Carter stood on one side and Harley stood on the other and then they took turns pushing the button to make the light stop. The machine began spitting out tickets until there was a pile of them on the floor. Troy had made his way over to them and stood with his arms folded over his chest as he watched.
“Come on. Come on,” Harley muttered under her breath. “This game always feels like cheating. It takes absolutely no skill.”
“Most arcade games are luck.”
“No way! Ski-ball is an art.”
Troy snorted, drawing their attention.
“Oh, stop, you big lug. I didn’t see you out there winning any tickets,” Harley grumbled.
“Hey, that’s a great idea. Troy, you try.” Carter stepped aside, pulling Harley with him.
“What?” Troy frowned, probably wondering what he was doing spending his Saturday night with two such juvenile adults.
“Yeah, come on. Give it a shot. Aren’t you ex-military? You’ve gotta have amazing reflexes, right?”
“He’s right, Troy. You do have good reflexes,” Harley chimed in. Carter shot her a look. He’d wondered more than once about Harley’s relationship with her bodyguard. Even Carter could recognize Troy was an attractive man who had the strong, silent thing going for him. But as far as he could tell, Harley treated Troy like a brother or maybe a cousin.
Troy sighed, but did as she asked. Carter knew how the man felt. Denying Harley was something he just couldn’t do.
Bending over, Troy followed the racing light with his eyes. It went around the circle once, twice. Troy’s hand hovered over the button, then…whack!
“Hahaha! He did it!” Harley jumped into Carter’s arms and threw her arms around his neck.
“Alright. Let’s go feed all of these to the chomper and make sure we have enough.” The three of them carried strips of white tickets to the counting machine.
“Ten thousand five hundred and forty-five,” Carter announced.
“We had enough without the jackpot,” Harley said, staring at them in wonder before she started laughing. “We had enough!”
Carter grinned at Troy. “We didn’t even need you, man. Although, that was a fantastic display of skill.”
“Luck,” Harley coughed into her hand, making them both laugh. Troy’s lips twitched which Carter assumed was as close to a laugh as the guy got.
“Well, let’s go turn in your tickets and get your doll.” Carter collected all the slips of paper and grabbed Harley’s hand.
At the counter, Harley called the owner’s name. The older gentleman had been watching television in the back room while they played the games. He’d poked his head out a couple of times to check on them, but for the most part they’d had the run of the place.
“Hi, there, Ms. Stone. What can I do for you?”
“Mr. Wallace, I thought I told you to call me Harley.” Harley reached across the counter to hold the man’s wrinkled hand in her perfectly smooth and manicured one.
“Well, now, I don’t know about all that,” Mr. Wallace mumbled making Harley smile.
“We won some tickets we want to turn in.” She gestured for Carter to put the slips of paper with their ticket count on the glass top.
Mr. Wallace’s eyes widened at the number of papers. “Ms. Harley, you don’t need all those tickets. You just tell me what you want and I’ll get it for you.”
Carter watched as Harley’s face fell a little. “Oh, no, can we just see what all we can get with the tickets, Mr. Wallace?”
Mr. Wallace seemed a little perplexed but he pulled out a calculator and began sorting through the tickets.
“We added them all up if you trust our math,” Carter offered, pointing out the total they’d written on one of the slips.
“Sure, sure.” He punched the number in the calculator and turned to Harley expectantly.
She started grinning before she even got the words out. “I’d like to get the doll, please,” she said pointing to the one she wanted.
Mr. Wallace’s smile was kind. “We’ve had her for a long time. I was beginning to wonder if anyone would ever get enough tickets for her.”
Carter watched with some alarm as Mr. Wallace pulled a small step ladder up in front of the doll and began to climb it.
“Do you need some help?” he asked, ready to vault the counter and get the doll himself, but Mr. Wallace waved his offer aside.
“I’ve been doing this since before you were born,” he said.
That’s what had Carter worried, but for naught because soon the doll was in Harley’s arms and Mr. Wallace had both feet back on the ground.
“Alright,” he said as he subtracted the ten thousand points from their ticket total. “What else would you like. You have five hundred and forty-five left.”
Harley bit her lip to hold back her grin and ten minutes later she and Carter walked out to his car, their pockets overflowing with suckers, hard candies, a couple of bouncy balls, and a temporary tattoo each.
“Where are you going to put your tattoo,” she asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.
“I’m not telling.”
“Ooh, Carter, you bad boy,” she teased, leaning back in her seat, a contented smile curving her lips.
“Yeah, I’m really bad with a,” he glanced at the tattoo he’d tossed on the dash. “Tom and Jerry temporary tattoo.”
Harley giggled. “Who even knows who Tom and Jerry are anymore?”
“What are you talking about? You aren’t old enough to remember those cartoons, either.” Carter turned to get on the freeway.
“Sure, I am. Besides, we never had a subscription for tv when I was a kid, just the local stations. Nick and I used to watch all the old cartoons.”
“Chris and I used to watch them, too. And we did have cable or whatever.”
“So spoiled.” She shook her head.
“Yeah, maybe. Are you hungry? Let’s order some pizza.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Harley hadn’t had so much fun in, well, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun. Who would have thought Carter Bragg, billionaire bachelor, would be so game to play in an arcade for several hours on a Saturday night? But he had been and he’d had fun, too, she could tell. They’d been laughing and flirting all night.
Harley ordered pizza and had it delivered while Carter drove back to their apartments. Upstairs, Carter led her straight to his theater room.
“Holy cow, Carter!” She spun in a circle taking in Carter’s home theater. He had five rows of reclining theater chairs, a popcorn machine, and a soda station. He even had a cabinet chucked full of candy.
“Harley, sometimes you make me think you don’t have any money. Did Stephen not pay you well for your first four movies?” Carter moved into the center of the rows of reclining theater seats and set the pizza boxes down.
“Yes, I guess I’m just not very creative. Already, I’m going to have to redo my closets and build a theater when I get home.” She followed him up the steps carrying two sodas and sat down beside him.
Carter picked up a remote from a nearby seat. He pointed it at the television and the first Brave and Bound movie came on the screen.
“Oh, uh-” he mumbled, quickly pushing a button to bring up a screen saver.
Harley poked his side, feeling absurdly pleased as his cheeks turned red.
“I told you in the elevator I’m a fan.”
Harley started laughing. “I’m so flattered, Mr. Bragg.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Carter scowled. “I think my every waking and sleeping dream came true when Stephen Berg asked me to be in his movie opposite you.”
Harley’s mouth dropped open. He kept surprising her. First, he drops the L word in the car before Kaden’s party, then he asks her to date him like they’re in high school. He’d been sweet, attentive, charming. And he constantly made her feel as though his universe revolved around her.
But why?
“That might be the nicest thing anyon
e’s ever said to me,” she finally said.
“Well, that’s a travesty.” Carter turned in his seat to face her. “I can think of much, much nicer things to say than that.”
“Like what?” She leaned toward him, feeling kind of greedy.
“Nope. This is only our second date. I’ve revealed enough already.” Carter sat back and took a bite of his pizza.
“Uh-” she squeaked, her mouth dropping open. “That was mean, you big jerk.” She dropped back against her seat. “And what have you revealed?”
“Are you kidding?” he said with his mouth full. Harley made a face at him. She had an older brother, for goodness sakes, and boys were disgusting. Grown men weren’t much better.
Carter swallowed the food in his mouth before continuing. “You mean you haven’t learned anything about me the last two days?”
“You mean like the fact you’re an adrenaline junkie and still eat like you’re in high school?” Of course, she’d learned more than that, but she wasn’t about to confirm for him that his plan was working.
Carter scoffed. “Surface level stuff. My secretary knows that about me.”
“You better not let Claire hear you call her your secretary.”
“I’m not scared of her.”
He was totally lying.
“What are we watching?” Since there was no way she wanted to watch one of her own movies.
“You don’t want to watch Brave and Bound?” he asked, but she could tell he was teasing. Mostly.
“No way,” she shook her head. “You’ll feel the same way watching yourself on screen.”
“Really? That’s kind of sad. I’ve been looking forward to these movies for a long time.” He pressed a couple of buttons until a different movie popped up on the screen.
“Goonies? Really?” Harley laughed.
“Goonies never say die, Harley.”
“Is this something else I’m supposed to glean some deep Carter Bragg knowledge from?” she asked because she was feeling sassy.
“Nope. I just love this movie. And you lost your chance to tell me what you’ve learned about me. Now, you’ll have to wait until the movie’s over.” Carter pressed the button to raise the volume as the skull and crossbones appeared on the screen.
Halfway through the movie, Carter reached behind his seat for a blanket and put up the arm rest between their seats. Harley snuggled under his arm and he covered them both.
He was having a hard time concentrating on Mikey and the gang as they searched for One Eyed Willy’s lost treasure. He’d been thinking about their date and wondering why the arcade was significant.
Harley traced circles on his chest with her fingers and he wondered if she had any idea what she did to him.
“Hey,” he whispered.
“Hmm,” she mumbled into his side and Carter wondered if he should even bring up the arcade. But he wanted to know.
“You want to tell me about the arcade?” He ran his fingers up and down the outside of her arm. She felt warm and soft against his side. He wanted to share everything with her. He wanted to know her secrets and help bear her burdens.
Harley shifted a little, leaning her head back against his shoulder so she could see his face.
“It’s just a memory I had when I was a kid,” she said.
“You went there once?”
Harley shook her head. “No.”
Carter frowned, not understanding.
Harley sighed. “I got an invitation one time to a birthday party. I think it was first grade. I remember being so excited. It had shiny letters and a pink birthday cake on the front.”
“The party was at an arcade,” Carter asked.
She nodded against his shoulder. “Yeah. I ran home. It was my first invitation to a birthday party. The little girl, I can’t even remember her name now, told me it was going to be this place. I’d seen the commercials on tv. It looked like so much fun. Anyway, I carried the invitation in my hand because my backpack had a hole in it, a little one, but still. I wasn’t taking any chances.”
Carter’s brow creased. He had a feeling this story wasn’t going to have a happy ending.
“Missy was asleep on the couch when I got home and I woke her up. She got mad at me. I should have known better. She was always tired, but I was excited. I showed her the invitation and she yelled at me, snatching it right out of my hands. She tore it in half and then tore it in half again before throwing it in the air and telling me she didn’t have money to go buying birthday presents for other people’s brats.”
“Harley-” he started to say, then stopped. Really, what could he say to that? His heart ached for the little girl Harley had been.
“Yeah, well. All the girls came back to school after the party and told me about going to the arcade and winning these little white tickets to turn into the guy behind the counter for toys and candy. I’d never heard of such a thing, but I never forgot it.” She smiled. “Thanks for helping me live out one of my childhood fantasies. It was a lot of fun.”
Carter just stared at her, his heart full of love for this broken woman. Not knowing what else to do, and needing to offer her some kind of comfort, Carter pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss.
Harley snuggled deep into his embrace and they both turned back to watch the movie, but Carter couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d told him.
She’d revealed a lot about herself that night. Carter knew he’d only scratched the surface. Like everyone, Harley had layers. He hated hearing about some of those deeper layers, the darker ones. The picture she’d painted of her childhood wasn’t one he wanted to look at. It hurt him to think of the little girl she’d been. It also made him wonder if there were more memories like the one she shared hiding in her pretty head.
Harley fell asleep on his shoulder just as the movie ended. Carter turned off the television.
Her head fell back against his shoulder as she moaned a little.
Carter closed his eyes and prayed. He needed all the help he could get to do the right thing. But his girl was dead asleep and he couldn’t just leave her in a recliner, no matter how comfortable they were. He would just have to carry her. Decision made, Carter scooped Harley into his arms, blanket and all and carried her out of the theater room. It was too far to take her to her own bed next door, so he settled for the guest room across the hall from his own master suite.
Carter set Harley on the bed then pulled the covers down on the other side before lifting her one more time so he could tuck her into the blankets.
“Carter,” she murmured.
“Yeah,” he whispered, smoothing her hair away from her face.
“I love you.”
Carter froze. What did she just say? “Harley!” he said quietly. “What did you say? Harley!” He shook her shoulder, but she only rolled over with a soft sigh.
He stood over her, watching her sleep for several minutes, his mind reeling with what he thought he heard her say in her sleep. And he was convinced she’d been sleeping when she uttered the words he longed to hear.
Did she mean what she said? Had she been dreaming? Did she dream of him?
With a soft groan, Carter rubbed his face with his hands. He was tired. It was late. He didn’t want to leave her, but he knew he had to. Staying with her, even with the purest of intentions was a bad idea and Carter’s intentions were anything but pure.
Forcing himself to be a gentleman, Carter turned from the room, making sure to leave the light on in case she woke up later and then made his way to his own bed.
Chapter Thirty
Harley woke in a strange bed. It took her a moment, but then she remembered watching a movie with Carter. She must have fallen asleep and he’d brought her here. It was warm and comfortable and she was tempted to stay, but she got up instead.
She found her purse and the doll from the night before on a chair near the door. Harley picked them up and her shoes as she tiptoed from the room. It was early, only the faintest light glowed through
the sheer curtains hanging from the windows.
Harley stopped outside the bedroom door. The door across the hall belonged to Carter. Her body tingled thinking about him sleeping just on the other side. She wanted nothing more than to open it and go be with him.
She’d had a dream while she slept. In the dream, she wore a white dress. Carter carried her in his arms across the threshold of a beautiful house. Their house. He wore a black tuxedo and his smile was happy, happier than she’d ever seen him. Before he could lower her to her feet, Harley tightened her arms around his neck, pulling him close as she whispered, ‘I love you’.
The memory made goosebumps rise on her arms. It felt so real.
And scary, too, saying those words when she meant them so much, putting her heart on the line.
The last few weeks with Carter had been the best of her life. Harley never wanted her time with him to end. Maybe if she could just be honest with him. Tell him what he needed to know, maybe he would be the one who wouldn’t push her away.
It was something to think about, but not here, not outside his bedroom door. She needed space, time to think about how she felt.
His idea to date had been a good one, to get to know one another while dialing back their physical relationship. It was easy, especially with Carter, to let hormones get in the way of emotion. She might be inexperienced, but even she knew not to let attraction take over.
Sighing, Harley decided to go back to her apartment, sleep on things, try to stay away from him for the day and see what happened over the next week.
INT. TULLY FAMILY MANSION - NIGHT
Mila struggles against restraints holding her to a straight-backed chair. Carlo sits behind a large desk in a leather chair. Miles stands with his arms crossed over his chest a couple of feet behind Mila.
Humbling the Spoiled Billionaire Page 16