Chapter Nine
Carrie
“It was the best and worst night of my life,” I tell Chester as he rolls onto his back so I can rub his tummy. He mumbles his delight as I begin to drag my nails up his furry stomach.
I hate how the night ended. It was perfect until we got caught.
Then, everything came crumbling down around us.
I’m unemployed. Again.
But that’s not what’s really hurting me right now.
I messed it up with Eli. He’s probably upset with me that he lost the account with Mr. Brown. There’s no way that the conservative old man will continue to invest in Eli’s company after that display.
“Ugh,” I groan as I lay on my back beside Chester and stare at my ceiling that really needs to be painted.
What a bummer.
Chester starts to shake with a seizure and I instantly dart to his side to make sure he doesn’t get hurt. This is a disaster. I won’t be able to afford the insane veterinarian bills and medication anymore. I was already at the cheapest vet in town and he seems to be more of a quack than a real doctor.
I drop my head and let the tears come as Chester gets up, looking confused.
The doorbell rings and I shake my head. “Go away.”
They don’t.
Knocking follows and then more ringing.
“Fine.”
I push up to my feet and then walk over to the door. I look like shit—still in my pajamas with my hair a mess from last night and my eyes all puffy red, but I don’t care. I have no one to impress.
“What?” I ask as I yank the door open. My heart seizes in my chest when I see Eli standing there looking sexy as ever.
He’s dressed perfectly for Sunday morning in an old faded baseball hat, a Nirvana T-Shirt, and old ripped up jeans. God, he’s hot.
“You’re crying,” he says with his face dropping. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I quickly say as I wipe the tears away with the back of my hand. “I was just watching a sad commercial.”
His brow scrunches up like he doesn’t quite believe me, but he lets it go. “I want to introduce you to my new friend.”
I jerk my head back in surprise when a man dressed sharply in a Polo shirt and khakis steps forward with a nod. I was so focused on Eli that I didn’t even notice he was there.
“Hello,” he says in a professional manner. “I’m Dave Matthews.”
“The singer?” I ask, confused.
He shakes his head. “I get that a lot, but no. I’m a veterinarian.”
My head perks up. My heart nearly stops.
“He’s going to take care of Chester,” Eli says.
“Why?” It’s the most ineloquent answer, but it’s what flies out of my mouth.
“I told you I was going to take care of you,” he says as he stares at me like he did last night. “And that means taking care of Chester too. I got my sister Brooke to find him last night. He’s the best veterinarian in the state.”
I leap into his arms and he wraps them around me with a smile on his face. There’s a loving look in his eyes as he gazes down at me. I don’t look nearly as hot as I did last night, but that doesn’t seem to matter to him at all. It’s pure adoration in those dark brown eyes as he holds me tight like he’s never going to let me go.
“Is this the little guy?” Dave Matthews (not the singer) asks as he walks past us to where Chester is on the floor. He immediately starts examining him as Chester licks his nose. “What medications is he on?”
I start rattling off the long complicated names and giving him the schedule as he checks Chester’s teeth. “Hmmm,” he says with a pensive look. “That’s not ideal. I have a new medication that’s working wonders that I’d like to try.”
“That would be amazing,” I say as my whole mood shifts.
My whole world is shifting because of Eli.
“I can’t believe you did this,” I say as I look up at him.
“He’s going to take care of him from now on,” Eli says. “Whatever you or Chester needs, you two will get. And it’s all on me.”
I’m shaking my head as I stare into his eyes. I’m in love with this man.
“It’s conditional, though.”
My stomach drops.
“On what?”
“That you come with me.”
“Holy shit fuck!” I scream as our raft surges toward a huge wave.
Eli’s arm wraps around me protectively as I brace myself for the impact. It comes hard. Our raft bounces up and poor Luke gets thrown out of it like he was shot out of a cannon.
Our raft keeps flying down the river, dipping and rising with every swell of the rough waves.
My man wanted to prove that he was good at sports, so he brought me white water rafting with his family.
“That was amazing!” Gabriel shouts as his eyes widen with excitement.
Gabriel came too. Apparently, Mr. Brown was incensed by our late night shenanigans last night, but the decision to return to Cline Corp wasn’t his.
He’s only a few months away from retirement and his son Gabriel is taking over the family business. He let Gabriel pick where to invest their funds and Gabriel wanted to keep it with Eli and his brothers. He wasn’t nearly as upset as his father about the incident. He thought it was hilarious.
“Where did Luke go?” Westin shouts over the roar of the waves.
“Sailing through the air like a football!” Eli shouts with a laugh. “I’ll get him.”
He digs the paddle into the water and starts grunting like a caveman as he steers the raft into a calm area of the river and waits for his brother to come to us.
“You are pretty good at this,” I admit to him. His arms look pretty damn good too all flexed and jacked as he fights the water with his paddle. “Thanks for bringing me.”
“You’re family now,” he says with a wink.
Even though I’m drenched again around this man, I feel a flood of warmth hit my chest.
“How about for our next date, we skip the sports and go out for dinner?”
He grins as Luke comes flying along the current up to our raft. “I was thinking the same thing.”
Nolan and Gabriel grab Luke as he jets by and they struggle to pull the huge guy in.
“That. Was. Awesome!” he says with a big smile as we all look at him huffing for a breath.
We all burst out laughing and then Eli lifts his paddle and we continue down the river together, ready for some more adventure.
Epilogue
Carrie
Four months later…
“What do you think, Chester?” I say as my dog flies into our new condo. He slips on the hardwood floors and slams into the wall.
There was a time when that would have had me freaking out and in tears as I ran over to him, hoping he didn’t break any bones, but that time has come and gone.
I can let him be an ordinary dog now. Dave Matthews (again, not the musician) is a miracle worker and Chester’s cancer is in remission. He’s gained weight and is looking happier than ever.
“What do you think?” Eli asks as he walks in behind me. “Can you see us happy here?”
“I can see us happy anywhere.”
It’s true. The past four months have been the best of my life. Eli has been incredible, his family is amazing, and I even got a job! When Gabriel found out I was looking, he offered me a job in his sales department. It’s been going great. Mr. Brown has cultivated a wonderful staff and a fun atmosphere in his office and I can’t wait to go in every day.
My life is turning out just great.
I’m walking around our new condo in the Upper West Side looking around in awe. It has a stunning view of Central Park through the floor-to-ceiling windows and a massive kitchen. It’s currently empty since we just got the keys, but I’m already in love. It already feels like home.
I walk into the vast living room with my arms out and staring up at the tall coffered ceilings. I still can’t beli
eve this place is mine. It has four freaking fireplaces! If I wanted a fire at my last apartment, I had to go hangout with the homeless men by the burning trash can on the corner. This is a bit of an upgrade.
“This is incredible,” I say as I walk into the empty bedroom where Eli is on his knees playing with Chester. My man and my dog in front of that spectacular view… how did I even get here?
“You spoil me,” I tell him as I drop to my knees beside them.
“Nah,” he says as he runs his hands up Chester’s tall ears. “You contributed too. We bought it together.”
“Yeah, but I contributed like 0.0000001% of what you did.”
“But that was exactly how much I was missing,” he says with a wink. “And besides, having you walking around in your sexy underwear is priceless.”
“Snuggie, yes, underwear, no. The whole city will be able to see me through these giant windows!”
“I got that covered,” he says with a grin. “Marsha! Privacy!”
“Yes, Mr. Cline,” a robotic voice says as huge blinds start rolling down the windows, blocking out the spectacular view.
“Who’s that?! Should I be jealous?”
“No,” he says as he begins to move toward me. “I only have eyes for you.”
“Really?” I ask in a seductive voice. “Prove it.”
“Okay.” He reaches into his pocket and my mouth drops open when I see the purple ring box.
“What is that?!”
His eyes are full of loving emotion as he opens the box and reveals the most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen. It’s all shiny and sparkly with a huge diamond in the middle.
“Carrie,” he says as he gets on one knee. “Please marry me. I can’t live without you.”
“Yes!” I shout as I leap on top of him. We fall to the ground in the perfect position—me straddling him with our lips only an inch apart. The only problem is our rambunctious pup who’s misreading the mood. It’s not playtime anymore.
“Chester, scram,” Eli says as he jumps on top of us.
I pull the ring out of the box and slip it on my finger. It feels perfect.
“Chester!” I say, getting his attention. “Go get it!”
I toss the ring box into the other room and he runs after it. “Chewing on that will keep him busy for a while.”
“Brains and beauty. My fiancée is a double threat.”
“A triple threat,” I tell him as my hair tickles his face.
“What’s the third threat?”
I sit up and pull off my shirt with one swift movement.
“Lay right there and I’ll show you.”
He grins as I take off the rest of my clothes to make this engagement official.
Epilogue
Eli
Ten Years Later…
“I could have taken you to Hawaii, Paris, Tokyo, Fiji, anywhere but here,” I say as I look at my beautiful wife.
“I wanted to come back here for our tenth anniversary,” Carrie says with a grin.
“The Amalfi Coast, Mykonos, London.”
“Stop,” she says with a laugh as she grabs my arm and pulls me to our golf cart. “This is going to be fun.”
“It’s going to be something,” I joke, even though any activity with Carrie is fun. She’s my favorite person in the whole world.
She’s given me four wonderful children and ten amazing years. Somehow, I love her more now than I did when we got married. Our love is like a fine wine, growing better with age.
It’s a cloudy Thursday morning with rain on the forecast, so we practically have the whole course to ourselves. The kids are hanging out with Carrie’s amazing parents who are visiting at our place, which means we don’t have anywhere to be today except by each other’s sides.
“You go first,” I tell her as we wait around the tee.
“All right,” she says as she leans over and places her ball. God, those shorts… Her ass kills me every time. She’s the sexiest woman in the world.
I snap a quick pic of her bending over in those sexy white shorts and she turns around with a glare when she hears the click. “Last guy who did that to me found their phone in the bottom of a pond,” she says with a grin. “Hey! I wonder if it’s still there.”
“I’m not going to check,” I say with a laugh. “I waded through enough dirty ponds for you.”
She gives me those sad puppy dog eyes and my resolve breaks.
“I would wade through an endless amount of ponds for you,” I admit.
She laughs as she gently slaps my chest. “Stay on the grass, Callaway. I don’t want you sloshing around and making a mess in our cart.”
“Enough chit chat. Grip it and rip it.”
She grins as she lines up and takes her shot. My girl smacks the ball and it lands on the fairway a decent distance away.
“Not bad,” I say with a nod. “I’m impressed.”
She’s all cocky as she struts back, pretending the golf tee is a cigarette. “I guess I’m a natural.”
“Wait until you see this.”
I strut past her and set up my ball. I’m keeping my head down like it said to do in the YouTube tutorial and I swing as hard as I can.
Carrie bursts out laughing as my club slams into the ground a foot away from my ball. The vibrations rumble up to the tee and it makes the ball fall over.
“What a shot!” she hollers as she runs over to me. “What is that? Two centimeters? Must be a new record!”
“Cayman Islands, Barcelona, Anguilla,” I go on.
“Stop! We’re playing the full round,” she says, still laughing.
Even though we’re terrible, we have a blast on the course. I throw my ball more times than I hit it, but hey, we’re not counting strokes. We’re here for fun, we’re here for each other, and we’re here to relive the first time we met ten wonderful years ago.
By the time we get to the seventeenth hole, the sky opens up and rain comes pouring down.
“Does this remind you of something?” Carrie asks with a mischievous grin as the rain drenches us on the green.
“I’m getting hard just thinking about it.”
“That’s a stroke I’d like to see,” she says, biting her bottom lip as she gives me a sensual look.
The rain is pouring down on us, soaking everything. Anyone who was out here is probably fleeing to the clubhouse or to their cars. We’re completely alone out here now.
“You said you wanted to relive our first night,” I say as I grab my wet shirt and pull it off.
Her eyes widen as I toss it on the short grass and go to her with my hard cock raging.
“Think you can get that big club in the hole?” she asks with that sexy smart ass mouth of hers.
“Now, that’s a sport I’m good at.”
I take my incredible wife in my arms and we fall to the ground, laughing and then kissing.
And just like we did ten years ago, we fall in love all over again…
The End!
Don’t be shy. Come Follow Me…
I won’t bite unless you ask me to
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Love At First Sight (Love Comes First Book 2) Page 6