by BJ Harvey
Her eyes narrow on me. “Men like my husband and sons always like things that aren’t good for them. It’s my job to watch out for them and make sure they don’t make mistakes they can’t come back from.”
What does ‘things that aren’t good for them’ even mean?
“But my son has never been one to do what’s good for him, so I must make the best of his need to have his fun, and so I’m asking that you continue conducting yourself in a manner becoming of a Carsen.”
Holy fuck, she didn’t just say that.
Before I can retort, she continues, “It would be best if you curtail your secondary employment first and foremost.”
“What?” I gasp, flabbergasted.
“Our investigator has informed us that you work on a casual basis in a profession that would have a detrimental effect on my husband’s campaign if it was to come out publicly. I ask that for the duration of my husband’s mayoral bid or the length of my son’s infatuation with you, you refrain from working in that role. We’re prepared to make up for any financial shortfall this may create, as I’m sure you’re only working in such an establishment due to financial need.”
“I—”
“If you could contact my husband’s secretary with the amount of compensation required, we can have this taken care of quickly and quietly, as I’m sure my son would appreciate you making such a gesture in support of his father’s campaign, avoiding any embarrassing situations for my son and my family.”
I’m speechless, and I’m never lost for words.
Then the words come to me, but it’s just too late when they do because, having said her piece, Annabel Carsen gives me a curt nod and spins on her heels, walking out the door.
It’s not until that night when I’m lying wide awake in bed, Cade sound asleep and making his cute little snorts while sleeping beside me, that I realize I made a huge mistake because by not telling his mother exactly where she could stick her ‘offer’—I’d played right into her hands. She now has a trump card should she decide to use it.
Whatever the future holds for the Cade and I, Annabel Carsen will not have anything to do with it if I have my way.
Unfortunately, she did succeed at one thing today because when I finally fall asleep, my last thought is that maybe I’m that thing that’s not good for Cade.
Damn.
“You look like death warmed up,” Noah says coming up beside me at the nurses’ station Friday morning.
I turn to look at him. “Hello to you too, sunshine.”
“Late night?” His eyes dance with amusement, and I know he’s trying to get a bite.
My lips twitch. “Something like that.”
“Things good with Abi?” He leans a hip into the desk.
“Is this you or your wife asking?” I retort, knowing Zoe’s propensity for gossip.
“If I say both will you tell me anyway?” he says with a grin.
“Probably,” I reply dryly. “Things are good.”
“Real good, if the size of your coffee if anything to go by.”
I take a long drink of the coffee in my hand and narrow my eyes at him over the lid. “You here for a reason?” I lower the cup onto the counter.
“Just letting you know that it’s your turn to hold a barbecue.”
“Who decided that?”
“I did. Well Dan did too, but Thomas offered.”
“I’ll be sure to thank him for that later.”
“You know the deal. We know Abi but we don’t know her, so we figured we’d give the girl a chance to escape your bed and make sure she’s good enough for you.”
I lean over and look down the front of his scrubs before pulling back.
“What are you doing?” he asks with a laugh.
“Checking out your rack, because it’s obvious you’ve turned into a woman.”
He frowns. “What?”
I lift my hands up and make air quotation signs. “You want to make sure she’s good enough for me? Who are you, my mother?”
He barks out a laugh. “There’s no way anyone missed Annabel checking out your date at the fundraising ball. She went from wary, to skeptical, to downright scowling by the end of the night.”
“Mom’s good like that. Unless I’m dating a high-society debutante with family connections that will benefit Carsen Capital and my father, no one I date will be worthy.”
“She’s not that bad . . .”
“Are you hearing what you’re saying? This is Annabel and Cade Carsen the Second we’re talking about. Mom was trying to hook me up with Emily Gregory again.”
“Oh, that ol’ chestnut?” he says with a grin. “Emily is dating a Chicago Bulls player now. Doesn’t matter if you’re a hotshot doctor. From what I’ve heard, she’s smitten.”
“I would be too,” I say with a grin.
“See? Maybe instead of seeing if Abi’s worthy enough for you, we’re really seeing if you are good enough for Abi.”
“Probably a good idea,” I reply dryly. “We had another event yesterday. She was absolutely flawless. A little distant afterwards, but being around that high-brow scene when you’re not used to it would do that to anyone.”
“Careful there, Carsen. I’m starting to think there’s more to this little arrangement of yours,” he muses.
“So,” I say loudly, clapping my hands together to mark a clear change of subject, “when is this barbecue supposedly happening?”
“Next Sunday. Gives you and Thomas enough time to clean up your house.”
“I have a cleaner, so that point is moot.”
“You’re the only two without kids and therefore your house is not a shit fight. Also gives Abi has the opportunity to learn about you and your quirky traits before the party, Caden Carsen . . .” he teases, shaking his head in mock concern.
“What do you mean by that? There’s nothing wrong with wanting a clean house.”
“There’s clean and there’s sterile. You need to learn the difference. Jeez, anyone would think you were a surgeon,” he muses with a huge shit-eating grin.
It’s then I feel the air in the room change, the energy becoming stifling.
“VIP,” Noah mutters, looking over my shoulder. I follow his line of sight, spotting my father and the hospital board director walking through the emergency room, Dad being stopped by a number of people wanting to shake his hand.
“Fuck,” I spit out, but Noah just grins.
“You’re probably gonna have to get used to this, Carsen. Lots of photo opportunities, holding babies, you name it.”
I chuckle. “Months of seeing my father everywhere. Fun times.”
“Just smile and nod and go with it. It’s not worth making waves.”
“I know. Doesn’t mean I need to like it.”
Noah reaches out and claps my shoulder. “That’s why you have all of us. We’ll always keep your feet firmly on the ground. I’m sure Abi is a good distraction, too.”
I can’t help it—I smile at him knowingly. “You have no freaking idea how distracting she is.”
“That is never a bad thing. You two looked good together at the ball. She wasn’t affected by the schmoozing or your parents.”
“She tried a sneak attack on her. Luckily, Callie and I deflected anything too bad.”
“Does Abi know about them?”
“I told her everything she needed to know to deal with them.”
My father works the room like a pro, lots of handshakes, smiles, and nodding. It wouldn’t be so bad except for the photographer documenting everything he does, making the whole scene pretentious.
“You should tell her why you are the way you are towards them.”
“It’s not serious between us,” I lie. The last four weeks with her have been good—really good—and I’d be kidding myself if I tried to say that I didn’t want to continue seeing and doing her.
Noah studies me and quirks a brow. “It’s not serious? You’re so full of shit.”
My head snaps towards hi
m. “What do you mean?”
“I was at the ball, remember? Zoe said you guys looked good together and told me that Abi was a bundle of nerves and excitement all afternoon beforehand. That is not the behavior of a woman who is not wanting more than sex. Believe me, buddy, that woman likes you and watching you with her, you like her too.”
“Fuck, you sound like Thomas.”
“Thomas is one of the most onto-it guys I know.”
“Hey! What about me?”
“Aww bubbakins, you feeling unloved?” Noah teases. “All I’m saying is don’t rule out something more just because it started off as something less.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to explain to him argue with him but I’m stopped by my father’s voice coming from beside me.
“Dr. Taylor, good to see you,” my father says, shaking hands with Noah before letting go and nodding towards me. “Caden.”
“Mr. Carsen,” I reply, keeping things professional in front of the Gerald Watkins, the board chair.
“Your father was here for a meeting with the hospital board about the new Carsen Wing and wanted to stop by to see his son in action. Isn’t that right, Cade?” Gerald says to my father.
I stop myself from rolling my eyes because my father never does anything without an ulterior motive. Some may call me skeptical; I call it being a realist who can see past my father’s pretentious bullshit. If he’s here in the ER, he’s here for a reason, and it has nothing to do with the new cancer wing he’s paying for.
“Lucky you caught me between patients,” I reply.
“Gerald,” my father says, turning his attention to my boss’s boss’s boss, “I actually have something I need to talk to my son about. Do you mind if I catch up with you back at your office?”
There it is—proof that this isn’t just a random visit.
“Not a problem, Cade,” the chairman says before turning to me. “Dr. Carsen, Dr. Taylor, if you’ll excuse me.” With a nod, Gerald spins on his heels and walks away from us.
“Noah, will you excuse us for a minute?” my father says.
“Not a problem. Cade,” Noah says, talking to me, “we’ll catch up later?”
“Sounds good. Say hi to Zoe and the kids for me.”
“Come ‘round and see your goddaughter soon, yeah? Bring Abi too,” he adds, a wicked grin on his face.
“Will do.”
“Is there somewhere we can talk?” my father asks, not wasting any time.
“Sure. Follow me,” I reply, grabbing my coffee cup from the desk and leading him down the corridor to the doctor’s lounge.
When we’re both inside the room, I close the door and lean my back against it, ready to face whatever he’s got to throw at me because knowing my father, it could be anything.
“We have to talk.”
“Gathered that,” I reply, taking a slow sip of my coffee.
“Caden, there’s no need to be so cavalier. I’m your father, and I deserve your respect.”
“Respect is a privilege, not a right.”
“You bear the Carsen name. My name,” Dad says in a strained voice.
“Yet there have never been two men less alike than you and me.”
“Enough!” he commands, and even I know that it’s not worth poking the angry bear, especially in my place of employment. “If you’d stop trying to prove your balls are bigger than mine we could get this over with.”
I wave my hand in front of me. “Of course, Dad. Forgive me. Carry on.”
He narrows his eyes and shakes his head before making my head explode. “I’d like you to stop seeing Abi Cook.”
Well that wasn’t where I thought this was going.
I wait to see if he’s going to elaborate. When he doesn’t, I decide to give him his moment. “And why is that?”
“The actions of children reflect on their parents, especially during a political campaign. The media will be searching for any hint of a scandal.”
Upon hearing that, I scoff at him. “What I do or don’t do has no bearing on you. Who I’m dating has absolutely nothing to do with you or your mayoral campaign.”
“Cade, I’m simply asking that you consider your family and standing when choosing the woman you are seen publicly with.”
“Can you hear yourself right now? The man who has cheated on his wife numerous times is trying to tell me that I can’t see an honest, hardworking, genuine woman who wants to spend time with me.”
Not surprisingly, Dad doesn’t bother denying his past—and probably present—infidelities. “She’s a stripper,” he states, looking me straight in the eye.
I narrow my eyes at him. “This isn’t news to me, although I’m surprised you of all people are looking down your nose at someone using their body in such a way.”
“What does that mean?”
“You know exactly what it means. You’ve never been one to shy away from strip clubs, and don’t bother denying it.”
“The Chicago Working Men’s Club is a centuries-old business association.”
The fact that he knew what I was talking about speaks volumes. “It’s also a front for strippers and prostitutes. It’s the worst-kept secret in the city,” I reply.
“She also lived with a junkie who left her with a considerable amount of debt.”
“Hence the need for stripping,” I retort angrily. “There’s nothing that your private investigator can find out about her that will surprise me and if it did, it would simply make me want to spend more time with her. She’s smart, independent, ambitious, and determined to make it on her own, living her life by her rules. She’s worked hard to pull herself out of that debt and now has her own apartment, a successful career, and a fulfilling life. What more could I ever want in a woman?” I know I just laid it on a bit thick, but nothing I said was untrue.
“She’s not worthy of being on the arm of a Carsen.”
Hearing him say that, I lose the loose hold I had on the burning anger searing through me. I drop my coffee cup in the trash and take two steps forward, raising my hand and poking my father’s chest.
“Having the Carsen name does not make us better than anyone else,” I spit out. “If I want to keep seeing Abi, I will. It is not your job to say who I should and shouldn’t date, and it hasn’t been in a long time. Abi will be at my side for any events I’m summoned to attend. Outside of that, you will not have anything to do with her or our relationship.” My voice is rough now, my chest heaving as my father stares at me impassively before taking a step backward.
He regards me momentarily before shaking his head. “I should’ve known you’d act this way. Since your brother isn’t here, you were bound to use my campaign to make a statement.”
“Make a statement about what?” I ask harshly.
He doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he straightens his tie and steps to the side, stopping when our shoulders meet. “Look, I understand that us men have a need to go slumming it at some time in our lives. Just consider doing yours after my campaign, or at least be a little more discreet about it,” he says through gritted teeth. “It wouldn’t take much for a reporter to go digging for gold in your pretty little girlfriend’s past . . . that’s all I’m saying. If you insist on seeing her, we’ll have to look at taking measures to minimize any fallout there might be should it come out.”
“I’m not the one running for public office, and neither is Abi.” I stand to my full height, looking him square in the eye. “And don’t even think of taking any measures where Abi and I are concerned.”
“I’ll do whatever I feel needs to be done, Cade. Don’t fucking cross me.”
And before I can tell him to go to hell, he disappears through the doorway.
I should’ve known that I’d be roped into kitchen duty for Cade and Thomas’s gathering.
I’m standing in Cade’s kitchen, educating Thomas on the importance of having pasta salad at any barbecue, when Cade walks into the room wearing nothing but a pair of jeans, a t-shirt tucked into the
waistband. It’s like a scene out of one of those cheesy rom-coms—my one guilty pleasure, other than Cade—where the hot, hunky guy walks into the room and choir music plays as the heroine’s tongue rolls out of her mouth in unadulterated lust. Staring at his bare chest, suddenly wanting to do more than just look, I remember how good it was when he railed me on the kitchen counter last night.
He clears his throat, and my eyes lift lazily to meet his dancing ones, a wicked grin playing on his lips. “Everything okay, Spitfire?” he asks, that sexy grin of his doing downright illegal things to my downtown playground.
You wouldn’t think he’d done me dirty just an hour ago because right now, all it would take is a crook of his finger to get me jumping him like a spider monkey in heat.
“Are you two going to continue eye-fucking each other or are we going to get this shit done so I can sit down and enjoy another beer?” Thomas asks, breaking the moment.
Dragging my eyes off my prize—one that I’ll definitely claim again later—I look towards Thomas.
“We could just go ahead and do actual fucking. In fact . . .” I lean into him and point to the counter where he’s chopping vegetables, “ . . . we may have already christened this counter just last night.”
Thomas rears back and glares at me. “At least tell me you sterilized.”
“What are you trying to say?” I ask with an amused grin, as I hear Zach call out, “Hey,” from the entryway.
Thomas looks at the counter then to Cade. “Think you might warn me when I’m touching surfaces where you’ve fucked?”
Cade shrugs and looks at me, a knowing smile playing on his lips just as Dani and Zach enter the room.
“Hey,” Dani says, making her way towards me, putting a saran wrap-covered salad bowl on the counter before turning to give me a hug.
“Do mother-buffer duties include chef services?” she muses in my ear.
“They seem to include a lot of things,” I murmur for her ears only. I catch Thomas watching us, his expression thoughtful. “What?” I mouth.
Dani steps away and looks between the two of us.
Thomas grins and shakes his head. “Not yet.”
