Hard To Love

by Tina Rose

  “I got news for ya, you ain’t done such a good job of that as it is.” Carter said, as he pulled his ringing phone from his pocket. Looking at the screen, his heart gave a little kick thinking it may be Ella calling, only to be disappointed when he saw a Nashville number pop up on the screen.

  “Hello, this is Carter,” he answered in a displeased tone.

  “Hi Carter, it’s Laura, Laura Harmon from Nashville Platinum Records. We met at Silver Spurs,” a very feminine country voice came across the line.

  “Yes ma’am Miss Laura, I remember. How are you?” Carter asked politely, not really caring one way or the other. Of course he remembered her. She wouldn’t keep her roaming fingers and rushing hands off him the whole time she was here. And he still hadn’t got the Marilyn Monroe red lipstick off the collar of his favorite shirt. She may have been a sexy older woman, under all the eye makeup and hairspray she had been wearing, but Carter still shivered thinking about the taste of smoke she had left in his mouth when she shoved her tongue down his throat.

  “I’m fine, thank you for asking. Listen, we’d like to set up a time for you to come for some studio time. I know it’s kinda short notice, but we think now is a good time to sell you,” she said with enthusiasm.

  “When were you thinking?” he asked.

  “As soon as possible. You’ll need to be here for at least three days, so let me know what your schedule looks like. We’ll have everything set up when you get here.”

  “Okay, I’ll let you know something by the end of the week, will that be good?” Carter confirmed.

  “That will be perfectly fine.” Carter could hear her smile on the other end. “I can’t wait to see you again Carter,” she purred down the line.

  “I’ll give you a call,” Carter said, ending the call as another shiver ran down his spine.

  “Was that Cougar Barbie from Nashville?” Gabe asked with humor in his voice. That’s what they had decided to call her, since that’s what she looked like. Bleached, butterscotch hair and red lips on a sexy as sin body stuffed in a black leather skirted suit. She had scared the hell out of them.

  “Yes,” Carter said, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. “That’s just great, dammit!” he growled.

  “What did she say?” Gabe prodded.

  “They want me to come to Nashville for some recording time. I tell you right now, I am not sleeping with plastered on Barbie. She can forget that right now. I’ll never get a record deal if that’s part of the plan.”

  “Maybe you need to take a body guard,” Gabe laughed.

  “That might not be such a bad idea,” Carter replied.

  ********

  Almost a week had passed since Ella had last seen Carter, making it one long sleepless night after another. She had tossed and turned every night, sleeping with both her cordless home phone, and her cell on her nightstand, hoping he would call, but praying he didn’t. She needed to get Carter Dawson out of her head, and quickly. Almost giving up thinking he was going to call, she was trying her best to put him out of her mind.

  With her umbrella in one hand and her handbag and keys in the other, Ella’s phone rang as she was trying to open her office door. “Dammit! Why can’t people call when I don’t have my hands full,” she said, almost dropping everything. The cold wind and rain were blowing her hair in her eyes and mouth, and about the time she managed to get the door open, a gust of wind caused the door to jerk her forward, tripping over the threshold. Looking like a mad wet cat, she threw everything on her desk, fished the never ending ringing phone from her pocket and answered.

  “Hello!” she screeched, not even looking at the caller id.

  “Well, hello sweetness. Did I catch you at a bad time?” Carter’s smooth voice traveled over the line quickening Ella’s heart rate.

  “You always seem to catch me at a bad time, Carter. What can I do for you?” She asked in a breathy voice, hoping he couldn’t hear her heartbeat rushing through her ears.

  “Did you miss me?” he asked in his sexy, sensual voice.

  “Carter,” she smiled, hoping he couldn’t pick up on the excitement in her voice.

  “What? I’m just asking, did you? Cause I’ve been thinking about you.” Ella could hear his heavy breathing on the other end.

  “Will you stop,” she said, heat rushing up her neck to her cheeks. Was he being serious? As if reading her mind, Carter answered her unspoken question.

  “I’m serious, El. I’ve thought of you all week. I don’t know what it is about you, but I can’t get you out of my head. I can still smell you on my pillows, and it makes my dick hard every night.”

  “Maybe you should wash your sheets,” she tried to say sarcastically through the lump building in her throat. Why was he saying these things to her? He wasn’t just messing with her mind, now he was messing with her heart, which was currently beating at a rapid rate.

  “Nooo. I like it. I like thinking about you, and dreaming about you.”

  Ella couldn’t believe the words she was hearing, as she stood staring out her office window that faced the beach. Angry waves of the ocean crashed on the shoreline and grey skies hovered over it, mimicking the emotions flowing through her body right now. Ella wanted to believe Carter could find her as sexy has she found him, but Derek had left her feeling undesirable, and she found it very hard to believe Carter would be so attracted to someone older than him. She wasn’t sure what to say him.

  “I like that you like thinking about me,” she said so low, she wasn’t sure he heard her.

  “Go to Tennessee with me,” he said more as a demand than a question.

  “Yeah, right,” she laughed.

  “I’m serious!”

  “I can’t go to Tennessee with you,” she gasped. What was he thinking?

  “Why not?” he pushed.

  “Carter, I have a business to run. What are you going to Tennessee for anyway?” she asked, curiosity taking over.

  “They want me to do a trial run on recording a song. I’ll be there for three days, and I don’t want to go that long without seeing you again. It’s already been too long.”

  “Three days?” she laughed nervously. “Carter, I’m flattered, but I can’t leave for that long.”

  “Yes you can, and you will. Besides, maybe you can make some contacts there yourself. You are in the entertainment business, aren’t you?”

  Carter did make a good point, she could make some good contacts. But could she really leave for three days? And how would that work? Would they share a room? She certainly couldn’t afford a trip like this. But this might just be the break she had been looking for, Ella thought. To rub elbows with record execs and big stars? Yes, maybe Ella needed to take Carter up on his offer after all.

  “I am in the entertainment business, Carter, but how will this work?” she asked.

  “What do you mean, how will it work? It’s an all-expense paid trip. The airfare, the room, everything.”

  “So, we’d be sharing a room?” she asked inquisitively.

  “Yes, a room, a bed, a hot shower. Some mind blowing sex. I’m going to make you come so many times you’ll be begging me to stop. You’re gonna need a vacation to recover by the time I’m finished with you.”

  Ella was speechless. She’d never had a man talk dirty to her the way Carter did. His words caused an eruption of sensations to surge through her body. Becoming weak at the knees just hearing his words, Ella found her chair and sunk into it, hoping it would ease the palpitations between her legs.

  “Sweetness, are you still there?” he asked, breaking her from her trance.

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  “I’ll be at your place tomorrow morning by eight. The flight leaves at nine-thirty.”

  “Tomorrow! That’s too soon, Carter. I can’t get everything in order by
tomorrow morning, even if I did say yes.” He had lost his mind. She was a business owner, with planning to do. The mayor had already booked her for his daughter’s sweet sixteen party next month. Liv’s charity event was right around the corner. A local pastor and his wife were renewing their vows. There was no way she could just pick up and go away, no matter if there were promises of mind blowing orgasms.

  “I’ll be there at eight. Don’t make me have to come in and get you, kitten. We won’t have time for a proper punishment before the plane lifts off.” And just like that, he ended the call. Punishment? Crazy ass man.

  Ella had a lot of work to do before tomorrow morning, and that wasn’t even including packing a suitcase. Briefly, she wondered if he would bring the silk scarf he had used to blindfold her the night at his cabin? What was she getting herself into?

  Quickly, she called Liv to fill her in on the trip.

  Chapter Nine

  “You’re going where, with who?” she yelled. “Oh my God. You go Eleanor.”

  “It’s a business opportunity. How could I turn down an all-expense paid trip to Nashville to rub elbows with music execs and music stars? This could be my big break, Liv.” Ella knew she was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince her sister.

  “Yeah, and an opportunity to get the rest of those cobwebs cleaned out.” Liv snickered.

  “Olivia, don’t be so crude,” Ella reprimanded her sister. “And stop calling me Eleanor. It makes me feel older than dirt.”

  “Okay, Ella,” pausing for a second, she finished, laughing. “Nor.”

  Ella rolled her eyes at her sister. She didn’t have time to play her games today. She had a hundred things to do before the morning. She was tempted to call Becky, but decided to wait to see the outcome of their trip. She and Carter may go back to hating one another by the week’s end. “Hmm,” she thought, did they actually ever really hate each other? Carter had been chasing her for six years, and she had avoided him, or been mean as an attempt to push him away. But only because she was ashamed of being another notch in his belt. She also didn’t want to be called a cougar. No one really had to know they were going to Nashville together, she thought.

  “Hey Liv,” she said before hanging up. “Keep this to yourself, will ya? I’m not sure how this trip will turn out, and everyone and their brother doesn’t need to know my business.”

  “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. Who am I gonna tell anyway, the horses?”

  “You don’t fool me little sister. I know you tell Drew everything. By the way, are you still dangling that poor boy around?”

  “El, it’s not like that with Drew. He’s just my friend. We don’t look at each other like that.” Drew was Liv’s best friend, besides her horse, and regardless of whether her sister recognized it or not, he was in love with Liv.

  “You may not look at him like that little sister, but I’ve seen how that boy looks at you. He’s in love, and you just keep him on the line. It’s not fair to him, Liv.”

  “I don’t keep him on anything. He’s had a dozen girlfriends. It’s not my fault they don’t make the cut.” Liv said, affronted.

  “They don’t make the cut because you always find something wrong with them.”

  “Go get laid would you? Stop worrying about the men in my life and worry about your own,” Liv said angrily.

  “Whatever,” Ella replied.

  “Be safe, call me when you land.” Liv said, before hanging up.

  ********

  Packing her suitcase turned out to be more complicated than Ella had thought. Carter hadn’t mentioned anything that they were planning on doing, so she wasn’t sure what exactly to pack. Contemplating calling him, her phone rang and his name popped up on her screen. Trying to hold back the excitement in her voice, she answered the phone as coolly as possible.

  “Hello, this is Ella Reid.”

  “Hey, kitten. You almost packed?” Carter asked, in that deep throaty voice of his.

  “I never said I was going,” Ella teased.

  “Oh, you’re going, if I have to tie you up, which doesn’t sound like a bad idea. I’d like to see you tied up.”

  “You’re just crazy enough to do that. What would security say?”

  “I’d convince them you were my love slave.”

  “You probably could, too,” she laughed. “Okay, you talked me into it. I’ll try to pack, but I’m not sure what I’m going to need. You never said if you had anything special planned.”

  “Oh, I have special things planned, kitten, trust me. But you won’t need anything special to wear for that.” Carter rubbed himself thinking about all the things he wanted to do Ella. Just thinking about it made him hard for her.

  “Carter, I’m serious,” Ella sighed.

  “I’m serious too. I’m not worried about what you’ll be wearing, sweetness, because all I’ll be thinking about is getting you out of it.”

  Once again, Ella’s cheeks turned ten shades of red. Carter had such an effect on her. It was crazy that she had avoided him for so long. He could be a domineering asshole, but he was a sexy domineering asshole who could play her body like a fiddle. After this trip, she’d know just how much of an asshole he really was, or find a side of him she could tolerate outside of the bedroom.

  “What are you saying Carter? You’d like to keep me tied up in the hotel room, naked for the whole trip?”

  “Oh, kitten, that is a good idea. I could think of some very naughty things I’d like to do to you.” Carter’s deep breathing on the other end of the line piqued Ella’s curiosity. She didn’t know what he was thinking about, but all she could think about was his hands on her body, his tongue running between her wet, slick folds. A shiver ran down her spine as she imagined all the wicked things she would like for him to do her.

  “I thought you were going there to work. Maybe I shouldn’t go. I may just distract you.”

  “Not being buried inside you all week has been a distraction. I think it’s time I get a new one, don’t you?” he asked in that sexy low baritone voice of his, setting her insides ablaze.

  It wasn’t a lie either. All he had thought about all week was the scent of her cologne still lingering on his pillow, and how good it had felt sinking deep within her. Seeing her blindfolded in his bed, a glistening sheen of sweat covering her body, and the way her body had responded to each of his strokes had been on continuous rewind in his twisted mind. Taking her to Nashville would kill two birds with one stone. He could get his fill of the sexy Ella Reid, and ward off the very handsy record exec he had to meet with.

  “You’ve been on my mind this week too.” Ella answered, pulling him from his own thoughts.

  “Good. I’ll see you bright and early then. And kitten, no touching yourself tonight. I want to fill you with so much anticipation, and have you so ready for me, that you’ll be begging me to fuck you before the plane even lands.”

  “You sure are confident with yourself, aren’t you?” Ella teased.

  “It’s not confidence, kitten, it’s experience. I’ve seen how your body responds to me. Your breathing picks up; I can see your eyes dilate and the pulse in your neck beating faster and faster. I love to put my hand there and feel what I do to you. It’s my aphrodisiac when you melt in my hands.”

  Realization dawned on Ella as Carter’s words sunk in. She had wondered why he always put his hand on her throat. Could he really tell that much by such a small movement?

  “See you in the morning Carter,” she breathed through the phone. It was gonna be a long night.

  ********

  True to his word, Carter pulled up to Ella’s house at eight o’clock on the dot. Peeking through her window blinds, she watched him jump out of his truck. Damn, he was sexy, wearing faded jeans, snug to his rear, and a tight, V-necked t-shirt with a winged
cross spreading across his muscled chest, with half sleeves stretching over his twitching biceps. Ella squeezed her thighs together to ease the throbbing. She had thought of his arms wrapped around her all night, and his “no touching yourself” rule had just about been broken several times throughout the night.

  A hard knock at the door made her jump from her thoughts. Smoothing her hand over her butterfly filled stomach, Ella tried to calm herself before opening the door. As she opened the door, Carter’s sensual scent floated through her senses. He was right. She wasn’t going to make it until the flight landed. He was just too damned irresistible.

  “Right on time,” she said, opening to door to let him in.

  Right away, Carter invaded her personal space, driving her back against the foyer wall until he pinned her there with both hands placed on the wall beside her head. Carnal desire was written all over his face, pupils dilated turning his blue eyes black and his face tight. Ella could see the restraint written all over his face as he took several deep breaths before speaking to her.

  “You look good enough to eat, sweetness,” he said, burying his nose in her hair and inhaling deeply. “Smell that way too. This is gonna be a long flight. I can’t wait to get you to the hotel room and show you just how much I’ve wanted you this week.”

  “We better get going then.” Ella’s voice trembled with desire. “I wouldn’t want you to be in any undue duress during the flight.” Carter’s mouth was so close, she could feel his hot breath on her lips. She wanted so much to taste the coffee on his lips that she could smell on his breath. Ella’s eyes fluttered shut as his mouth came crashing down on hers, taking ownership of her lips and tongue as he forced his way inside.

  Grabbing both sides of her head, Carter pushed his raging stiffness against her pelvic bone. Ella brought out the beast in him. He wanted, no, needed to bury himself deep inside her. Taking her against this wall was all he had on his mind right now. To hell with building anticipation. He had been craving her all damn week. At that moment, he knew he wasn’t going to wait any longer. Carter unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his jeans before grabbing Ella by her bottom, and lifted her up until she wrapped her legs around his waist. Thank god she was wearing a skirt.