Kara (Starkis Family #4)

by Cheryl Douglas

  I was so absorbed in our emotional connection I barely felt the familiar stirring that let me know my body was bracing for a flood of erotic sensations only he could evoke with such ease. I got lost as my breathing became more labored, my fingernails digging deeper as I arched my back, digging my heels into the mattress while I thrust my breasts up to meet his mouth.

  My entire body trembled as a powerful orgasm tore through me before I relaxed into a state of blissfulness and tranquility I never could have imagined when I woke up that day. His eyes connected with mine before he kissed me, leisurely rubbing his tongue against mine until I was breathless and moaning again.

  He finally ended the kiss, dropping his head on my shoulder as his body tensed. I held him tight, completely enraptured as he gave up the fight. I kissed his cheek, trailing my lips to his jaw when he collapsed on me, careful to shift his weight so he wasn’t crushing me.

  “You okay?”

  “I’m better than okay,” I said, smiling. “I’ve never been better.”

  He rolled to the side, propping his head in his hand. “Would you be mad if I told you I’d called Cat while you were in the bathroom earlier?”

  “Depends,” I said, skimming his chest with my nails. “Why’d you call her?”

  “I want our family and friends here, baby. I want to share our news with them, and not over the phone. They’ve been by our sides through all of this, and I just feel like they need to be here to help us celebrate too.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” I said, snuggling in closer. “When will they be here?”

  “I don’t know.” He rolled over to reach for his phone on the nightstand. “I heard this thing buzz a few minutes ago, but I sure as hell wasn’t interested in answering it.”

  I giggled as I peered over his shoulder to read the message from my sister. “So she’s arranged for everyone to be here by tomorrow afternoon. Perfect.”

  He set his phone down before rolling over to face me. “Actually, it is perfect. I have plans for us in the morning.”

  I smiled playfully while gliding my hand down his muscular chest. “I have plans of my own, sweetheart.”

  He laughed, grasping my wandering hand and bringing it to my lips. “Now that we’ve decided we want to spend our lives together, we have to start thinking about the logistics.”

  Since our future just happened to be my favorite topic of conversation, I was game. “What did you have in mind?”

  “I already talked to Darius and Cat about this,” he said, looking a little sheepish. “I was going to fill you in when I had things lined up, but then we got into that fight…” He shook his head. “None of that matters now. What’s important is what comes next.”

  “Now I’m intrigued,” I teased. “What comes next?”

  “Well, we agreed we want to live here, which means I’ll have to open an office here.”

  I knew Dustin’s business was firmly rooted in his home state, and I couldn’t help but wonder if expecting him to leave that behind was asking too much. “Are you sure that’s what you want, babe?” I linked my hand through his. “If you want me to move back to Raleigh with you, I will. We can still come back here on—”

  He silenced me with a kiss, making me smile.

  “This is what I want. I’ll keep the office there and travel back and forth when I need to, assuming you’ll come with me?”

  “Of course I will. What kind of question is that?” My work on the restaurant would make that difficult over the next little while, but once that project was finished, I was all his. “You said you talked to Cat and Darius about this though. How do they figure into your plans?”

  “I want us to go into business with them.”

  My shock must have registered on my face because he set his finger under my chin and closed my mouth.

  “That would be amazing! I love working with them, but you really think they’d go for it?”

  “Darius said if you ladies were up for it, he was in. Cat told me to talk to you first, then she’d decide.” He grinned. “I personally think she’s worried that if she sticks around, she won’t be able to resist Chase.”

  “You’re probably right.” If my sister could feel what I was feeling now, she wouldn’t keep fighting her feelings for Chase. “I’ll talk to her. I know how much she loves the Hamptons. I can’t imagine her not wanting to make this her permanent residence.”

  “Your parents will miss you guys,” he reminded me. “They’ll blame me for takin’ y’all away from them.”

  “They still have the house here. Now that Dad’s retired, they can spend as much time here as they want to.” Nothing would have made me happier than having my whole family around me, especially when Dustin and I started a family of our own.

  “True.” He tucked his arm under his head before reaching for my hand and tucking it close to his chest. “So you’re okay with the idea of getting into residential design?”

  “Are you kidding? I’d love that!” As much as I enjoyed working for my father, I was ready for a change, and working side-by-side with an architect of Dustin’s caliber would have been a dream come true for any interior designer.

  “Awesome. So the next step is to look at office space. There are a couple of small buildings for sale in Southampton that could work. I can line up appointments for us to see them in the morning, before everyone gets here, if you’re game?”

  “Sounds perfect.” I kissed him. Once our families arrived though, the only thing our mothers would want to talk about would be wedding plans. “I can’t wait.”

  “Neither can I, baby,” he said, closing his hand around my cheek. “I’ve waited a hell of a long time to start my life with you.”

  “We don’t have to wait any longer,” I said, wrapping my arms around him. “It’s already started.”

  ***

  Dustin said he understood when I told him I needed a little girl time with Cat before we turned in. He said he’d catch up on some work while I chatted with my sister.

  She squealed, practically tackling me as soon as I walked through the door. “Let me see the ring!”

  I laughed as she gushed over the large, flawless diamond. It wasn’t so much the ring but what it represented that made me giddy with excitement.

  “It’s perfect,” she said, squeezing my hand before drawing me into a hug. “I’m so happy for you guys.”

  “Thanks, hon, we’re happy too. Deliriously happy.”

  Catia linked her arm through mine as she led me into the spacious family room overlooking the water. I laughed when I saw the spread of junk food on the coffee table. Everything from buttered popcorn to coated-candy chocolate and trail mix was set out in bowls. Sometimes I wondered how the hell my sister stayed so slim eating garbage like that.

  “What?” she asked, sounding defensive. “When you called and said you were coming over, I didn’t want to waste any time. We have a lot to talk about.”

  “That we do.” I’d loved living with her over the past few months, but when Dustin and I got married, I’d have to move out. I assumed he would want to rent an apartment in the city so we could split our time while the house was being built and I was finishing my project.

  She grabbed my hand and hauled me down on the couch before shoving a bowl of M&M’s in my lap. “Okay, spill. How did he propose? Where? When? I want to hear everything!”

  I couldn’t stop smiling as I relayed the story to her. I knew it was a story I’d enjoy telling to our own children one day.

  “I can’t believe we didn’t know he and his brother were adopted,” Catia said, reaching for the trail mix.

  “Like he said, it just doesn’t matter. As far as he’s concerned, the Matthewses are his parents,” I said, popping a candy into my mouth then another. Those things were so addictive, which was I why I refused to buy them at home.

  “So you’d be okay with adoption then?” Catia asked.

  “Of course I would. Now that I know how Dustin feels, I think it would actually
be pretty wonderful to give a loving home to a child who needs a family.” There was a good chance we could have a baby of our own, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t adopt as well.

  She ate a handful of trail mix. “Did he talk to you about opening an office here?”

  “Yeah. In fact, we’re going to look at a couple of options in Southampton in the morning.” I nudged her knee with mine. “You should come with us, see what you think.”

  “Uh, I might wait and go with Chase and Darius on Sunday.” At my curious expression, she said, “Apparently Dustin asked them to check it out before any final decisions are made.” She shrugged. “I guess he trusts Chase’s opinion.”

  “He does trust Chase.” It was the perfect time to make my pitch. “And he thinks you should too. Now that you’re moving here, you don’t have an excuse—”

  “Nothing has been decided yet,” Catia said, raising her hand.

  I rolled my eyes. “Please, you know you want to be a part of this, Cat. It would be awesome for us all to work together, and you’ve always said you thought it would be fun to work in residential. Who better to work with than Dustin?” I was beyond proud of my man and the reputation he’d developed.

  “No, I know, you’re right.” She sighed. “But this thing with Chase is freaking me out.”

  Finally, we were getting somewhere. “Tell me, what’s got you so freaked out?” I set the candy aside so I could give her my undivided attention. Now that I felt as though everything in my life was falling into place, nothing would make me happier than to see her content with an amazing man.

  “You already know. Chase isn’t the kind of guy I’m used to going out with.”

  “I’d think that would be a good thing. No offense, but the guys you usually go out with are just interested in hooking up. They don’t take anything seriously.”

  “Neither do I,” she said, sounding frustrated. “That’s what makes them perfect for me. Chase is just so damn intense. I hate it. So why the hell can’t I stop thinking about him?”

  “Honey,” I said, squeezing her hand, “you can’t choose who you fall in love with. Sometimes it just happens whether you’re looking for it or not.”

  “In love?” She gasped as though I’d suggested she plan a bank heist. “I’m not in love with him! Are you crazy? We’ve never even been out on a date!”

  “No, but you have seen him every day for the past several months. That’s plenty of time to fall in love.”

  She pulled her legs into her chest, resting her chin on her knees. “But he has kids.”

  That again. “So what?”

  “He’s a dad.”

  I thought it was funny that she felt the need to restate the facts, as though she felt compelled to remind herself why it would never work. “And…?”

  “He told me he misses being married.”

  I wasn’t surprised to hear that. Chase was a rock-solid guy who needed structure in his life. “And that scares you?”

  “Of course it does.” She was practically hyperventilating. “Having sex with him would be a bad idea. Logically, I know this. So why can’t I stop thinking about it?”

  I bit my bottom lip to keep from smiling. Whether my sister was willing to admit it or not, she’d already fallen hard for the guy. “Because you want him. He wants you. You’re both single, consenting adults. What’s wrong with indulging in a little fun?”

  “I shouldn’t.” Though she was definitely considering it.

  “You said he’s going to be here? When?”

  She reached for the bowl of M&M’s I’d abandoned, tossed a small handful into her mouth, and munched, wide-eyed. “In the morning. He’s going to be staying here all weekend. Oh God, what am I going to do?”

  I couldn’t believe she was getting so worked up about this. It wasn’t like my sister to be so nervous about spending time with a guy. “You’ll be just fine.”

  She shook her head. “It’ll be weird. Dustin said he was going to invite Chase to stay over at his place, but still he’ll be here, getting to know Mom and Dad. It just feels”—she flattened her hand against her stomach—“like too much.”

  I gripped her knee. “He’s going to be here as Dustin’s friend and our business associate, not as your boyfriend. Mom and Dad won’t even know you’re interested in him, unless you plan to tell them?”

  “You’d have to be blind not to see there’s something between us,” she argued.

  She was right about that. Their chemistry was the reason my sister couldn’t get the man out of her head. I knew, for a fact, she’d never felt this way about anyone else. “So what are you gonna do?”

  “They won’t like the fact that he’s divorced.”

  “Probably not.” My parents believed marriage was forever, especially when there were children involved. We’d tried to drag them, kicking and screaming, into this century, but they were having none of it.

  “Or that he has children.”

  “But they will like him. How could they not? Everyone likes Chase.” Whether he was dealing with his employees, clients, or suppliers, he treated everyone with the same respect and had an admirable ability to hold his temper, even in the most trying situations.

  “I guess you’re right. So you think I’m making too much of this?”

  I knew this was a big decision for her and didn’t want to minimize it. “I think you should go with your gut. If you can’t get him out of your head, there has to be a reason, right? You have to ask yourself whether you’ll regret not pursuing this.” Before she could interject, I said, “But before you do jump in, just remember Chase is different. He’s looking for more than just a hookup. I’m not saying you have to go into this expecting forever…”

  She paled at the mention of the word I knew she feared the most.

  “Just be honest with him about how you feel before you go out with him. Tell him that you like him but you’re scared. You’re not big on commitment, and you’re not even sure you two are compatible. If he knows all that and still wants to go out with you, it’s up to him.”

  “Thanks.” She reached over to give me a hug.

  “My pleasure. But I need to ask you one more thing before I get back to my man.”

  “Anything.”

  “Will you be my maid of honor?”

  Catia laughed before slapping my leg. “What kind of question is that? If you’d asked anyone else, I would have had to kill you! Have you set a date yet?”

  “The sooner the better, as far as I’m concerned.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Dustin

  Walking around the single-story building with Kara, seeing her excitement as we talked about the placement of offices and supplies, I couldn’t believe I’d ever thought it was possible to be happy without her. My arms circled her waist from behind, and I tickled her neck with the scruff on my jaw until she giggled.

  “Stop,” she said, slapping my arm. “The realtor is just outside. She’ll be back any minute.”

  “So what?”

  “So we have to make a decision. I liked the last building, but I thought it was a bit too small. This one is perfect. We have plenty of room to grow and all this natural light…” She sighed, sounding content. “After the renovation, it’ll be amazing.”

  “Then the decision is made.” Anything to make her happy. “We’ll bring Cat, Darius, and Chase here tomorrow. If they like it, we’ll make an offer.”

  “Can you believe this is happening?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement when she turned to face me. “I mean, seriously? How many times did we talk about this when we were dating? Going into business together, spending our summers here. Now we’re going to be living here full time. It feels like a dream.” She held out her arm. “Pinch me, just to make sure.” She laughed when I shook my head. “You’re right, don’t pinch me. If this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up.”

  “This isn’t a dream, baby. This is fate. The way things were meant to be.”

  “So?” the re
altor asked, breezing through the front door. “What do we think? Do we love it?”

  “We love it,” Kara said, clasping her hands under her chin. “But we have to bring my brother and sister back with us tomorrow. Is that okay?”

  “Of course,” the attractive blonde said, smiling. “You have my card. Just call and let me know what times works for you.”

  After shaking her hand, Kara and I left and wandered down the street to where my car was parked. Everyone should have been at the Starkises’ house by the time we got back, ready to help us celebrate and start making wedding plans.

  “What are you thinking?” Kara asked, squeezing my hand.

  “I’m wondering why we should wait to get married. Your family is here; so are my parents. Why not get married now?”

  She gaped at me. “What about your brother and friends? What about my friends?”

  “We’ll fly them in.” That was the beauty of having access to a private jet. “It shouldn’t take more than a few days to make the arrangements, right?”

  “What about a marriage license?” she asked, sounding breathless. “The office isn’t open today. We’d have to wait until Monday.”

  “And there’s probably a waiting period after we get it,” I said, thinking through the logistics. “So in the meantime, we’ll call in some favors. Line up a caterer and wedding planner and let them work their magic. Since we agreed we want a beach wedding, we can do the reception there, just like we’d intended the first time. What do you say?”

  She threw her arms around my neck. “Are you kidding? I say yes!”

  I loved that she was as anxious as I was to make this happen. “Great, how about we go see if George can cater it for us?” He was a long-time family friend and world-class chef who ran one of our favorite restaurants in Southampton. If anyone could pull this off on short notice, he could.

  After a brief meeting with George, where he assured us our guests would be “raving about the food,” I put in a call to a friend of my brother’s, who happened to be a wedding planner in the Hamptons. In our social circles, it wasn’t difficult to find people willing to accommodate our needs on short notice, but there would be a million little things we’d forget if we didn’t enlist a professional. The wedding planner, Stacey, said she was at a wedding today but promised to come by the house tomorrow to discuss the arrangements.