“So how is this going to go?” she asked.
They had taken another shower. This time she had taken the trouble to do her hair, braiding it around her head like a crown. Once it was dry she’d wear the wavy curls to survive the last of the Texas summer heat. Carter had called her Chocolate Swiss Miss, which made her laugh.
Now they were on the balcony, eating the room service they had ordered.
“How’s what gonna go?” he asked
“Don’t be coy,” she admonished. “You know what I mean. Me in Austin. You in Houston. Me in law school. You playing baseball.”
“Are you asking if I intend to see you again?”
She shrugged, looking out onto the street. She felt the anxious anticipation of his answer set in.
Carter reached across the table to take her hand, bringing her back around to face him.
Hey, Jordan,” he said with a sincere look on his face. “I like you, a lot. And I’d really like to see where this goes. Even if that means we have to text, and facetime, and Skype, and talk on the phone until you come back to Houston then so be it.”
Jordan felt her heart fill with something so warm and fierce she thought she might just break down crying.
“But I have to say this, even if it means breaking the speed limit and you cutting a class or two, we are going to have a repeat of today between now and then, little lady.”
Jordan just laughed.
16
Venus. Goddess of Love.
Carter was in his bedroom. His sanctuary. It didn’t stop the music from below from penetrating the walls and floor. It was almost morning and they were still at it downstairs.
It was the annual holiday party he hosted at his place after each baseball season. It was usually only attended by the bachelors and single male friends of the Sluggers, for very good reason. That was because it was also usually very well attended by a flock of females.
He bent his head down to look through the telescope again. As bright as Venus was this time of year, he didn’t really need a telescope to see it. He just wanted it up close and personal.
It reminded him of someone special.
The long distance thing with Jordan had ended up being mostly texts and phone calls, with the very occasional conjugal visit, due to both their busy schedules. She would be back in Houston for the holidays, and a full week was dedicated to just the two of them.
It made his dick begin to twitch. Frankly, her graduation and permanent move back to Houston couldn’t come soon enough.
Usually by this time at his party, Carter would be in the downstairs bedroom at the other end of the house enjoying his own happy ending to the party. It was designed with the very sexually active bachelor in mind.
One day these parties would have to end. More and more of his teammates had managed to get themselves hitched. Wives knew what went on at these parties. No married man would ever expose himself to the ire that would ensue should he dare make so much as an appearance at a Carter Fox party.
He heard the commotion downstairs make an abrupt shift. The music still blared. But now there was a louder, more angry ruckus going on.
“Dammit,” Carter muttered to himself, figuring an anthill of a spat had turned into a mountain of a fight between a few the players, probably over some girl. His house, his responsibility. He sighed and made his way downstairs.
He stopped at the bottom of the stairs as soon as he saw the real reason for the change in the mood of the party.
“Well, there’s the man of the hour,” Bobby Joe Fox yelled. “The boy who can’t even answer the phone when his daddy calls.”
Carter had made good on his promise that the last payment to whomever, was indeed the last. Which meant, yes, ignoring his “daddy’s” phone calls. Eventually, they stopped coming, Bobby Joe finally taking the hint. And Carter hadn’t regretted it a bit. Good riddance.
Now it seemed like the old man was changing tactics. If Carter wouldn’t take his calls, he’d just show up in person.
Carter managed to keep his cool, but his fists tightened at his sides. Several of his teammates stood ready at the sides, while the women just looked on in startled fright.
“What the hell are you doing here, Bobby?” Carter asked, as if he didn’t already know the answer.
“What? A father can’t come to see his son durin’ the holidays?” Bobby Joe said, with a sinister grin. “You won’t take my calls, so I thought I’d drop in. Wish you a Merry Christmas personally.”
He looked around and his eye fell on a ginger-haired bombshell in a silver dress that looked like duct tape wrapped around her generous curves.
“It looks like I came at just the right time,” he growled, ambling toward the woman, whose eyes grew large once she saw the direct route he was making her way. “I always did have a weakness for redheads.”
Bobby Joe wasn’t a bad looking man. Anyone looking at the two of them could see he had contributed to Carter’s daring green eyes and full head of wavy blond hair. If the years of alcohol, and God knew what else, hadn’t muddled the edges, he would still have it. Now he was just a pathetic loser chasing after one pie in the sky after another.
Carter was the first to reach him, taking three long strides, even as two of his teammates stepped in to block the way.
“I don’t think so,” he said grabbing the man by the arm.
Carter had also been gifted his height from Bobby Joe, who stood eye to eye with his son. Once upon a time, he might have been able to hold his own, strength-wise, against Carter. Years of Carter playing in the majors had ended that, and now Bobby Joe simply struggled helplessly under the one hand that held him firmly in place.
Bobby Joe gave his son a look that suggested murder. “Don’t you put your hands on me, boy! You forget who taught you how to swing that bat?”
Carter said nothing, simply holding him in place.
“Well, since we’re getting all intimate, let me show you what your daddy had to go through thanks to his good for nothing, ungrateful son.”
Bobby Joe pulled up the sleeve to the arm Carter was holding. A series of what looked like cigarette burns, ten in total, ran up his forearm. It was enough to cause Carter to loosen his grip in surprise. He had known there would be consequences to his inaction, but it was a bit of a shock to see it in person. He could hear a few of the women gasp behind him.
“That’s what they called ‘getting off lightly,’” Bobby Joe growled. “Only because I assured them that my dear, sweet son would step up to the plate.”
“Bobby,” Carter sighed. It was time to end this.
“But, noooo,” Bobby Joe continued. “My ungrateful bastard of a—”
“Enough!” Carter said, getting angry again. It wasn’t his fault his dad couldn’t keep his nose out of trouble. It certainly wasn’t his responsibility to bail him out every time. Not anymore.
He began dragging Bobby Joe back toward the front door. That’s when the man took a hard swing at his son, busting his lip wide open. It was enough to shock Carter into letting go. Bobby Joe took the opportunity to pull away in a rage, only to run at his son again, swinging for his face.
Carter backed away quickly enough to avoid the brunt of it, but the knuckle managed to get his nose hard enough to draw more blood. Thankfully there was no indication it was broken. That’s when his teammates came running into help out, grabbing the man and holding him back.
His fellow Sluggers held Bobby Joe in place as he struggled. They looked at Carter questioningly waiting for his direction on what to do with him.
Carter strode over and grabbed Bobby Joe by the collar of his shirt and pulled him out of the hands of his teammates, literally dragging him to the front door. His father kicked and screamed the whole way. With one hand, Carter opened the door and dragged Bobby Joe outside.
He did a quick scan of the large circular driveway in front of his house, searching for the car that was most likely tied to the man in his hands. He’d left the front gates open s
o he wouldn’t have to buzz in every attendee. In the sea of Escalades, BMWs, and brand new pick-up trucks, the dirty, beat up, 10-year-old truck wasn’t too hard to find.
The only thing saving Bobby Joe from a trip to jail was the fact that Carter was sure the man wasn’t drunk. Carter was quite familiar with a drunk Bobby Joe, and there was a distinctly sharp lucidity in the man’s eyes that belied having had a sip at all tonight, oddly enough. Perhaps the man wanted to be sober enough to actually remember giving it to Carter the way he had.
Carter could taste the blood on his tongue, and it only served to piss him off. Carter pulled him up by his collar and slammed him against the driver’s side of his truck and held him there.
“You listen to me, and you listen good,” he growled in his face. “I don’t ever want to see your damn face or hear your damn voice again, you hear me? No phone calls, no text messages, no contact whatsoever. We are done!”
Bobby Joe just gave his son a sullen look.
“You got off lucky tonight,” Carter continued. “Next time I’ll beat your ass to a bloody pulp. Understand?”
Bobby Joe struggled underneath him, pressing his hands into Carter’s bloody face to push him away. Carter was more than happy to oblige, twisting away but waiting until the man was actually in his truck. He waited while the man fiddled around inside, looking for his keys or whatever. He wasn’t going to go back inside until he was sure the man was gone. Carter jumped back in surprise as Bobby Joe started the ignition and squealed out of the driveway in a hurry.
Carter took a moment to cool off in the chilly morning darkness.
Merry fucking Christmas.
17
Jordan wound her way around the quiet, wide streets of River Oaks, carefully following the directions Google Maps had given her to Carter’s place. This would be her first time actually seeing it.
The Douglas family Christmas and New Year’s tradition always entailed a trip to Shreveport, Louisiana to visit Jordan’s grandparents. Jordan had nearly a month off between semesters and had no problem spending most of it in Houston.
Especially since a week of it would be with Carter.
By now, both her parents were aware of her long-distance relationship with him. Even her mother had managed to come around, grudgingly.
She had on a pair of stretch pants, riding boots, and a long, black cashmere sweater that she had received for Christmas. By the time she finished the waxing appointment she had scheduled and enjoyed a late lunch, it was almost 3 o’clock.
When she finally found the right number on the right street, she stopped and stared for a moment at the sprawling white house set back behind a wrought iron fence with a line of shrubs hiding it from view. She pulled up to the gate and pressed the buzzer for the intercom.
As though he’d been waiting for her, Carter answered almost before she could pull her finger away.
“Hey, beautiful, come on in.”
She smiled as the gates opened up and she drove her car into the open circular driveway. She turned off the engine and got out of the car. Now that she was behind the wall she had a better view of the house and grounds. Taking it all in she realized that “house” was a major understatement. Estate was more like it, especially since the entire thing could hold two—no, three of the house her parents lived in.
It was a cream colored, classic home with a dark tiled roof. There was a huge balcony overlooking the perfectly manicured lawn in front. The lawn actually looked more like a miniature park, or at least it would when the sculptured shrubs and trees grew their leaves back in.
“Hey there, Juliet,” she heard his voice say from above her.
She looked up toward the balcony that had been empty a second ago, and smiled at Carter leaning over the edge.
“I think you have the locations reversed, Romeo,” she said, smiling in response.
He just laughed. “Hold on a sec, I’ll be right down.”
She held on. She held her breath. Then she blew it out her mouth. She took one last long look around at his property, then made her way to the trunk of her car just as he was opening the front door.
“I got that,” he said rushing over as she was pulling her suitcase out.
Instead of taking the suitcase he grabbed her around the waist and swung her around in a hug.
“Carter!” she laughed, then wrapped her arms and legs around him.
Carter leaned in to kiss her and she smiled against it.
He pulled away, smiling. “It’s good to see you, Jordan.”
“It’s good to see you too, Carter.”
With that, he let her slide to the ground then grabbed her bag, carrying it in with one hand instead of rolling it inside. She shut the trunk of her car and followed him in. The floor of the front foyer was covered in white marble. Her boots tapped noisily against it as she followed him. It opened up into a huge living room. There was a gorgeously large Christmas tree, decorated with white ornaments.
She walked forward a bit and turned around and saw the staircases that rounded down on either side of the entrance. Above her was a huge chandelier. She couldn’t believe people actually lived in places like this.
“So, welcome to Casa de Carter,” he said, resting her bag by the stairs. “Let me give you the grand tour.”
“Should I take my boots off or something?” she asked.
He smiled. “You can take anything you want off.”
She hit him on the chest playfully.
“I’m going to take my boots off, and only my boots…for now,” she added with a teasing smile. The house was far too nice for her to feel comfortable treading around in them.
As she walked over to one of the couches, she could see the backyard through the windows. It was a larger version of the front, but with a grand pool and hot tub as the centerpiece. To the left was a huge grill area and patio with a seating area.
“The hot tub is ready to go anytime you are Ms. Douglas,” Carter said, sliding his body up behind hers and surrounding her with his large arms.
“In winter? It’s a bit chilly, no?”
“That’s the point,” he said laughing. “Plus, I’ve got something else that can warm you up.”
She laughed and turned around in his arms. “I wanna see the rest of this place.”
He gave an exaggerated sigh and let her go, taking her hand instead.
Other than the large living room, the first floor housed a large workout room, a small home theater, a large formal dining room, a smaller cozier eating area right off the kitchen, and one room he refused to show her.
“Now I’m really curious,” she said with a wicked grin. “What is the notorious Carter Fox hiding in there?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know,” he said, trying to pull her away.
“Come on, how bad could it be?” she insisted, keeping her feet firmly planted.
He cringed and grabbed the back of his neck. “Okay, fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He reached over and opened the door. Jordan eagerly peeked in…and cringed.
“It looks like—it looks like one of those hotels that—”
“Yeah,” he said, grimacing. “I’m going to have to get a decorator in there ASAP.”
He reached out and shut the door on her. “Okay, on to the upper floor.”
She followed him slowly, pondering what she had just seen. She knew Carter Fox had a reputation but that was weird. There were no chains hanging from the ceiling, or a wall of sex toys, but that was a room that pretty much screamed SEX!
She shook it off as he led her upstairs, one hand holding hers.
“First of all, let me show you where you’ll be sleeping,” he said, leading her around a walkway that circled the foyer below. He pushed the double doors in and led her to what had to be the master bedroom.
Unlike the travesty downstairs, this one was beautifully decorated in muted, neutral colors. Right in front of them was a large picture window with a balcony looking into the back
yard, and a spectacular view of downtown Houston. To the left was a large master bathroom flanked by two huge, walk-in closets with more space than any man should have.
He led her to the right toward the bedroom area. The bed was centrally located in a spacious room with another picture window view of the backyard and downtown Houston to the left and a cozy seating area and fireplace to the right. It was the kind of room that you never wanted to leave.
“It’s beautiful,” she said in awe. Then she turned to him. “It doesn’t seem like you at all,” she said laughing.
“Looks can be deceiving,” he said with a grin. He walked over to the bed and plopped down on it. “Should we break it in?” he asked.
She swished her hips as she walked over to him. “Now there’s the Christmas present I’d been hoping for.”
“Well, let me help you unwrap it,” he said, furiously pulling his shirt off.
Jordan laughed as she followed, just as eagerly removing her clothes.
18
The sex had been fast and furious, as only two people who had gone far too long between sessions could accomplish.
Jordan’s body curled up against Carter’s and he noted how perfectly she fit: her leg draped over his thigh, her stomach against his hip, her breasts pressed up against his ribs and her head securely in the crook of his shoulder. It was like two pieces of a puzzle sliding right into each other.
“These sheets are so smooth,” she murmured. “It’s like sleeping on melted butter. I could stay here forever.”
Her eyes got drowsy. She was falling asleep against him, apparently worn out by their session. 1020 thread-count, Egyptian cotton could do that to a person. Eventually, he heard the steadied breathing and knew she had escaped into a nap.
He hugged her closer to him, happy to just lie there like that.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Carter asked as Jordan slid off the bed and began picking up her sweater.
She had woken up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, even though it was now dark outside.
Home Run: A Texas Heat Romance Page 9
