He couldn’t, however, deny the fact that he was proud of her for having the courage to walk away. To give him that space and time that she thought he might need. He wasn’t so sure if the shoe was on the other foot that he’d have the strength to do the same. She thought he might want to return to his old life but even before meeting her he’d already decided that he was done with that.
So of course he’d pulled on his pants and ran after her, driving like a bat out of hell to her home. He’d been even more pissed off when he got there to find that she was nowhere to be found. He’d pounded on her front door but there hadn’t been any movement or sound inside. The neighbors had given him some serious side eye, however. A couple walking their dog had glared so hard at him he was sure they were going to have the police come and take him away. Once he’d returned home and calmed down he realized that he knew exactly where she’d be the next morning.
School.
Mallory would be returning to work so all he had to do was be there to meet her. She wouldn’t be able to avoid him. That’s how he found himself standing at the entrance to her school right by the teacher’s parking lot. He was holding a bouquet of flowers and so far he’d attracted quite a bit of attention, mostly smiles and indulgent giggles. One woman had stopped in front of him, her gaze raking him head to toe.
“Hey there, handsome. Are those flowers for me?”
He’d given her a regretful smile. “Sorry, they’re for my girlfriend.”
She’d given in gracefully, shrugging as she opened the door. “Lucky girl. If she doesn’t want them, give me a call.”
In the twenty minutes he’d been standing here waiting quite a crowd had gathered, pressing their noses against the glass windows and doors. Everyone seemed to waiting for him to either have a romantic reunion or to get his ass kicked.
When Mallory finally drove into the parking lot, his heart lurched in his chest and he was suddenly far more nervous than he’d expected to be. With every passing moment doubt had begun to build in his gut and he could taste the acid in the back of his throat.
What if she only said what she did because she wanted to let him down easy? What if she didn’t feel the same and he was about to get his heart broken? Why would an amazing woman like Mallory want to be with a guy like him? He had a pretty terrible past, after all. Not all women would be able to overlook it and just focus on the future. Maybe she’d stayed with him because he was protecting her but now that she’d come to know him a bit better she couldn’t stand him.
Then he thought about how they made love, the way she touched him and the sighs and moans that came out of her mouth. He simply couldn’t believe that she could be like that with him and not feel…something.
His chest tightened as Mallory walked toward him, her expression first surprised, then questioning, and finally happy. Her smile was genuine and so was the love he saw in her eyes as she stopped in front of him. Blood roared in his ears as he held out the flowers.
“Hi.”
Carter had a whole speech planned but he couldn’t remember a word of it, reduced instead to a one syllable greeting.
“Hi.”
She’d never looked more beautiful than this moment. Her long hair was shiny and pulled back in a ponytail that showed off her lovely face. She was wearing a conservative black skirt and white blouse but he didn’t need fancy lingerie to get his motor going. She was a knockout. All she needed was a pair of glasses perched on her nose and she could be the sexy librarian of his dreams.
“You shouldn’t have left. I didn’t need any time to think about it.”
“It’s a big decision. I didn’t want you to feel pressured. Our situation was…”
Her voice trailed off but he could fill in the blank.
“It was,” he agreed, closing the gap between them so he could smell her shampoo and feel the heat from her body. “But it doesn’t change what I feel.”
She had to lean back a little to look in his eyes. “What do you feel, Carter?”
It was time to man up. Say the words. Funny, he’d thought it would be so difficult but when the right woman was standing in front of him it was so easy.
“I love you, Mallory. I know it’s fast and I know we have a long way to go but I love you.”
She blinked a few times and a tear slid down her creamy cheek. “I love you, too.”
A cheer went up from the crowd that had gathered, startling them both. There were at least twice the number of people than the last time he’d looked and most of those that had been inside the building were now outside of it, clapping and exhorting them to kiss.
He didn’t have any objections to that. It sounded like a great idea.
“They want us to kiss.”
She raised an eyebrow, her gaze running over her fellow teachers. “I’ll never hear the end of it if we don’t and I’ll never hear the end of it if we do.”
His hand cupped her cheek. “So we might as well do as we please.”
Their lips touched and the rest of the world faded away. They had an audience but Carter didn’t care. They might as well have not existed for all the notice he took. His world narrowed to this one incredible woman. Thank heaven he’d gone on that blind date.
He raised his head and smiled, thinking about all they had to look forward to. So many firsts as a couple. “Come to Sunday dinner, Mallory? As my official girlfriend?”
“I’d love to.”
It was only the beginning for them.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
‡
One year and a few months later…
Carter’s mother Kathy held up the open magazine for Mallory’s inspection. “What do you think? The tables are gorgeous. We could do something like that but with the flowers you prefer.”
Mallory leaned forward and squinted her eyes. Her glasses were in her purse and she’d left it in the living room. The flower arrangements were all roses and everyone in the Anderson family knew how she felt about roses, but Kathy had a good eye for details. She was right about how lovely the rest of the table design was.
“I like it,” she pronounced. “But Carter has to look at it, too. He wants to be part of every decision.”
Sunday dinner had been eaten and the dining table cleared so that the women could look through bridal magazines to their hearts’ content and start making plans for Mallory and Carter’s wedding in the summer. He’d asked on Christmas Eve and now they had less than six months to put it all together.
The venue was easy. They both wanted to be married on the ranch. They’d rent a huge tent and invite everyone they’d ever met. Mallory had been leaning toward a small ceremony but it appeared that when Carter Anderson got married it was the event of the century. People from all over the globe were planning on attending their late June nuptials.
Brinley rolled her eyes. “Every decision? Jason only cared about the flavor of the cake. Everything else he left to me.”
“I’m only going to do this once.” Carter had quietly joined them to sneak a bite of her apple pie. He didn’t even pretend, not bothering to give her back the fork. “This wedding is for the bride, honeymoon is for the groom is so twentieth century. I want a wedding that reflects both of us.”
Jason slapped Carter on the back before leaning down to kiss Brinley on the cheek. “Then you’re going to have a craft beer bar, I assume? And twenty kinds of cheesecake?”
Mallory didn’t mind the craft beer but twenty kinds of cheesecake was a little over the top. But this man she was marrying…he was over the top. It was a trait she loved about him. Everything he did was all out. No half measures.
“Maybe,” Carter replied cheekily, settling into the chair next to Mallory. “Where in the hell have you been, anyway? You missed dinner.”
“Some of us have to work on a Sunday.”
Brinley stood and pushed her husband into a chair. “I’ll go fill you a plate. Relax a little.”
Jason sat heavily into the chair. “I could sleep for a week and
I just might do it. We finally finished a pain in the ass case. All of us were working on it.”
“Then you should celebrate,” Kathy said, patting his hand. “Take some time off.”
Jason nodded in agreement. “I might do that. We’ve been talking about taking the kids to Disney World. The weather would be nice in Florida.” His smile fell and his expression grew serious. “I also got a call today. There’s news about Walker. If you want it.”
Carter’s fingers tightened on her thigh but he stayed silent. He would want to know whatever it was that Jason knew but did she? She’d moved on and it had been months since she’d heard that name. Walker’s lawyer had filed several pre-trial motions that had made the news but mostly the justice system ground away slowly and silently.
“I do,” she finally said. She couldn’t deny her interest in the case. There were days she wondered if he would ever go to trial. So far, he was held at the county jail but if he was found guilty he’d go to the state prison. If he was found innocent…
She couldn’t really comprehend that outcome. As far as she was concerned, the evidence that Jason’s team had gathered, and more had been obtained since his arrest, the case was overwhelming against him.
“Walker has decided to plead guilty,” Jason said. “His lawyer is getting the papers ready to file right now.”
“And in return?” Carter growled, his body tense next to hers. “What does Walker get?”
“Death penalty is off the table. Life with no possibility of parole. All he has to do is admit to his crimes in detail.”
Peter Walker had already given several interviews to reporters, naming Matt Montgomery as his accomplice in the murders of the first two women. He and Matt would see a woman at the bar, stalk her, and then kill her. Except that Matt had “fallen” for the third woman. Peter and Matt had argued at the bar that night and Matt had taken off to warn the young woman. Peter had snuck into Matt’s trunk, expecting to hop out at the female’s home – where he would kill them both – only to be surprised that Matt had stopped at the rest area. Having no choice now that Matt knew what he’d done, he’d had to kill his friend then and there before running off into the woods and to the bar off of the highway where he’d stolen a car to get home. He’d dumped the vehicle about a mile from his house and no one had connected the car theft with the murder. Later he’d killed the girl but he’d already chosen his next victim from the news report about the murder.
Mallory.
“As long as he’s behind bars for the rest of his life,” she said. “That’s the important thing. No one else is going to get hurt. I think I’m going to get another piece of pie. Anyone want another?”
“I want one,” Carter declared, trailing after her into the kitchen where Brinley was just finishing warming Jason’s dinner. She gave them a smile and bustled out to the dining room carrying a full plate, leaving them alone. “Are you okay, babe?”
“I’m fine. I think that might be the last time we have to hear his name.” Mallory cut another slice of pie and handed it to Carter. “For you, gorgeous. Stop eating mine.”
He dug right in, his appetite enormous. “But I thought we were supposed to share everything.”
“I won’t share my dessert. Next time you’ll get a fork in the knuckles. You’ve been warned.”
Not that it would matter. She’d warned him before.
“You’re one tough lady. I like that about you.”
She tilted her head and waggled her brows like he was known to do.
“Oh yeah? What else do you like about me?”
“Every single solitary thing,” he responded immediately. “You know, I worship you so much I should probably marry you. What do you think about that idea?”
He was in a goofy mood.
“I think that you already asked me and I said yes.”
He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. He tasted like sugar and cinnamon.
“I don’t know what I would have done if you’d said no.”
“Asked again. Wore me down until I gave in. You’re annoying like that.”
“But you love me that way.”
She did and she would. Forever and always. Kathy had once said that when a woman or a man falls for an Anderson, it stuck for life.
Stuck together. It sounded over the top. And just right.
I hope you enjoyed Carter and Mallory’s happily ever after! Thank you for reading Road to Danger!
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About The Author
Olivia Jaymes is a wife, mother, lover of sexy romance, and caffeine addict. She lives with her husband, son, and two spoiled dogs in central Florida, spending her days with handsome alpha males and spunky heroines.
She is currently working on a new contemporary romance series to debut in the fall of 2018. She also writes The Hollywood Showmance Chronicles in addition to the ongoing Danger Incorporated series and the Cowboy Justice Association series.
Visit Olivia Jaymes at
www.OliviaJaymes.com
Other Titles by Olivia Jaymes
Danger Incorporated
Damsel In Danger
Hiding From Danger
Discarded Heart Novella (US Kindle Only)
Indecent Danger
Embracing Danger
Danger In The Night
Reunited With Danger
Window to Danger
Cowboy Justice Association
Cowboy Command
Justice Healed
Cowboy Truth
Cowboy Famous
Cowboy Cool
Imperfect Justice
The Deputies
Justice Inked
Justice Reborn
Vengeful Justice
Military Moguls
Champagne and Bullets
Diamonds and Revolvers
Caviar and Covert Ops
Emeralds, Rubies, and Camouflage
Midnight Blue Beach
Wicked After Midnight
Midnight Of No Return
Kiss Midnight Goodbye
The Hollywood Showmance Chronicles
A Kiss For the Cameras
Swinging From A Star
Wild on the Red Carpet
Love in the Spotlight
Road to Danger Page 20
