He spun around and came up low, tackling his attacker around his waist and shoving him onto the nearest car.
Everything exploded around him. Carter took another blow to his torso before he returned punch for punch. Adrenaline ran through his veins like fire, fueling his swings. Muscle memory took action and within twenty seconds, Carter had the man pinned to the car alongside his buddy. “No, always means no!”
The man under him stopped struggling. Men from the bar broke through the crowd like linebackers at the fifty-yard line.
“Dammit, Jimmy, what are you two doing?” someone called.
Carter pushed away from the man he’d fought and stepped out of swing range. He stared at his enemy, waiting for him to flinch.
He didn’t.”
“Neil,” Carter yelled. “Why don’t you take Lady Gwen back to her rooms? I’ll ride with Eliza.”
Eliza patted Gwen on the back. “I’ll see you back at the hotel.”
When Carter focused on Eliza, she had her arm looped through Gwen’s, both of them stared at the crowed with unease.
Gwen nodded.
He motioned for Eliza to move to her car.
“My purse is in the bar,” she told him.
Neil escorted both women away from the drunken men, and Carter went inside after her purse.
He picked up Gwen’s designer bag and then Eliza’s. Yet when his hand landed on Eliza’s bag her felt something hauntingly familiar inside. Unable to stop himself, he opened the purse and found exactly what he thought he’d see.
Why was Eliza carrying a gun in her purse?
Chapter Three
Eliza grabbed her purse from Carter, removed the keys, and handed them to him.
She’d screwed up. Put Gwen in danger instead of helping her ward off unwanted advances from strange men. Gwen shook as Eliza and Neil lead her to the town car that Neil drove. She said she was okay, but Eliza didn’t believe her. She kept glaring at Neil with misguided anger.
Once they returned to the hotel, Eliza would have her answers. Until then she had to deal with Carter.
Why were they in the bar to begin with? She should be happy with his intervention, but all she could think was that if she hadn’t been distracted with Carter showing up, she could have handled everything fine.
Carter drove in silence until they hit the interstate. All Eliza could focus on was his hard profile. Strong jaw, and sexy mouth with that slightly swollen lip.
She shuddered, thinking of the pain.
“Why?”
She sucked in a deep breath, let it out slow. There wasn’t a need to ask what he was referring to. Why were they in that bar to begin with? Why had she taken Lady Gwen, a sheltered debutant from the ball and to a bar? “We wanted to blow off some steam.”
“Doesn’t the hotel have a bar?”
“Yes. Perfectly safe and boring,” she told him. “Gwen wanted more.”
“Gwen doesn’t know what she wants. She could have been hurt.”
Eliza glanced at her hands in her lap covering her purse. “Gwen was starting to believe that all cowboys were gentlemen because they say ma’am and pull out her chair. If she didn’t go to that bar with me, she’d have gone alone.”
“And you helped her, how?”
“If you hadn’t shown up and distracted me, I’d have kept her from leaving with that guy.” Her voice rose and anger bubbled to the surface.
Carter huffed and signaled to leave the freeway.
“Why were you there anyway?” she asked.
“To keep both of you from becoming part of tomorrow’s headlines. Looks like Neil and I showed up just in time.” Carter’s hands clutched the steering wheel as he pulled into the hotel parking lot. He bypassed the valet and opted to self park.
“It wasn’t that bad.”
“The guy with his hands all over you was a drug dealer. Did you know that?”
She knew about tattoos. Knew of their meaning. “Small town at best.” Not that she’d given any attention to the guy when he showed up at their table. In fact when he sat down, Eliza was ordering coffee so she and Gwen could make their way out of there. She suspected the guys around her realized none of them were going to get laid, so tension started to fill the room. She was on the verge of making their excuses when Carter showed up and dragged her onto the dance floor.
“Small town. That’s all you have to say on the matter?” Carter pissed wasn’t a happy look. His jaw was so tight and his eyes narrowed to slits so small that stickpins would have bounced off him.
Instead of giving him more, Eliza shoved herself out of the car and slammed the door.
She made it two yards from the car when Carter spun her around for the second time that night. “Admit you were wrong and I’ll let it go.”
The hell!
They stood there facing each other, toe-to-toe, glaring.
She took a few breaths, refusing to give in. If he thought he could wait her out, he was going to be sooo sorry. No one did the silent treatment better than she did.
“God you’re stubborn.”
“Don’t forget it,” she told him.
His grip loosened and something in his eyes shifted. His voice softened. “You could have been hurt.”
“You mean Gwen could have been hurt.”
His gaze traveled from her eyes to her lips and awareness ignited. “Her, too,” he all but whispered.
From the look in his eyes, Gwen hadn’t been his concern.
His fingers ran up her arm and sparks flared from his touch. His switch from anger to fear sucked the air from her lungs and left her light-headed. His lips moved, as if he said something to himself as he started to close the space between them. She knew he was going to kiss her. A colossal mistake to be sure, but she couldn’t stop him, didn’t want to. She held perfectly still and waited for his touch.
His cell phone rang from inside his pocket and cracked the tension like an ice cube hitting hot water. “Dammit,” he uttered.
Eliza backed away and shook her head as he reached for his pocket.
“What?” he barked into the phone. “Yes. No… sonofabitch.”
The color from Carter’s face faded. He ran his free hand through his sandy blond hair, making him look even sexier.
She really shouldn’t be thinking of him as sexy.
“Yeah. You know what to do.” He hung up his phone.
“What’s wrong?”
“Apparently tonight’s little party is all over the social media. That was my campaign manager.”
“Oh, no.” That couldn’t be good. Men were tossed out of elections on less.
“More than oh, no. C’mon, I need to get you inside so I can go do damage control.”
Every step into the hotel was riddled with guilt. What happened to the walls she’d worked so hard to build? Eliza attempted to mask her feelings and hoped Carter couldn’t see through her slipping façade.
He shoved her into the penthouse suite without a word. He took one look at Gwen, pointed at her, and said, “Next time you want to go out, take Neil.” Then he pivoted on his heel and slammed the door behind him.
It’s all my fault
****
The door to the penthouse shut, and Gwen shot to her feet. “I’ve never had so much fun in my entire life.”
Eliza stared at her, speechless. “What?”
“First those cowboys. So cute. And the beer. I didn’t think I’d like beer. My mother told me it tasted like dirty bathwater and that ladies didn’t drink beer. And the dancing…my word I’ve not danced that way, ever.” Gwen paced the room, her voice raised at least an octave as she rushed her words, one on top of the other.
Eliza shook her head. “Are you crazy? Neil saved your not so virginal ass from that jerk in the parking lot.”
“I noticed Neil an hour before he decided to walk into the spotlight. I was never in any real danger.”
Eliza felt her mouth going dry. “What?”
“You didn’t see Carter an
d Neil walk in? I can see how Carter might have entered unnoticed, but Neil? The man is built like one of those trucks on the interstate. Solid muscle.” Gwen lifted her left eyebrow and her glossy eyes from one to many beers glossed even more.
“You like Neil?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Not a denial. Interesting.
Eliza rubbed her hands over her face, smudging whatever makeup she had left. “Tonight was a huge mistake.”
“I disagree.”
“Carter is running for election, and he was just involved in a bar fight. Apparently photos are already circulating.” Eliza couldn’t help but hope she wasn’t in any of them.
“Oh… Oh!” It looked like Lady Gwen was finally getting a clear picture of the problem.
Eliza flopped on the couch, hands at her side. “It’s all my fault.”
Gwen sat beside her and placed a hand on her knee. “No. I’m just as guilty as you.”
The responsibility lay squarely on Eliza’s shoulders. Now the question was, how was she going to fix it?
****
With his head buried in his hands, Carter sat in front of his laptop with his campaign manager, Jay watching via Skype. “…and because Gwen Harrison was involved, you’ve even made the London papers and tabloids. We’re screwed.”
I need to fix this.
“Nobody wants a bar brawling, single man in office. They don’t mind adultery and drug use, but fighting in the bar parking lot—not gonna work.”
“There’s got to be something we can do.” He was planning to officially announce his candidacy in less than two weeks. One night of protecting a woman’s honor, and all his life plans were shot out of the stratosphere. “How soon should I do a press conference?”
“And tell the reporters what exactly? That you were in a bar drinking—”
“I wasn’t drinking.”
“How long were you in the bar?”
“An hour.”
“And you weren’t drinking?” Jay’s sarcastic tone laced his words.
“I nursed one drink.” He’d sipped on one beer so he didn’t appear to be spying on Eliza.
Jay huffed out a breath. “Like I said, you were in a bar drinking. Picking up women—”
“I did not.”
“The pictures I saw were with you standing next to a dark haired sex-is-my-middle-name woman.”
“That was Eliza. Samantha’s best friend. After the fight I drove her home, Neil drove Gwen,” he defended.
“I don’t think the papers are going to care whose friend she is. Listen, Carter, they’re going to say you were there drinking—which isn’t a lie, you picked up a chick—which isn’t a lie, and you bloodied a man’s face—which isn’t a lie.”
Carter was a hair away from saying, but he started it. How high school could he be?
“When is Blake’s party?”
“Two days.”
“Stay low, and watch who you talk to. Maybe some of this will blow over, and we’ll figure out how to handle it.”
Carter rubbed the growing tension in the back of his neck. “Ignoring this isn’t going to make it go away.”
“No, but what choice do we have? Unless it’s you walking down that aisle tomorrow, or within the next week, I’m not sure how we’re going to turn you into a trusting family man ready to take office. The image of the bar brawl isn’t going away. The best we can do is cover it up or make it out to be some kind of heroic gesture. Even then, it’s going to be an uphill battle.”
The image of Kathleen, his date for the wedding, swam in his mind.
Marriage? Not gonna happen.
“There has to be something we can do.”
“I’ll consult with some of my friends in D.C. They deal with this kind of thing all the time.”
“Call me.”
“I will. Oh, and Carter?”
“Yeah?”
“Stay out of redneck bars.”
Carter ended the call and tossed the phone on the bed.
He was so screwed.
Chapter Four
The dress was even hotter than she thought it would be. The yellow didn’t add to Eliza’s pasty complexion, the one she’d worn daily since the infamous bar brawl.
“You look…sweet,” Sam said, her eyes shifting from Eliza to Gwen and back again.
“Like icing on a cake.” Only the inside of the cake was bitter and tart. The thought of facing Carter as they walked up the aisle left her nauseous. Where were her snarky attitude and her quick comebacks when she needed them?
“At least the temperature dropped,” Gwen said, optimistic to the core.
“By what, five degrees?” Eliza swept open the silly fan and used it.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
Mrs. Hawthorn poked her head in. “Oh, don’t you girls look lovely.”
Eliza refrained from snorting. Sam’s dress was equally ridiculous, but at least it was white. Mrs. Hawthorn obviously needed her eyes examined. Only Gwen appeared to wear the gown, and the yellow, well.
“Are the men ready?”
“They are, they are. Can I tell them to play the music?”
“Please,” Eliza pleaded. The sooner they started, the sooner it ended. Then maybe she could slip into the shadows. She’d yet to come up with a way to make up her “party foul” with Carter. The news had jumped on his “bar brawl” and painted him as a volatile candidate. Carter didn’t address the media even though they camped out at the hotel in search of a quote.
Sam lifted her heavy dress to avoid stepping on it as she walked by.
Half way down the stairs Eliza spotted Carter and Neil, both decked out in tuxedos with yellow ties. Carter smirked at something Neil said before Neil’s eyes found them.
Carter swiveled his head, and his smile fell as his gaze landed on her.
Eliza swallowed hard, attempting to ignore the building tension in her gut.
Carter took his place at the bottom of the stairs and waited. His eyes glanced over her before he stuck his arm out for her to take. He was stiff and unyielding.
This is going to be fun.
“Hey,” she managed without stuttering.
He offered a hey back, but averted his gaze to Neil. “Let’s get this moving,”
Gwen’s radiant smile beamed toward Neil, and she snuggled into his arm.
Neil pulled at his collar and nodded toward Carter.
The music outside started to play, and Eliza let Carter escort her down the hall.
As soon as she and Carter stepped into the aisle, his charming smile manifested, and he moved Eliza a little closer to him.
He finally allowed her a glance, but must have not liked what he saw. “You look lovely,” he said.
“You must be blind,” she whispered and smiled as she did.
Two photographers snapped pictures. One hired by Samantha, the other hand picked from the media. The camera seemed to focus an awful lot on the two of them.
Good thing Neil had the okay to delete any pictures he didn’t deem appropriate.
“You look like Daisy Duke. Very Texas,” he managed from the corner of his upturned mouth.
“Daisy Duke would be wearing cutoffs and showing her butt cheeks.” Eliza nodded toward one of her and Sam’s clients who was seated on her right.
Carter chuckled under his breath. More flashes of light arrested her senses.
He led her up to the front and held her hand briefly before letting go and taking his place beside Blake.
The ceremony was brief. A renewing of vows with a sprinkling of words of devotion spoken from both Sam and Blake.
And though the gown stuck to Eliza’s skin by the time they were done, a tiny bit of emotion clogged her throat. Samantha and Blake were very much in love and seeing them together gave Eliza a splattering of hope for humanity.
****
Eliza snagged a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, and Carter’s palms grew damp as she let the sweet
beverage trickle down her throat.
He licked his lips while a shot of desire wedged in his gut and wouldn’t let go.
Kathleen nudged his arm. “Is that the girl from the pictures in the paper?”
Embarrassed he’d been caught staring, and if he were honest, lusting, after a woman other than the one he’d arrived with, Carter turned to his date. “The woman with the dark hair?” he asked, forging innocence.
Kathleen offered a wan smile. “I’m not a fool.”
No, Kathleen wasn’t that. “Yes, that’s her.”
His date took a moment to stare over her glass. “She’s very beautiful, despite that awful dress.”
He nearly laughed and twisted his head toward Eliza again. He thought of her comment about cutoffs and butt cheeks and felt some of the week’s tension lift. “I suppose.”
“Suppose? Please, Carter, you’ve hardly taken your eyes off her all night.”
Damn. “I’m overloaded since the bar incident. Seeing her and Gwen again has my thoughts turned around.” Which wasn’t a lie. Only it wasn’t Gwen who fueled his apprehension.
Kathleen placed a hand on his forearm and managed a half smile. “I think it might be more than that.”
He started to shake his head and she stopped him. “Tell me, do you think you have the same chances today as you did last week to win in November?”
“We’ll start damage control tomorrow.”
“But you’re not as sure any longer?”
Kathleen’s blue eyes met his.
“I’m not sure.” He might have to wait another four years for the opportunity to clear his image.
She sighed and tilted her head. “You know what you need?”
“No, tell me.”
“You need a new scandal to overshadow the old. Something noble. With an impact of a soldier coming home from war.”
Perhaps.
The back of Carter’s neck tickled with awareness. He twisted and noticed Eliza shift her eyes away suddenly.
When he turned back to Kathleen, she shook her head and lowered her eyes. “This isn’t working for me, Carter.”
He stared at her for a long moment, neither of them speaking. Memories of their short time together flashed and were finished in less than a minute. He wanted to feel something with her declaration and he did. She was calling an end to their dating and he was relieved.
Married by Monday (Weekday Brides) Page 3