Wilde About Carson: The Brothers Wilde Series — Book Three

by Faircloth, Cate

  I have to take it easy. Not let him hang my stars too soon. I already have fun with Carson, so it isn’t like I am lacking for it or something. But fun with sex is even better, and that makes me happy. I usually wait at least two months or until the connection is there, so at this rate, things will go very slowly.

  I really hope I’m not getting relationship crazy, but I’m a relationship person. It’s nice to have someone that’s not mini and battery powered. My relaxation Saturday is gone anyway since I have to start the process of getting ready for this thing with Carson.

  First thing, shave my legs.

  I am a really good friend.

  7

  Carson

  “I think this is a bad idea, personally.” Dylan is rummaging through my fridge like he always does when he comes over. Uninvited.

  “What is?” I ask him, adjusting my glasses to see the screen better. Holden has been emailing me back and forth about the same thing. Over and over. This restaurant opening is nothing, not in comparison to the business we usually handle. But it is our first outside investment since Dad has passed, so I understand. There were only three other things he did, all in the food business. That was his thing. He loved food, him and Mom. Every year they went on vacation, just them, and came back with a bunch of eclectic, other worldly food. That’s why when Emily and I do it, it means something, and she knows that. Which is why I asked her to come with me, and it’s not like I can tell Holden or Dylan that. Especially not Dylan.

  “Taking Emily on a date.”

  That makes me really laugh. “It isn’t a date.”

  “Whatever, man.” He starts stuffing his face with the last of my stir fry. I don’t know why he doesn’t just make lunch or dinner at his own place.

  “I saw Forbes today,” I tell him, gauging his facial expression. And he looks like he has seen a ghost but is mad about it.

  “Why?”

  I cock my head at his response. “She’s friends with Emily. We knew each other in college. But she didn’t like me much, not after she heard my last name, but, she especially hates you. She warmed up to me after lunch.” I’m saved from his response when Holden emails me back.

  I groan to myself reminding him everything is in place—vendors, staff, all construction is finished—and also remind him that he could call instead of email. I shut my laptop, so I won’t answer him if he doesn’t listen.

  “How do you know her anyway?” I ask Dylan.

  He ignores me, gently setting the empty dish in the sink. He came from the office, so he still has his suit on minus the jacket. He’s the only one of us that will work on the weekends.

  “I don’t.”

  “So… she hates you because?”

  Dylan turns around, a soft glare on his face. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He walks off leaving me staring after him in confusion.

  “Okay…” I whisper to myself.

  Eventually, I get up and put my laptop on the desk by the kitchen where I leave my mail and head up to my bedroom to get dressed for this event. I hope there isn’t any press. I hate it when there is press. But Holden is usually pretty good at getting a handle on it. As far as I know, the entire family will be coming minus Alec, and Brant because they already flew back to LA, and soon Cora won’t be able to fly anymore.

  I’m pretty excited to be an uncle. I’ll have young minds to tarnish and keep secrets from their parents. I still don’t know if I want that for myself, any of what they have. My brothers are pulling my leg when they talk about Emily and me that way. I secretly know that, but it is starting to sound more plausible, and I only ignore it more.

  Why did I really ask her to come tonight? Can I honestly not handle this on my own? Even if I could, I would still want my friend to come. This is the kind of stuff we do together anyway. Honestly, the only thing in our lives we don’t do together is have sex, and it’s kind of funny. She told me about her first time back in college, freshman year. I pretended I hadn’t done it yet so she wouldn’t feel bad, even though it was long after I lost it back in high school during our senior year. That’s the kind of stuff we talk about, and we can talk about anything. So, I don’t know why I get so indifferent when she talks about this Kelvin guy she is dating, whatever his name is.

  Holden will probably give me his side eye if I don’t look presentable, so I pick out one of my casual suits, a lighter than charcoal gray and blue pinstripe dress shirt. I even shave my stubble I wanted to grow. Dylan is the only one of us with a full beard, and he is very serious about it. We once traveled for business together, and he forgot his conditioner for it—he was so pissed off. Anyway, I leave myself enough time to check my email because I know Holden wouldn’t listen, and it’s finally the last one about the meeting with the general manager we set up for the beginning because we are both getting there early.

  I let Emily know I am leaving my house so that she knows she can’t take too long on finishing up getting ready, or whatever it is that makes her take fifteen minutes to actually come out once I tell her I have arrived.

  It’s a flashy night, so that calls for a flashy car. I know Emily will love it once she sees it. I get to her place, text her, and wait seven minutes before I call.

  “Can you come out, please?” I smile to myself. I can’t be mad.

  “Sorry, I couldn’t find my other shoe.” I hear some ruffling on her end and hang up, so she can focus. I wouldn’t mind being late, but Holden would mind. A lot.

  I am parked in a tow spot, so I hope she comes out quick. A few minutes later, she finally comes out.

  Peeking in the door, she squeals. “The Spyder? I seriously hate you.” She gets in, smiling and laughing like she doesn’t hate me at all. Spyder is the name for my Bugatti, custom made as they all have to be. She was there when I got it and helped me customize it too. Emily looks over the interior as I peel out of the spot and head to the restaurant.

  “Yeah, I figured I would make a grand entrance. A better one than Holden.”

  She turns in her seat to look at me. I only get a quick glance because of how fast I am driving.

  “You look hot.” I tell her, the short, low-cut swooping green dress she has on probably matches her eyes. I don’t have to see to know.

  “You look nice, too.”

  “Just nice?” I chuckle.

  She ignores me, shaking her head as she gets her music playing. Even when I’m the one driving and in my car, she gets the choice of music. Compromise.

  “I told Dylan about seeing Forbes. He wasn’t too happy.”

  Emily half laughs. “Is he ever happy? All he does is brood and stay pissed off behind his beard.”

  “That’s true.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Nothing much.”

  “Hmm, I’m not sure why she doesn’t like all of you, I really don’t.”

  “You’re her friend.”

  “Yeah, but we’re old college friends, yoga-once-a-week friends. Not like you-and-me friends.”

  “No one is like you-and-me friends.”

  We both laugh because we know it’s true.

  “Where is this place?” she asks.

  “Downtown. Attached to a new apartment complex we finished developing last year.”

  “Oh okay. It’s funny, I have no idea what goes on regionally with the company.”

  I chuckle. “That’s true. I forget sometimes.”

  We fill each other in on our days, and I attempt to play at least one of the songs I actually want to listen to and fail. Pulling up to the building, I get the car valeted, and we walk inside.

  “It’s kind of empty.” Emily points out the obvious.

  “I had to come early for a meeting.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I would have met you here if I knew I had to wait.” She smiles softly, so I know she is only halfway serious.

  “Come in the meeting with me then.” I nod toward the back.

  The actual dining floor is modern—the tables look the same, simpl
e furniture, and one wall of booth seating. The bar is in the center stretching out around half the place. Televisions mount every corner, but it’s more of an upscale place, so it will probably only ever play the news.

  I hold the small of Emily’s back and lead her into the manager’s office. There are three managers and one general manager who is in charge of all of them. We don’t actually handle hiring for investments that require a full staff, that’s for HR to handle.

  “Carson, you’re late.” Holden greets me, all serious in his black-on-black suit.

  “Yeah, right. Mind if Emily sits in?” We shake hello, he nods it’s fine, and we sit down with the general manger—a young woman probably no older than thirty.

  “The opening is expected to do well. PR really got a handle on things,” Karen, the general manger says.

  “We have an amazing PR executive,” Holden answers. I smirk and give him a look because I know he is talking about Elizabeth.

  “I’m sure. So, these are the things I wanted to go over with you.” Karen and Holden talk business while I pretend to listen and look over Emily’s shoulder as she scrolls over Instagram.

  Karen is very businesslike especially in her business attire. I admire her tenacity, even though I didn’t hire her myself. But, our HR team knows what we want.

  “I think it’s safe to say we can enjoy the opening now and wait for the first crisis,” Karen jokes as we stand. I laugh because it’s actually funny and not to try and be polite, like I do most times in business meetings.

  “Thank you.” Holden shakes her hand.

  I smile down at Emily as we stand and get ready to leave, but she hangs back when Karen compliments her dress.

  “You freak out about everything,” I tell Holden.

  He chuckles, and I follow him to the bar.

  “How about our first drink in the new bar?”

  We lean over the mahogany wood. The bartender stops cutting lemons, and he comes our way. We order what we always do, and I get a paloma for Emily because she likes to pretend she doesn’t prefer hard liquor.

  “Hey, so when do people actually need to get here?” Emily comes to my side. I hand her the drink with a smile.

  “Soon.”

  She shakes her head standing between Holden and me.

  “You look nice, Emily. Not used to seeing you like this.” Holden smiles at her. He is a completely professional person. Anyone who works for us, in the office or not, he doesn’t spare a look at them. It could be the strict company policy on fraternization he has that is direct grounds for termination. Or that’s how he is.

  “Thank you, I’m not used to it either.”

  We laugh at her and sit at the bar to enjoy a bit of quiet before the place turns into enjoyable chaos.

  * * *

  “I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve been here.”

  “You were at the house last week.”

  “Not the theatre room. What are we watching?”

  Emily sits next to me on the couch with huge, deep leather perfectly appropriate for a theatre room. It’s my favorite room in the house, and we’ve watched many marathons here. I made the place look as much like a real theatre as possible—popcorn maker, drink stand, huge screen… it’s all very real.

  “I don’t know, let’s see.”

  Emily smacks through the popcorn she popped.

  “Are you enjoying destroying my clothes?” I ask Emily after she rubs popcorn butter on the sweats I gave her. We came back to my place after the dinner, I changed, and it would be mean to leave her in that tight dress when I got into jeans and a t-shirt. So once again, I lent her a shirt and sweats she had to roll up at least five times. One day I’ll run out of clothes if she keeps using them and not bringing them back.

  “Yeah. Oh, let’s watch Guardians of the Galaxy.”

  “Again?” I whine, though I click on it anyway.

  “It’s good.”

  I start the movie. We’ve seen it before, so I already know we’ll end up talking through most of it. She takes the blanket from the back and wraps it around her. I have to keep it pretty cold in here because of the projector.

  “Wanna cuddle?” She opens up the blanket to me and smiles. I don’t really see it with the lights off, though.

  “Are you kidding? I’m freezing my balls off here.”

  She laughs and scoots closer. “I can’t help you with that.”

  I laugh and move the blanket over us. She rests her head on my shoulder as I lay my arm around her. It feels purely platonic as it always has. It’s good to have that with someone, and I’m glad to have it with Emily. We’ve been friends for so long, anything else wouldn’t make much sense. Except, I never thought about anything else until recently—wondering what it would be like, wondering how it could really be.

  Emily is funny and smart, kind and gorgeous, and always there for me. That’s what’s so attractive about her, and that’s what I think about. Not anything else. In my worst moments and in my best, she’s been there. That’s what counts.

  “We should do a Marvel watch show again. That was fun, plus there are so many new movies out,” Emily says.

  “Yeah, we should. I guess when you’re less busy, you know not dating or something.” I chuckle. I can’t see her face, but I know she is smiling.

  “I don’t have any plans that far in advance, but I talk to Kevin every day.”

  “So, it’s only one guy? Isn’t dating to try out other guys, too?”

  She giggles, shaking against me. “No, that’s when you just see other people. Dating is committing to one person and getting to know them.”

  “So, you’re committed?” I ask, a little shocked.

  “No, just not trying to juggle a bunch of other men like it’s a day at work.” She laughs. I smile because it seems that’s exactly what she does most of the time.

  “But I like Kevin. He’s nice. He calls when he says he’ll call, texts me funny stuff. I don’t know how much I like him, but it’s only been a few dates.”

  I nod, distracted by a human tree-like thing dancing on the screen.

  “So, say this all goes well. Maybe in a year, do you see yourself dressed in white? Living that dream you have…” I laugh because it seems like a crazy dream to me, but it’s the one she has. The one she wants. And my job is to support it.

  “No, I don’t think I want that anymore. I mean, sure it can go well, but I’m not marriage crazed anymore.”

  I look down at her in shock, but all I see is the top of her head anyway.

  “What, since last week?”

  We laugh together.

  “No, this is a work in progress. I didn’t have time for a play by play, but I realized for most of my adult life I’ve been in different relationships. Never made time for myself. I like myself, and I should be with myself.”

  “And date for the sex? I get it.”

  She nudges my ribs hard. “No, that’s not what’s it’s about… it’s about the free dinners.”

  We both laugh together. I know how much she loves food.

  “Okay, fair enough. So, you’re loving you. I like it. Does Kevin know about this?”

  “Not really. I told him I wasn’t seeing other people but also that this wasn’t anything too serious. For the time being.”

  “When you stop loving yourself.” I laugh. “I knew I shouldn’t say that out loud, and I did anyway, it sounds like a planned masturbation schedule.” We end up both laughing until we can hardly breathe. I think we do that way too much, make each other laugh so hard we cry and can’t breathe.

  “Carson, I can’t put up with you.”

  “You love me, though, almost as much as you love yourself. Or want to try to.” I grin.

  “Shut up.” She laughs, but I know I’m right.

  We finish up the movie and watch cable television until we start to drift off. Since I have to drive her back home, I need to be lucid.

  “Are we too old for sleepovers?” Emily giggles as we clean up.


  I toss out the popcorn bowl and spray down the couch—maybe I’m a clean freak about some things.

  “No, you want to stay?” I ask her. I have one guest room actually set up for someone to stay in.

  “I don’t know, it’s pretty late, though. Plus, we’ll probably end up grabbing lunch together anyway.” She yawns and stretches out.

  “Yeah, or I could cook. Been a while since my pancakes rocked your world.” I shut off the lights, and we leave.

  Emily yawns and wobbles all the way upstairs with me and to the guest room. My master bedroom is a few paces away on the landing.

  “Goodnight.”

  “Night. Have fun loving yourself.” I laugh, pulling her in for a hug as she laughs and pushes me away.

  “Ew, I would never do that… here.” She giggles, and I mock shaking my head in disapproval.

  “See you.”

  She smiles and heads inside. I walk off to my bedroom exhausted as hell and pretty much dead on my feet.

  I take a hot shower which calms me down and gets my muscles extra loose. Usually, I have a lot to think about before bed, but not today. It was relaxing having a good night with my brother and best friend. Most nights are like that, most days are like that—it’s a routine I haven’t even realized I made.

  But it’s one I know I could never give up.

  8

  Emily

  I wish I were the person that didn’t hate Mondays, but I do. I am as similar as everyone else, and I ordinarily hate Mondays. But, I still get up and do the same thing I do every day.

  Yoga is the first thing because a clear mind is the best way to start the week. I do my own thing in a nice area of my apartment by the window. Then I make breakfast which is coffee that brews as I get dressed in a plain blue dress, it hits right at the knee and is semi-fitted but not overly so. I wear my hair in a loose ponytail I move onto the side. Looking in the mirror, I notice the brown highlights are growing old and more of my usual black hair is coming out. I’m not even sure why I dyed it now.

  I can’t remember why I wanted it to be so different.