Carter rocked back and forth on his heels, thinking of his happy place upstairs, warm and sleeping in bed. “So,” he began, clearing his throat, “have a good sleep and I’ll see you in the morning—”
“Wesley.” Eva stopped him. His first name reverberated around the stainless steel appliances and granite worktops of the kitchen.
He took a deep breath and pushed his hands into his pockets. “Yes?”
“I meant what I said. I am . . . happy for you and Katherine.”
Carter let the hesitation wash over him. “Good.”
“But,” she said firmly, making Carter’s heart thump, “I would have appreciated a conversation with you before you proposed to my daughter. It’s common courtesy.”
“I know,” Carter said, dipping his chin. “And I apologize. Really. But it was a last-minute decision to do it when I did.” He gave a wry chuckle. “I’ve never done this before. I’m learning as I go.”
“I still have . . . reservations about certain things,” she continued, as though Carter hadn’t spoken.
Carter’s molars ground together when she paused. The fact that she was filtering and picking her words carefully was troubling. “I’ve no doubt you do.” He tried to relax and make his voice calm. “But I can assure you, my past is my past and I have no intention of it ever being a part of our future. You have nothing to worry about.”
Eva exhaled heavily and took two steps toward him. “I hope so. Because if you break her heart, hurt her by getting embroiled in something dangerous or illegal, end up back in that shithole on Staten Island, or treat her in any other way than she truly deserves, I will fucking end you.”
Her palm clapped Carter’s cheek twice. Firmly. “Merry Christmas.”
Well, fuck.
chapter three
Kat shifted her face against the soft pillow under her right cheek. She wasn’t sure whether she was still asleep and dreaming or whether the warm, extraordinarily sensual kisses she was feeling at the base of her spine were actually real.
Keeping her eyes closed, she allowed herself to relax under the sensation of tender lips, erotic licks, and hums of pleasure coming from the far end of the bed. She sucked in a slow, staggered breath when she felt large, callused hands caress her naked sides, fidgeting slightly when they passed over her annoyingly ticklish ribs. A tremble of laughter against her thigh confirmed she was, in fact, not dreaming, before the kisses began to move languidly across the dimples of her ass and along her right cheek where a warm tongue left a wet trail to her leg—
“OW!”
Kat’s head shot from the pillow and snapped around to see a very smug and very naked Carter with his teeth still embedded in her ass cheek.
“What the hell?” She laughed at his expression. He looked ridiculously delicious with his mouth on her. She smirked as his eyes sparkled roguishly up at her. He released her flesh with a soft popping sound and licked and kissed it gently. It hadn’t hurt, but it would have been worth him biting her ass over and over just so she could watch his tongue do that again.
“Merry Christmas,” he said with a low husk. He rested his chin on her ass and rubbed his hands down the sides of her legs.
Kat ran a hand across her face. “Merry Christmas to you,” she answered as her palm landed heavily back onto the bed. “You wanna explain to me what the hell you’re doing taking chunks out of my ass on Christmas morning?”
He shrugged. “Because I can,” he answered nonchalantly, glancing at her engagement ring. “I was watching you sleep,” he continued, a pink hue appearing on his cheeks. “And you moved, and your ass looked spectacular, so I thought I’d wish it a good morning and a merry Christmas. You know, being courteous an’ all. It’s too pretty to ignore.” His hand wandered reverently over her bottom.
Kat rolled her eyes playfully. “Well, next time, go easy with the teeth on my pretty ass, Vampy McVamperson.”
Carter snorted, raised himself onto his palms, and prowled slowly up her body. Jesus, he was magnificent above her, oozing sex and strong masculinity. His muscles tensed and relaxed as they carried his weight, causing the ink to rise and dip with each movement. Kat rolled onto her back, and smiled up at him when the tips of their noses touched.
“Hey,” she murmured. His body settled carefully onto her.
“Hey,” he replied before he pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was patient but wanting, and made Kat sigh and wrap her arms around his neck.
Morning breath be damned.
He hummed and cupped her head in his hands, deepening the kiss just enough to make Kat gasp and arch underneath him. She smiled when he rubbed himself eagerly against her hip, growing harder with each pass of her tongue in his mouth. Carter pulled away when she shook with laughter.
“What?” he asked with an amused expression.
“I was just thinking,” she answered while tapping her chin with her index finger. “You bite my ass because you think it’s pretty; maybe I should do the same to your cock. Because I think it’s exceedingly prett—”
She squealed when his hands tickled her sides mercilessly, stopping her mid-sentence, pulling her onto his chest, as he rolled onto his back, trapping her against him.
“Don’t!” Kat muffled her shrieks of laughter into his shoulder. “We have guests!”
“I don’t care,” he said with a wide smile. “Let’s get one thing clear, Peaches, my cock might be a lot of things,” he grumbled, holding her tightly. “But pretty is not one of them.”
He kissed her again when she laughed and patted her ass with each word. “Hard, awesome, and huge: these are words you can use, but for the love of God, not pretty.” He tried his hardest not to smile when she snorted with laughter, but failed terribly. He cupped her face and gave her a pleading look. “Dammit, woman, give my dick some dignity.”
“Oh, I’ll give it something,” she promised.
He hissed when she grasped his cock, rubbing her palm down to his balls. It may have been an underhand move to distract him with sexual favors, but Kat didn’t care. Seeing his mouth drop open as she touched him was more than worth it. He was stunning. He panted her name when her grip tightened.
“That feel good?” she asked, licking the inked orchid on his shoulder.
“Fuck yes.”
“Can you be quiet?” she teased. “We have guests.”
“Turn around and I’ll bite your pretty ass to keep quiet.” He moaned through his laugh when her hand sped up. “Christ, keep doing that and I’ll do whatever you want.”
He pulled her face down to his so he could kiss her senseless. He moved his hips, hunting out her hand, and groaned when she cupped his balls. His head dropped onto the pillows, his eyes rolling back. He rubbed his palms down her shoulders to her biceps, gripping her hard. “I missed not making love to you last night.”
Kat had no doubt that he’d have tried to wake her up when he’d come to bed, but she’d been dead beat. She kissed his pulsing neck, nibbling his Adam’s apple, which tasted warm and sweet from his cologne. It tingled on her tongue and made her skin flush hot. She moved her hand up and down twice more. His moans started getting louder when she rubbed her thumb over his wet tip, the muscles in his jaw jumping as he got closer to release. As amazing as it would be to have him come all over her, Kat wanted to play with him some more. She softened her touch and gradually released him, sitting back on her heels.
His eyes fluttered open and his body relaxed back into the mattress, returning to earth. “Kat?” he asked with a long breath. He glanced down at his rock-solid cock bobbing against his stomach and frowned at her. “What? Why?”
Kat smirked triumphantly and crossed her arms over her bare chest. “Maybe that will teach you to keep your teeth to yourself?”
Carter’s mouth dropped open. Before she lost her resolve or he had a chance to grab her again, Kat lifted gracefully from the bed and pulled a pair of sleep pants and a hoodie from a chest of drawers.
“Oh, come on!” Carter exploded.
“You can’t be serious, baby?” He groaned with open palms gesturing wildly toward his twitching cock. “I’m . . . it’s . . . look, I’m sorry. Just touch it a little bit? Please . . . It’s Christmas. Come on, I won’t take long. You could even put it in your mouth, if you wanted. I’d be fine with that. It’d take two minutes, tops.”
Kat’s shoulders shook with laughter while she brushed her hair in the mirror. There was no way in hell she could look back at him spread-eagled, glistening, and hard for her. She’d be naked and riding him in a matter of seconds and, as nice as that thought was, having her mother in the house was kind of a libido killer. The same certainly couldn’t be said for Carter. The man was shameless.
“I won’t bite your ass again,” he continued insistently. “I promise. No matter how pretty or epic it is.” She could hear the smile in his voice as he begged.
Collecting herself once she was dressed, and keeping her eyes on his face as she turned around, she shook her head. “I’m going to go downstairs and make breakfast for everyone.” She wandered casually toward the bedroom door, feeling his dark, lustful eyes on her the entire way. She pointed to him indifferently. “I suggest you have a cold shower . . .” She failed to hold in her smile and looked pointedly at his erection. “The pair of you.”
She laughed loudly and bolted out of the room when two pillows flew like bullets after her, hitting the door and the wall in the hallway.
“You’ll pay for this, Lane!” he called out to her with a lighthearted groan and chuckle.
Kat smiled to herself and rubbed her chest as it exploded with warmth. “I’m counting on it,” she muttered, skipping down to the voices of the rest of her family coming from the kitchen.
Best. Christmas. Ever.
The rocking sound of Led Zeppelin could be heard down the street from O’Hare’s. Carter smiled as he made his way into the bustling body shop two days after Christmas, waving at Paul and the rest of the boys who weren’t under or inside the fuck-hot cars littering the shop floor. Seeing the place busy was more than Carter could have hoped for. While Max was in rehab, he wanted to ensure that Max’s family business continued making a roaring trade without the debts he’d built up with his coke habit and stupid business dealings.
“Carter!”
Riley Moore, former Arthur Kill inmate and old friend of Max’s and Carter’s, wandered over, wiping his oiled hands on an even dirtier cloth. His bearded face and curly dark blond hair also bore the telltale signs of work on an engine.
Carter grinned. “Mr. Moore.” They clasped hands and bumped shoulders. “How’re things going?”
“Good, man, good. Busy after Yuletide, you know?”
Carter knew. It was always rammed in the week after Christmas. Not that he was worried Riley couldn’t cope. Far from it. Years previous, Riley had run his own body shops, and for a few hedonistic summers, Carter had worked with him. Not that they did much working . . .
Before his last stint inside, Riley had engine shops across the city with two more in Philly and DC. He may have been a bigmouthed, womanizing, tattooed muscle head, but the fucker could run a good business. Carter was one of only a handful of people who knew that Riley had a business degree. He knew his shit and Carter couldn’t have been happier that he’d agreed to oversee O’Hare’s while Max was away. The books would be in good, experienced hands.
“The new staff okay?” Carter asked, glancing at the two new guys he, Paul, and Riley had hired. They were young but eager, with excellent references.
“Not bad. Green, but we’ll soon change that.” Riley winked.
Carter gestured toward the office where a young blonde slip of a thing whom Kat had appointed—because Riley couldn’t make an objective decision when it came to any woman—worked diligently on her computer. “And the new girl? Steph, is it?”
Riley snorted and pulled a smoke from his pocket. “Oh, yeah. She’s . . . great. Very perky.”
Knowing that tone too well, Carter groaned in exasperation. “Riley, man, I asked you not to fuck the new girl. Dude, seriously, we can’t lose staff because you can’t keep it in your damned pants. Just . . . don’t, okay?”
Riley grinned around his smoke, his hazel eyes bright.
“You already did, didn’t you?” Carter sighed, although silently marveling at the guy’s skills. “She’s been here, what, two weeks? How do you do it?”
Riley raised his eyebrows. “Well—”
Carter lifted a palm sharply. “Don’t.”
Riley chuckled and glanced at the new girl who, even across the fifty feet of the shop floor, blushed crimson under his stare. “Come on, Carter,” he teased, “did I not teach you a thing? Business one-o-one, make your staff feel welcome.”
Carter barked an incredulous laugh. “You’re an asshole.”
Riley smacked a large hand against Carter’s shoulder, making him stumble forward. “Hey, I’ve gotta get my kicks from somewhere, right?” He took a long drag from his smoke, his gaze settling on the floor. “We can’t all be loved up like you now, can we?”
Carter’s smirk was more than a little smug, but he still noticed the way Riley’s features pinched as he spoke. For all his showboating and charm with women, Carter knew Riley played his cards close to his chest in regard to love or genuine affection. As long as they’d known each other, Riley had never mentioned feeling anything other than lust for the women he got involved with. Carter was aware that he’d had girlfriends in the past, but God knows whether they were serious or long term. Man could have children littering the globe and no one would be any the wiser.
“How is your Miss L, anyway?” Standard wide-eyed expression back in place, Riley looked about as though Carter was hiding Kat someplace. “She not with you?”
“No. I managed to escape. She’s shopping with Beth, picking up my tux and getting a dress for New Year’s, apparently. I just give over my credit card and stand clear.”
Both men shuddered at the thought of something as hellish as dress shopping.
Riley leaned toward the shop door and tossed his smoke out onto the street. “Amen, brother.”
Carter checked over his shoulder to see who was within eavesdropping range. “And FYI, um, she won’t be Miss L for much longer.” He grinned, the words tumbling out in an excited rush. “She’ll be Mrs. C to you.”
“No way! You mean she said yes to your punk ass? You’re gettin’ hitched?”
Riley’s gigantic arms encased him in a smothering hug, despite Carter’s colorful objections, lifting his feet off the floor. Riley whooped and hollered and generally made a spectacle out of the two of them, gathering the whole shop’s attention.
“Put me down you fucking maniac!” Despite his words, Carter’s smile was wide when his feet once again found purchase.
“Ah, young love,” Riley cooed, dramatically fluttering his lashes. His face suddenly became serious as though he’d been hit with the answers to life itself. “You know what that shit means, dontcha?” He stood with his arms wide. “Bachelor party!” He clapped his hands. “Oh, man, that would be so sweet. I know an awesome place we could have it, it’s an old lap-dancing club, and I could hire some rather excitable and bendy girls who can—”
“Riley.” Carter interrupted with a finger to his face. “No.”
The speed with which Riley’s enthusiastic face dropped and his pout appeared was remarkable. Despite the humor still prevalent in his large, innocent eyes, he looked like a chastised puppy. “You’re no fun anymore,” he griped, pushing Carter’s chest.
Carter laughed. “Shut up.”
His cell phone ringing was just the excuse Carter needed to stop Riley’s bachelor party plans in their tracks. Noting the blocked number, he answered with a twist in his gut as he pressed the screen to accept the call. It could only be one person.
“Max?”
“Hey, man.”
Carter smiled and, mouthing Max’s name to Riley, made his way out of the shop to the quieter street. “Merry Christmas! H
ow ya doin’?”
There was a brief pause. “Oh, yeah . . . Merry Christmas. I’m okay. Same shit different day, you know?”
Carter didn’t know, but he was relieved to hear Max sound a little more upbeat than he had been almost a week ago. “Slow and steady wins the race, my friend,” he offered gently.
“Yeah, so my therapist keeps telling me.” His tone was flagrantly bitter.
“You’ll get there, bud. I know it,” Carter murmured. “Hey, did my parcel arrive?” The Christmas parcel Carter had sent to Max was Kat’s idea. She thought it’d be a nice way of cheering Max up while keeping a very distracted Carter busy.
Max chuckled. “Yeah, I tell ya, man, if I didn’t love you before, I do now.”
Carter snorted. “And all I needed to do was ply you with Dr Pepper, licorice whips, and chocolate M&M’s? You’re getting easy in your old age.”
“It definitely helped me make some new friends. I swear the licorice is like fucking contraband.” His laugh was louder this time and untied the knot of anxiety in Carter’s stomach. “It meant a lot, man.”
“No problem. It was from Kat and me. It was her idea, actually.”
Max cleared his throat. “Oh. Well, tell her I said thanks, will ya?”
“Sure.”
Carter rubbed his face. Jesus, the small talk was the worst. It was even harder for two friends who had, despite a twenty-year friendship, barely spoken over the phone before Max even went to rehab. It was very new for both of them and it was awkward as shit. Over the past couple of weeks, Carter had learned that safe topics of conversation were the body shop, their friends, and life as a CEO. The no-go areas Carter was still learning but, so far, therapy and all that that entailed, and Max’s medication were definitely out.
“So, look,” Carter said, kicking at the snowy sidewalk beneath his boots. “I have some news.”
Max’s voice was immediately more animated. “Thank fuck. I need some news here, man. I’m bored shitless. Hit me.”
Love and Always (A Pound of Flesh #1.5) Page 3
