by Ronna Gage
He backed away from the window. “Don’t let her see me staring at her,” he prayed.
“Afraid she’ll recognize you?”
“No, at this distance, I’m not worried she will recognize me, but I don’t want to scare her into thinking someone is watching her.”
“Good point.” Dex nodded in animated agreement.
Carter waited a few seconds and eased his way back to the window. He looked out across the yard in time to see her turn and go back inside the house. She closed the door behind her, closing out the world and him when she did. Emptiness built in his world.
“Does she have a clue you live across the street?” Dex asked from behind.
“I don’t think so.”
“Does she know you’re stalking her?” He laughed.
“I’m not stalking her!” Carter defended quickly. “I’m only…keeping an eye out for her.”
Dex laughed harder. “Yes you are. By the way, I wouldn’t use that excuse when she finds out,” he challenged softly.
“She won’t find out. Until I tell her.”
“You have to leave the house sometime.”
Carter knew he would be found out. “If Kelli knew I had anything to do with helping her acquire her house, she’ll leave so fast it would make my head spin.”
“I think it was a stroke of fate that Kelli mentioned to you that she was waiting to hear if she’d received an approval of her home loan application. Good God, listen to me! I sound like a sap, too.”
“Go to hell,” Carter shot back, not really meaning it. “Lucky for me, the bank was one I used on a regular basis.”
“And you knowing the bank manager, you set up a private meeting and successfully slowed the process of her loan approval to get the details of this plan together.”
“I don’t regret it for one minute. I would fund the loan again if I had to.”
“I hope even at your fiftieth anniversary she won’t find out.”
“No way will she find out. There’s no paper trail.”
“I’ve always been curious. How did she get the dead-end lot?”
“I gave the home builder’s sales manager a bonus if Kelli bought that lot.”
“You sneaky little shit. That particular piece of land has benefits—seclusion, low city noise, and…”
“The deciding factor was the access to security personnel to her. Fortunately, she jumped at the offer with that to sweeten the deal.”
“So, she’s all moved in now?”
Carter glanced over his shoulder at his friend who sat on one of the wingback chairs. He only nodded his answer.
Dex looked at him with genuine concern.
“I’ll be all right. I have to make it right between us somehow. Then…” He looked back down into the street. He trailed off, not completing the thought. Suddenly it dawned on him. “How in the hell did you get in anyway?”
With a boyish grin, Dex answered, “Maria let me in.”
Carter rolled his eyes. “Some housekeeper. I’m going to fire that woman.” The older woman babied Dex. She gave him the run of the house as if he was the one paying her salary.
“I don’t think you’ll fire Maria for making a guest feel welcomed.”
Carter chuckled and realized that Dex tried to keep Maria out of trouble. “Don’t count on it.”
“Besides, if you fire her, no one else will put up with your bullshit.”
The comment mentally took Carter back. “This remark, coming from the stud of Fort Worth, and you call my goals bullshit? What about your bullshit, Mr. Love’m and Leave’m? ”
Dex grinned as he walked back to the window. “Well, at least Kelli’s forgiven you for not being up-front with her. And you are the first one she calls when she needs to talk,” Dex pointed out. “Did she go inside?”
Carter turned toward Dex. “It’s real slick how you worm your way back into my good graces with a comment about Kelli.”
“What are you saying?” Dex’s crestfallen face looked upon him.
“Stop changing the subject. Besides, she doesn’t always call me when she needs something. She wants to be friends, but for me that isn’t enough! I still love her.”
Dex patted him on the back. “Good luck! I think groveling will be very helpful at this point. I’m hungry.”
Leave it to Dex to think of his stomach at a time like this. Carter smiled as he watched Dex retreat out the door.
He turned back toward the townhouse across the street and sighed. She wasn’t going to come out again today. Deep in his gut, he knew it. Maybe Dex was onto something. Groveling would be a good start.
Yet, he still couldn’t move from the window. He waited and hoped she would at least come out with some empty boxes and set them by the curb. “I don’t know how I let her go.” Carter sighed. The sound of defeat rang in his ears. He looked at his watch. It was five o’clock. If he had to make a guess of what she would be doing right now. She is settling into her new home—unpacking boxes, putting things where they belong, and maybe she will eat a sandwich so she doesn’t have to clean dishes and stop working.
“I’ve got to stop obsessing over her. It isn’t healthy to pine away for her like I am. Plus, if she finds out that I’ve spied on her, she’d freak out.”
A large cloud covered the sun’s rays. The dreary afternoon reminded him of a cold winter day. At one time, he couldn’t wait for fall and winter. He imagined him and Kelli spending the holidays together. On those cold days, he predicted them laying in bed making love….but reality bit him in the heart, and darkness fell over his soul. That wasn’t their current relationship status. Not anymore. “How do I win you back? Do you still hold back out of fear or is something else keeping away from me?”
“I think you should go over there and make an amends.” Dex answered.
Carter jumped. He turned and glared at Dex who stood in the doorway. Wasn’t he downstairs bothering Maria for a snack?
“What if she won’t see me? Any ideas, cupid?”
“Don’t take no for an answer.” He smiled the candid grin of a playboy. “You’re Carter Banks. Stop moping around this damn huge-ass house feeling sorry for yourself. Get out there and find your spirit. Only you can get her back.”
Carter figured he was grabbing at straws, but at least Dex had some ideas that might help him. Standing back and waiting wasn’t getting him anywhere. “How do I get in to see her?”
“You want to help lift the heavy stuff.” Dex offered offhandedly. “She always did like your, uh, muscles.”
Carter grinned at Dex’s innuendo. He envisioned Kelli stroking “Cocky.” “Maybe, I can give it a shot. She is constantly telling me she’s happy we were able to continue our friendship.” Carter felt a renewed sense of encouragement. He didn’t waste one second guessing his next move. Stripping out of the T-shirt, he headed for the closet. “No time like the present,” he mused as he pulled on a sweater and slipped on sneakers.
Dex, ever the encourager, said, “Now you’re talking,” bolstering Carter’s decision to action.
“I have nothing else to lose.”
“You’ve got this!”
“Maybe, if I make the effort, she will see me as I was before. Someone who really cares for her.”
“That’s the way to think outside the normal broken heart.”
“Thanks, Dex. I can count on you to lift my spirits.”
Dex shrugged. “What are friends for?”
Those were the same words Kelli spoke to him often. It wasn’t until this very second that he knew he hated that phrase. “Don’t fucking ask!”
Chapter Twenty
“Ah, dammit!” Kellie massaged the cramp that moved up her shins at a slow, torturous pace. They ached and burned from her prolonged position on the floor. The task of sorting out tangled wires of her electronic equipment became a job, and by the second, her aggravation mounted. Nothing she picked up seemed to work. The power cord for the printer didn’t make a connection on it or to anything she worke
d on currently. Looking around at the assorted wires, she almost threw the whole mess down in defeat. “Where do you go?” she asked the inanimate object in her hands. She fisted it in her palms. “This is such a waste of time.” On top of the disappointment, she now had a headache forming at rapid speed. “Why didn’t I keep the wires with their components?” she whined and rubbed her temples.
The doorbell rang, adding more frustration to the task at hand. “Who could that be?” She shook her head and blew out a strong breath, rustling her bangs in the process. “I can’t decide if this is a blessing in disguise or a pain in the ass interruption.” This is moving day! Don’t people know you don’t visit on such a day? She looked around at the stacked boxes and groaned. The house isn’t set up for visitors.
She stood up from the tangled web of cords around her feet. The sharp sensation of pins and needles shot down her legs, reacting to the rush of blood back into her shins. “I’ll get back to you in a moment,” she promised the wires and extensions which lay in jangled arrays of loops.
At the door, she peeked through the peephole but didn’t recognize the visitor’s profile. All she could make out was a man who bent his head down, and his coat covered his face. So much for the security personnel. Without thinking, she opened the door and froze in surprise.
Carter! “What are you doing here?”
“You shouldn’t open the door unless you know who it is,” Carter reprimanded.
Kelli upgraded her previous thought. The small interruption is now a major pain in the ass. She was too busy unpacking and fighting cords to listen to lectures on safety from yet another man in her life. She heard enough from her father and brothers on the subject to last a lifetime. Irritation oozed in her voice. “Save it!”
Carter smiled.
Kelli would have sworn it was a smile of victory, but for what? That he’d gotten to me? Doubtful. She wouldn’t put it past him to have planned this interlude all along.
“I ask again. What are you doing here?”
Carter walked past her and entered the house without welcome. “I remembered you saying last week it was moving day, so I thought I would help you set up the heavy stuff.”
Her suspicions settled to a lower level, but the annoyance still remained. “Thanks, but I can handle it.”
“I’m good at heavy lifting.” Carter flexed his right bicep. “I’m at your disposal.”
Kelli lifted an eyebrow. “What a fascinating choice of words.” She eyed him carefully and then moved past him, leading him into the house. Her stomach did that familiar flip-flop motion. She inhaled, caught a whiff of his cologne, and creamed in her panties. Mentally, she shook. It will be a major mistake, a setback, if you don’t get control of yourself. Months of strategy to keep him at arm’s length would be undone in seconds if she didn’t.
Carter took off his coat and looked around the small living area. “Nice place.”
At his approval, Kelli’s heart quickened. She didn’t need his endorsement, but his giving it, unsolicited, set free her doubts about the move. “Thanks, I like it so far.”
She walked past him to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and pulled out a pitcher of tea. Carter likes iced tea. Oh! Why do these little facts keep hounding me? She turned and found him leaning against the bar. Her heart almost stopped beating, her mouth went dry, and if it were possible, Carter looked better today than the last time she saw him two weeks ago. His black sweater and jeans accentuated his body. His hair, loose and silky, looked fuller and yes, definitely longer than it was in the summer. I’ve always loved his hair loose, to run my fingers through the strands, feel the soft texture. Kelli gasped and shook with the thoughts of his naked body in bed. His head tilted at a slight angle. The silent plea in his eyes invited her to take the hand he offered and come join him. His long hair fell off his shoulder and the provocative way the sheet draped over his hip barely hid his stiff cock. Snapping out of her reverie, she looked up into his brown eyes and saw the raw desire that expressed his feelings. The tension between them sizzled with the sexual attraction. She closed her eyes, only to open them and see a knowing look in his gaze. Is he reading my thoughts? Do I convey my desire that easily without words? She felt her panties get wetter. The subtle odor gained her attention. This must be how he knew what I was thinking. This isn’t fair. To see him face-to-face always makes my heart flutter.
The phone conversations they shared were definitely safer. He was a voice on the other end. Someone to talk to and pass the time when she was alone, feeling lonely. She didn’t have to see him or look into his eyes and read his feelings, especially his desires.
“Would you like a glass of tea?” Before he answered, she handed him the glass already made for him. She took a sip of the cold drink in her glass. I need something stronger. She watched his long fingers curl around the glass. Her insides became weak, which spiced up her exasperation of weakness. “What are you really doing here?”
Carter shrugged. “Like I said, I’m here to move the heavy stuff if you can use me.” Carter took another sip of tea. His gaze locked with hers over the glass. They displayed a glimmer of mischief.
Is he flirting with me? “Uh-huh,” she replied sarcastically to his excuse for being at her house. She looked around the living room. “As you can see, I’m in the middle of unpacking. I wasn’t expecting company.” She hoped the comment would hint to his leaving, but he ignored it. Instead, he laid his jacket on the barstool and turned to her.
“Where shall I begin?”
It had been awhile since Kelli took close notice of his body. His arms were bigger. She remembered those arms favorably. The temperature in the room increased, flooding self-doubt to her mind. I’m not sure I can handle myself under this kind of pressure. She feared she would give in to him. Her defenses were definitely weakening.
The doorbell rang again, giving Kelli another welcomed distraction. She rolled her eyes at the second interruption. Now what? Inside, she breathed a sigh of relief. Any interruption right now would save her from herself. She heaved a heavy sigh of feigned disgust, and then looked at Carter. “Excuse me.”
“Not a problem,” he whispered quietly. He cleared his throat. “I’ll be right here waiting for you.”
Kelli understood with certainty whether she had company or not, Carter was not leaving until he was ready or she kicked him out.
A dimple appeared on his left cheek. Butterflies toiled and fought inside her stomach. Her defenses were definitely eroding. Before they diminished further, she hurried to answer the door.
Kelli opened the door and almost yelled for glee. “Paul Hoffman! What brings you by?” Paul stepped inside the doorway and then gave her a small peck on the cheek. “I was in the neighborhood and thought I would drop in.”
* * * *
A pang of jealousy hit Carter in the gut with the greeting Kelli gave the arriving guest, a man. The welcome came off warmer than the one he received. He tamped down the emotion. Carter, let it slide. This is Kelli’s night, not mine or the other man coming in. He bent and picked up one end of the sofa and placed it along the wall.
“Come on in. Let me take your coat,” Kelli offered.
When she entered the living room, she came up short. Her surprise reflected in her stumbled comment. “Carter, thank you for moving the sofa. That is exactly where I wanted it. I haven’t had the room to move around.”
“Or the muscles he seems to have,” the man said from behind her.
“Paul! Oh, where are my manners? Paul Hoffman, Carter Banks. Carter, Paul.”
The two men shook hands. A heavy awkward silence filled the room.
Paul took a quick look around the living area. “Nice place. Maybe I can give you a hand with the electronic stuff. And it won’t cost you anything but pizza.”
Yeah right. Carter almost bit out the words but caught himself in time. He turned and set the bulky coffee table in place, and then focused his attention to the heavy wall unit.
Taking a step back to
admire his own handiwork, he noticed Paul watching him. “So, Paul, what do you do for a living?”
“I teach at the same school as Kelli.”
“Paul is the media technology teacher,” she finished for him.
“I see.” Carter turned his back and set a matching chair by the sofa. He didn’t like the other man being here. His possessive nature struggled to come through.
“Paul, I’m so glad you stopped by. I could use some help sorting out the mess of tangled cords on the floor and connect them to the right electronic equipment.”
Another wave of jealousy hit Carter. She didn’t make him feel as needed when he offered her his help.
“I’ll get right on it.” Paul went to the pile of cords.
“I’ll order the pizza. I have to call it in from the bedroom. I have my cell phone charging there.” Kelli left the two men alone while she went to call in the pizza order.
Silence settled in a heavy wave between them again. “So, how do you know Kelli?” Paul asked.
Carter didn’t see any reason to lie. “I used to date her, but we stayed friends. I’m trying to win her back.” He didn’t feel it necessary to hide his intentions, and he wasn’t stupid enough to believe Paul was in the neighborhood with no ulterior motives to stop by. “How well do you know her?”
“My class is across the hall from hers. She and I chat all the time.” Paul coiled a wire and set it with the others.
Carter sorted through the mass of multi-colored cords Paul coiled and found the one to the computer’s printer.
“I may be spending more time with her since she has her own place.”
At the same time, both men glared at one another, each one more or less squared off, sizing one another up.
Carter reached for one of the cords. “I wish nothing but the best for Kelli.”
“Why did you let her go if you obviously care for her?” Paul picked up a few more loose wires and rolled them up in a circle.
“I was stupid and let my selfish pride get in the way. I thought love was enough, but I was wrong.”