Carter (Bourbon & Blood Book 3)

by Seraphina Donavan

  Josie closed her eyes, leaned her head back against the truck and let out a frustrated groan. “What is wrong with people, Carter? Why is everyone so tangled up in everybody else’s business?”

  “Come upstairs with me,” he said.

  “You’re not getting out of taking me on an actual date. Even if you do con me into your bed, we’re still going somewhere for dinner,” she insisted.

  “I’d never dream of starving you, baby… but hanging out in an alley is hardly going to improve either one of our reputations.”

  She shrugged to concede the point and then preceded him up the stairs. Inside, he took her coat and draped it over the rack behind the door. “Sit your butt on that couch and just close your eyes for a minute… I have something for you.”

  “Are you trying to trick me into giving you a blow job?” she asked.

  He laughed. “That hadn’t been my plan, but now that you bring it up, it sounds like a great idea.”

  When Josie was on the couch, eyes closed, Carter retreated to the bedroom and dug through the dresser drawers until he found what he wanted. The engagement ring had belonged to his father’s mother. It was the only thing he had from his father, but more to the point, it was the only engagement ring he could lay hands on at the moment.

  Walking back into the living room, she was still sitting there, eyes closed, and a vaguely amused smile on her face. “What’s so funny?”

  “I was just thinking that I don’t know whether you’re a bad good influence or good bad influence on me… but whatever you are, I like it.”

  Carter dropped down onto one knee in front of her. “I’m kind of glad you said that, all things considered… Open your eyes, Josie.”

  She did. He saw confusion first as she looked at him kneeling in front of her, and then the tiniest spark of hope flared in her eyes. “Carter, what are you doing?”

  “When I saw you down there, waiting for me as I left work, I thought I don’t want to date this girl… I want to marry her. So, I’m asking, Josephine Marcum, if instead of going out to dinner with me tonight, if you’ll get in my truck with me and drive to Tennessee … and come back as my wife.”

  She stared at him for a minute before speaking. “On one condition.”

  “What’s that?” he asked, fearing the worst.

  “We can’t take your truck all the way to Tennessee, Carter. We’ll never make it there.”

  Carter didn’t argue the point. He would lose. Instead, he took the ring from the small box as Josie held out her left hand. He slipped it on her finger and it fit perfectly, like it had been meant for her. “It’s not much—.”

  “It’s everything,” she corrected. “Let’s just go. Right now. I don’t want to wait another minute. I love you… and I know it’s quick, and I know people will say we’re crazy, but I don’t care. I just want to be with you.”

  He kissed her, claiming her lips, hungry for the taste of her. But she pulled back. “Don’t sidetrack me, Carter Hayes. We’re not doing any more of that until this ring is legal and binding.”

  Carter rose to his feet and pulled her up with him. “Did I mention that I’m really looking forward to being bossed around by you for the next fifty years or so?”

  “Nope. But I’ll remind you of that whenever it’s necessary,” she retorted.

  They left his apartment, took the steps down to the alley and climbed into her car. She let him drive since she couldn’t pull her eyes away from the ring that winked on her left hand.

  “Are we really gonna do this?” she asked.

  “I can’t think of anything I want to do more,” he answered honestly.

  “Then drive… get me the hell out of this town and make an honest woman of me.”

  She didn’t have to ask him twice.

  It had taken them close to two hours to get to Tennessee. They’d crossed the border into a tiny little town that wasn’t even half the size of Fontaine. But when they’d stopped at the rest area and talked to the security guard, he’d told them where to go.

  They’d gotten to the County Clerk’s office with five minutes to spare and gotten the license. Now, standing in the middle of a grocery store, between a sale display of snack cakes and left over fireworks, the grocery store manager who was also an ordained minister was looking at them like they were crazy.

  “We can go to the church. It’s just down the street.”

  Carter looked at Josie and she shook her head. “She wants to do this here… and I try to give her what she wants. It goes better for me that way.”

  The manager/minister scratched his head for a second as if he was completely confounded by them. “All right. I’ll do my best to remember all the words.”

  Carter took Josie’s hand in his. He had the matching band to her engagement ring in his pocket. She didn’t have one for him, but they’d remedy that later.

  “Dearly beloved—.” He stopped because there was no one gathered. Over the electronic hum of all the coolers and the beeping of cash registers in the distance, they could hear the wonky wheel of a grocery cart rolling past in another aisle. “Just join hands.”

  Josie looked pointedly at their hands that were already linked. The minister blushed and Carter did his best not to grin like an idiot.

  The minister looked at the license, “Do you, Carter, take this woman, Josephine Odette Marcum, to be your lawfully wedded wife, forsaking all others, to have and to hold, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?”

  “I do,” Carter said with complete certainty.

  The minister nodded, clearly satisfied with that answer. “Do you, Josephine, take this man, Carter Jefferson Hayes, to be your lawfully wedded husband, forsaking all others, to have and to hold, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?”

  “I do,” Josie said.

  “Do you have a ring, son? Cause we don’t sell those here,” the man offered, more than a little concerned. He clearly thought they were insane and he wasn’t entirely wrong.

  Carter couldn’t keep from laughing at that. “I’ve got that covered,” he said and pulled the matching band from his pocket.

  The minister nodded, clearly relieved that at least some part of the whole thing seemed to be going according to plan. “Place the ring—.”

  A tinny voice came over the loud speaker. “Clean up on aisle five, please. Clean up on aisle five.”

  The intercom shut off and the minister just shook his head. “Why you’d want to do this here I’ll never know.”

  “It makes about as much sense as we do,” Josie answered. “Trust me, this is it.”

  “Place the ring on the third finger of her left hand.” Carter did so. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

  Carter didn’t hesitate, he swung Josie up into his arms and kissed her like his life depended on it. “I love you, Josie Marcum.”

  “Hayes,” she corrected. “Josie Marcum-Hayes.”

  He grinned. “You’re parents are going to kill us.”

  She nodded. “Probably… so make my wedding night count.”

  Carter reached behind her and grabbed a package of cupcakes from the display rack. “It’s not exactly a wedding cake, but it’ll do for now.”

  She laughed. “It’ll do. It’ll definitely do. Where do we go now? Home?”

  “Whose home?” he asked with a frown. “Where are we gonna live?”

  She smiled. “I really like your apartment… but I need closets.”

  “I’ll build you one,” he offered.

  “Then take me home.”

  Eating cupcakes in the car, the drive back to Fontaine seemed infinitely longer. Maybe it was because Carter knew exactly what was waiting for him on their return. Josie sang along with the radio, her voice sweet and soulful. He hadn’t know she could sing. There were many things he didn’t know about her but that didn’t cause alarm or make him question what they’d just done. Instead, he was
looking forward to discovering new things about her every day.

  Josie started to laugh. She kept laughing until tears were streaming down her face.

  “What the hell is so funny?”

  She was gasping for breath, trying to form words. “Clean up… clean up on aisle five.”

  16

  Carter parked Josie’s car behind his truck and climbed out of the vehicle. Walking around to the passenger side, he opened the door for her. Once she stepped out, he scooped her up into his arms.

  “You’re only supposed to carry me over the threshold, not down the alley, up the flight of stairs, etcetera, etcetera,” she reproved.

  “I like carrying you,” he said. “It reminds me of the first night I ever brought you home with me… of course, I’m going to hope that this night goes a little differently.”

  She laughed. “You don’t think puking and passing out are appropriate wedding night activities?”

  He paused at the top of the stairs. “My keys are in my pocket.”

  Before Josie could ask what he meant, he shifted her in his arms, and suddenly she was draped over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. One strong arm gripped her at the backs of her thighs and she was staring directly at his denim clad behind. “Carter Hayes, this is not romantic.”

  “Of course it is,” he said, as he unlocked the door. “We’re nonconformists.”

  “I’m dizzy… All the blood is rushing to my head!”

  His hand moved from the backs of her thighs up to her bottom, cupping one cheek. “Funny, I’m having the same problem.”

  Once inside the apartment, he dropped the keys on the table and then lowered her until she could put her feet on the floor. Standing upright, Josie really was dizzy. She placed one hand on his shoulder and leaned back against the door.

  “I am not a sack of potatoes or a bale of hay,” she informed him. “You don’t just prop me on your shoulder and carry me around like that!”

  Carter was still kneeling in front of her but he was clearly distracted. His hands were on her thighs, skimming beneath her dress.

  Good lord, she thought, his hands. Callused and rough, but always gentle when it counted. As he pushed the hem of her dress up, he hooked his thumbs through the sides of her panties and slowly tugged them down over her hips. The snagged on her boots and she reached for the zipper to take them off, but Carter stopped her.

  “Oh, you’re leaving the boots on,” he said. “They’ve been driving me crazy since I saw you leaning against my truck.”

  She wanted to say something funny, something witty and smart, but he was kissing her thighs. His mouth was hot on her skin, the soft glide of his tongue on her inner thighs was maddening. She pressed her palms against the door and closed her eyes, letting the sensation wash over her.

  Each pass of his tongue, of his lips and the gentle nip of his teeth moved higher, closer to the part of her that was so eager for him. He hooked one hand behind her knee and draped one of her legs over his shoulder, opening her to him. Then his mouth was on her. If he’d been gentle and tender while kissing her thighs, he was now ravenous. His mouth moved over her hungrily, his tongue circling her clit, sucking deeply as if he wanted to consume her.

  Josie buried her fingers in his hair, holding onto him as the world just fell away. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t speak. She just trembled against him as he devoured her. The intensity of her orgasm was shocking. Her body quaked, had it not been for his hand pressed against her stomach, holding her up, she would have collapsed right there. What was even more shocking was that he was not stopping. He continued the sensual onslaught, drawing out the pleasure until it was almost too much to bear.

  Sobbing, breathless, unable to form coherent words, she just begged. “No more. Carter… It’s too much.”

  Her reprieve was only momentary. Carter picked her up, carried her to the couch and laid down with her, his hard body pressed against hers. Her dress just vanished, her bra followed. Laying there beneath him, wearing nothing but a pair of high heeled boots, she felt decadent, sexy, and all those things that she’d always wanted to feel.

  As she looked up at him, their eyes met, and it wasn’t just the hunger that she saw there. It was so much more.

  “I never dreamed that when I pulled you down off that bar, this is where we’d end up… But I wouldn’t change a damn second of it. You’re perfect, Josie. And you’re mine.”

  “God, I love you,” she whispered. “Even when you make me crazy… maybe especially when you make me crazy.”

  There was no more talking. Carter stripped off his shirt, revealing the hard, lean muscles that just robbed her of the ability to think. His jeans followed and then he was naked against her, skin to skin.

  Locking her legs around his lean hips, she pulled him close. He surged into her, deep, hard and it was so perfect. She held onto him as he rocked into her again and again, each thrust reawakening the intense pleasure of only moments earlier.

  He kissed her neck, her collarbone, the curve of her jaw. And then his mouth was on hers, tasting her, teasing, his tongue moved between her parted lips mimicking the actions of his body. It drove her over the edge and she was shuddering beneath him, moaning his name against his lips.

  She felt him stiffen against her, his muscles going completely rigid, and then the hot rush of his release inside her.

  Afterward, curled together on the couch, Carter tracing lazy circles on her hips, tickling her spine and generally being an adorable nuisance. “We still have to tell everybody we got married.”

  “We could,” he said. “Or we could just let Fontaine’s gossip mill do the work for us. If they’re going to talk about us, Josie, we ought to at least benefit from it.”

  It was such a tempting idea. “Isn’t that a little cowardly?”

  “Hell, yes, it is… and I am okay with that.”

  She turned over so that they were facing one another, resting her arms on his chest as his hand shifted to her hair, twining the strands around his fingers. “So who do we tell to get the word out?”

  Carter reached for his pants lying on the floor and fished his cell phone from his pocket. He scrolled through his contacts and then tapped Bennett’s name.

  The phone rang twice before Bennett answered. “This better be good.”

  Knowing what he’d more than likely interrupted, Carter grinned. “You’ve been walking around with blue balls for years. A few more minutes won’t kill you… I need to speak to Mia.”

  “No,” Bennett said. “Call back later.”

  Carter laughed, but pressed on. “Seriously, Bennett… this is important.”

  Bennett sighed. “Fine. But you owe me.”

  A second later, Mia picked up the phone. “Is something wrong?”

  “No. Nothing is wrong… but we need you to spread a little gossip for us.”

  “Who is we?” she asked.

  “Do you think you could tell people who would then tell other people that Josie and I eloped today?”

  Mia’s squeal was deafening. “You didn’t!”

  “We did, actually… And since everyone in town wants to talk about us anyway, we figured we’d kill two birds with one stone.”

  “I’ll call Loralei… and Annalee. But you do know that shit is going to hit the fan over this, right? I mean her dad is a minister and you went and got married in a court house!”

  “A grocery store actually,” Carter corrected. “It’s a long story.”

  After a few more pertinent details were exchanged, the call ended and Carter looked at Josie. “It’s done. By tomorrow morning, the entire town will know.”

  She rolled her eyes. “By ten o’clock tonight the whole town will know!”

  “It’s eight thirty now, so yeah, probably… I’m ordering pizza. I did promise not to let you starve,” he said.

  Josie sat up and unzipped the boots that had gone from decadent and sexy to just hot and uncomfortable. “At least when we go to church tomorrow, there’ll be witne
sses and my daddy can’t shoot you on the spot.”

  His face fell. “We still have to go to church?”

  “Yes. And I’m not going to face this alone,” she said, as she got up from the couch. “I need a shower. Then you’re going to feed me, and then we’re going to bed where we may or may not sleep. I haven’t decided yet.”

  Carter watched her walking naked across the living room. “Yes, ma’am.” If getting that view meant he had to go and be preached to, he’d just learn to live with it.

  Epilogue

  Josie straightened Carter’s tie for the third time. As he reached up to tug at it, she smacked his hand. “Leave it alone! It looks fine.”

  “It feels like a damn noose.”

  She glanced pointedly at the church they were parked beside. “You want to rephrase that?”

  “No. I don’t. I can still cuss till we’re inside,” he said.

  They’d arrived early. Josie figured facing her father down before the sermon would be their best option. As they walked toward the front steps, the side door of the church opened and she saw her mother standing there. Deborah waved them over.

  Carter gripped her hand tightly.

  “I’m okay,” she said.

  “Well, I’m not,” he shot back, and his voice was tight with nerves.

  “They won’t bite,” she offered reassuringly.

  “Will they shoot?” he demanded.

  “Not in church. Come on,” she said. “Dreading it always worse than just doing it.”

  He looked ahead to where her mother stood waiting for them. “I think you might be wrong about that.”

  As they reached the building, Deborah stepped back to let them inside. The door had no sooner closed behind them than she was grabbing Josie’s left hand and looking at the ring that rested on her third finger.

  “It’s true. I thought it was just a rumor but… Why would you run off like that?” she asked, clearly hurt.