by Leddy Harper
“I think it’s all cleared up. Thinking about Barbie does that to me.” He stood and adjusted himself, situating what was left of his bulge. In gym shorts, Carter looked like a normal man with a half chub—even when he’s completely soft. So even though he said it was taken care of, it was still rather obvious. “If you walk out with me, maybe she’ll get the hint and worry more about stocking the T-shirts than trying to con me into dinner.”
“I’m going to be your scapegoat?”
He stalked toward me, held my face in his hands, and lowered his lips to mine. It was such an easy kiss, as if we’d been doing it for years. Comfortable, yet highly addictive. “Call yourself whatever you want, babe,” he said as he pulled away. Then he took my hand, tugged me from the chair, and escorted me out.
My lips continued to tingle with the memory of his kiss as I strolled across the parking lot. By the time I cranked my car, I already had a message on my phone. “Can’t get your lips off my mind,” it read, and I immediately felt my face flush. My cheeks ached from the ear-to-ear grin I wore all the way back to the house.
“What has you so happy?” Danni asked two seconds after I walked inside.
“Do you hover by the front door waiting for me to come home?”
“Don’t be silly. I was on my way to my room to get ready for work. Come with me. You can sit on my bed while I get dressed. It’ll be like it was when we were kids.” She rushed toward her room and I reluctantly followed. Only because I had such fond growing-up memories of gossiping on her bed.
She knew about my frustrations with Carter. I hadn’t wanted to tell her about it because I knew how she’d react, but during the times of his weird silence, she knew something was up and pestered me until I spilled. So when I told her about our conversation in his office, she wasn’t as excited about it as I was.
“He still sounds like a player to me. He’s telling you everything you want to hear and you’re eating it up like a kid in a candy store. The problem is, you’ll be the one left with a belly full of sugar and nothing to show for the fifteen pounds you’ve gained.”
I threw her discarded T-shirt at her. “Thank God you never decided to be a motivational speaker. You’d be a broke-ass bitch.”
“I’ll admit,” Danni said while ignoring me, “he’s got a nice body. But that doesn’t mean I’m okay with him jerking you around. I don’t believe a word of what he says. I mean, c’mon. He couldn’t reach out to you because he was too busy, but he’s suddenly going to find the time now? It makes no sense.” She had her hand on her hip, her leg extended, every ounce of her attitude on full display.
“I don’t know what to believe, Danni. What he says makes sense, but only time will tell. Not to mention, what does it matter if I’m being played? I have no interest in a future with him, so does it really matter if he decided to drop me in a week from now or in two months when I leave?”
“I know what kind of guy you like, what kind you settle for, and what kind you deserve. You’re gorgeous. You can have your pick of men. Why do you always choose the wrong ones?” She checked her makeup in the mirror and ran her fingers under her eyes to catch any leftover liner that had smeared. “From what you’ve said, he has a short fuse, a quick temper. He rushes to judgment and can’t admit when he’s wrong. I don’t understand the appeal for men who are stubborn and argumentative. Why would you want a jerk when you could totally nab the prince?”
“I’m only here for the summer, Danni. I’m not going to find my ideal man hundreds of miles away from home. Stop speaking about Carter in reference to a real relationship. I know he’s not the kind of man I want to marry. Which is good because I’m not looking to marry him. This is only for the next two months. He’s nothing more than someone to talk to, someone to hang out with and make me laugh. Someone to make me feel good. And because of that, my list of wants and needs are different. This isn’t about what I deserve for the long haul. This is about hot sex with a hot guy for a couple of months.”
“I just know you wear your heart on your sleeve. You can tell yourself all you want this is just for fun and you’re only interested in him for the amazing boom-boom. But I know you. And you will get on that plane and leave your heart behind.”
“I have no idea what you did with my friend, but once you took my brother’s last name, you’ve turned into Barney. I want my friend back. I teach five-year-olds and even I don’t speak like you. Come find me when you rediscover the F-word.” I snatched her hospital pharmacy tech badge from the dresser, tossed it at her, and left her room.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Logan had just fallen asleep for his nap on the couch when a knock sounded at the front door. I didn’t want the visitor to ring the doorbell and wake up the sleeping boy, so I jumped up and ran to see who it was.
To my surprise, a very large and tattooed man stood on the front step.
The afternoon sun lit him up like a diamond display case, and I practically salivated over him. His grey Henley accentuated the deep lines and ridges in his form. I’m pretty sure I licked my lips while tracing each muscle with my eyes.
I met his gaze and ignored the all-knowing smirk on his face. “What are you doing here, Carter?”
He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans—no longer in the gym clothes from hours ago—and offered me a crooked smile. “Do you realize you ask me that same question every time you see me?”
I didn’t until you just pointed it out.
“Well, I think this time it’s justified. This isn’t a grocery store or your gym, so my question makes sense now. Really, Carter, why are you here?” It’d taken me by complete surprise that he showed up at my sister’s house uninvited, and I wasn’t sure if it made me happy or unsettled.
He stepped closer, his hands still in his pockets, and casually leaned against the doorframe. “I wanted to see you.”
My cheeks stung, reminding me of a sunburn, so I knew they’d taken on a deep crimson color. I ducked my head and glanced at his shoes to keep him from noticing the complete humiliation shading my face. “And you couldn’t wait until later?” I glanced over my shoulder toward the sofa. “Logan is sleeping right now. So this probably isn’t the best time.”
“I said I wanted to see you, Kara. I never said I wanted you to be naked when I see you.”
“No!” I snapped my head around and stared at him. “I just meant I don’t want to wake him up.”
Carter leaned down to bring his mouth to my ear. “I’ll be quiet. I promise.”
His fresh scent bathed me in untamed hormones. I pointed to his attire and asked, “I thought you had meetings all day?”
“I rushed through them so I could see you. There’s a good chance the plumbing in the new bathrooms will be all wrong. I couldn’t concentrate on what they were saying with you on the brain.”
“I see you went home and changed.”
His eyes squinted and his brows lifted at the same time a grin spread across his lips. “I had to take a shower. Someone got me all hot and bothered this morning and I needed to do something about it before I went blind.”
The memory of him grinding into me against the wall left my panties wet. We stood so close, I worried he’d be able to read my thoughts, so I backed away and let him inside, hiding my burning face from his view. Then I led him down the hallway. It wasn’t until we both made it inside that I realized I’d led him to my room. And by this point, it was too late to redirect him. In a vain attempt to appear casual, I moved to stand in front of my bed and crossed my arms.
“I thought we could just talk, Kara. But hell…if you wanna get started, I’m game.” His smirk and humorous tone prevented me from finding offense in his offer. However, his words caused my desperate sex to practically beg for it. It didn’t help matters when he stalked across the room and stopped a foot away.
“I just figured if we’re in here, we won’t wake Logan up.” I realized how my words could’ve been twisted around, so I buried my face in my hands. “I mean�
�I just mean talking. I don’t want our talking to wake him up.”
“Is that what it’s called these days?”
“Oh my God, I give up.” I plopped down on the edge of the bed and hung my head to hide my shame.
He came to stand in front of me, between my legs, and fisted his hand in my hair, as if it took a lot of restraint on his part to not yank my head back. Then he brought his lips to mine and silenced me. They were soft, lingering kisses meant to slowly roll through my body. His tongue grazed my bottom lip before swallowing my needy gasps.
“I’d love nothing more than to fuck you right now. Right here.” He crawled over my body, settled himself on top of me, and wedged his thighs between mine, forcing my legs apart. With his arms on either side of my head, he pressed his forehead to mine. We were eye to eye, hips to hips.
I bent my knees and planted my bare feet on the bedspread. The mattress molded against my back with his added weight, and I found myself wanting more. The scent of pine on his skin, the taste of peppermint on his tongue, and the feel of his body against mine brought my brain cells down to dangerously low numbers. I couldn’t even think of the sleeping child in the other room when he had me wrapped up in his pheromones like this.
He bucked against me, pressing his pelvis into mine, and elicited a moan from my throat. His tongue peeked out and met my chin before running a line of desire up my jaw. The entire time, his beard scratched my skin, adding another sensation to the heated moisture his mouth left behind. When he reached my ear, he gently sucked on the lobe for a moment and then pinched it between his teeth.
“Carter…” I panted, trying desperately to hold on to what little sanity I had left. I splayed my hands against his pecs and made a lame attempt to push him away. Instead, I ran my hands over his muscles and closed my eyes. “Carter, we have to stop.”
“You’re gonna have to make me stop, Kara. Not enough manpower in the world.”
“We go from zero to sixty in a tenth of a second. If we don’t stop this now, we’ll end up scarring my nephew for life.”
He huffed into the crook of my neck and heat spread through my body, filling me with an accelerant-fueled fire. But at least he’d stilled. Carter remained on top of me with his body pressed against mine, but he no longer rocked his hips or tasted my skin.
Without a second’s notice, he pulled away. In one fluid movement, he stood, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to my feet. “We can’t be in here,” he practically growled while dragging me down the hall. It was obvious he had no idea where he was going, but eventually, he found the living room.
He gently pushed me down on the empty loveseat before taking the recliner next to me. Logan was still asleep on the couch only a few feet away. I wasn’t sure how much longer that would last before he woke up to Carter’s deep voice.
“This is better. You stay over there and I’ll stay over here.” He kicked back the recliner and put his feet up, making himself comfortable while I sat with my thighs clenched together.
I glanced over at Logan, watching his breathing and making sure our presence wasn’t interrupting his dreams.
“He’s fine. If the TV doesn’t wake him up, we won’t.” He glanced at the sleeping boy, and I noticed his expression softened. “He’s a cute kid.”
“Yeah, he is. And he’s super smart, too. He’s only three but he’s at like a kindergarten learning level. It’s amazing.” There was just something about Logan that made me turn to mush whenever I spoke about him.
“It must run in your family. You seem really smart.”
I blushed and shook my head, hating that specific compliment. I’d heard it often, and the only reason I could figure people assumed that about me was because of my speech. I didn’t like the southern twang indicative of where I lived. Correction…I loved hearing it, but I felt it made me—a teacher—sound uneducated or lazy, and I never wanted anyone to have that impression of me. “You’d be surprised. I struggled in school. Bringing home a report card full of Cs was an accomplishment.”
“Really?” Carter cocked his head and knitted his brows, showing genuine disbelief. “I pictured you being at the top of your class.”
“Nope. That was my brother. He had all the brains. I got all the awkwardness.”
“You must’ve done something right if you graduated college and teach kids. And not just any kids…but you’re the one starting them out in their education. That’s something.”
I shrugged and dipped my chin, pretending to play with something on my shorts. “Honestly, that was my whole reason for becoming a teacher. Growing up, everyone just thought I was lazy. My parents always said I never applied myself. No one bothered to notice how hard I struggled, so I was never able to get the help I needed. If just one person had caught on when I was in my prime learning years, I might not have had to suffer for so long.”
“Caught on to what?” His interest warmed me, because it wasn’t at all judgmental.
“I have an attention deficit problem. It’s not bad, which is probably why no one really took notice of it. I never had the hyperactivity—that’s where it becomes noticeable. But regardless, everyone assumed I was just lazy or not putting any effort into learning, when really, I couldn’t focus. And I never want a child to slip through the cracks like I did, not as long as I can do something about it.”
“Well, what changed for you?” He rolled the back of his head along the soft cushion of the chair and settled in to listen to me. To really listen to me. It wasn’t feigned. It wasn’t forced. He truly had sincere interest in what I had to say.
“When I started high school, I had two teachers who…I guess you could say changed my life. My science teacher introduced me to a new way of learning. She basically made it easy to grasp concepts I’d normally find hard. And that’s when I realized what was wrong with me. I never knew I had a focus problem until I was fifteen years old. But I learned I’d space out when things didn’t make sense. So Mrs. Chitwood helped me learn to break things down and then rebuild the information until it made sense. I was able to apply that concept to everything. And I had an English teacher, Mr. Rhys, who believed in me. I think he was the first person who ever looked at me and told me I deserved more, and that I was settling by taking remedial classes. In tenth grade, I took two advanced classes. In eleventh, all my classes were advanced. And I was a full-time college student my senior year of high school.”
His grin widened and elongated the creases next to his eyes. “See? I told ya you were smart.”
I didn’t want to talk about myself anymore. My face was near blistering from his attention and compliments. If I’d let it go on, I’d end up with third-degree burns. “Tell me about you. Did you go to college?”
He broke eye contact and stared up at the spinning fan blades. It reminded me of a baby watching the movement in awe, but I knew that wasn’t the case with him. I could see in his sudden rigid posture how tightly he tried to maintain his control. It was as if he didn’t want to share personal information with me, be flesh and blood around me. He wanted to be carefree, fun, keep things light. I understood the reason for the separation—to keep from crossing that invisible line. But I couldn’t help but think his purpose was more selfish. As if maybe he worried just as much about his own self-preservation as he did mine.
“I went for two years. Took business and marketing classes. But when I opened my first gym, I dropped out. My dad was pissed.” A shadow formed in the corner of his mouth, like whatever played in his mind gave him peace. “He thought I was wasting my money on the gym. I had a scholarship, and in hindsight, I should’ve taken full advantage of that. But I figured I’d learned all I could in a classroom, and whatever else I’d learn would be in the real world. I didn’t see the point in wasting more money and another two years sitting in a building when I could be making it happen.”
“So you’ve always wanted to own a gym?”
He turned back to me and pursed his lips while pinching and raising his eyebrows. If his expre
ssion had a voice, it’d scream, “What you talkin’ bout, Willis?” Rolling his eyes, he settled back in the chair and continued. “No. When I started college, I knew I wanted to own my own business, but I had no idea what it was gonna be. I’ve been working since I was fourteen, and I didn’t care too much about having someone tell me what to do. I decided I wanted to be my own boss. It didn’t matter what I did, as long as it was mine and no one could order me around.”
“You never wanted to do anything else?”
“Oh, sure I did. From the time I was five, I wanted to be a pilot. But when I was fifteen, my family flew to Vegas to visit my dying aunt, and I left that dream ten thousand feet in the air.”
“Why?” I had a feeling his answer would humor me, so I curled my legs beneath me and readied myself to be amused.
“Apparently, Vegas is like a bowl, so the wind patterns are drastic flying into it. I didn’t know this. No one bothered to tell me or warn me. I didn’t find out until after the plane turned on its side.” He held his hand out flat to mimic the airplane. “On. Its. Side. No lie. I thought I was gonna die. The pilot screamed like a little girl. You know it’s bad when the captain’s crying.”
My giggles molded around my words when I asked, “And that’s why you gave up your dream? Because of turbulence?”
Carter sat straight up, set his feet on the floor, and leaned forward to gain a few inches in my direction. “Turbulence? No, Kara. The plane was sideways. One wing facing Earth, the other facing heaven. Which is where I thought I’d end up—my body crashing to Earth while my spirit floated into the sky.”
His exaggerated animation turned my giggles into full-bellied laughter. I wrapped my arms around my stomach and hunched forward, tears filling my eyes and blurring my sight. I couldn’t catch my breath. His wide, fearful eyes and panicked expression lingered in my mind and prevented me from calming down.