by Linda Verji
The longing in his eyes pricked at her and reluctantly, she settled back on the couch.
For a while, they both just stared at the TV. A high-adrenalin car chase was currently in progress onscreen but Eve couldn’t bring herself to care. Though her eyes were on the TV, all her senses were focused on Carter. She could feel his heat, hear every breath he took, smell the light cologne that he liked. And it set her heart racing.
Carter murmured, “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” She snuck a glance at him. “For what?”
“For last night.” He was looking down at his linked hands. “I shouldn’t have come at you like that.”
Eve hesitated for a second then murmured. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay. None of this is okay.” Carter exhaled loudly. Turning his head to look at her, he said, “I shouldn’t have to apologize to my wife for trying to kiss her.”
Eve didn’t know how to respond to that. Technically, he was right. So she kept quiet. Though her eyes were on the TV, she was aware of his gaze burning into the side of her face.
He studied her for an uncomfortably long time before asking, “Eve, why did you marry me?”
Startled by the question, she turned to meet his eyes. “Huh?”
“Why did you marry me?” he repeated.
The question wasn’t new. Before everything had happened, he’d been her best-friend. He would’ve needed to be incredibly thick not to have noticed the change in personality. Every so often, he asked why she married him. The question was often accompanied by others; why had she changed, what had happened to her, what had happened to them? Eve’s response was always silence.
Carter had come up with various answers for himself. It was because she was still traumatized by Daniel. It was because she was hurt and needed his comfort. Rather than tell him the truth or make up a lie, she’d let him assume what he wanted. As long as he kept being her husband.
Because it had worked all those other times, she did it again. Silently, she turned back to face the TV.
“Not this time, Eve. This time you have to answer the question.” Carter shifted closer to her and before she could move away, his hand moved to her face. His fingers on her chin, he turned her face until they were eye-to-eye. “I need to know.”
The tension between them immediately heightened. Eve’s skin prickled where his fingers touched, and her heart was pounding so hard, it felt like it wanted to jump out of her ribcage. To ease the heat flushing through her, she pushed his hand away from her face.
“I need to know,” he repeated. The intent gleam in his eyes made it clear that this time silence wouldn’t work.
Through suddenly dry lips, she replied, “Because I needed you.”
“You needed me for what?” he asked.
His gentle tone and the way he watched her left her itching to tell him the truth. She ached to tell him that his mother was so cruel that after destroying Eve’s life, she’d made Eve propose the marriage to Carter herself. Why? Because if Sharon had proposed it, Carter and Eve’s parents would immediately realize that something was off about the marriage and that she was involved somehow. It was just easier to make it seem like this was all Eve’s idea.
Because Carter was Carter, her begging had been enough to get him to the altar. As for her parents, well… she and Carter had been friends for so long that it was easy to make them believe that she was in love with him.
But Eve couldn’t tell Carter all that, so she answered his question with silence.
“You needed me for what?” he prodded. When that still didn’t elicit a verbal response, he offered, “As a substitute for Daniel?”
That would’ve been an easy answer to grab onto but without conscious thought, Eve shook her head. “No.”
“Then for what?”
Though tears pricked at the back of Eve’s eyes and her mouth itched with the need to reveal the truth, she reverted back to silence.
He watched for another long while before saying, “Eve, we can’t go on like this.”
Though the fist around her lungs tightened, she didn’t say anything.
“Neither of us is happy in this marriage.” He repeated, “We can’t go on like this.”
Where was he going with this? She snatched a glance at him. He was staring at his linked hands again.
“I can only think of two solutions to fix this.” He turned his head to look at her. “Divorce or-”
Panic racing through her, she cut him off. “No. No divorce.”
She still needed him. Her plan would fall apart if she wasn’t part of the Welling family, and Carter was her only way in.
Carter studied her for a second before continuing, “-divorce or we try to make this a real marriage.”
The second option. I’ll take the second option, Eve screamed on the inside. But on the outside, she forced herself to seem calm as she asked, “I thought you said that we were in a real marriage last night?”
“I did.” He gave a rueful smile. “But I realized that you were right. What we have now is a shell of a marriage. We don’t talk, we don’t sleep together...”
“So this is about sex?”
“Yes… and no.” He ran a hand over his hair, ruffling the dark locks. “I just want more than this cold war we have.”
“And what if I can’t give it to you?”
“Then maybe it’s time to consider letting go.” His gaze met hers. “This situation isn’t good for either of us.”
Though her heart was now pounding so hard that she could feel it in her throat, she forced herself to sound calm as she said, “I’m okay with it.”
“But I’m not.” Frustration gleaming in his eyes, he said, “Eve, I feel like I’m on the verge of exploding. I hate, hate, hate the relationship we have now. It feels like we’re enemies when we should be even closer than when we were friends. I want to hold you but I can’t because I’m scared that you’ll push me away. I want to talk to you but I can’t because I know that all I’ll get is silence. And it’s fucking me up.” He took in a shuddering breath. “It’s been five years, Eve. Five years. I can’t take it anymore. I’m sorry.”
His distress was so real that it sent an ache straight to her heart. She knew that she was lucky that Carter was as patient as he was. Were it any other man this conversation would’ve come up way, way earlier than this. Giving her those five years must’ve taken Herculean strength. But it was obvious that he was now at the end of his rope.
He finished, “I need more than what we have, Eve.”
Conflicted was an understatement for what Eve was feeling as she stared at him. He had just given her two impossible choices. Either hurt him more or hurt her parents. If she let him go now, before her plan had matured, it would trigger Sharon and lead to the destruction of Eve’s family. If she stayed with him, then when her plan matured, he’d be the one reeling in pain.
It was either him or her parents. Him or her parents. Him or her parents.
Though the choice was difficult, Eve made it. She chose to hurt him more.
Avoiding his eyes, she murmured. “Okay.”
“Okay what?” Carter prodded.
She pulled in a deep breath then said, “We can work on being a real married couple.”
“Really?” His tone was disbelieving. “You know what that means, right? Dates, sex, children…” His words faded into silence as he studied her with raised eyebrows.
There would be no children, but if dating and sex was what it took to stay married to him then…. She shrugged. “If that’s what you want, then I’m willing to try.”
Carter studied her for some time as if trying to assess the honesty in her response. He reached for her hand. Though her first instinct was to pull away, Eve let him hold her. His eyes on her, he said, “We don’t have to change our relationship all at once. We can take things slow.”
Taking it slow sounded like a great idea. Maybe she could even wrap up her plan before things between them got too serious. She nodded. “Ok
ay.”
Carter suggested, “Why don’t we start by sharing a bed?”
“What?” Her voice came out in a startled squeak. Her eyes wide, she asked, “I thought you said we were taking it slow.”
“And I meant it.” He smiled. “We’re just sharing a bed like a normal couple. Nothing more. I promise. I’m tired of sleeping on the couch.”
The thought of sleeping in the same bed as him was enough to speed up her pulse. But the little voice in her head was calmer. He wasn’t asking for much; he just wanted to share the bed with her. Heck, when they were younger they’d shared beds several times. It wasn’t a big deal.
She slowly nodded. “Okay.”
“Great.” His grin widening, he stood up. “I should take a shower first.”
While he was in the shower, Eve headed to bed. Despite her insistence that it wasn’t a big deal, nervous butterflies danced in her stomach as she lay between the cold sheets. When she heard the door to the bathroom open, she immediately turned to her side and pretended to be asleep.
Though she couldn’t see him, she recognized the sounds of his movement. He went to the vanity and moisturized then headed to the closet. There was a rustling sound as he put on his clothes followed by the padding of footsteps as he came towards the bed. The mattress dipped with his weight as he got into the bed beside her.
His voice echoed behind her. “Eve, are you asleep?”
She didn’t respond.
CHAPTER 5
It was the best and worst night of Carter’s married life. Sleeping with his wife was pure bliss. Not being able to touch her because they were going slow was pure torture. He’d ached with the need to close the distance between them and drag her into his arms. Every movement she made, every shift of her head on the pillow, every sigh that escaped her lips had teased and tested all his limits.
It had taken hours for him to fall asleep, and when he did, he was tortured by dreams of what could’ve happened if she was in his arms. Less than four hours later, he woke up to weak sunlight filtering in past the drapes. His eyes sore and scratchy, he turned to stare broodingly at the female temptress curled up on the other side of the bed.
Eve was still asleep but so close to the edge of the bed that she was in danger of falling off. With a sigh, Carter moved closer to her. She was sleeping so soundly that when he touched her shoulder, she didn’t wake up. Gently, he slid his other arm beneath her body. She moaned at his touch but didn’t wake up. Carefully, he shifted her away from the edge and closer to the middle of the bed. However, when he tried to remove his arm from beneath her, she turned to face him.
Carter froze. His eyes wide, he watched Eve, waiting for her to wake up. But she didn’t wake up. She just kept sleeping in his arms. His gaze still locked on her face, he released a long slow breath and relaxed back into the bed.
Awake, Eve was a fierce siren. Her eyes were cold and hard and her mouth was set in a thin straight line, like an Amazon about to go into battle. In sleep, she was angelic. No frown marred her smooth forehead. Long eyelashes rested against dewy brown skin, and her plump lips were curved in an almost smile. It was almost as if the old Eve, the one who was always cheerful, was in charge of her body when she slept.
A wave of longing swept through Carter. He missed the old her with a fervor that was almost painful in its intensity. Unable to control himself, he traced his fingers over her smooth cheek. His mother was the strongest woman he knew, but he’d always thought that Eve came at a close second. Even when they were in school, Eve was the one who’d protected him from bullies, not the other way round. She was the one who’d dragged him into class by his ear when he was cooking up ways to ditch class. In fact, neither of them would’ve made it into their respective Ivy League colleges if it wasn’t for her dogged determination not to leave him behind.
When she’d quit her high-paying job, he’d doubted her for a minute and thought that she was finally hitting her rebellious phase. But no, she’d gone ahead to create a successful business. Nothing could break her, he’d thought. And when he’d been broken because of his brother’s death, she was the one who’d helped him mend himself.
But then her business had collapsed and the man she loved had ditched her.
It had broken her.
Seeing her so broken had scared Carter. When they were growing up, Eve was that kid. The kid who laughs and slaps the ground calling it ‘bad’ when she falls instead of crying like other kids. She was cheerful and unfailingly optimistic so when she’d come to him crying and even knelt so that he’d marry her, it had broken his heart. How could he say no to her? She’d always been there for him. How could he not be there for her?
Even now, he still felt guilty for the ultimatum he’d given her last night. Five years might seem like a lot of time to give to someone, but it was nothing compared to how much she’d done for him. He wished he was a better man, a stronger man. He wished he was capable of giving her even more time, but he wasn’t. The ultimatum last night was his attempt to change things between them. He still had no idea what he would’ve done if she’d actually chosen to let him go. Thankfully, she hadn’t.
Smiling, he trailed his fingers up her cheek to her eyebrow. His touch must’ve been harder than he thought because her breath hitched and her eyebrows fluttered. Carter immediately pulled his hand away and pretended that he was asleep.
Even though his eyes were closed, he knew the exact moment she woke up and saw him. Her whole body stilled for an incredibly long time then she let out a trembling breath. Her movements slow and careful, she scooted away from him. The bed dipped when she sat up then swung her legs to the floor. Still without making a sound, she stood then padded away from the bed. Seconds later, the bathroom door opened and closed.
Carter opened his eyes again.
Turning to lie on his stomach, he watched the door. He would’ve preferred that she wake him up with a kiss but that was too much to ask for. At least for now.
Eve was in the en-suite for so long that he fell asleep again. When he woke, she wasn’t in the room, and when he went downstairs, the housekeeper told him that she’d already left for work.
Now that things between them were moving in the right direction, Carter was eager to keep the momentum. At breakfast, he let his mother know that he was going to steal Eve from the office later in the day. Sharon approved.
Though he was officially on vacation, Carter dropped by the office to see how far they were with editing his documentary. Not too far is it turned out. Squeezing sixty days of footage into a one-hour documentary wasn’t an easy task. After giving his opinions on what the editors had done so far, Carter headed to La Belle. When he got there, the receptionists let him know that the company’s interns were doing their annual marketing presentations and Eve was part of the panel judging them. He headed to the auditorium.
The auditorium was full of La Belle’s staff members. The judging panel comprised five high-level executives who sat right at the front. Behind the executives were regular staff members. The interns were seated in a single file along the left wall looking nervous as hell and fiddling with their notes. However, two of them were on stage giving a presentation on how to rebrand and market one of La Belle’s defunct face-scrubs.
As Carter slipped into a seat on the last row, his gaze found Eve. She was keenly listening to the presenting team while taking quick notes. When the two interns finished, her fellow executives turned to her, waiting for her to ask questions first. It was almost as if they’d accepted her as their leader.
“Brandon! Nelly!” Eve’s voice came over the microphone. “In short, your strategy is getting social-media influencers to review the product to their audience, right?”
“Yes, Mrs. Welling,” the two interns responded in unison.
“That sounds great on paper, and I admit that your power-point was very pretty. But how does that make you any different from the thousands of companies already using the same strategy?” Eve’s tone took on a scolding n
ote. “The aim of today’s exercise was to show how creative you can be. There is nothing creative in your idea. You’re just recycling what everyone else is doing.” She turned to the other interns. “If any of you is also planning to show us something that has already done, then just don’t come up here. Don’t waste our time.”
Instantly, the temperature in the room dropped and you could see the poor kids shivering in the suits. Carter chuckled underneath his breath. Sharon couldn’t have chosen a better person to take over from her. She and Eve were so alike that it was scary; both were driven, commanding and extremely good at what they chose to do.
Carter stayed seated until the last of the presentations but towards the end, he slipped out through the back door then headed to the front exit. As expected, the executives came out through that door. Eve and Charlie, the head of marketing, were the first ones out.
“The ones from HR were great. Especially the girl,” Charlie was saying. “Her presentation was innovative and well researched. Very logical.”
“Brittney?” Eve asked. When Charlie nodded, she said, “I agree. Her strategy was good. You should get your people to look into it. Maybe you can tinkle with it a little then use it for the new-”
“Carter?” Charlie cut her off when he spotted Carter. Grinning, he said, “I heard you were around but I didn’t know you were dropping in.”
“It was a surprise.” Carter moved forward to greet the man. “How have you been Charlie?”
“Good. Good. Good.” Charlie pumped his hand enthusiastically. “How was your trip?”
“It was great.” Taking advantage of the fact that Eve couldn’t push him away when there were so many people around, Carter moved closer to her. Squeezing her upper arm, he leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “Hi, sweetheart.”
Though Eve stiffened, she forced a smile. “Hi.”
“Carter?” Another executive emerged behind them. “I didn’t know you were around.”
Carter turned to the new arrival with a smile. “I am.”
The next few minutes were spent exchanging pleasantries with Eve’s coworkers. It took a while to shake them off but eventually Carter and Eve ended up in the elevator alone.