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So, Carter had offered her a ride. Turned out, she and her dad had been evicted from their rental. All they’d let her pack was her clothes and some personal items. Louis had been up in Cherokee, presumably trying to change their luck.
He’d driven her back to Holland Acres Mobile Home Park and paid what was owed, plus two extra months. He would have paid more, but Louis might have gotten the wrong idea.
Carter still remembered the kiss Melanie had given him in thanks, soft as a butterfly’s caress and more potent than moonshine. But he had stopped her, really himself, before things had gone any further.
“You know I won’t. ”
Her nose crinkled a little as she smiled. “Thank you. ”
“You’re welcome. ” He couldn’t help but dust his thumb over her bottom lip. Her breath hitched and it was all he could do to not kiss her right then. “How about I give you an advance?”
“A what?” she asked and he could have sworn she stepped closer to him.
Tilting his head to the side, he let his thumb find the corner of her mouth, then coast along the line of her jaw. Melanie really was a pretty little thing. Always had been and mischievous as hell, too.
She leaned into his touch, her eyes closing and chin tipping up. Black lashes brushing the tops of her cheeks and barely visible freckles. “You shouldn’t hide those. ”
“Hide what?” Her sweet breath fanned over his face.
“Your freckles. ”
“Men don’t like freckles. ”
He chuckled, continuing his exploration of her face and easing his hand behind her neck. He wanted to undo the ridiculous bun she’d put her hair up in. “This man does. ” Then he said the worst thing possible. “In fact I’d like to see if you have freckles in other places. ”
Of their own volition, his fingers came from around her neck and coasted over her clavicle, down to the deep vee of her shirt. He nudged it to one side, watching in pure male satisfaction as goose bumps appeared. A perfect line of golden dots disappeared underneath her lacey black bra. Her breasts rose and fell, breaths coming out in little pants that made him harder than before.
“Then I’d spend some time connecting the dots with my tongue,” he added, tracing the lace at the edge of the cup.
Eyes popping open, she gaped at him. “You would?” she all but squeaked.
It was as if someone had clipped his fender and woke his ass up. He dropped his hand and high-tailed it out of his office. “Be back later. I need my files organized,” he called over his shoulder.
Melanie stared after him, watching in disbelief as the door slammed closed. Then she walked over to his chair and flopped down in it, her heart still beating a mile a minute. Her nipples were hard and she was wet and throbbing between her thighs. Dear Lord, the man had barely touched her.
There was no way she could get anything done. At least not right now. She needed time to calm down. She needed to talk her best friend.
Picking up the receiver, she quickly dialed Zoe’s number.
“Hello?”
“It worked!”
“Yay,” Zoe squealed into the phone. “Wait, what worked?”
Melanie rolled her eyes. “Brain hasn’t kicked in yet?”
“I stayed up until four a. m. writing,” Zoe said with a yawn.
“Well your brother said he liked my freckles and wanted to see where else I had them,” Melanie crowed. “And some other stuff, too. ”
“Carter said that?”
“Oh yeah. He’s coming ‘round to my way of thinking. ” Melanie should’ve taken the opportunity to touch him, only she had been scared that he would reject her.
There was silence on the line, so long that Melanie thought Zoe had hung up. A sliver of self-doubt tried to pierce her victory.
“Mel, you know I love you, right?”
Oh crap, this couldn’t be good. “And I love you, too. ”
“I’ve never lied,”—There was a pause and Melanie’s forehead wrinkled—“about things that could possibly hurt you. I also know how much you love—”
“Just spit it out, Zoe. ”
“Evangeline said that April called Carter last night, wanting to get back together. He’s supposed to meet her for dinner this evening at Jack’s. ”
Melanie’s heart fell to the pit of her stomach and she blew out a shaky breath. “I’m off tonight, but thanks for warning me. ”
“I’m sorry, honey. I really am, but I don’t want you to get hurt,” Zoe said, her voice sincere. “Carter’s not the type to string women around, but you’re my best friend and I don’t want to take the chance. Sometimes men, even ones you have high opinions of, turn out to be real asshats. ”
“You and Gabriel have another fight?”
“No, he’s been really sweet. Distant but sweet. Then again, Summer Holland is back in town and living with Patrick Johnson. I don’t think Gabe is too happy about that. ”
“Carter’s helping out her sister, Rose,” Melanie said, grabbing a yo-yo in the shape of the globe. She spun it around on the desk top. “I swear there is something about those Holland girls. It’s like they have supernatural powers or something. Heck, if I liked women, I’d date one of them. Only downside would be that if there was a bad breakup, I’d no longer be able get my coconut bath and body stuff. ”
Zoe snorted, the familiar sound chasing away her blues. “Well, as my momma says, the Hollands are an institution, and should be respected. ”
“Your momma and her sayings. ” Amazing how Leah Ambrose would defend a whole family of women who supposedly preyed on men—married to another or not. “Bet she’d never say that about me. I’m not “from” here. ”
“As long as you stay away from her boys, you should be fine,” Zoe said, then Melanie heard her friend smack herself. “I didn’t mean that. Oh, God, I am so sorry. ”
“It is what it is,” Melanie said as she looked around Carter’s office. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. The entire room needed to be cleaned from top to bottom. “Look, I need to go. Work and all. Talk to you later?”
“I could bring you lunch?”
“You’re a doll, but I brought it with me. ” She’d be bringing all of her lunches from now on. After saying goodbye, Melanie hung up the phone and laid her head in her hands.
Maybe she’d celebrated victory too soon. Carter had all but run away from her. At the time she could have sworn it was because he had realized what he’d said and what he’d almost done, but now it most likely because he wanted to get back together with April Billingsworth, daughter of the current governor.
Really, who would chose trailer park over gated community? Rising from the chair, she moved to the radio by the window and cut it on, tuning it to her favorite country station. Pistol Annie’s ‘Bad Example’ filled the room.
Yep, that was her.
Sighing, she moved to the filing cabinet and opened the top drawer.
Chapter Four
“Shouldn’t you be at work or something,” Heath said as he tossed him a beer and a game controller.
“Shouldn’t you be in class?” Carter shot back, then pressed the START button. Call of Duty III flashed on the screen.
“If I were in class, then you wouldn’t be able to hide out in my apartment. ” Heath killed his player before he had time to blink.
“I’m not hiding. ”
Heath snorted, his dark blue eyes rolling. “Yeah, right. You’ve been home for almost a month and this is the first damn time you’ve stepped foot in my apartment. ”
Another kill and Carter threw his controller down in disgust.
“Hey, the game’s not over, chicken shit. ”
“You kiss your momma with that mouth?” Carter shot back. He had no idea why he’d chosen to hang out with his eighteen year old brother of all people.
“Hell no. I stopped kissing her when I was fourteen and in love with Rose
Holland. ” Leaning back in his chair, Heath smirked. “Got over that when Isabella Edwards kissed me two months later. Then there was—”
Carter held up a hand. “Don’t need a fucking list of all the girl’s you kissed, but please text me when you finally become a man. ”
Heath flipped him off, then his face grew serious. “Can I ask you something?”
Now this was interesting. His baby brother was never serious, only concerned about having a good time, women and playing baseball. “Shoot. ”
“You ever done something that you regretted?”
Taking a pull of his beer, Carter nodded. “Yep. Matter of fact, I did something really stupid today, but—”
“I don’t mean with your cars; I mean with another person. Something so big that you and she, er- that person had to keep it a secret. ” Heath didn’t take his eyes off the screen. “And now you wish you could have a do-over, only the other person involved won’t give you the fucking time of day. ”
Carter set his beer down on a coffee table made of plywood and cinderblocks. “Are you in trouble, Heath?”
“No, but I’d like to make things better with the person I hurt. ”
“That’s good start. ” Ah, hell this was hard. He had no clue what his little brother had done, but he was almost a hundred percent sure that it had something to do with the preacher’s daughter, Isabella Edwards.
“That’s the problem. She won’t answer my texts or my calls. And she’s going to school clear across the country, so it’s not like I can just hop on a plane and show up on her doorstep,” Heath grumbled, then paused his game to grab a handful of chips.
His brother had all but confirmed it involved Isabella. Damn. “Look, if you need to talk about something, anything, I’m here for you. ”
Just as his brother was about to answer, two of Heath’s roommates burst through the door and the moment was lost. No way in hell they could talk now.
Heath flashed him a grin. One that didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Nah…I’m good. ”
“You need me…call me, text me—whatever works for you,” Carter said before he left. His little brother had it right though: Sometimes, you needed a do-over in life. All he had to do now was make sure that Melanie would accept his apology.
Should be as easy as nailing Jell-o to a wall.
***
Now this was familiar, Carter thought as his ex-fiancé smiled at him. This was something he could handle. There wouldn’t be any half-confessions or outfits meant to tease a man to the point of leaving his own damn garage.
He frowned.
His date cleared her throat and he forced a smile back on his face. April’s had never left, perfectly white and full like a toothpaste commercial. Her hair was perfectly made up, just like the rest of her. No extraneous emotions, no outbursts…at least not in front of her daddy’s constituents.
This was a woman in control of her wardrobe, her life and her career. In bed. Unfortunately, that hadn’t translated into I’m-in-control-of-my-man and you’d better make each orgasm better than the last one. Too bad, because he wouldn’t have been opposed to that in the least.
No, every move was calculated. Every sigh and moan. Eventually, great sex had become stale for him, because it felt like she was checking off a list. As in football season has started, guess it’s time to break out the cheerleading outfit that’s three sizes too small.
Even their breakup had been polite. A perfectly orchestrated scene in one of Charlotte’s finest restaurants. She’d cried and told him how sorry she was for wasting his time, but she wasn’t ready to settle down. Or any kind of commitment. Amazingly enough he’d been okay with that, not that he hadn’t loved April. He had, but it was a toxic kind of love.
There had also been the little digs she’d like to get in, the flirtations she liked to start with other men to make him jealous and the angry sex…lots of angry make-up sex, too. Damn near exhausting.
In the end he hadn’t liked the person he’d become while they were together, and had been searching for a way out of months. Breaking off an engagement with the daughter of the current Governor wasn’t something a guy could just do without ramifications-at least according to April’s father.
Maybe this hadn’t been the best idea.
“This is probably a surprise for you,” April said, toying with her still full glass of wine.
Carter forced his smile wider. “I’m not opposed to having dinner with old friends. We didn’t end our relationship on bad terms, you know. ” His mother had been thrilled when she found out he was having dinner with April while he’d wanted to strangle the person who had told Leah his business. Leah had made it perfectly clear that she wanted him to get back together with April. That he and April would have the most beautiful babies together. As the oldest, it was Carter’s duty to provide grandchildren as soon as possible.
That perfect smile of hers slipped, becoming brittle. “Maybe you didn’t but I did. ”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
She glanced around the dining room. Patrons talked, drank and ate, ignoring them. “I know you cheated on me, Carter, and I think you should finally come clean about it. ”
“You’re out of your mind,” he said, then took a deep breath. “I’ve never cheated on anyone. Never will either. ”
She shook her head, brittle smile staying firmly in place. “Daytona, after party. Cute blonde, wearing a racing jumpsuit. Big brown eyes staring at you with hero worship. You took her back to her hotel room because she’d gotten sick. ” She made little air quotes.