by Ronna Gage
“You going to drink that shot?” Jenna asked, stepping in front of him. She leaned against the bar, her hand mere inches from his. Feeling the effects of tequila, Carter grabbed the tequila shot then raised it to her. “Here’s to fate. Isn’t she a bitch?” In a gulp, he swallowed the tequila.
“Fate can be a blessing in disguise you don’t foresee,” Jenna countered with a sweet charm of a wise woman.
Carter would have laughed, but he heard Kelli again. This time, he closed his eyes as he took another swig of his beer. When he opened them again, he saw Jenna peeking over his shoulder.
“Someone you know?” she asked.
“You know damn good and well I know her,” he growled.
She rolled her eyeballs. “Not her, you boob. The guy she’s with.”
Carter didn’t answer. The renewed desire to beat Paul to a bloody mess kept him from speaking. He no longer felt like getting drunk. I want to fight.
I want her to hurt as much as I do, to feel the sadness so deep that breathing becomes difficult. If he couldn’t be happy with her, he didn’t want her to be happy without him. He knew he was being petty, but it didn’t make him hurt any less. Carter despised this sinister part of his mood. No matter what he did, he wasn’t going to win her back. He had to face the fact.
“Why don’t you just go over there and beat his ass?” Jenna asked pointedly, voicing his thoughts.
“I actually considered it, but what good would it do?”
“It might make you feel better, and she would know how you feel.”
“Good point.” Without getting up, Carter continued to drink his beer. “If I go over there, I may get my ass kicked or arrested in a bar fight.” Carter rolled his eyes. “I don’t need that shit.”
The effects of the tequila and beer mixed together made him feel invincible. Suddenly he was ten feet tall and weighed an extra fifty pounds.
Maybe I can whip Paul’s ass after all.
He lifted the bottle. “Liquid encouragement in a can, uh, bottle.”
Jenna laughed. “Liquor enables lovers to voice their opinions.”
“I thought that was alcohol,” Carter retorted playfully. He stood up.
“Oh yeah…right. Good luck.” Jenna stepped back. He knew she watched him as he advanced to the unsuspecting couple. “You’re gonna need it,” she said to his parting back.
“I heard that.”
As soon as he was several feet away from Kelli’s table, he called out, “Kelli, is that you?” Carter did his best to feign a surprised expression. “I didn’t know you came here anymore.” He looked at Paul. “Hey, Paul.” He plopped down on a chair between the couple.
Alcohol is a great relaxant. He never realized how good it was until this precise second. Now that he was down in the chair, how the hell was he going to get back up?
Paul stuck out his hand. “Hello, Carter. What’s been going on?”
Carter didn’t take the hand proffered him. Instead, he looked back to Kelli. “Just keeping up a routine.”
A look of concern crossed Kelli’s face. It surprised him. I didn’t think she cared.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
He gazed into her green eyes and became mesmerized. When he first came over to the table he wanted to beat the shit out of Paul. Now, he only wanted to reach for her hand. Maybe he could do both. He shook his head.
“No?” Kelli looked at him, her eyes filled with hurt.
Carter had wanted to hurt her, but now that he saw the slightest glimmer of pain, it made his heart bleed.
“No, I’m not all right.”
Her brows crinkled. “Okay, why?”
“Because you are with Paul now.” He turned to Paul. “I have to tell you.” Carter wanted to tell Paul to fuck someone else. Kelli was too important to him.
“What would you like to tell me?” Paul asked.
Carter thought Paul was too calm. He shouldn’t be. In a minute, he was about to knock him out.
“I face each day now with an emptiness I can’t fill. I think of the things I should have told her, but I was too proud and scared to say anything.”
“Like what?” Paul seemed interested in learning about Carter’s mistakes. Maybe he intended to use them to get closer to Kelli. God help Paul if he hurts her.
Carter looked at Kelli. “I should have told her everything from the beginning.” He took her hand. It surprised Carter that she didn’t pull it away from him. “I wish there was a way to take it back and start over again. But I can’t blame her for walking away. I took something that she took great stock in and stepped on it.”
Kelli’s lip trembled, and her eyes filled with tears.
“What was that?” Paul asked.
“My word. To her, my word should have been my most valuable asset. No amount of money in any of the banks I use is more valuable to her. So, if you truly want to make her happy, don’t lie and don’t break your promise because these liabilities will devalue your worth.”
A ripping pain tore through Carter’s heart as he realized he was letting Kelli go. “I’m going to let her go because her happiness is all that matters to me. I love her that much.”
“Why let go of something you worked so hard to obtain?”
“She has to find out what she needs in her life.” He turned back to Paul. “Even knowing in my gut that you, Paul, will hurt her, I won’t stand in her way. But I do have one request to ask of you.”
“What do you request of me?”
“After you are through doing what you’re gonna do and you break her heart, do me one favor?”
“Okay!” Paul adjusted in his chair.
“Send her to me.”
“Why would you want a woman so broken?”
Carter looked back at Kelli then back to Paul. “Because I’m the one who truly loves and needs her. You’re just playing with her to satisfy an urge. ”
“Paul?”
All three of them turned to look at the new voice that entered the conversation. There, just beyond the table, was a woman who stood wide-eyed and curious.
Carter looked at Paul who closed his eyes and actually shook his head in disbelief.
Paul stood up. “Yes, my love?”
“What is this man talking about?” she demanded.
“He is confused right now, darling. Don’t worry about it. Oh, by the way, this is Carter Banks. Carter Banks, this is Jennifer, my wife.”
“Oh.” Jennifer looked at Carter. “It’s nice to finally meet you,” she said as she shrugged out of her coat, revealing a protruding belly.
Her pregnancy couldn’t have surprised Carter any more than if Jennifer had slapped him with a frying pan. In that moment, he snapped. He turned to Paul and jumped out of his chair. “You motherfucker!” The room spun around, and Carter fell sideways and bumped into a solid frame. He looked up into Dex’s amused eyes.
Carter laughed. “Hey, Dex, how did you get here?”
“I was in the neighborhood, and I thought I would stop by for a beer.” He steadied Carter on his feet. “I see you’re with friends.”
Carter harrumphed the comment.
“Okay, maybe not. I think you’ve had enough to drink, though.” Dex put Carter’s arm around his neck and looked down at the table. “You guys have a good night.” Okay, buddy, let’s go.” Dex steered Carter around the furniture on the way to the door.
“Do you know what I did tonight?” Carter asked as he leaned against Dex.
“No, what did you do tonight, besides get drunk off your ass?”
“I let Kelli go. She is free to date the son of a bitch if she wants to.”
“Good for you, buddy.”
“It hurt like hell, but I did it.” Carter’s enthusiasm for the selfless act grew with each word.
“Let’s go pour you into bed.”
“Okay!”
* * * *
Kelli looked at the couple at the table. “I’m so sorry about this scene. I gotta go. You guys going to be all
right?”
Paul looked away from Jennifer long enough to answer Kelli’s question. “Yeah, we’ll be fine.”
Kelli looked at a very confused Jennifer. “I wish I had time to explain.”
“Don’t worry about that. I will explain everything to her. I think you need to make amends now. You have all the information you wanted to know. It’s time to tell him how you really feel.”
Kelli smiled. “Thanks for helping out.” She bent and kissed Paul’s cheek and then Jennifer’s.
“Good luck,” Jennifer said.
“Thanks. I may need it.”
Kelli gathered her purse and followed Carter and Dex out the door. On her way out, she gave a quick nod behind the bar at Jenna who returned with a wink.
“Good luck!” the bartender shouted.
Kelli stopped just inside the doorway. For a second, she didn’t move, and then she walked back to the bar. She looked at Jenna and saw something that looked like disappointment, maybe even sorrow and regret in the bartender’s eyes.
“I keep asking myself one thing. Maybe you can help me with the answer.”
Jenna gave her a shaky smile. “I’ll try?”
“How did Dex know to come here, at this moment, in this bar?”
Jenna tilted her head as if pondering the questions that plagued Kelli’s mind. “Intriguing, isn’t it? Maybe a little birdie told him. Or better yet”—Jenna’s laid-back humor became serious—“maybe someone knows when to bow out gracefully.”
The bartender’s comment was all the answer Kelli needed to know. She had suspected all along that Jenna had a crush on Carter.
Tonight, for the first time that Kelli could recall, Jenna personally greeted customers with a hug. In doing so, Jenna confirmed Kelli’s suspicions. Her usual greeting habit was a handshake at best. Usually, Jenna kept to herself. She would stare at the two of them when she thought they weren’t looking. The subtle flirting between Carter and Jenna was new. Jenna hovered closer to him and whenever possible, she took the opportunity to touch him. She grabbed his hand when he made a funny comment. She patted his arm when she set his beer down or placed his change in his opened palm.
Kelli had seen it all play out in front of her, and she became jealous. So jealous in fact, she wanted to go to the bar and set her straight on the boundaries of touching him. Furthermore, she viewed Jenna as a threat to Carter’s happiness. She didn’t fit the bill of women Carter liked.
No doubt about it, by the way she acted tonight, Jenna would have tried to make her move on Carter. Why did she back off if she had the chance? Did she know Carter still had feelings for her? Surely, she knew whatever they would’ve shared wasn’t destined to last. It was a rebounding relationship.
For whatever reason, Jenna had made a personal sacrifice in Kelli’s favor.
Kelli looked at the other woman. Her would-be competition if she hadn’t bowed out gracefully.
“Thanks.”
Jenna smiled. “Don’t mention it. Really, don’t mention it…ever.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kelli stood on the driver’s side door and watched Dex help Carter into the passenger seat. She waited for Dex to come around, gnawing on her lip.
He came to her. “Is he all right?” she asked. By the way Dex looked at her, she knew he had some doubt about her concern.
“Go home, Kelli. He will be fine without you.”
She leaned on the driver’s door, blocking his attempt to open it. “I love him.”
He shot his hand back and placed both hands on his hips. “Really? You have such a weird-ass way of showing it.” He looked inside the truck, turned to her, grabbed her by the arm, and led her to the back bumper. “Do you have any idea what this man has gone through for the last six months?”
Dex was angry—enough so to give her his opinion—whether she wanted it or not. She said nothing in her defense.
“Carter has lived with the hope you will want to make more of your friendship. He’s waited patiently in the background, giving you room to decide what you want.” Dex stepped closer to her, invading her space with his anger. She didn’t move. “Well, Kelli, have you decided what you want?” He pointed toward the bar. ”Is that guy in there the one you want?”
She said nothing.
He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Answer me, god damn it.”
Kelli was stunned that Dex actually put his hands on her. With as calm a voice as she could possess, she said, “You have no idea what is going on with me and that guy, as you call him.” His grip tightened. “Take you hands off me,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Or what? You’ll call your badass law enforcement family? Go ahead, but you will answer my question before you dial the first number of 9-1-1.”
“I don’t need my family to whip your ass.” She turned just right and loosened the grip he had on her shoulders. A second spin had him pinned against the tailgate of the truck and her knee in his back. She bent his thumb back enough so he could feel the pressure she applied to it.
“I told you before, I love Carter. I have never stopped loving him. If you must know, that man in there is a co-worker. He and his wife are happily married and expecting twins. Paul helped me to get out of Carter his true feelings. When he sobers up, he’ll realize that firsthand. Now, is there anything else?”
“Yes,” he answered.
“What’s that?”
“Let me go!” He shrugged his shoulders.
Embarrassed to the bone, Kelli released him and straightened his clothes. “I’m sorry I held you longer than necessary.”
He sat on the bumper of the truck. “Carter is my best friend. He has been hurting so much these last few months. I don’t think you know how much.”
“Do you think it has been easy for me? I’ve watched him go out with another woman at the awards banquet. I had to keep myself from him, so I wouldn’t have to witness any more.”
“That blonde with him at the banquet was a plant. I put her onto Carter to flush you out.”
She stepped back, shocked to hear Dex’s involvement. He did to her what she did to Carter. “Why would you do that?”
“So you would come to your sense about your feelings.”
“I’ve known all along that I love him.”
“If you loved him, why did you put him through this?”
“He had to prove his love and understand to trust me, good or bad.”
He looked at her in surprise. “I think there is something you should see.”
“Okay.”
He stood up. “Follow me.”
* * * *
Kelli followed Carter’s truck out of the parking lot and then headed in the direction of her house. She became increasingly worried about Carter.
Do you really want to give me up? Do you still want me? “Carter, we’re so close to being together.”
When they turned on the main thoroughfare to her street, her curiosity mounted. “Why is he taking Carter to my house? How does he even know where I live?” Then, they passed it. She looked back but kept following them, becoming more suspicious than ever to where Dex led her. Subconsciously, she looked at the elusive neighbor’s house as it came into view. Most of the downstairs lights were on.
He must be in town.
When Dex pulled into her neighbor’s long driveway, she couldn’t grasp the comprehension of his actions. She followed him inside the security gates, and then to the back of the large house. In the driveway was Dex’s Corvette.
“What the hell?”
As the garage door opened, Dex pulled the truck into the open spot.
A hundred and one questions ran through Kelli’s mind as she watched the garage door go down. Too stunned to move, she stayed in her car. How do Dex and Carter know my neighbor? If Dex’s car is here, how did he get to the bar? Taxi probably.
Dex tapped on the window some minutes later. Kelli jumped at the loud tap. She shook her head, clearing it of the stupor of questions in her mind. Turning the ke
y, she let the motor die.
She opened the door. “You scared me!”
Dex laughed. “Are you coming in?”
He had a big, goofy grin on his face that only irritated her.
“Whose house is this?” She stepped out of the car.
“Carter’s.”
“Carter? I don’t understand.” She looked across the vast yard and saw her own tiny home. Anger poured out of her so fast she couldn’t stop it. “Was he spying on me?”
“No, dumbass. He was looking out for you. He has had your best interest at heart since the day he met you. All this,” he spanned his arms, “is to prove his love for you.”
“You can’t buy love. It’s stupid to try it!” she shouted. Her heart became heavy with despair. “Why can’t he get that?”
“Why can’t you understand?” he exploded back. “It wasn’t until he knew you would be all right that he let you go.”
She shook her head in defeat. She lost him. It wasn’t until that moment she grasped the depth of his love. Now, it was too late. She leaned against the hood of her car and sobbed her misery. “I pushed him away.”
Dex pulled her into a hug. “No, he’s tired of fighting what he thought was a losing battle. No matter what he did, he couldn’t win.”
She pulled away from Dex’s hug. “Don’t you see? He could have won all along.”
“What did you want him to prove?”
“That I’m not like the other women in his past. In addition, I had to make sure he wouldn’t hurt me and go on to the next piece of ass.”
“So, has he proven his love yet?”
“Yes, when he sacrificed his happiness for mine. It was the ultimate sacrifice.”
“When did he do that?” Dex was obviously lost.
“In the bar.”
“You are playing with some serious fire.”
Kelli couldn’t think about the consequences now. She had to make sure Carter was all right and put an end to this madness. “Where is he now?”
“I had the guards try to give him something to eat. He will wake up with a doozy of a headache tomorrow.”