni's back. It seemed that, over the years of his absence, she had taken to wearing more feminine clothing at home instead of the chic and edgy style she normally sported when on the job and continued to wear even on her off days. His eyes ran down the length of her simple white skirt that reached mid-calf then down to her bare feet. She was looking beautiful to him. Even more beautiful than before. He felt her pressed against him before he could come to his senses and leave her alone. He nestled his nose into her thick afro and inhaled her honey scented shampoo as he continued to lean against her, holding her closer against him now that his arms were wrapped about her abdomen.

"Scott--"

"Don't move," he told her, closing his eyes to savor the moment. "Let me just stay like this for a little while, please." He held onto her, feeling his troubled heart start to settle down as her body heat melted in with his own. Her derriere nestled against the top of his thigh, only inches below his manhood, reminding him that every part of her pleased him. The way she still fit so perfectly in his arms brought him back to the past when they were both so awkward and young in the beginning. He missed those days.

"Talk to me, Scott. Tell me what's wrong," Manni softly said, reaching her arm back until she was touching his hard shoulder. She knew that it was dangerous for them to stay in such an intimate position, but it had been a long time since she was last held. And she didn't want to fight this. Not anymore. She was still desperately in love with Scott. But for their daughter's sake, she wanted to push her feelings aside and do what was best for her because where Manni's feelings were involved, there was bound to be trouble. She wanted their daughter to have a peaceful relationship with both of her parents.

His heart was beginning to pound again only this time from Manni's nearness. He knew that he should let go of her especially with his arousal coming to life against her. She turned in his arms to look up at him with big, innocent brown eyes. His insides shuddered. Manni never once realized how much of an affect she had over him. Would she ever know that?

"Scott, please."

He cleared his throat, stepping away from her and dropping his arms. "When will you be leaving for the trip?"

"In three days," Manni answered, praying that her face wasn't expressing how regretful she felt now that he was putting a bit of distance between them.

"What time?"

She shrugged her shoulders looking away from him, "I have to figure that out now that I will be taking her to my parents' house. My plane leaves at twelve which means I have to be at the airport by nine, because you're supposed to check in at least three hours in advance for international flights, so I guess I'll have to be out of here around seven. That way I'll reach my parents by eight and drive back to make it for my check-in by nine. There you have it. I'll be leaving at seven."

"Don't worry about that. I'll be by to pick her up at eight."

"But you just told me that--"

"I'll be by to get my daughter at eight," he repeated with a finger pressed against her full lips. He wanted to kiss her. And from the slightly surprised look in her eyes, Scott could tell that she knew just that.

"Stop that," Manni told him as she pushed his hand away then vigorously rubbed her chest. "My heart feels ready to explode. We have to limit these kinds of interactions between us."

"What kind of interaction?"

"The kind that makes me so aware of you," she admitted with her heart thumping rapidly against her palm. "I'm starting to feel confused and...flustered. I'm not a teenager anymore. I shouldn't still be having these types of reactions."

He smiled as he raised a red eyebrow in amusement, "confused and flustered," Scott repeated, forgetting that he was about to leave. "That's good, Manni. I want you to always be aware of me just like I always am of you."

She gave him a worried gaze unable to reply to such a statement without a few brief moments of reflection. "I don't know what you're devising, but you should stop it."

"I'm not being devious in any way," Scott assured her then walked away to find Star to give her a goodbye kiss. "I'll see you in three days," he told Manni, bending to kiss her forehead before taking his leave.

She released her pent up breath still struggling to get a hold of herself. If she didn't act wisely with him, Scott would have her right back where he wanted her. In his arms.



Twice The Charm Ch. 09



Hi guys,

Sorry for the late submission. My computer was broken for a couple of weeks and then it took some time for it to be approved by the website. I wasn't holding it back, on purpose, for suspense reasons. Enjoy

Cassandra

***************

Manni rushed through the doors of the hospital as her feet hurried to the emergency room. Her parents had called and informed her that Scott had left their daughter with them and was now in the hospital all alone. His mother was in critical condition and the likelihood of her surviving was slim.

"Scott," Manni called out of breath as she finally stopped in front of him. He looked even more ghastly pale and famished since the last time she had seen him two days ago. His pale green eyes were translucent with defeat as they slowly ascended, from their position plastered on the hospital floor, to look at her.

He was confused and somewhat lost, but somehow, despite his cluttered thoughts, he was able to stand, forcing himself to rise up against the fear that was weighing him down. "Manni? What are you doing here?"

She hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms about his abdomen as her head rested against his stuttering heart. "My parents called. Why didn't you tell me things were this bad?"

"Weren't you worried about the long distance charges?" he mocked instead, not wanting to think about his mother's dire situation.

"Scott--"

"Why did you come?"

She looked up at him with her mouth open in awkward explanation, "Wasn't I supposed to? Did you expect me to just leave you like this when you needed someone?"

Scott gently pushed her away from him, forcing his legs to put some distance between them, no matter how small it was. "You're supposed to be in the Virgin Islands."

"That's work, Scott, that can always wait. You can't," Manni told him truthfully, watching as he ran a hand roughly through his already unkempt red hair.

"You don't have to do me any favors, Manni. I think I'm quite capable of handling this on my own."

"Stop it," she told him, grabbing his arm to put an end to his pacing. "Don't do that. Don't push me away." His face crumbled and he sat back down with his head buried in his hands. "I'm right here, Scott."

He gave her a cynical laugh as he looked back up at her, "for how long?"

"Mr. Carver." They both turned in the direction of the doctor who had entered the waiting room. "I'd like to have a word with you."

"Do you need me to come?" Manni asked, holding on tightly to his hands as he slowly rose from his seat. For someone so young, he now resembled a tired old man.

"No, I'll be fine," he told her, following the doctor. They stopped closer to the emergency room doors to talk. From the doctor's body language, Manni already knew what the news would be. He tried to hold his head high, but the air of remorse surrounding the two men weighed down his shoulders as he shook his head at Scott then rested a big hand on his shaking shoulders as he watched the man before him cry with a hand covering his mouth. His mother was gone. He knew that it was inevitable yet that notion didn't and wouldn't stop the pain.

"I'm sorry for your loss. We'll give you some time alone with her then we'll have her transferred to the hospital mortuary," Manni heard the doctor say as she went to Scott. Her hand laid softly against his back and he grabbed her so suddenly that she thought he was going to push her away from him. Instead, he held her close, releasing his flood gates triggering her own tears and they cried together while the doctor slowly backed away to give them their privacy.

His pain radiated through her, suffocating the very life out of her. But Manni continued to cry with Scott while soothingly caressing his broad back to calm him. Their eyes were big, puffy, red balls when they finally stopped to look at each other. "I'm sorry," she shuddered from her dry, tear soaked lips.

Scott nodded his head, backing away from her to straighten his appearance. "I really appreciate that Manni, thank you." 

She could hear it in his voice that he was fighting back the tears, attempting to remain somewhat composed. "What do you need me to do?"

"Go home," he whispered, nodding his head as he reached for the door to the room that housed his mother's dead body. "Just go home." He went inside, closing it behind him with Manni looking after him in the hall. She didn't listen to him. Instead, she took his seat outside of the room patiently waiting for him to exit. Doctors came and went and finally the table with his mother's body was wheeled out covered by a white blanket.

"Wait," she called to one of the nurses who were preparing to push the bed away. "May I say goodbye?" she asked, blinking back her tears. They gave her permission, watching as her hesitant footsteps brought her closer to the bed. She pulled away the blanket to look down at Scott's mother and stroked her gray hair. "Mrs. Carver, I'm going to miss you so much," she told her, kissing her cold, blue forehead as tears dripped from her eyes. "May God keep you in peace." She recovered the body giving the nurses the go ahead to take it away as she turned away to cry. Her heart was aching and she knew that if she felt this way, Scott was definitely a lot worse.

She sat back down waiting outside of the room, once occupied by Scott's mother, for his exit, but he didn't leave. An hour passed and another until finally it was two in the morning when the door eventually opened to reveal a haggard looking Scott. Their eyes met then broke apart both not speaking to each other. He walked away with her following slowly behind, waiting on him to talk to her. Even if he was angry and yelled at her, she would listen just as long as he said something.

He went to the mortuary to sign his mother's death certificate and order her body to be cremated then hurriedly left the hospital after saying one last final goodbye. He didn't know where he wanted to go, but Scott knew that he had to get away. He jumped into his car, driving away his pain and becoming angry when he noticed that Manni was following behind. What did she want? Why wouldn't she leave him alone to grieve in peace? He pulled up in front of a bar, slamming his door shut then walking away before she could get out of her car.

Manni continued to follow Scott even sitting a few seats behind him inside the grimy bar. "Whiskey. Dry," she heard him order then another after taking the first glass straight without pausing for a breath. By his fourth glass she had to rush to stop the bartender from serving him another.

"Hey, can't you see that he's drunk? Why would you keep serving him another?"

"Lady," the bulky bartender told her, a bit annoyed that she had stopped him from pouring the drink. "I'm only doing my job."

Manni grabbed her purse slamming some money on the counter then grabbed Scott before he toppled over from his stool. "Next time learn to read body language," she told him, dragging Scott to his feet and swaying with him when his legs nearly buckled. "Even a blind man can see that he's drinking to forget."

"You know what, lady, just get out of her."

Manni snapped her head back in his direction so quickly that he was startled. "Don't get it twisted, Hulk Hogan, cause I'm not the one." For all of his muscles the bartender immediately felt a tingle of fear shiver down his spine as he watched the small woman before him help her complaining, inebriated friend stand correctly.

"Leave me alone, Manni!"

"Shut up, I'm taking you home."

"Fine. I can do it by myself," Scott slurred.

It was obvious that she knew how to hold her own and proved so by tripping the man she was moments ago trying to help. He fell to the floor, landing painfully on his knee then crying out in pain. Manni leaned over him, slapping his cheeks to get his attention. He looked up at her, head still dizzy, eyes semi-closed, breath and pores reeking of alcohol. "Do you see how defenseless you are if I was able to trip you? Will you let me help you now?"

Scott smiled unable to keep his head steady as it bobbed from side to side, "Manni."

"Yes?" she answered, reaching to help him to his feet.

"I love you," he told her, pulling her down for a whiskey flavored kiss. She felt more intoxicated by his lips than the strong after taste of the alcohol, but she didn't fight it. She allowed him to have his way with her, knowing that Scott rarely, if ever touched a bottle of alcohol in his life thus deeming him a lightweight drinker. Most likely, he would forget everything in the morning. Besides, after the loss that he had suffered, he deserved to have his own way for a while. He pulled away gazing up at her as tears misted his green eyes. "I really love you."

"Ok," she replied, helping him to his feet with shaking hands as her heart stuttered inside of her chest. It's only the alcohol, she told herself and kept repeating so as she led him to her car.

"I can drive."

"Over my dead body," she stated, pushing him into the car and driving towards his house. Surprisingly, he didn't throw up in her car saving that just in time for when they pulled up in his driveway. He would have a nice present to clean up in the morning, she surmised digging into his pocket to retrieve his keys. He stumbled away from her heading to the moonlit beach right behind his house with her worriedly following behind. 

"Scott, you can come back tomorrow once you've sobered up," she told him, but he was determined to go, dragging her along with him since she refused to let go of his waist. Manni released him, rubbing her fatigued arms before trying another strategy. This time she ran in front of him and pushed, however her efforts were nonetheless futile proven by him forging forward, making her feet dig into the sand and leave two lines in their wake. He trudded to the ocean not caring that he was soaking his new pair of leather shoes only needing to feel the waves crash against him.

Manni fell, twisting her ankle and glared up at Scott who was too drunk and mesmorized by the water to come to his senses. She hobbled after him not wanting to put too much pressure on her aching ankle then wrestled with him to get him out of the water. "Scott," she pleaded as they fell and rolled into the violently crashing waves. Water slammed into them, threatening to take them out farther into the ocean away from the safety of the shoreline. Manni was afraid. What was he trying to do?

"Scott!" she yelled, holding on so tightly to his shirt that the fabric screamed as it ripped apart from their struggle. He pushed her aside still heading forward as she forgot about her injured ankle and trudged after him, fighting the deepening waters to get to him. She tackled him then swung her arm back to land a hard slap to his face. His trance was broken though he still remained drunk, looking down at her in confusion as she cried from relief.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" she screamed unable to control her fear as she held on to him tightly. He heaved a sigh only looking down at the top of her head as she continued to cry, finally leading them out of the water when they both shook from the cold wind.

"I'm sorry," Manni told him once she had composed herself. "I shouldn't have slapped you, but you left me no choice," she justified while he dropped down to the sand and stretched out on top of it. She searched her pockets becoming frantic when his keys were nowhere in sight then checked his own.

"Scott, I think your keys are in the ocean," she told him, nudging him when it looked as if he was sleeping. He moaned, turning his sand covered back to her. "Scott, get up. I think your keys are gone. I need to take you to my place." He turned back towards her wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her down next to him then held her closely despite her efforts to get out of his grasp.

"For a drunk guy you're really strong," she muttered too tired to fight him any longer. They fell asleep with the slow coming of the dawn, holding on tightly to each other while the sound of the ocean lulled them into slumber.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scott awoke to find himself on the beach, wearing a torn shirt, with Manni clinging to him. She was shivering too much in her sleep in spite of the hot sun that was now directing it's UV rays into their skin. He already knew that he was sunburnt before he attempted to move which was curbed by the pounding in his head. His throat was dry and sore and he found that every inch of him was covered in sand. Nevertheless, he couldn't keep his eyes away from Manni. She would have a fit about the sand in her hair, but she was beautiful. Her arms tightened about him giving him one last hug before she awoke like she used to do when they were dating.

"My body feels cramped," she croaked then slapped a sand covered hand over her throat, embarrassed that she sounded so hoarse.

"Can I ask you what the hell are we doing sleeping on a beach like...beach bums?"

"You're awake?" Manni asked sitting up then jumping to attention at how, horrendously covered in sand she was. Scott smiled, shielding his eyes from the blinding sunlight. "This is all your fault!"

"What? What did I do?"

"You got drunk and then you wouldn't let me take you inside and you tried to drown yourself making me twist my ankle and lose your keys in the ocean," she told him, feeling tears come to her eyes. "I was so scared because of you."

"I'm sorry," he told her, sitting up to hug her in spite of the pounding in his head. "I put you through hell. I'm so sorry."

"Damn right you should be," Manni replied, standing to her feet, being mindful of her slightly swollen ankle while attempting to brush off some of the sand from her clothing. Her efforts were futile making her realize that the only way to get rid of all of it would be to hop back in the ocean or take a shower. She had no intentions of sitting down in her car to drive home to do so. Not when she would be leaving a mini beach behind. "What are we going to do now?"

"I'm going to make my head stop spinning then find the spare keys I have somewhere out here."

"Aren't you the least bit worried that your car keys were among those of the lost?"

"That's why I have two extra spares in the house. I had them made when I thought that I had lost the first set. They were under my mattress." He stood to his feet, grabbing his spinning head.

Manni rushed to his side as best she could with a small limp, holding him up against her. "Just tell me where you put them and I'll get it for you."

He shook his head as they took the long walk back to the front of his house, made longer by his hangover and her sprained ankle. "You're too short," he said, proving it by reaching up to open the light fixture above the front door to retrieve the house key. He opened the door, giving her access inside, then closed it back welcoming the cool blast from the air conditioner.

"Why would you hide it there? What if something came up and you were trapped inside and we need to get to you? Who in their right mind would think to check your porch light?"

Scott smiled, heading to the coffee maker to brew some strong Folgers. He grabbed two aspirins from the medicine cabinet in his bathroom and threw them back then drank the scalding cup of coffee. "Would you like some?" he asked, remembering his manners. 

"No, thank you. I'll drink some ginger tea when I get back. I would, however, like to use your shower. Thanks to you, I look like a walking sand monster. And don't even get me started on my hair. I can only imagine how it is looking now. It will take me forever to get all of this sand out of it."

He winced after scratching his sunburned shoulder, rolling his sleeve up to take a better look at it. It was red and would definitely start to peel immediately.

"You should put some cream on that."

"I will once I've taken my shower. Go ahead and use the master bathroom upstairs. I'll use the one down here."

"Why? Wouldn't it be more convenient for you to use your own bathroom?"

"The laundry room is close by. I'll be able to throw our clothes in the wash without you seeing me walking around naked to do it," Scott replied, helping her upstairs to give her a towel and a robe for when she would finish her shower.

"Thank you," Manni muttered, becoming silent after his comment about being naked. She hadn't forgotten how his body had look even after all those years they had spent apart.

He waited until she handed him her clothes while hidden behind the bathroom door before going to take his own shower. "I'll be downstairs if you need me," he told her, walking away while already taking off his shirt. He winced once more at the tautness of his sun burnt flesh ignoring the stinging as he undressed and threw everything, except his torn shirt, in the washing machine. Showering was torture to him and excrutiatingly slow being that he was trying everything in his power to not aggrevate the sunburn.

Victoriously happy that he had finished without crying like a baby, Scott tiptoed upstairs to get the medicine kit right next to his bed. Manni was still in the shower, no doubt complaining to herself about her hair while scrubbing the life out of it. He quickly opened the kit unintentionally knocking it over in his haste to rush back downstairs before she exited the shower. "Crap," he whispered wincing as he bent down to gather its contents.

"What are you doing?" Manni asked, turning the light off in the bathroom behind her. He spun around unable to keep his eyes off of the sight of her covered in his bathrobe. Unlike him, the sun had given her a beautiful bronzed tan that made her skin glow brightly against the stainless white of the robe.

He held up the tube of cream as evidence that he had no intentions of being a pervert by waiting for her exit. 

"Do you need me to help you with that?" she asked, failing time and again to keep her eyes off of his bare upper body. She didn't wait for his response already taking the cream from his hands and climbing into his bed. Scott sat down obediently slightly jumping as she applied the sunburn cream to his aching shoulders and upper back. How he had managed to become sunburned through his shirt, he would never know. "Don't touch this alright?"

"Yes ma'am," he said, still sitting patiently before her. "What are you doing?" he asked when her arms wrapped around him.

"I'm consoling you. You can pretend all you want that you're not thinking about yesterday, but I was there with you. I know." His hand rose to gently caress her forearms as she laid her towel covered head against his own. "You can always talk about it if you need to. I won't judge you."

"What's there to talk about? My mom was old and it was her time. I'm just being too selfish by not wanting to let her go." He went to stand except her hand on his arm stopped him. Their eyes met losing her in a sea of pale aqua green as she forgot all inkling of what she had wanted to say. "Don't do this, Manni. Don't console me," he whispered although their lips were mere inches from each other.

They kissed.



Twice The Charm Ch. 10



As tumultuous as the roaring ocean the previous night, Manni's emotions overtook her sense of reason making her forget that she shouldn't be wrapped so tightly in Scott's arms, if at all. Her hands ran roughly through his still damp hair as she grabbed a handful, reveling in the past when she would course her fingers through it until they were tangled within his somewhat long, red strands.

"Scott," she managed to whimper although it felt as if her voice was caught in her throat. He trailed sloppy, hot kisses down her throat stopping only to suckle on her collarbone like he used to when they were together. He knew that it always drove her crazy when he did that. Lifting her up completely against him, Scott brought her to the top of his bed resting her head on his soft, down pillows then elongating himself on top of her, ignoring the pain that was radiating from his sun burnt shoulders.

"Manni, I'm going to go crazy if I don't have you," he confessed, snatching the top of his robe apart to bury his face between her Dove scented cleavage. She cried out in surprise when his hot mouth claimed her hardened, chocolate colored nipple gently biting down on it.

She bucked against him, struggling to free herself of his robe that was still tightly tied about her waist. He helped her to loosen the knot wanting access to all of her body as they frantically touched, caressed, and once more familiarized each other with every curve, sinew, and hot spot on their bodies.

Scott forced himself to go slower, much slower than his impatience would allow, but he had to because he wanted Manni to really feel everything that he was planning to do to her. He sat up giving his eyes free roam over her supple body that, aside from the addition of nice, bountiful breasts and full, voluptuous hips, showed no telltale signs of ever carrying a child.

"What?" Manni asked, becoming self conscious as she too sat up.

"Your body..."

She was embarrassed and he could tell from the awkward look on her beautiful face that she was starting to have doubts. "I had a baby," she told him, getting ready to snatch his robe closed over her naked body.

"No," Scott corrected, reaching out to stop her hands as he leaned down to kiss her. "You had my baby." Their lips locked together again sweeping them away once more on a carpet of overpowering desire. His right hand traveled until it was nestled between her thighs then gently began to coax her pulsing clitoris into a mindless frenzy.

"Scott," she called out clamping her legs together only to let them relax as he kissed her again, distracting her from holding onto any ounce of modesty that she had left in front of him.

"Stark," Scott told her wanting to hear the nickname that used to ooze from her mouth when they made love.

Manni stammered everything but that name unable to get a hold of herself. Her head rocked to and fro on his pillow, dampening the cotton material with her thick, wet hair that was slowly slipping out of the towel. He was going painstakingly slow, as he took his soft lips down the length of her body, increasing her hunger to have him buried deeply inside of her. "Scott," she said getting his attention after he had kissed her quivering inner thighs. "You don't have to hold on. Just let it go."

Her words echoed in his mind bringing back their earlier conversation about his deceased mother and how he wasn't ready to lay her to rest. He stopped his actions, shaking his head as he once more sat up. "I can't do this," he said, looking down at her and hating himself for rejecting her when she had so much desire reflecting in her eyes towards him. But he knew that if he took her to bed, she would rationalize it later with herself by saying that they had slept together because of the death of his mother. He didn't want that. Not when he was a hundred percent certain that if he did make love to her, it would have nothing to do with his recent loss, but because he truly loved her and wanted to make things work again.

He refused to take that chance.

"What?" Manni asked bringing his attention back to her as she lay splayed across his mattress.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this," Scott repeated nearly changing his mind when hurt appeared on her face.

"Oh...ok," Manni replied, quickly sitting up to close the robe back instead of lying there like a fool and allowing him to see all of her.

"Manni," he called when she exited the bed and limped to his bathroom.

"I just need to use the toilet," she lied biting back the tears although some were already streaming from her eyes. She sat down on the toilet willing her emotions to go back under control before a full blown crying fest erupted. She felt so stupid. There she was ready to give herself to him all over again, hoping that once they had made love that they would have the awkward after sex conversation on where their relationship would lead to next. While he had no intentions of even sleeping with her. Maybe he had come to his senses when he realized that the only reason he was desiring her was because he needed something to hold onto since the death of his mother. Had she really been about to monopolize on his loss?

The thought made fresh tears come to her eyes and a large helping of shame to weigh her insides down.

Manni pinched herself, applying more pressure when the tears still threatened to fall until the need to cry stopped, then flushed the toilet going along with her façade. She gave herself a quick once over in the mirror to make sure that her eyes weren't red then ran water over her hands, continuing her act of using the bathroom before throwing the door wide open with a fake smile that she hoped he would buy.

Scott was, still sitting on his bed when she exited the bathroom, intently eyeing her for telltale signs of distress. He reminded himself that Manni was a good pretender when she wanted to be therefore leaving himself unsure as to whether he should breach the topic of their recent frolic on his bed.

"What?" Manni asked limping back to him then plopping down beside him. "Stop looking at me like that. I'm fine. No harm done," she told him as her heart raced within her chest. She was silently hoping and praying that he wouldn't pursue the subject of her rejection any further. Her emotions were still too raw to handle an inquisition.

"You're limping pretty badly. Should I take you to the hospital to get that looked at?" Scott replied instead when he noticed that she really did look alright.

"This is nothing that a little ice can't fix. That and a few days of rest."

He stood up running a big hand through his hair while keeping his eyes on her. "I'll go check on your clothes. They should be ready by now."

He disappeared leaving her to utter a shuddered breath of relief. Get it together, she repeated over and over in her head while waiting for him to come back.

"They're nice and hot," Scott announced holding up her clothes in one hand and carrying a bowl of ice and a towel in his other. He set her clothing down beside her then laid the towel over his own before grabbing her injured leg to rub ice on her ankle.

"Scott, I can do this when I get home." He looked up at her quelling any other efforts of protest and making her extremely aware of the position that they were in. Him still semi-naked in just a towel and her still completely naked save for his robe that was smothering her with his clean shower scent.

"I want to thank you for everything that you did for me last night," Scott replied after a long period of silence. Manni nodded her head although she kept her eyes trained on his moving hand as if him rubbing ice on her ankle actually interested her. She couldn't look at him and take the chance of being found out. "And I'm sorry for getting you injured."

She cleared her throat knowing that if she didn't respond he would once more become suspicious. "It was no big deal. I know that you would have done the same thing for me if I were in your shoes. So what are you planning to do?"

"I don't know. My mind is still too jumbled and overwhelmed from it all. I guess I should pack up her things," he said hearing his voice break. "Damn it."

"It's alright," Manni told him, reaching out a hand to him which he intentionally evaded by grabbing another piece of ice. She snatched her hand back, running her fingers through her damp hair. She needed to keep herself in check. "Really, Scott, I can do this when I get home. You don't have to feel responsible even though it was your fault in the first place," she told him making him smile.

"I'll buy you dinner for your troubles."

"Some other time. I should go and get Star from my parents' place."

"You won't have to. They told me that they would bring her back themselves on Monday."

"She'll miss school," Manni whined recieving a wry look from Scott.

"Don't you mean daycare? Besides, that'll be two less days that you'll have to pay for," he told her, drying her numb ankle with the towel.

"Then what am I supposed to do all by myself?"

He smiled at the pouty expression on her face, "I don't know," he said though he really wanted her to stay and keep him some company.

Manni removed her leg from his lap biting down on her tongue when she nearly let it slip that she thought it best to stay with him. He may not like the idea at first, but she knew that he needed some kind of human contact in his time of need and she didn't want to leave him alone by himself. "I'm going to get dressed and head out--that is unless you need me to stay... and help you pack your mom's things."

"No, I'll be alright."

"Ok, then I'll change and be out of your hair." She watched him get up from the bed to give her some privacy, reaching to pull the door closed behind him. "Scott, just don't hesitate to call me if you ever need anything. You know that I'll be here."

He nodded his head, closing the door upon his own stupidity. He should have told her that he did need someone. That he needed her to stay there with him, not only until he would have gotten over his mother's death, but also because he wanted her to be with him forever. He was an idiot.



Twice The Charm Ch. 11



Scott wasn't the same, at least not to her. Aside from keeping up with his responsibilities with their daughter, ever since the incident at his place they rarely spoke. It was fine with Manni the first month and she allowed it to slide by the second month, but now they were going on to the third month of awkward avoidance and all she wanted was for things to go back to the way they had been before. She understood that he was still mourning the loss of his mother, but he didn't have to treat her as if she were a leper.

"Mommy," Star called bringing her back to attention.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Are we going to see Daddy?" she asked kicking her legs into the back of the passenger seat.

"Yup."

"That's good," she replied, twisting in her booster seat to get comfortable.

"Why?" Manni asked on a chuckle. Her daughter had an adorable seriousness about her young face that made Manni smile.

"Because Daddy is lonely."

"What do you mean Daddy is lonely? Isn't he happy when you spend time together?" Manni asked her, frowning back at her in the rear view mirror.

"Yes, but sometimes he cries when he thinks that I'm sleeping," Star admitted, giving her mother sad hazel eyes.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think he's sad grandma is gone. You should talk to him more, Mommy," Star told her waiting for her to agree. Manni nodded her head reminding herself that her four year old was very smart for her age, all thanks to her. Happy that her mother had listened to her, Star released a big yawn then closed her eyes to take a nap.

Manni felt her anger dissipate into worry as she slightly pressed down on the gas pedal. She pulled up to Scott's home shielding her eyes from the sun with her sunglasses before going to retrieve her sleeping daughter. She gave Star a motherly smile watching her wrinkle her nose in protest when she was lifted from the car.

She almost knocked then decided against it, remembering the many times Scott had scolded her for not using the spare key he had made for her. Switching Star to her other arm, Manni fished into her back pocket to retrieve Scott's key then unlocked the door. She was greeted with voices deep in conversation and when she finally found him, in his home office, she didn't like who she saw that the other voice belonged to.

"You're here?" Scott asked, standing to his feet in greeting. He smiled at her waiting for her to speak. When she didn't he decided to break the silence. "Manni, you remember Dana, don't you?" he asked referring to his old secretary. The same secretary that Manni had walked in on him with four years ago before their relationship had had an explosive finale.

"Do I," Manni replied unknowingly giving the woman a look over of disgust.

"Hello, Ms. Stanley."

"Manni will do just fine," Manni told her taking her guarded eyes to Scott. "I'll put her in her room."

"Manni, wait," he called after her when she turned to leave. "I can explain."

"You don't need to," she told him matter of factly. "We don't owe each other anything where it doesn't concern Star." She walked out of the room with him hot on her heels, cornering her in Star's room.

"Manni--"

"Scott, I don't care what she's doing here or if you guys are picking up where you left off. It doesn't bother me," she lied not looking him in the eye as she tried to leave.

He grabbed her arm pulling her back to face him, "Would you stop being stubborn and listen?"

"I'm not being stubborn, I'm just simply telling you that I don't want to hear it."

"Manni, the woman is just doing her job and working for me," Scott told her, disregarding what she'd just said.

"I guess that she'll be working directly under you again," Manni told him not hiding the double meaning in her words.

"Damn it, Manni, do you want to know what really happened that day in the office?"

"No."

"Yes, she came onto me. Yes, I touched her. Yes, I thought about screwing her brains out except I couldn't because you kept coming into my mind."

"That's funny," Manni told him looking up into his furious green eyes. "It looked like you were two seconds from diving deep inside--"

He slammed his mouth on top of hers to cut her off, catching her by surprise and making her glare at him. "I had told her to put her clothes back on and to get out of my office literally two seconds before you had walked through my door."

"Is that supposed to make it any better?" she asked, hearing her voice break. "Well, it doesn't matter any more because it was in the past."

"Apparently, it does since you're not able to get over it to this day," Scott told her, tightening his grip on her arms when she attempted to squirm away.

"Let go of me," Manni told him trying to keep her voice down with their sleeping daughter in the room.

"No," Scott said with a determination in his eyes that made her stomach quiver. He was going to have this conversation whether she wanted to or not.

"You're hurting me," she told him looking distressed.

His eyes softened as he raised one hand up to her cheek while wrapping the other around her waist. Manni really began to fight then. She didn't want him conjuring up feelings that she had finally been able to bury after three months of hard work. "Manni, please don't leave me like this."

Her stomach dropped at the vulnerability in his words, nevertheless, she shook her head in denial. "You don't want me to stay. You made it clear three months ago. You don't want me. So just go back to Dana."

He kissed her again this time more urgent than the first angry kiss he had given her. His lips softened as he became more gentle, kneading his fingertips into the soft skin of her waist. 

Manni's body tingled in response and she hated herself for being unable to break away from Scott's drugging kiss. She hated even more how Scott knew exactly what to do to make her become putty in his hands. "Scott, no," she replied huskily, her voice clouded with desire.

He pulled her closer, pressing his arousal into her soft stomach for her to feel. "Don't say that I don't want you, Manni. All I've ever wanted was you."

"But Dana--"

"Was an idiotic mistake," he interrupted. "I swear on my mother's freshly dug grave that I told her I couldn't do it. I came to my senses and told her that I loved you too much to hurt you like that. The only reason she's here is because, coincidentally, she works for my new company and she was sent to help me catch up on a few assignments," Scott continued willing Manni to believe him with his pleading eyes. "I didn't know that they would send her to be my secretary, muchless that she even worked there. I haven't seen or spoken to her in four years since everything happened. I swear."

Manni looked away feeling her throat clamp shut, "it still doesn't make a difference," she hoarsely whispered while willing her pounding heart to slow down.

"What do you mean it doesn't make a difference?"

She could hear the hurt in Scott's voice and she huffed out a deep breath before bringing up the touchy subject of their last time together in his bedroom. "That time, you...you sent me away when all I wanted to do was be there for you."

"Manni, I wanted you to stay," Scott told her, watching as she shook her head.

"No, you didn't," she refuted once more making an effort to pull out of his arms.

"Yes, I did," he emphasized,, making her gasp in surprise as he literally lifted her from the ground to make her look into his serious eyes. "But what do you think would have ran through your mind afterwards?" he asked, waiting for a response.

"I don't know," Manni muttered, feeling like a little girl in his arms. "Put me down."

"You would have thought that the only reason I had slept with you was because of my mother's death. I couldn't have you thinking that way. I don't want you to have any doubts when I take you to bed. Hell, I'm willing to do it right now, but you'd probably reason it away by saying that we had angry sex or something. Do you realize how much stress you're causing me because of your stubbornness and unwillingness to actually believe me when I speak?"

"Scott--"

A soft kiss landed on her pink lips and she shuddered once more encircled within his arms. "Manni, I want you so badly that it hurts," he told her almost wincing from the tautness of his erection against the zipper of his jeans. If it got any bigger, Scott was afraid that his penis would explode.

"But you avoided me for practically three months," she pointed out wanting an explanation.

"Because I had a lot of work to catch up on and I didn't want you to think that I was having a hard time since my mother's death."

"Star tells me that you're sad and that you cry a lot," she said softly, looking down at his strong arms.

"I don't cry a lot just every once in a while," Scott admitted slightly embarrassed.

"Everyone needs to cry every once in a while."

Scott smiled at her efforts to make him feel comfortable, but there was still one thing that he needed to know before he would end their conversation. "Manni, I want--no, I need you to tell me what you want from me. Do you want me?" he asked, watching her cower by burying her face in his nicely toned chest. "And be honest with the both of us, not just me. Manni?"

"Yes," she heard her voice quiver out in response. "So you can let me go now."

"Never again," Scott told her, shaking his head so hard that his red hair bounced about. "If I take you to bed, do you know what that will mean?"

"That we both really needed to get laid?" Manni asked hopefully.

He smiled shaking his head once more, "it will mean that you and I will make it work, not just for us, but also for Star. It will mean that we're not going to fool around this time, but get it right. It will mean that this time around when I put a ring on your finger, we'll be leaving Star with your parents so that we can go on our honeymoon. It will mean that we're stuck together forever," he told her, lifting her chin to look into her big brown eyes. "Are you ready for that? Are you ready for me to take you to bed?"

Fear and uncertainty clouded her pupils at Scott's revelation. She was starting to panic, she didn't know what to say and her brain wasn't being very helpful now that it was empty and had completely stopped functioning.

Scott planted a kiss to Manni's forehead, refusing to pressure her into making a decision. "Think it over because I won't touch you until you give me the go ahead," he said then leaned closer to her ear to whisper huskily into her ears. "And believe me, Manni, all I want to do is touch you. And when I do...you won't be able to run."

He took her lips possessively, coaxing a rise out of her frozen body until she lifted herself on tiptoes and wrapped her warm, silky arms about his neck. Hungrier than a starving wolf, Scott hoisted her up pressing his arousal between her thick thighs that he really wanted to be kissing. He dug his hips into her, swiveling about until she was moaning feverishly against his lips, then just as quickly as he had advanced, he placed her back down on the carpeted floor and walked away, leaving her to compose herself.

"Damn," Manni whispered, with his depart, in a desire broken voice.



Twice The Charm Ch. 12



"You can stay for dinner if you'd like," Manni offered Scott after their daughter had ran away to her room. They looked at each other, both weighing their decision carefully about her invitation after what they had discussed the last time they were together.

"I'd love to," Scott finally answered running a hand through his freshly cut hair.

"I like your hair cut, by the way," Manni told him almost salivating at the new style he had decided to sport. It reminded her of a soccer player's hair cut. A low fade on either side of his temples and hair just short enough to lay down or spike up like a rebel when the mood hit him. His hair tapered off at his neck bringing her hungry eyes to the freckles that had once been hidden by his long, red locks.

"Thanks. I can't really say that I like it, but I'm starting to get used to it." Scott could feel Manni's eyes boring holes into him. She had never been able to hide her desire from him when they dated and he was glad to see that it was still the same. "What's for dinner?"

"Candied yams, yellow rice, and smothered pork chops," Manni told him turning her attention back to setting the table.

"Wow, today must be my birthday," Scott replied excitedly as he helped her with the task. Their hands brushed against each other when they both reached for the silverware making Manni snatch hers away.

She could hear the seductive smile in his voice when he bent himself lower to whisper in her ear, stroking her goose pimpled flesh with his warm breath. "Have you been thinking about what I said the last time? Is that why you're so nervous?"

"I--I'm not nervous," Manni stammered, slightly turning her head to the side to look at him. His lips were right next to her cheek allowing him to plant a soft kiss on it before wrapping his free arm about her waist.

"Yes, you are," He told her while nipping gently at her neck. "What other reason would there be for you to avoid making eye contact with me?"

Manni shivered and knew that he had felt it from the way his arm had tightened about her waist, drawing her closer against him. She gasped feeling his warm tongue slither up her neck then back down. "Scott," she sighed as her shaky hands released the utensils to reach behind her. She felt the crispness of his jeans as she blindly explored the contours of his hips. Then she touched him, running her hand up then down the length of his bulging erection, inciting a groan from his soft lips that were tracing kisses across her bare shoulder.

He thrusted involuntarily into her hand, using all of his self control to not bend her over the counter, move her flimsy cheerleading shorts to the side, then bury himself, to the hilt, deeply inside of her. "Manni," he growled in warning knowing that if she didn't stop her hands that he would do just what he had fantasized about only seconds ago. He released the knives in his other hand, bringing it up to grasp her full breasts through her see through black shirt that had been taunting him from the very moment that he had set foot inside of her apartment.

She whimpered, arching up to feel more of his hand and shivering when his palm began to rub circles against her nipple, turning it into a hard bulb under his ministrations. Her head felt heavy with want and anticipation, falling back onto his shoulder as she moaned, encouraging his advances.

Scott leaned down taking her tempting lips and dipping his warm tongue inside when she willingly opened up for him. His hips swiveled, grinding his erection into the fullness of her derriere. He almost prematurely ejaculated when Manni pushed back into him letting him know just how much she wanted him. "You've missed this as much as I have, haven't you?" he asked briefly breaking their steamy kiss.

"Yes," Manni whimpered raising her unoccupied hand to wrap about the back of his neck to deepen their kiss while Scott removed his hand from her waist to slide over the hot, throbbing mound between her thighs. She hissed out a breath involuntarily squeezing him through his jeans.

"Tell me that you want me to take you to bed, Manni, or we'll have to stop this right now," Scott told her quickening his hands against her. He moved her shorts and panties to the side to touch her soft flesh, reveling at how hot and wet she was for him "Tell me," he coaxed removing his hand from her breast to gently grasp her throat and hold her nodding head up so that he could look into her eyes. The array of desire that reflected upon her lovely face was enough to answer him, but Scott wanted to hear her say it.

Manni nodded instead, restlessly moving her thighs together as she felt the pressure build up between them.

"Tell me," Scott commanded as his fingers slowed until they had completely stopped.

She looked at him with confusion in her desire darkened eyes, trembling legs, and quivering lips. "Scott, please. I--"

"Tell me," he said once more after planting a sweet kiss to her swollen lips.

Her eyes searched his face desperately as she clamored to produce a coherent thought much less coherent words. Her lips and throat seemed too dry to comply with her effort to speak, but when she saw the hunger in Scott's pale green eyes and how much patience he was exacting until she was willing to give her consent, Manni knew what her response would be. "Take me to bed, Stark," Manni whispered unable to think straight until his hands were touching her again.

Scott inhaled sharply as he allowed two fingers to slowly invade her wet heat and thrust until she was once more quivering in his arms. "I will. Tonight," he promised before capturing her lips in a possessive kiss that left her discombobulated. His tongue stroked against her own, submitting her to his raw desire as he nipped then bit at her lips until they were no longer a deep pink, but a vibrant red.

"I'm going to show you just how much I've missed you," he promised, withdrawing his fingers from her tight, soft flesh when he heard Star's approaching footsteps. He licked her juices from his hand not breaking eye contact as his thumb stroked the tender flesh of her throat before bringing her swollen lips to his own to share her essence.

"Scott," Manni pleaded unawares that they would soon have a companion.

"Tonight." The look in his eyes made her almost regain the orgasm she had lost when he had removed his fingers. "Alright?"

"Yes," she said huskily then licked her drying lips still tasting herself on them.

"I'm hungry," Star announced too young to understand that she had interrupted her parents' frisky time, even though they were in the kitchen where the good smelling food was coming from.

"We're about to feed you, munchkin," Scott told her shielding her from her mother's still trembling form. Her knees had collapsed, filling Scott with a strong sense of masculine pride that he had done that to her. He kissed her brown shoulder, wrapping an arm around her waist to lift her back up. "Are you alright?" he whispered then kissed her temple as she nodded her head.

"I'm fine," Manni told him raising her chocolate eyes to look up at him, knocking him off guard with the raw feral desire still burning there for him. "I just need a minute."

In all honesty, Scott didn't want to give her a minute to take that look of lust out of her eyes. If it weren't for Star standing in the middle of the kitchen and looking up at him like one of those kids from the feed the children commercials he often saw at midnight, he would have swept Manni up into his arms and carried her off to her bedroom to pick up where they had left off.

"Daddy?"

"I'm coming, sweetheart," he told her hearing the worry in her little voice. He removed his arm from around Manni's waist hoping that her legs were steady enough for her to stand on her own then washed his hands before finishing up setting the table. 

"I hope that you're really hungry," Manni called turning around with the candied yams in her hands.

"Yea!"

"I'm very hungry," Scott and Star replied in unison. Manni's brown eyes traveled to Scott's smirking mouth and she swallowed a dry lump in her throat while willing her legs to get closer to the table to serve dinner.

It was hard and had to be one of the slowest dinners that Manni had ever eaten in her life. The food was overwhelming: the candied yams too sweet, the yellow rice too coarse, the smothered pork chops too thick. Everything was disproportionate to her now that the taste of Scott's lips were still on the tip of her tongue. She wanted more and was ashamed that her fingers and body were shaking worse than a drug addict going through withdrawals.

"Mommy," Star called reaching out her arm to poke her mother with her thick plastic fork that Manni insisted she used so that she didn't stab herself in the mouth.

"Yes?" Manni replied snapping back to attention.

"Does your tummy hurt?"

"No, sweetheart, why?"

Star pointed down to her barely touched plate and Manni smiled reassuringly. "I'm not as hungry as I thought I was."

"Daddy was hungry," Star told her turning her head full of reddish brown colored hair in her father's direction. Scott had cleaned his plate and was waiting patiently for them to finish. More like waiting patiently for Manni to finish so that they could pick up where they had left off.

The look in his translucent green eyes scent ripples of pleasure down her spine making her actions seem more robotic than before. Manni cleared her throat willing herself to break eye contact with Scott in order to coherently speak to their daughter. "Finish up your dinner so that I can put you in the bath."

"Daddy already gave me one," Star told her attempting to spoon the last of her candied yams into her little mouth and watching disappointedly as half of it dropped back onto it. 

"Then we'll brush your teeth before putting you to bed," Manni said instead smiling down at her warmly after she finally emptied her plate then held up her hands to show them. "That's my big girl," Manni told her wiping at her sticky mouth with her napkin.

"I'll do the dishes," Scott volunteered while standing to clear the table. He purposefully brushed his crotch against her backside, reminding her of what was in store for her tonight once Star was sleeping.

Manni bit back the moan that almost escaped her lips from the exquisite torture Scott had just put her through, but straightened her back instead and waited for Star to slide down out of her seat. It was the longest thirty minutes of Manni's life: having to help Star brush her teeth, read her two stories, then fight with her to close her eyes and sleep even after Scott had given her a goodnight kiss and tucked her in.

"Sorry," Manni apologized after they had had to sit with their daughter until she had stopped fighting sleep and finally gave in. "She's usually not so stubborn."

Scott snorted his disbelief as he followed behind her pulling Star's room door closed. "She's just as stubborn as her mother," he told her keeping in step behind her as they went to her living room and sank down into her plush seats. "In fact, she even tries to wail away in the bathtub like you do," Scott said pulling out his phone and searching through it for a recent video he had taken of Star singing in the bath. She was haphazardly splashing water and bubbles about in search of her rubber ducky then held her head back and wailed louder as she scooped it up and made it fly about in the air.

"Oh my goodness, this is adorable."

"Isn't it?" Scott agreed as they both watched the video before it ended with her look of surprise when she found out that her father had been recording her. Her little light brown cheeks visibly reddened as a shy smile plastered itself on her face and it stayed that way with the video officially ending.

"She looks so much like you that sometimes all I did was think about where you were and how you were doing," Manni confessed as her smile slowly died.

"There wasn't a moment that you weren't in my thoughts either, Manni."

"Stark," she whispered reaching for him with him willingly going into her embrace for a kiss. "I've missed you so much," she admitted between sweet, hungry kisses.

"I've missed you too," Scott told her running a big, hot hand up to cup the back of her neck and hold her still so that he could have his way with her mouth as he covered her body with his own. He tasted her slowly, gently sucking on her bottom lip and coaxing heavenly moans from her soft, pink lips. He groaned as her hands caressed his shoulders through his blue and red checkered shirt. Her fingers shakily went between their bodies to start the unbuttoning process. Manni wanted to feel his steel body pressed tightly against her own.

"Oh, Manni, I've missed you so much," Scott said again taking his hungry mouth to her throat to bite at her tender flesh. Her soft body arched up into him, pressing her breasts into his hard, solid chest. Her nipples hardened from the contact, begging him to play with them and, as if he had heard their request, Scott brought his hands up to do just that. "Tell me how much you've missed me."

"So much," Manni replied finally pushing his shirt off of his shoulders now that she had finished with the last button.

"Show me," Scott told her making her shiver from the commanding tone of his voice.

Her lips quivered before landing once more on his own to dip her tongue inside of his mouth while she gyrated her hips against his growing arousal. Scott groaned into their kiss as their bodies began to dance together. He was pressing her into the sofa as he hungrily devoured her mouth, overwhelming her as he always did with his lips. He lifted one of her legs working his hips into her burning mound and smiling devilishly when her eyes slammed shut and she bit down on her bottom lip.

"Did you miss this too?" he asked after a big thrust that had made her cry out wantonly.

"Yes," Manni admitted moving her hips along with him as he continued to make love to her with their clothes on. Her eyes flew open when he landed a firm slap to her backside, revealing confused desire.

"You can't cum yet," he told her after feeling the telltale signs of her approaching orgasm when her body began to tense on him, he grabbed her waist to sit up with her straddling his legs, massaging the firm yet soft flesh of her derriere.

"Scott," she moaned inadvertenly pushing her breasts into his face as he pulled her closer to his standing erection.

"Do you want me?" he asked huskily, sliding his hot hands underneath her see through blouse to slowly pull it up her stomach then off of her completely. The black bra that she had worn to be inconspicious, which hadn't worked at all for him only fueling his desire to strip her naked, was now staring him back in the face. Scott kissed the valley of her cleavage pressing his teeth firmly into her breast with another simultaneous slap to her ass.

"Answer me, Manni. Do you want me?" He knew good and well that she did from the way her hips were moving in a frenzy on top of him, forcing him to bite back his groans and keep his control instead of releasing the beast on her by taking her roughly right there in her living room.

"Yes, I want you so much, Stark," Manni replied breathlessly. She groaned low in her throat and bucked her hips when he unclasped her bra to take a chocolate nipple into his mouth. His soft suckling turned violently harsh as he bit down on her nipple just the way she used to like it. Her juices literally gushed forth onto his pant,s soaking him underneath her.

He growled slapping both of her cheeks this time before attacking her other breast likewise. Her apartment instantly filled with the sound of her whimpers for him to continue. And if they both hadn't known for a certainty that their daughter slept like a rock, he would have told her to keep her voice under control.

Scott marveled at her response to him, feeling her lithe body crumple on top of him once his tongue began to quickly lap at her hard, tender nipples. He groaned against her hot flesh sending tingles of pleasure throughout her breasts. The aftershock flowed down to her throbbing mound and Manni cried out with impatience. She wanted to have him buried deeply inside of her, not that she hated the foreplay. Sometimes, in the past, Scott had been able to get her off by just licking and sucking all over her body without actually having to penetrate her. He knew exactly what her body needed and never failed to deliver time and again.

"Goodness. I can't believe how wet you are for me," he told her caressing a hand down the middle of her back. Her body was shaking with the need for release and he could see from the look in her eyes, that she would kill him soon if he didn't give her what she was now silently demanding. "Do you want to cum?"

"Yes," Manni shamelessly admitted unable to keep herself from shaking when his hands caressed their way up to her shoulders to bring her closer to his lips for a soft yet possessive kiss.

"Take off my shirt," he told her waiting for her to lift his white beater off of his abdomen then over his arms. Her warm mouth was already encircled around his nipple making him hiss out a breathe. She switched to the other, not afraid to show him her boldness in the bedroom even though it had been four years, aside from the incident at his house, that they had touched each other. She bit his hard nipple, standing on shaky legs so that she could work on unbuckling his belt and undoing his jeans.

Zipping him free, Manni watched in amazed wonder as Scott's erection flew from his pants in enthusiasm as if it had been crying for freedom all day and now that it was liberated, it would never go back. Their eyes met with her leaning over to steal a quick kiss while her hands firmly gripped the head of his arousal, that was now leaking pre-cum, and stroked down the the way he used to like.

"Oh shit," Scott replied, not one to use profanity even at the worst of moments.

"Do you like that?" she asked him more so out of genuine curiosity than to show him that the tables were turned and he was now the one withering under her fingers.

"Yeah," Scott heard himself say in a broken voice as his hips restlessly moved with her stroking hand.

Manni's shaky legs took her to her knees before him, never breaking eye contact as she waited for him to give her permission to put him in her mouth. It was a little thing that they did when they had sex. A bit of domination turned them both on, but what blew their minds was the act of pure, innocent submission that she was subjecting herself to in order to make him mindless with need. That way he would screw her brains out without thinking of ways to punish her for teasing him the way she was intending to. "May I?" Manni finally asked when Scott had only stared at her in anticipation with her warm breath at the head of his cock.

"Yes," he growled jerking into her mouth involuntarily when her wet tongue wrapped around his head then carried her mouth lower. "Damn it, Manni!" She did it a second time, then a third knowing that she not only literally, but figuratively had him in the palm of her hands. She gripped Scott's balls loving the sound of his heavy grunts filling her apartment. It was turning her on, increasing her wetness that already had her panties soaked. She released his balls, dipping her mouth lower and taking his entire shaft into her mouth while her other hand coaxed her clitoris into a frenzy. She moaned at the tip of him, dipping the end of her tongue into the small hole at the top of his penis just as a bit more of precum seeped out.

Scott bucked against her as his head became dizzy with the circles she was tracing around his erection with her tongue. If he didn't stop her now, he would blow his load and that wasn't the way he saw things going down earlier after she had told him she wanted him to take her to bed. However, in spite of his efforts to bring her to her feet, Manni kept her hot, wet mouth clamped down on his erection sucking him dry and she felt the jerk that meant that in the next few seconds, he would be releasing his seed. She stopped working herself to a climax to focus on his satisfaction, once more gripping his balls and massaging them as his heavy hand clamped down on her head to pull her hair.




Twice The Charm Ch. 12



Manni took Scott out of her mouth long enough to flick her tongue along the length of him then take each of his balls, separately, into her mouth before clamping back down on him to suck and jerk at the same time. He released a soft groan that turned into a full blown roar as she watched his abdomen tense, revealing his beautiful wash board stomach right before he spilled his seed between her lips and down her throat. She drank him in as her boldness increased with every swallow. She had never been one to swallow, but Scott had a way of bringing out the secret carnality hidden underneath her fiery surface. She moaned against him as his penis involuntarily jerked in her mouth then sucked her way back up until she was licking her lips and trying to hide the look of amazement in her eyes when she saw that he had become even harder instead of going flaccid.

Scott jumped to his feet, quickly stepping out of his pants as he jerked Manni up to her own then threw her over his shoulder like a caveman on a rampage. Her soft breasts burned holes into his steel back as he carried her off to her bedroom, swinging the door open to drop her onto her bed. The hunger in his eyes and the uninhibited roughness of his hands were enough to send Manni over the edge. Her legs moved restlessly together as the tingling between her thighs turned into a slow burn. The look in his now jungle green colored eyes revealed the animal he was about to release on her, informing her that he had every intention of screwing her until she was left in a puddle of mush on her mattress.

Restlessly, Manni backed away from Scott afraid of the wrath she had ensued from her teasing yet anticipating it all the same. Scott didn't leave her waiting long as he grabbed her ankle, dragging her back down the bed to him then roughly relieved her of her flimsy cheerleading shorts and soaked panties. He pried her quivering thighs apart landing a firm slap on her naked vagina then gave her a devilish smirk when she cried out in surprise. The pain turned to pleasure and to her chagrin, Manni found that his rough handling was making her juices flow even quicker.

"Did you enjoy that, Manni?" Scott asked slapping her pussy again as she released a mixture of a moan and a scream. "Did you enjoy toying with me?"

"Yes," she truthfully answered with trembing legs that were shying away from his slowly raising hand.

"Keep your legs open."

She shook her head in defiance even though she really wanted to spread them nice and wide for him.

"Leave them open or we'll be doing this all night," he warned his jungle green eyes never leaving her own.

She bit down on her lip as she willed her body to obey and lay herself open for him. But contrary to what she thought, Scott pushed two thick fingers inside of her, rubbing vigorously against her soft, spongy g-spot. He made her crumble to pieces under his hands, resisting the urge to bury his painful erection inside of her until he had punished her for what she had done earlier on her couch. "Do you like that?" he asked increasing the thrusts of his fingers as her quiet room filled with the sound of her cries for release and the sound of his fingers entering and exiting her wet haven.

"Yes, Stark, please," she begged feeling her body ready to release.

Scott withdrew his hand then planted a firm slap on her throbbing, tender flesh, restraining himself when his slap invoked her to orgasm. Her beautiful brown body arched up painfully as she jerked and convulseed, unable to control her actions. And just when she thought that he had stopped with her punishment, he held her legs back open and attacked with his thick tongue, sending it diving into the hole between her thighs. Scott mercilessly licked and sucked at her swollen pink flesh, ignoring her screams and pleas for him to stop and put her out of her misery. He groaned against her clit then laughed as her legs clamped on either side of his head.

"I take it you like that," Scott taunted stopping his furiously lapping appendage to lazily drag his tongue down the length of her sex. He groaned unafraid to admit to himself that he had missed the taste of her. Cinnamon. She always tasted like it and it never ceased to amaze him that everytime he tasted her it felt like the first time all over again. But back then, he had been a mere kid who had thought that he was an adult who truly knew how to satisfy a woman. He was much older and wiser than the college brat he used to be, but he was glad to see that the one thing which would never change between he and Manni was her body's response to him. She was honest and always would be.

"Please," Scott heard her whine after releasing a long moan.

"You wanna cum again?" he asked kissing her pussy lips as if they were her mouth.

"Yes." Her voice sounded weak and strained to her own ears, but Manni was beyond the point where she felt embarrassed for begging. If she didn't have another orgasm, she might just kill the man torturing her with his long tongue.

"Let me hear you say it. Tell me what you want me to do," Scott told her before focusing his torpedo tongue on her clitoris to hear her scream. "Tell me."

"I want you to make me cum, Stark," Manni answered as tears of frustration streamed down her cheeks.

Now that he had his answer, Scott became serious, no longer toying with her the way she had had him sitting on pins and needles for his climax. He would give her what she asked for then take her to seventh heaven when he buried his aching cock into her hot wetness.

She was screaming his name and clawing at the back of his head now. A good sign that she was close, but he knew for sure that she was orgasming when he felt her juices gush out into his mouth and seep down his chin. He loved when he made her squirt. Scott groaned looking up from between her thick, brown thighs to watch Manni arch up and crumple down into her mattress then reached a pale, white arm up to pinch her nipple to send her over the edge. She cursed slamming a fist into the bed before falling flat against it and panting out erractical breaths.

He kissed his way up her body with a smile of satisfaction on his face that turned to worry at her tears. "Manni, did I hurt you?" he asked reaching for her to wipe her tears away. The tenderness in his touch made her cry even more, still overwhelmed from the strength of her orgasm. "Manni."

She felt her arms pulling him down until she was kissing him, roaming her hands over his broad back and down to grip his firm backside. "Make love to me, Stark," she told him leaning into his large hand cupping her face. He nodded his head positioning himself between her soft thighs then slowly swiveled his hips, allowing his erection to guide itself into the pulsing of her post-orgasmic heat.

Manni arched up digging her head into the mattress as the head of Scott's arousal bridged her entrance. She had only slept with one other man since their split four years ago and after that horrible experience that left her with an immense feeling of dissatisfaction, Manni had made up in her mind that she wouldn't be sleeping with another one until she had stopped comparing him to Scott. But now that she had him completely inside of her with her legs wrapped around his broad waist, she realized that no other man would be able to do the things to her that Scott did. No other man would be able to make her cry from sheer ecstacy. No man would make her body whither at a mere glance. And no man would ever make her moan and fill her so completely the way that Scott was now doing. She cried again thinking about all the years they had missed out on together. Thinking about the hurt they had done to each other. And also cried because this was their second chance to rectify those wrongs. She didn't want to let him go.

Manni buried her face between the crook of Scott's neck and silently cried as he gave her slow yet powerful thrusts. A deep tear filled moan escaped her lips and Scott took it to be a sign that he was hurting her.

"Manni, I can stop," he said turning her to him. His heart almost ceased to function at the look of endearment etched on her beautiful face. "We don't have to do this. I don't want to hurt you."

"I love you, Scott," she told him instead, grinding her hips into his and reaching up for a kiss.

He groaned hearing sweet music to his ears and wanting to make sure that it hadn't been a dream. "Say that again, Manni," he softly requested kissing her throat.

She nudged him hinting that she wanted to be on top until he complied, rolling over onto his back and bringing her with him.

"Manni, say that again," he told her holding her hips steady when she had yet to speak, but had continued to drive him crazy.

"I love you," Manni repeated closing her eyes at the sigh of relief he had released. He relaxed his hold on her allowing her to have her way with him. She trailed figure eights then painfully slow circles just the way she used to, knowing that he wouldn't be able to keep his hands and lips away from her when she drove him that crazy. And right on cue, Scott sat up planting kisses on her collar bone, gently biting her shoulders, then taking one breast into his mouth while he played with the other. They were making love now, forgetting about the animalistic sex they had both intended to see through to the end.

"I love you too, Manni," Scott told her steadily increasing her pace yet not going too fast only fast enough to keep the atmosphere slow and heavy. "I've never stopped."

His revelation made her stomach flip circles and her hips grind down harder as they continued to repeat over and over again how much they loved each other. They held each other closer as their orgasm threatened to consume them. With a low whimper, Manni climaxed on Scott, burying his heavy breaths between her supple breasts as he increased his pace to join her then squirted his seed deep within her. He held her tighter when she attempted to leave, not willing to let her go until her walls stopped spasming around him.

Manni rained kisses against Scott's sweat soaked temple as his muscular arms wrapped about her tighter even though they were shaking from their recent release and their professed love. She would love him right this time and she would fight for him instead of giving up and running away like she had done so long ago. She promised herself that as they now laid entangled between the sheets and each other, allowing fatigue to overtake them.

"I love you," Manni whispered once more for good measure as she snuggled closer and fell asleep.



Twice The Charm Ch. 13



Sorry about the previous version of this last installment. This is still exactly word for word, only the repetition has been removed. Thanks for your patience

Cassandra

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Stop doing that," Scott told Manni, trying to turn her over on her back to face him. Ever since the other night when they had made love, Manni was finding it hard to not be timid in front of him, especially with some of the demanding things that she said and did to him when he was inside of her. It had been years since that side of her had come to the light and it was extremely embarrassing to find that he enjoyed every second of it.

"Go away," she mumbled, hiding her face in his pillow.

Scott smiled even as he leaned over to kiss her naked back. "Are you still being shy with me?" he taunted, squeezing one of her firm buns. "After all this time?"

"Stop it."

"Manni, I won't bite."

"Yes, you will," she refuted hearing him laugh so loud that she was sure his voice was echoing throughout his entire house. "We need to get dressed so that we can pick up Star on time."

Scott's hand traced circles around the dimples on her lower back as he reveled in how beautiful her brown skin looked. She had recently returned from a photoshoot in Bali and the sun had done wonders for her already delectable skin. Although he had told her seconds ago that he wouldn't bite, he really wanted to. He wanted to bite, lick, taste; he wanted to do everything he could until he would have his fill of her.

"Have you thought about giving Star a younger sibling?" he asked instead noting how her body seemed to freeze.

Manni cleared her throat daring to sneak a peek back at him. He was waiting for a reply with a look in his eyes that told her if she said yes, he would be happy and willing to get started right then and there. "Now, Scott--"

"It's just a simple question," he said though his green eyes had taken on that jungle color that told her he was actually ready to pounce. Not to mention the smirk on his thin lips showed just how naughty he planned to be in order to start making that second baby.

"Nothing with you is a simple question," Manni retorted while grabbing a handful of his sheets to wrap firmly around her breasts that he had been attempting to devour for the past fifteen minutes. She sat up trying to dodge his hot lips that were already teasing her mouth open.

"I want us to have another baby," he confessed.

"Scott, we're not even married, neither are we engaged, and you want another baby?"

He gently grasped a handful of her thick, black afro to twist her head about in small circles, making her dizzy. "Look woman--"

"Woman?" Manni asked ready to catch an attitude and not noticing that his other hand had disappeared from her body. She snatched her hand away landing a firm slap to his own for always messing with her hair. The only time she didn't mind was when he was enthusiastically yanking on it during sex. "Who are you calling woman?"

"You," Scott said without hesitation then released another booming laugh as she lunged at him. He caught her, raining kisses down her face which made her struggle even harder to get out of his grasp.

"I suppose that you expect me to go and make you a sandwich?" Manni asked not holding back her attitude.

"As long as there's no tomatoes," Scott taunted trying his hardest not to laugh now that she was technically gnawing, not biting, but gnawing on his arm in anger.

"You bastard."

"I can call you that because you're my woman," he told her, pinning her back against his chiseled chest while dangling a platinum silver necklace in front of her face.

Her body stopped resisting when her eyes landed on the bright silver engagement ring staring her in the eyes. "Scott, what is this?" she asked sounding breathless.

"That would be an 18k white gold, diamond engagement ring," he answered planting a kiss to her temple.

"No, but why?" Manni asked watching as he opened the necklace to slide the ring out then down the ring finger of her shaking left hand.

"I already told you, Manni, we're going to do things right this time. Marry me."

"Scott--"

"Say yes so that we can actually get the ceremony done this time," he whispered taking his kisses down to her cheek before turning her head in his direction to kiss her. "Will you marry me, Manni?"

Manni felt her mouth drop open in astonishment as her eyes began to blur with tears. "What if we're moving too fast?"

"Four years ago we didn't move fast enough and look what happened," Scott told her. "I'm tired of waking up in the middle of the night and thinking that this is all a dream. I don't want to spend another night without you in my arms. I don't want to make love to you another night without Star bursting in on us the next day," he said with a smile, reminding her of the many times their daughter had exercised her knack for bad timing.

She smiled while he wiped away her tears, encouraging her with his eyes to say yes. Her head slowly nodded since her voice refused to work.

"Is that a yes, you'll marry me? Or a yes, you don't want to not have Star walking in on us while having sex?" Scott asked deepening his smile as Manni's voice actually decided to work to tell him yes.

"Took you long enough, woman."

Manni laughed too happy to get on his case for saying that again. She kissed him becoming hungry for his touch when he gently kissed her back. She didn't want gentle. She wanted ass slapping, hair yanking, dirty talking, grimy sex with her now fiancé. "I want you so bad," Manni told him, giving him access to her neck as he hooked the silver necklace about her.

"Maybe I should propose to you every single day," Scott joked.

"Shut up and screw me," Manni commanded swallowing another one of his whoops of laughter then groaned in disappointment when his doorbell rang.

"I should get that."

"Let's ignore it," she said in tune with him then looked at him in disbelief as his lips turned up into a big grin.

"We can pick this up next time. Besides, we need to tell your parents about our re-engagement." He left the bed to throw on his pair of sweatpants that he had discarded when Manni had attacked him at the front door. That had been the best greeting of his life, getting those juicy pink lips all over him without warning. He could really get used to that again. He waited for her to get dressed feeling slightly tortured while watching her pull her skinny jeans up over her blue colored boy shorts then searched about the room for her shirt before resigning to grab one of his own from his dresser drawer.

"You look so sexy," he groaned in her ear as he nibbled on the top of her ear lobe.

"We have to get the door, remember?" Manni taunted while the ringing of the bell became more incessant.

"I hate you sometimes," he responded to her mocking then landed a firm slap on her plump, round backside as she walked away in front of him.

"Be nice," she cooed with desire evident in her tone as she gave him something to look at while walking away. Manni smiled to herself, feeling Scott's eyes burning heat rays, more powerful than Superman, onto her derriere. He snatched her up ravaging her with his lips until she was clinging to him then released her with a satisfied smirk on his mouth.

"I'm coming," Scott called out to the door then threw it open to see Dana standing there with a big smile on her face. It visibly died once Manni came into view making Scott think that she was the other woman waiting to get her nooky in except she had to wait until the main squeeze would leave before she could pounce. "Where's the fire?" he asked her noticing her attempted efforts to not cut her eyes at Manni.

"I have great news," she murmured now that her enthusiasm had died.

"Then come on in," he said stepping back to allow her entrance.

Manni smiled at her then purposefully placed her left hand on Scott's chest to show off her new engagement ring which she had to admit was a hundred times better than the last. Not that she hadn't been in love with the first ring. It only showed that Scott's tastes had matured much more than she had thought. "I'll go and get Star then come back for our dinner," she told him genuinely forgetting Dana's presence as she lifted herself on tiptoes to kiss him. "Don't burn down your house, ok."

"Ok," he said like a love sick puppy. He worried his bottom lip with his teeth admitting to himself that he didn't want to see her go even if it would be for a short amount of time.

"Let go of my hand before I'm late," Manni told him as he drew her back to him once more for one last kiss.

"I love you."

"I love you too," she told him then turned with an 'I'm the woman he loves not the nasty office slut' look on her face which she directed at Dana with a smug smile before she walked away to her car.

Dana was blatantly glaring at her as she backed down the driveway tempting Manni to flip her the bird, but she had been raised better than that. Her parents had always told her that she had to give respect to earn respect. And though this skinny tramp didn't have one ounce of it towards her, Manni made up in her mind to remain civil even if it killed her because if she lost her temper, Dana would need to run. There was no way that she was going to allow that instigator to ruin her happiness with Scott all over again.

Whore, Manni thought in her head then smiled one last time while waving her big engagement ring back and forth to send the message home. "Just play with me this time, heifer. I dare you to."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dinner was delicious, Stark, even if we had an uninvited guest," Manni stated looking at him with big doe eyes that turned to slits after cutting them in Dana's direction.

"Well, I couldn't just work the woman to death and then send her packing."

Manni sucked her teeth at Scott's statement then stood to help clear the table. "Star, put back on that dress," Manni commanded watching her daughter run around in her night time protection pants.

"I hope you don't mind me saying this, but isn't she a little too old for diapers?" Dana asked skeptically as she collected the wine glasses.

"Don't say that," Scott warned her shaking his head. He knew Manni would rip her a new one. He had often made that mistake in the beginning when he had first started keeping their daughter, but Manni had nipped that in the butt, accusing him of thinking that her parental skills were lacking. After giving him a tongue lashing, she explained that their daughter was very well potty trained, however, because she is such a deep sleeper, she sometimes had the tendency to wet the bed. Hence the reason she wore the night time protectors when she slept which included at the daycare.

"What? I didn't mean any offense by it," Dana pushed on, placing the glasses on the counter top. "It's just that at four, a child should be potty trained...unless," she said with her voice trailing off.

Manni was tempted to rip Dana a new one, but instead quelled down her temper to respond to the irritating woman. "They aren't diapers. Star only wears them when she's going to sleep because she tends to wet the bed. And if you noticed, it's now night time which means it's close to her bedtime. She knows very well that if she needs to use the bathroom before then that she should go to the actual toilet."

Scott smiled proudly at his fiancée, glad that his fear of Manni attacking the bone thin woman was for nought. "I'll pack the dishwasher," he told her staying her hand when she attempted to open it.

"Stark, I think that I'm old enough and wise enough to know how to use one of these high-tech things," Manni mocked. He always teased her for being old fashioned and actually getting her hands wet with soapy dish water instead of just stocking the perfectly good dishwasher in her condo to use.

"Can I ask another question?" Dana asked reminding them of her presence in the kitchen. 

Manni was tempted to say no, but told herself that being nice was more adult like. "Knock yourself out."

"Why do you call Scott, Stark?" she asked earnestly confused by the name of endearment.

Scott laughed, closing the top rack of the dishwasher to stack their plates and utensils inside at the bottom. "That's simple. Back in high school, Manni had the habit of walking into my room without knocking until one day she found me lying stark naked on my bed with a porn mag in one hand and my john in the other."

Manni felt her cheeks burn with heat, smiling timidly at the fact that Scott wasn't at all ashamed of admitting to being caught while masturbating.

"After that, she learned how to knock and the name just stuck. Stark." He laughed again at the visible blush on Dana's pale cheeks and winked in Manni's direction.

"So you two have been together since high school? Like high school sweethearts?"

"No, we were just friends. We didn't start dating until we were in college," he told her washing his hands then wiping them on a dish towel.

"Star, don't get too comfortable. It's almost bedtime," Manni said leaning against the counter.

"Why did you name her Star?"

"Are we on jeopardy tonight? What's with all the questions?" Manni asked getting annoyed that the inquisition had yet to finish.

"I was only curious," Dana quickly told her, looking down at her finely manicured fingernails in embarrassment.

"I'd like to know as well," Scott chimed in nudging her with his broad hip after standing beside her. Dana could see that he was very affectionate with her. It made her jealous to see the look of love reflecting in his eyes as he looked down at the woman she had tried so hard to get rid of long ago.

"No, it's stupid," Manni replied while chewing on her bottom lip.

"Are you telling me that you gave our daughter a stupid name?"

"Of course not, I'm just saying that the reasoning behind it is stupid. Don't make me say it," she told him pushing away from the counter until he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Tell me, Manni Octavia Stanley." Manni visibly cringed at the utterance of her middle name. She hated it. He knew that she hated it. Even her parents knew that she hated it. Hell, the entire world knew that she hated it, but it was the name of her father's younger sister who had died from Leukemia so she had been destined to owning it even before she was in the womb."

"Stop it! You know better," she told Scott unable to hide the smile slowly appearing on her pink lips.

"Octavia, tell me why you named our daughter Star," he said feigning a creepy voice as he bent his head closer to her.

"Stop it!"

"Octavia! Octavia! Octavia!" Scott chanted until Manni gave in when covering her ears only made his voice increase in volume.

"Alright! Alright! I'll talk," she yelled over him, trying to clamp her hands over his mouth. "I missed you so much that I named our daughter Star because it reminded me of Stark, ok?" she shouted then looked away embarrassed. "Are you happy now?"

"Am I happy?" Scott asked her with big googily green eyes after removing her hands from his lips. He kissed her to show his appreciation then kissed her again for good measure. "Thank you."

"What do you mean thank you?" Manni asked pretending to hate his show of affection. "I couldn't very well name her Scottishia or something ghetto like that. I want my baby to get a nice, high paying job, thank you very much."

Damn it, Dana thought. There was no way that she was going to be able to get between the two of them. Not when they were this close. How was she supposed to get Scott's attention now? She had gotten lucky the last time in his office because she had overheard an argument between him and Manni on the phone, but this time there wasn't any trouble in paradise. She would need a miracle to break them apart again.

"Why don't we name her younger siblings, Earth, Moon, and Universe?" Scott teased, wrapping his arms about Manni's hips.

"Screw you," she told him defiantly although she was still smiling.

"You will later on tonight," he promised unfazed by Dana's look of utter shock from his statement.

She was still trying to get used to this side of Scott. The aggressive, a bit macho-chauvanistic side that made him ooze with confidence. She wanted to hate Manni, but it was all thanks to her why Scott literally blossomed from the quiet man that he normally was into such a daring stud muffin whom she was having trouble keeping her eyes off of.

"Alright, Ms. Star, bedtime."

"No," Star howled dragging her feet into the kitchen to look up entreatingly at her mother. "I don't want to go to sleep yet."

"Why not?"

"I didn't get to play with Daddy and you didn't read me a story," she whined, rubbing her eyes which was a telltale sign that she was fighting sleep.

Scott pushed away from the counter to scoop up his little munchkin while raining kisses on her bright cheeks. She yawned, too tired to put up a good fight. "How about you let Daddy put you to bed. I'll read you a great story. And we can play bright and early tomorrow."

Manni's mouth dropped open when Star nodded her head in agreement. If that had been her, her daughter would have given her hell to pay about going to bed on time without a bit of play time. "Such a daddy's girl," she muttered giving her daughter a goodnight kiss. Star yawned again, wrapping her arms about Scott's warm neck. "Goodnight, baby."

"Night, Mommy."

"Night, Star," Dana replied with a hopeful smile and a small wave. Star visibly turned red, hiding her face and a shy smile in her father's neck while he carried her away chuckling.

"You can stop your drooling now," Manni told her once they were alone in the kitchen.

"Huh?"

Manni inclined a black eyebrow at her nemesis giving her a look that said 'you know exactly what the hell I'm talking about.'

"I was not drooling," Dana clarified. "Only admiring the great work of God's hands."

"So the fangs are finally out," Manni stated leaning back against the counter to cross her arms.

"Why keep up with the pretenses, Octavia?"

Manni almost reached out and slapped the girl's teeth out, but instead she gave her an evil smirk that sent a cold tingle down her spine. "Don't test me, little girl," Manni said softly as if she had not just threatened the woman. "I know exactly what you're up to so let it go. The past is the past. I won't drudge it back up, but this is my present and our future that you're trying to screw around with. You see that little girl he just carried up those stairs?" Manni asked pointing in the direction Scott had gone.

"That little girl loves her father. And this, here, mother of that little girl loves her baby. So if you make that little girl cry because you can't keep your wits about yourself and go all man crazy like you did the last time; best believe that this, here, mother of that little girl will shove her foot so far up your pixie white, excuse my french, ass, that you won't be able to walk straight for the next year...and then some. Now close your mouth."

Dana's mouth clamped shut in disbelief. She was actually scared which was something different especially since she towered over the brown skinned woman without her heels. And now that said woman was giving her a deadly stare that told her that she would make good on her promise if she even thought about getting in between them. "Scott doesn't even love you," Dana said instead, hoping that her voice wasn't shaking like her trembling legs. Even though she was afraid she still had to at least pretend as if Manni wasn't putting the fear of the Lord in her.

"All you have to do is ask him. And I can guarantee you a 100% that he doesn't love you. As a matter of fact, he told me that he couldn't even sleep with you although you were bouncing those fake breasts of yours in his face. How does it feel to be rejected?" Manni asked with a smug smile. She loved a good fight, but what she enjoyed best was mind games. And from the look of uncertainty Dana was giving her, Manni knew that she was getting inside of her head.




Twice The Charm Ch. 13



"You're the type of girl that's used to getting what she wants, aren't you? A flip of your hair, a glance of your eyes, a quick smile and everyone is putty in your hands. Therefore, I take it that when Stark," she said intentionally using her nickname for him, "turned you down, you left like a wounded kitten to lick at your bleeding pride. Did it taste good?" Manni taunted increasing her sinister smile into a wide toothed grin.

"You black--"

"What?" Manni asked when Dana hadn't continued. "Black what, sweetheart? Black goddess? Black queen? Black everything to the man whom you are lusting after? Like I said, take this as your warning, leave Scott alone because the next time, I won't use words, sweetheart. Now it's getting late. you should run on home."

Dana found herself shaking with a mixture of humiliation, fear, and fury, nevertheless; she hustled to the living room, snatched up her purse, then stomped her way out the door. Manni was no ordinary woman. She was wicked and Scott deserved much better than her.

"Dana already left?" Scott asked joining Manni in the kitchen.

"Yeah, she told me that she wanted to say goodbye, but she had forgotten that she had made late night plans."

"That's fine," he said pulling her into his embrace for a soft kiss. "I'm so proud of you, Manni."

"For what?" she asked skeptically. She had been on her best behavior all night.

"For not going upside Dana's head like I know that you really wanted to," he told her, letting her know that he had been able to see through her façade of tranquility that entire night. "Even though I'm pretty sure that you set her straight after I had left."

"You know damn right," she told him smugly then laughed as he squeezed her tightly before hefting her over his shoulder. "Where are you taking me?"

"To the shower to cool down that hot temper of yours. Then I'm taking you to bed to rile you back up all over again," he promised landing a firm slap to her backside that made her release a squeal and a moan. "I take it you liked that."

"Stark," Manni said once he had finally accomplished getting her undressed after the good fight she had given him.

"Yes, baby?" he absentmindedly answered too consumed in his task of nibbling on her neck to pay her complete attention.

"I've started to realize that Star and I spend more time at your place than we do at my condo. Don't you think that it's only fair that we put it to good use since I'm still paying for it?" she was able to say breathlessly.

"Nope."

"What?" Manni asked pushing away from him to clear away some of the fog that was in her head. "Why not?"

"Because we are going to put it up for sale right after you and Star officially move in."

"Whatchu say?" she asked giving him a look of disbelief while poking out her plump lips. 

Scott groaned with need feeling his erection twitch as he leaned down to taste her. "You, my fiancée, the mother of my child, and my daughter, Star, the first fruit of my loins, will be moving in starting next week. No more commuting to and fro."

"Wh-when did you decide this?" she stammered now that his tongue was leaving hot trails down her stomach and dipping into her navel. When had he even gotten down there? "Scott, please, I need to focus."

"Nope," he told her again, shaking his red head. "I don't want you to over think things. I've already asked your parents to help us with the move which gives you seven days to pack up and prepare yourself."

"Scott! You can't just make decisions without consulting me first!"

"I did ask you and you said yes," he told her straightening up to look into her chocolate eyes.

"You did? When?"

"Two weeks ago before we became engaged. Why do you think I asked you to marry me, Manni?" he asked caressing her cheek. "I wouldn't have taken that next step if you weren't ready for us to live with each other again. I know that that's a big deal for you."

"I seriously don't remember you ever asking me," she told him looking up at him with concern. "Should I get my memory checked?"

"Don't be ridiculous," he told her going back to kissing all over her. "Luckily, you are just like Star only with the addition of sleep talking," he said. Manni could feel the big smile on his lips against her collarbone. "All I had to do was ask you right before you were dead to the world and I knew you would have agreed. And since you're not one to break your word, I also knew that you would keep your promise."

"What? That's cheating!" Manni accused wishing his hair was still a bit longer so that she could yank a handful of it.

"Not cheating," Scott clarified righting himself to look into her dark brown eyes. "Only using an ulterior method to get what I want. And now that this discussion is over, what I'm wanting right now is you. Call me Stark."

Manni bit her lip as she felt her juices begin to flow from the look of intensity in his murky green eyes. "Stark."

"That's my girl."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Manni was in heaven. The move had been a success, not to mention the huge barbecue that Scott called himself trying to throw until Manni's father, Samuel, tossed him aside before he burned down his wooden deck. The man just couldn't understand that he was not a cooker. If he looked at chicken the wrong way, it burned. If he thought about baking cookies, they would come out as black bricks. If he even tried his hand at making juice, it tasted like arsenic and cigarette ash. The man just had to realize that of all the things that he was good at: women, children, sports, and math, food was not one of them.

"Are you still lounging about in bed?" Scott asked, tugging the wet towel from off of his head.

"Go away. You're ruining the ambiance," Manni mumbled, hiding her head underneath her pillow. It was all thanks to him why she was so tired. He had kept her up two nights straight without remorse, not that she was complaining. Her body was still tingling from it all. It was a good thing that Star was spending the week at her parents', since her daycare was on vacation for the week, or she would have walked in on them getting down and dirty. And Manni had no intention of damaging her little girl with images of her parents butt naked.

Scott planted a kiss on Manni's warm shoulder, smiling when her body shivered. "I want to play with you," he told her sounding like a whining child.

"Nope, it's my day off and I plan on making love to this sexy bed of yours."

He laughed watching Manni grind her hips into the mattress then groaned, thinking about those hips had moved above him last night and the night before. "You're lucky that I actually have work to do or I would stay here and torture you until you get up."

"Does that mean that Dana will be here?"

"Yes," he answered, leaving the bed to dress himself. "Don't stay up here all day just because you want to avoid her."

Manni sucked her teeth, "the only thing that I'm trying to avoid is shoving my fist in her face."

"Well, I promise you, once this account has been completed, you won't be seeing her anymore."

Manni slightly turned, finally removing the pillow from her head to give him a sarcastic smile. "That's great, you know, because I was wondering if I should give her a wedding invitation."

"I was kinda thinking about it," Scott said then laughed when she launched a fluffy down pillow at him. "What?" he asked innocently. "You don't want her as your matron of honor?"

"I'm going to kill," Manni replied jumping from the bed to attack him. It only made him laugh harder as she thrashed about against him all but forgetting that she was completely naked. She cried out when he landed a firm slap to her backside then rubbed it fiercely to get rid of the sting. "That really hurt."

"That's what happens when little girls act naughty," Scott taunted before planting a quick kiss on her lips. "Papa has work to do."

"If you were my dad, I wouldn't be screwing you," she called after him then hopped back in bed to curl up in his thick blankets while his footsteps carried him further down the stairs.

Scott chuckled feeling like a king. It was all thanks to God why he had his life back. He had expected things to be a lot more difficult before Manni agreed to be with him once more. Heck, he had even prepared himself for the possibility that she would always hate his guts and never forgive him. He had screwed things up because he had felt as if he'd been suffocating, but once she had left, Scott had known that she had taken all of his oxygen along with her. His life had been constricted without her. His days had blended into nights without him never really knowing that they were passing him by. But now, all thanks to God's good favor and his perseverance, he had his life and his soon to be future wife back.

The ringing doorbell broke him out of his thoughts and he grumbled to himself for having to see Dana for another day even though he knew that within another week she would be out of his life forever. So with that in mind, Scott swung the door wide open with a bright smile on his face. "Hey there, Dana. You have great timing. I was just heading to my office."

"Hi, Scott," Dana greeted somewhat shyly as her eyes roamed over the fitted shirt plastered to his heavenly pecs and his rippling washboard stomach. She almost started to salivate. "I brought the files you requested."

"Thanks," he replied, locking the door behind her then walking away, pretending not to know that her eyes were eagerly eating him up. "I was thinking," Scott said after clearing his throat. "Since next week is your last week, why not make today your last instead of dragging things out? I've pretty much caught up on everything so there really isn't a need for you to come here everyday. Not to mention how much its possibly costing you in gas."

"No, that's no problem. The company actually provides me with gas money since it is a bit out of my way," Dana told him as her stomach formed in knots. Scott was trying to get rid of her.

"May I have those files, please?" She stared down at his large hand extended in her direction that suddenly became blurry as she handed him the files. "Dana, are you alright? Are you not feeling well?"

"No," she answered him truthfully. She had been pining over this man since the first time she had seen him, telling herself that just because he was engaged didn't mean that he wouldn't be interested in her. That he might even fall for her and decide to leave his fiancée for her.

"Why don't you just head back home? I'll finish this up on my own. Your health is more important than work."

Dana shook her head furiously making her hair flutter about her face. "There's something that I need to tell you because I feel as if I don't do it now, that I'll never get another chance."

"You know, that's alright, Dana. You don't have to do that," Scott said having an inkling of what she might say. It didn't help her cause that she was grasping onto his hand for dear life either. The sudden drop in his stomach made him suspect that things just might end badly between them today.

"Please just hear me out," she persisted. "I love you. I know that this is crazy because I haven't seen you for the past four years, but I do. I still feel the same way now as I felt when I first saw you. And I think that you're making a huge mistake by marrying that woman."

"That woman?" Scott asked incredulously, snatching his hand away. "That woman happens to be the mother of my child and my fiancée."

"Scott, please be reasonable. She kept the fact that you had a child from you for four years," Dana pleaded. "How could you possibly love a woman like that?"

"Dana, you're crossing the line."

"What? Did you think that I wouldn't notice that all of a sudden you have a four year old daughter? Did the stork drop her off on your doorstep or something?"

"Dana!" Scott yelled standing to his feet. She jumped from the boom in his voice though she never ceased with her assault.

"That woma--"

"You have one more time to call her that woman," he told her, quieting the tone of his voice. He was doing a pretty good job of controlling his temper when he really wanted to be shaking some sense into the woman standing before him. "Matter of fact, I think that it's best if you left. Right now."

"Scott--"

"Take one more step closer to my man and I'll be ripping your pretty little hair out," Manni told her, leaning against the door frame. She had heard Scott's loud voice upon her exit from the shower and knew that something was up.

Scott's eyes roamed over Manni's towel clad body, tempting him to smile at how sexy and innocent she looked yet all the while emitting an aura of pure anger though she appeared to be calm. "Dana, I said that you should leave," he said more for her benefit than for his own. If she wanted to live another day, she would heed his warning.

"I'll walk you to the door, sweetheart," Manni told her with silk in her voice although her eyes were spitting fire. She didn't wait for Dana to comply, simply leaving the door frame to grab her arm and yanking her after her."

"Manni--"

"Scott, stay out of this. I'll deal with you later."

"Let go of me!"

"Girl, if you don't shut your tall, skinny tail up, I will give you something to be hollering about," Manni threatened still dragging Dana behind her until she threw the front door open. "Get out of my house."

Dana looked at her incredulously, "your house?"

"You heard me," Manni said not backing up from the woman towering over her. "My house because that man back there will be my husband which makes this my house."

"Your husband?"

"Are you deaf or hearing impaired?" Manni asked her crossing her arms over her blue terry cloth towel.

"He doesn't even love you," Dana told her as her voice shook. "If he did, then why would I have this?" she asked as her trembling hands dug through her over sized purse big enough to hold a midget.

"I don't see anything."

"This," Dana yelled holding up Manni's old engagement ring. She smiled victoriously, when her nemesis' eyes bulged, then smirked.

"Where did you get that?"

"Where else?" she asked. "Don't act dimwitted, although it does suit you, at the moment I'm trying to have an intelligent conversation with you."

Manni fought the urge to slap Dana's pretty little white face, laughing instead as she planted her hands on her hips. "Where did you get that?"

"Scott gave it to me," Dana lied knowing very well that after Manni had caught them in his office he had stormed out after her, leaving the engagement ring Manni had thrown at his head discarded on the ground. So what did she do? She waited until he had tormented himself with it for a good week then kept it when she saw that it was now on his desk staring back at her.

"Its nice to see that you're getting what you deserve in life. Sloppy. Seconds," Manni told her then swished her hand out in front of her so fast that neither her nor Dana had been aware that she had slapped her before snatching her old ring out of her fingers.

"You hit me," Dana stated in shock as tears stung her eyes. No one had ever done that before not even her own parents. She started to cry, unashamed that she was a thirty year old, six foot one woman which made her older and taller than the evil woman standing in front of her. Which also meant that she should know how to hold her own.

As unexpected as the first slap, Manni landed another one to Dana's opposite cheek almost laughing when the water works really began. "The first one was for what you did today because I warned you. And the second one was for what you did four years ago. Now get the hell out of my sight before I do much more than slap you around."

Dana didn't have to be told twice to high tail it, but she wouldn't leave without getting the last word. "I hate you. And the day when Scott drops you like a bad habit will be the day that I piss on you for being right."

"Heifer, you must think that you're R. Kelly. Do I look sixteen?" Manni asked threatening to step out the door after her. Dana all but ran to her car and jumped in to peel out of the driveway. "And you better not ever come back." She slammed the door, stomping her way back to Scott. He was still standing in the same spot that she left him in looking sexy.

He smiled.

She didn't.

"You didn't kill the poor woman, did you?"

"No, but I might be doing just that to you," she told him taking deliberately slow steps towards him. She was actually counting to ten in her head to control her temper instead of allowing herself to lose her temper and jump to conclusions. "Take it," she said holding out her hand.

Scott looked down at the ring as his eyes widened in recognition. "Manni, I swear that I don't know how she got that."

"I believe you. I'm not going to pretend as if I'm not fuming inside, but knowing her she probably would have dug through your trash cans for it," she told him. "I remember the talk that we had a few months ago about me not losing my temper and yelling like a demon woman. And I want you to know that one, it's hard as hell not to do so especially when it's with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Manni smiled shyly, "you know that sometimes we argue just for the sake of arguing, anyway, I'm digressing because of you." She playfully punched his arm feeling the need to touch him. He pulled her close holding her tightly against him.

"What's number two?"

"I trust you," she whispered laying her head over his heart. "And I know that you're not the type of person to give away your ex-fiancée's ring to your sideline hoe."

"I thought that you were my sideline hoe?" Scott asked then laughed when she bit him.

"AND," Manni added when he thought that she was finished. "I'm proud that you held your ground with her instead of popping one of her fake titties in your mouth like the last time." She looked up noticing that Scott was as red as his bright hair and smiled.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"I just had to throw one more pun before I let it go for good. I love you, Scott. That's not ever gonna change...unless you become an alcoholic gambler who starts to beat on me and Star. Then you're just out of luck."

Scott's laughter sounded like music to her ears transforming her smile into a wide grin. "Never that. I can't wait until you're my wife."

"What's going to happen then?" Manni asked eyeing him skeptically. She absentmindedly rubbed her shoulders feeling the chill of the air conditioner against it.

"I'm going to make love to you all day every day and show you just how grateful I am that you're back in my life."

She laughed shaking her head as she began to back away. "Scott, you have work to do," she yelled running towards the stairs before he tackled her on the couch.

"I know, working on that fine ass of yours. Don't fight it," he told her, gazing down into her soulful brown eyes with all of the love in his being for her.

"I won't. Ever," she promised caressing his cheek.

"Good girl," he told her with a sweet kiss that had her arching into him. "Because I won't let you."

The End