by Tina Martin
Chapter 14
Her flight arrived back to Charlotte a little after one, and once off the plane Shayla took her bag and threw it in the back seat of her car, quickly heading for home, her mind flooded with the weekend’s events. She met her father and found out that Donovan was in love with her. She couldn’t wait to get home so she could finally relax, but when she noticed Carter’s Escalade in the driveway, she knew there would be no relaxation today. Out of all the days he could’ve shown up out of the blue, why today?
Parking her car next to his, she could see him sitting on the front step, his head hanging low like he was in a praying position. She felt her stomach tighten into so many knots, she barely had enough strength to move her legs to get out of the car. But she did eventually, walking slowly as she took deep breaths, heading straight for the door, telling herself she wasn’t ready for a confrontation now. After a long, eventful weekend, she had nothing left in her to argue with Carter.
She nervously took steps towards him, her keys clanking, but the noise was not louder than her heartbeat. Boom, boom…boom, boom…she heard it getting louder as she got closer to him. And she was finding it hard to breathe, on the verge of an anxiety attack because she could see the anger in his eyes.
Instead of acknowledging him, she stepped around him, feeling a wave of tension envelop her, like being smothered by a thick cloud of smoke.
“You’re going to walk around me like you don’t see me sitting here?” Carter asked her as he stood.
Shayla kept on to the door, turning the knob with her shaky, nervous hand, then after having successfully done it, she stepped in the foyer.
So did he, right on her heels.
“Where have you been?” Carter asked as calmly as he could, his breathing quickening, heart thudding. “You haven’t been here all night?”
Shayla dropped her keys on the desk next to the mail. “How do you know that?”
“Because I drive by here every night around ten, Shayla,” he yelled. “And at ten, you were not here. Eleven, twelve, one, two, three and who knows what time you left yesterday, and you weren’t here Friday night either. Now where have you been?”
Ignoring his question, Shayla brushed past him and silently ascended the stairs, heading for the bedroom. Carter wasn’t supposed to be there and all she wanted to do was sleep from the long weekend and plane ride. In the bedroom, she kicked off her shoes, slid the ponytail holder that held her strands together down the length of her hair and placed it on the night stand, letting her hair fall freely.
“You’re just going to ignore me, Shayla?” he asked, stepping in the bedroom.
“I’m tired.”
And then something in him broke, snapped and he couldn’t take it anymore. This nonsense had been going on for far too long and he wasn’t going to stand for it any longer. He walked up to her, got a good grip on her arm and twisted her body in a way that forced her to look at him. “Where have you been?”
“Why are you worried about where I’ve been?” she said, trying to yank away from him.
“Because whether you like it or not, you’re still my wife, Shayla. My wife! And I have a right to know where you’ve been all night and you’re going to tell me.”
“Let go of me,” she said, trying to wiggle from his grasp but to no avail. “Let…go…of…me, Carter!” she hollered, yanking away from him after he loosened the grip on her. She walked to the dresser, finding a cami and pajamas and when she pushed the drawer shut and turned around, Carter was standing behind her, in her immediate, personal space, towering over her.
“I’m going to ask you this one…more…time. Where have you been?”
“I was in Virginia,” she said, barely looking at him.
Carter frowned and turned a shade redder, his mind completely gone blank in that moment. “You were in Virginia? With Donovan?” he asked with a hard, direct frown in his forehead, looking at her like he could strangle her lifeless. If looks could kill, she’d certainly be dead.
He swallowed hard and said in an eerie monotone, “What were you doing with Donovan, Shayla?”
“Why don’t you call and ask him? He’s your old college friend, right?”
Carter had since broke into an angry sweat and with nostrils flaring, he roared, “Now is not the time to play games with me, girl.”
With her back pressed against the dresser and his body pinning her there, he asked, “What were you doing with him, Shayla?” It angered him more that she was alluding his questioning and not looking at him.
Shayla couldn’t look at him. She’d never seen him this angry before. The man had turned red before her eyes and she could see every frown line in his face, every vein in his neck and had he gained more muscle mass since she last saw him? When she gripped his biceps in an attempt to push him away from her, his muscles were firmer, harder and definitely bigger.
“Please don’t make me ask you again.” He pressed her harder against the dresser.
“Carter, you need to calm down,” she told him, because he looked like he was going to detonate and blow their entire house off its foundation.
“You need to stop playing games with me and answer my question, Shayla.”
Shayla turned away from his wrath. She knew she was crying, but couldn’t feel the tears roll down her face because she was numb. And she couldn’t look him in the eyes because she’d seen wetness and fury in them, something she’d never seen before. Usually, especially with her, he was mild-tempered and understanding. But not today. He was incensed to the point of having lost all self-control.
With trembling lips, he asked, “You sleeping with him?” It pained him to ask such a question, but he didn’t know what else to think.
Insulted, Shayla yelled, “No, I’m not sleeping with him! How dare you ask me something like that, Carter! I don’t want Donovan. I want you, Carter,” she said crying harder. “Mad and all, I want you!”
“You want me?” Carter asked, oozing testosterone and an equal amount of resentment towards her. He let go of her hair and snatched her shirt over her head in one heated second. And taking complete control of her, he angled her head so her lips were aligned with his and took a kiss – a greedy one.
Shayla stared into his eyes and saw anger and hurt into them. She’d hurt him, she knew. This was her fault. A man should never feel like his woman was interested in anyone else but him and that’s what she did – made him feel like there was someone else – as if Donovan could be any competition. No man could, but apparently, he didn’t know that.
Chapter 15
Carter left for work the next morning, still fuming and angry. Even though he’d made love to Shayla last night after nearly a month hiatus, he was still furious with her. She hadn’t gone into detail about what had happened between her and Donovan and it infuriated him. He wanted to know details – what they discussed, what they did and if Donovan had tried to put the moves on her.
He leaned back in his chair and clicked his pen open and shut, deciding whether or not to call Donovan. If he had the time, he would make a surprise visit to Virginia and deck him, but since that wasn’t a possibility, he decided to call him. That would be the only way to get this off his mind and his chest.
He listened as the phone rung, wondering if Donovan would be man enough to pick up. He got his answer when he heard Donovan say, “What’s up?”
“Why were you with my wife?” Carter asked pointedly. Evenly.
“What are you talking about, man?”
Oh, now you want to play dumb. Carter frowned. “Why were you with my wife!”
“She didn’t tell you?” Donovan responded, knowing his answer would annoy Carter.
Carter lost it and in a rage, he swung right arm and knocked folders from his desk. “Donovan, I will fly there and personally put a bullet in your head if I find out you laid a hand on my wife.”
“Chill, man. I introduced her to her father.”
Carter threw his pen across the room. “You’re telli
ng me the only interest you have in Shayla was introducing her to her father? Because if you think I’m that stupid—”
“Look, man…I introduced her and that’s that.”
Still livid, Carter yelled, “It doesn’t take a weekend to introduce my wife to her father!” He stood up from his desk, walked to the opposite side of it clenched his right hand into a fist, pacing back and forth. And Donovan’s chuckle didn’t help matters.
“Oh, you think something’s funny?”
“Dude I ain’t got time for this. You’re full of it, Carter. It’s funny how you try to take someone else’s woman, but the minute you think somebody’s banging Shayla, you’re ready to fight.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You don’t think I know you were trying to get at my wife?”
“What? I never tried to holla at your wife, Donovan.”
“Yeah, right…when we were living in Charlotte, I saw you having dinner with her. Twice!” Donovan got up to shut the door to his office. “Why do you think I moved away from there in the first place? I knew once you had your hook in her, she wouldn’t be able to resist almighty Carter Williams. No woman could, right? And it’s not like you didn’t have enough women, but still, you couldn’t leave mine alone.”
Carter shook his head. “You got it all wrong, Donovan. You saw me with your wife because she asked me to meet her for dinner. She was planning some party for you…wanted me to dig up some old college pics and give her some insight on how you were back then. I never tried to come on to her. The only married woman I’ve ever been with is mine and that’s because she’s married to me.” Carter took a breath. “Is that why you were with Shayla? You thought I slept with your wife, so you were trying to sleep with mine?”
“No. Not at all,” Donovan said, remembering the fun times he had with Shayla. And then he felt cocky enough to admit the truth. “I love Shayla, and—”
“What’d you say?” Carter frowned, felt his blood pressure rise to the point that his head tightened from the strain of trying to contain what he thought he just heard this man say.
“I said, I love your wife, but she loves you and there’s nothing I can do to make her see why you’re not the man for her. But I do know one thing…she’s not happy with you, and that’s something you have to deal with. Now do me a favor and delete my number from your contact list. We don’t owe each other anymore favors, so there’s no reason for you to contact me. Peace.”
Carter listened to the phone go silent and then placed his cell phone in the front right pocket of his suit jacket. He sat down at his desk again, trying to mentally calm down. Then he wondered if Shayla was awake. If she was, why hadn’t she called? Sure, they’d made love but it would take more than sex to fix the things that were wrong in their marriage. They still had plenty to talk in depth about…things to iron out.
He glanced at the clock. It was 10:47 a.m. He didn’t want to call her, just in case she was still sleeping, but the suspense was killing him. So he picked up the phone and as he was dialing, he heard her voice.
“Shayla?”
“Hey, Carter.”
“Are you just getting up?”
“I’m still in bed but about to get up.”
“Listen, I know we have a lot to talk about so I thought we could maybe meet up somewhere and have dinner.”
“Um…I would prefer it if we talked at home. I don’t want to be in a restaurant sobbing out of control and causing a scene.”
“Okay. At home then.”
“I’ll make dinner.”
“You can make dinner if you want but I don’t have an appetite.”
“Okay, well…um—”
“I’ll be home at six.”
“Okay. See ya then.”
Carter hung up the phone. Shayla’s time with Donovan still frustrated him. The man had admitted that he loved her. And boldly admitted it at that. Who does that? What man, in his right mind, admits to another man that he’s in love with that man’s wife? What happened in Virginia that made Donovan fall for her?
* * *
Around five, Shayla went ahead and got dinner ready, which ended up being a garden salad and crackers – something simple. She didn’t want to do an elaborate meal, especially since Carter was possibly not going to eat. He was frustrated, she knew, and didn’t know what to expect of him when he was home.
She walked to the refrigerator, took out a bottle of Sun Drop and when she turned around, Carter was standing there at the door, his arms crossed, and feet crossed at the ankles just staring – nearly scared the life out of her.
“Gosh. You scared me,” she told him.
Carter didn’t say a word. He watched her, saw the blotches of redness and scars on her neck, courtesy of him, remembering how rough he was with her last night. How angry he was. He walked on in the kitchen, pulled out a chair and sat down at the table – a place setting in front of him. He hadn’t even changed clothes – still wore the smoke gray Versace suit that he’d worn to work.
Shayla sat down too and said, “Um…would you like some—”
“I have to get this off of my chest,” he interrupted. “And I know we have to talk about Jacob and what I’m telling you is not a diversion to gloss over that. But I need to know if anything happened between you and Donovan, Shayla.”
“No. I told you that.”
“You spent an entire weekend—”
“It wasn’t an entire weekend. I was back Sunday afternoon and—”
“You spent the weekend with him!” Carter yelled, pounding his fist against the table.
Shayla’s lips trembled. “He only took me to meet my father.”
“Did he hug you?”
“Who? My father.”
“Do you really think I’m talking about your father! I’m talking about Donovan, Shayla. Do-no-van! Did he hug you?”
Shayla frowned. “Yes.”
“Did he kiss you? Did he put his mouth on you, Shayla? And do not lie to me.”
“He kissed my temple, but it wasn’t a big deal,” she said, because had she told Carter what really happened, he probably would’ve lost it.
Carter looked at her with anger in his eyes. Just staring. Then he broke his silence and asked, “If it wasn’t a big deal, then why’s the man in love with you?”
Shayla’s mouth opened but no words came out. Did Donovan actually tell Carter that he’s in love with me?
“I’m waiting.”
“Um…I don’t know, Carter. I guess he likes me. He did tell me that he loved me and—”
“Did you sleep with him?”
“No!”
“Did you want to sleep with him?”
“No, Carter!”
“So tell me what happened on your weekend trip, Shayla,” he said with challenging eyes. “Where’d you stay?”
“At a hotel.”
“With him?”
“No. Alone.”
“So when did he kiss your temple and hug you? At the hotel?”
Shayla sighed.
“Yes, I’m interrogating you, Shayla, because I have every right to know what happened. What if I spent the weekend with some woman and kissed her on the temple. Would you be cool with that? Would that be not a big deal?”
Tears fell from Shayla’s eyes.
Carter realized love was making him crazy, and at the same time, he felt helpless. He could control several aspects of his life – his career, his schedule, but the last few weeks made him realize he couldn’t control another person’s feelings or actions, especially Shayla’s. And had he told her about Jacob outright, maybe it would not have started the chain reaction of her getting upset, avoiding his calls, going to Virginia and spending time with Donovan.
Carter sighed, rubbed his hands over his face again. He loved her a great deal, but why did love have to be so difficult? Why couldn’t things work themselves out easily when people fell in love?
“Shayla, sweetheart, I’ve never been a jealous man. It’s actu
ally foreign to me to feel the way I do right now, but the thought of you spending time with another man makes me sick to my stomach. I will not share you with anyone and—”
“You don’t have to share me, Carter. There is no one else.”
“Then don’t ever make me feel like there is,” he said adamantly.
“That wasn’t my intention.”
“I don’t care if it was your intention or not. I need you to know where I stand on this, ah’ight? I spoke with Donovan. He was brave enough to tell me he loved you. Now the only reason he’s still alive is because this exchange happened over the phone because, trust me, if I was there, I would’ve beat him to death,” he said, infuriated. “But that’s neither her nor there. I’m married to you. You’re the one I need to get through to, not him. And I’m asking you these questions, trying to find out what happened between you and him and you’re being short with me.”
“I’m not—”
“Then tell me what happened!”
“He introduced me to my father Saturday afternoon. Saturday night, I was trying to say bye to him, but he grabbed me and kissed me instead…told me he didn’t want me to leave and I told him to stop,” she said in tears. “I told him I loved you. And somewhere in there, he confessed that he loved me. We did not sleep together. I love you and I would never do that to you.”
“You wouldn’t?”
“No! I wouldn’t. How can you even think I would do that to you, Carter?”
“Put yourself in my shoes, then ask yourself that question.”
Shayla pushed her plate aside and covered her face with her hands. Wiping her eyes, she looked at him and said, “I didn’t even think I was good enough for you to start with…moved away from you because I didn’t feel like you would ever give someone like me the time of day. And I was so in love with you, so incredibly heartbroken at the realization I couldn’t have you that the only way I could get over you was to move to another state and even that didn’t help me get you out of my heart because I was already infatuated with you. And now, you’re my husband and you think I would cheat on you?”
