Shrugging, he replied, “I like it. And you know that after growing up in upstate New York, the cold really isn’t an issue. Trust me, you’re going to love it too. Throw on a sweatshirt and go out and listen to the waves. It’s very tranquil.”
She still eyed him suspiciously, but she agreed. Wishing him a good night, Emery went to her room to pack, leaving Carter alone with his thoughts.
“Might as well clean up first,” he said, walking around to pick up the popcorn bowl, bottles of water, and cans of soda. In the kitchen he tossed the trash, washed the dishes, and wiped down the countertops. His mother had a cleaning service that came in once the place was empty, so they’d be here when Carter confirmed they were gone.
Speaking of which…
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he typed out a quick text to his mother letting her know Emery would be heading to Montauk with him in the morning. No doubt she was already in bed, but at least she’d get the message when she woke up.
Putting his phone down, he looked around the kitchen, pleased to see everything in order. Tomorrow he’d throw any leftover food in the trash and take it out on their way to the car. Walking out of the room, he shut off the light, checked the front door lock, and headed to his bedroom. When he’d left the beach earlier, he wasn’t sure how all of this was going to go and had packed an overnight bag just in case, and now he was glad he had.
Closing the bedroom door behind him, he realized just how tired he was. It reminded him of his first night here a week ago. Too tired to do much of anything, he simply stripped down to his boxers, pulled back the duvet, and slid beneath the sheets. Reaching over, he turned out the light.
Now he was well and truly stuck with Emery, he thought. He was taking her with him to his retreat. She was going to invade his space, more than likely make a mess, and aggravate the crap out of him.
No doubt he’d be willing to sleep in a tent on the beach before long.
Still…he was doing a good thing. The right thing.
And maybe, just maybe, they wouldn’t kill each other.
* * *
The sunrise was magnificent.
The scent of the ocean was invigorating.
The thought of standing in the kitchen with Carter made her want to say bad words.
Lots and lots of bad words.
For almost five days they’d been coexisting together in his magnificent house. Emery knew it was a rental, but that didn’t diminish how spectacular it was. When they first arrived on Monday, she hadn’t been impressed with the front. It looked like a basic—and small—two-story shingled home. But once they stepped inside? Wow.
It was the kind of place she envisioned when she pictured a summer house on the beach. It was perched on a hilltop overlooking the ocean. The entire setup was perfect and the beach décor throughout the home completed the coastal vibe. There were ocean views from every room, and they’d had perfect weather to make that view spectacular every day.
Then she’d stepped outside, unable to believe the outdoor space could be just as amazing, and yet…it was. There was the heated pool—which she loved—and it included an infinity hot tub. And yes, she’d spent a lot of time sitting there. Often, she used the excuse of needing time away from Carter, but the truth was it relaxed her and she hadn’t felt that for a long while.
Maybe never.
There were seating areas around the pool, as well as a bar, an outdoor kitchen, a fire pit, and a private outdoor shower. It was going to be a real chore to go back to her everyday life after spending a week or two here.
Did Carter live like this all the time, she wondered? Was this place as exciting to him as it was to her? The only room that seemed to excite him was the kitchen, and she could see why. Top of the line appliances and a large marble-topped island to work with were perfect for him. He’d complained that it wasn’t larger, but he was cooking only for the two of them, so he didn’t really need more.
Until today.
Today they were going to work on preparing a full Christmas dinner. It was still only the two of them, but he was going to cook as if it were for at least ten more. Apparently, he’d had some inspiration in the previous week and wanted to try making it for the masses, so to speak. Personally, she didn’t think any of the recipes he was preparing sounded very festive—definitely not like a Christmas meal—but she’d let him try it his way first.
A slow smile spread across her face when she thought about what she was going to do to help.
Not with the food—that wasn’t allowed—but with the overall atmosphere.
Carter was going shopping around ten this morning. Once he was gone, a holiday décor consultant was coming in to help her decorate the house for Christmas. And while Emery would love to take all the credit for the idea, Eliza had helped come up with it. Emery’s job had been to find the right person to come in on such short notice and to make it happen.
And the best part? Carter had no idea. With any luck, he’d be gone for a couple of hours and by the time he got home, everything would be in place. It would look like a Christmas wonderland if all went as planned.
Growing up, her family had always hired professionals to come in and do all of their holiday decorating. Emery could remember wanting to do some of it on her own, but her mother was a stickler about wanting everything perfect. Once she had moved out on her own, however, Emery had gone wild when the holidays came around. Derek had mocked her more than once for her…enthusiasm. She waved the thought away. Thinking about the holiday décor made her smile: a huge Christmas tree, tons of lights, ornaments that actually held some sentimental meaning to her…
“Damn,” she said, wishing she had some of her things here with her. Oh well. It wouldn’t matter if she had her own stuff or not. It wasn’t Christmas yet and this was all just for show. Still, in her mind she could clearly envision how she wanted the house to look.
Festive.
Welcoming.
She’d promised Eliza she would take tons of pictures to use in the book. And how cool would that be?
Deciding to take a few more minutes to relax before the day got crazy, Emery stretched, reaching for her cup of coffee. It wasn’t her favorite drink to start the day, but Carter hadn’t let her pick any of the groceries. Frowning, she remembered how he had gone shopping while she was out walking on the beach. Now all she had to choose from were fruits, vegetables, and other assorted fresh foods he had yammered on and on about.
No toaster pastries.
No popcorn.
No chips or dip.
The bastard.
If she hadn’t made plans for the decorator to come in today, she would have gone into town herself and gone shopping. For comfort food.
Now she was twitchy. The coffee tasted flat in her mouth and all she wanted was a piece of cake or some cereal with milk. This was like a detox from junk food, and it was probably a huge contributing factor to why she was so on edge and wanting to say bad words.
“Ah, there you are.”
Emery’s spine stiffened at the sound of Carter’s voice. It was on the tip of her tongue…all the rage, all the bad words, but she kept them in and focused on the waves crashing on the shore. If she was lucky, he’d think she was meditating or something and leave her alone.
He sat down beside her.
“I’m making a list of all the things we’re going to need before I leave to go shopping. Any requests?” he asked.
Don’t seem too anxious, don’t seem too anxious…
Forcing down another sip of coffee, she kept her eyes forward. “I could go for some cereal,” she said mildly and out of the corner of her eye she could see him nod. “And maybe some…you know, snacks. Chips, salsa—nothing major.”
He was silent for a moment. “Anything else?”
She pretended to think about it. “I really could go for some kettle cor
n popcorn.” Again, she tried to sound blasé, like she wasn’t dying to have all of those things right here, right now, instead of his stupid, pretentious gourmet coffee. Gah! She hated it! Hated it!
“You’re looking pretty fierce there, Em. Something on your mind?”
Dammit. Now she could actually feel herself frowning—her entire face scrunched up with rage. Shoving her cup down in the sand, she turned to him.
“I’m not a prisoner here, Carter!” she snapped. “I am an adult, and I can pick the food I want to eat and you can’t stop me from eating it! You think you’re so smart—shopping when I’m not with you and then stocking the house with things only you like. Well, let me tell you something, buddy, that’s just wrong!” She paused only long enough to take a breath. “I get that you’re a control freak and all, but this is insane! You don’t want me here? Fine! I didn’t ask to come here with you. If memory serves, you. Asked. Me. So why am I being punished, huh? Why am I being treated like some…some addict who you’re forcing to detox, huh? Huh?”
Okay, now she was sounding like a crazy person, and rather than go on, she jumped to her feet and walked closer to the water to calm herself down.
His hand on her shoulder had her practically jumping out of her skin.
“Hey,” he said calmly, and that grated on her last nerve. “You sure you’re okay?”
She saw red. Turning, she faced him and knew she was about to unleash on him again and didn’t want to do a damn thing to stop it.
“Has it ever occurred to you that your way isn’t the only way?” she yelled. “That you’re not the only one whose feelings matter?” Her voice caught and she hated it—along with the sting of tears she felt. Thankfully, she had on sunglasses so he wouldn’t see them, but the look on his face showed that he realized how upset she was.
“Emery—”
“No!” she quickly interrupted. “I don’t have any control over anything in my life right now and all I’m asking for are some simple creature comforts, but you won’t allow it! Like you’re the boss here, but you’re not! You’re not, Carter,” she repeated for emphasis, poking him in the chest with her finger.
This time, before she could do or say anything else, he reached out and grabbed her wrist in his hand and held it tight. And then she waited. Waited for him to make some snarky or superior comment about how he was doing it for her own good or how she just didn’t appreciate good food.
But he didn’t.
“I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. “At the time I thought—I thought it was funny, but now…” He didn’t have on any sunglasses and the emotion she saw in his eyes was enough for her to know how sincere he was.
“I hate this,” she said quietly. “I hate how this is my life right now.”
In a move she was only mildly surprised by, Carter pulled her into his arms and hugged her. Like he knew how much she needed comfort—even if it was from him.
She burrowed close and remembered just how much she was coming to love the feel of him, the smell of him… It was a little crazy to be thinking that way, because for most of her life all she could focus on were the things she hated about him. Why was that all suddenly feeling petty and childish and pointless? Why did he have to be so tall and so strong? Why did she have to love the fresh, citrusy smell of his cologne? Or how great his large hands felt as they smoothed up and down her spine?
Thinking about it was just as overwhelming as the way her body was reacting to his. Carter’s arms tightened around her and he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “I wasn’t thinking,” he said. “It was inconsiderate of me and I…I guess it just seemed like harmless fun. I had no idea you were this upset over it.”
“Yeah, well, I am,” she said against his chest.
Although—who knew bananas tasted good even without peanut butter? Or that a crisp, cool apple could be so sweet?
Not that she was going to share any of that with him. Especially right now. But…there it was. When life returned to normal and she was back at home in her own place, there was a definite possibility of adding some fresh fruit to her shopping list.
Pulling back, Carter looked down at her and gave her a lopsided grin. It was boyish and adorable and she had to fight the urge to caress his jaw.
“C’mon. Let’s go back up to the house and we’ll work on the list together. You can put exactly what you want on it and I promise to buy it, okay?”
Emery felt herself relax a bit more and smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
Together they walked hand in hand back to the house. Carter stopped briefly to pick up her forgotten coffee mug and then they continued on. Once inside, he let her go and walked over to the kitchen island, where he had a notepad and pen waiting. They talked for several minutes about what he was purchasing for the meals he was going to prepare for the cookbook, and when he was done, he slid the pad across the granite toward her and encouraged her to write down everything she wanted.
Because they were in a good place right now, she thanked him and then added about a half-dozen items to the list. When she slid it back over to him, he looked at it with surprise.
“That’s it? You’re sure you don’t want to add anything else?”
She frowned and glanced down at the paper again. “I think that’s everything. Why?”
He shrugged. “I just figured you’d want to punish me or make me crazy by adding at least twenty things that aren’t good for you.”
As much as she wanted to take offense to that statement, it was exactly where her mind had gone first, so she had to laugh. “I thought about it, but then decided to be the bigger person here. Plus I have a feeling we’re going to be eating all the food you make tonight for days. I won’t have any room for junk food.”
Laughing with her, he nodded. “That’s probably true. But if you’d like, I’ll add a couple of desserts to the menu that aren’t for the book. How does that sound?”
“Cookies!” she blurted out. “We should bake Christmas cookies!”
Carter’s eyes went a little wide. “Seriously? You want to bake—”
“I do! I really do! And before you say anything, I’m not talking about the refrigerated cookie dough kind of cookies, I’m talking real cookies we bake from scratch and use cookie cutters and make icing and—”
“Okay, okay, okay,” he said, still chuckling. “I get it.” Then he paused. “I hadn’t planned on adding that to everything else we have going on today.”
“We don’t have to bake them today,” she quickly amended. “Let’s save them for tomorrow! Oh, it’s going to be awesome. I’m sure you have some great recipes, right? Although if I could make a request—I know they’re not Christmassy, but could we just make a small batch of chocolate chip cookies? I love them when they’re hot out of the oven and the chocolate is all melty. They’re perfect with a tall glass of milk.”
She realized how ridiculous she was sounding, and by the serious look on his face, she knew he was thinking the exact same thing.
“So…?”
With a curt nod, Carter said, “Sure,” before reaching for the list and writing a bunch of things down. Ten minutes later he was heading for the door. “I’ll be gone for at least three hours. You sure you don’t want to come with me?”
She waved him off. “I’m sure. I’d just slow you down. Plus I downloaded a new book today that I think I’ll read out by the pool, so…you go. But call me when you’re on your way back!”
He looked at her suspiciously. “Why?”
“Just in case I want you to pick up something specific for lunch,” she said sweetly. He nodded, but didn’t look completely convinced. Luckily, he didn’t question her any further before walking out the door. Looking over at the clock, she let out a long breath. The decorator was due in fifteen minutes.
Running over to the front window, Emery watched as Carter pulled out of the driveway. Once his brak
e lights were out of sight, she sprang into action. There were shelves and a mantel to clear, furniture to move, and once that was done, she grabbed her trusty notebook full of directions for what she wanted and where. This was all stuff she had discussed with the decorator already, but she held on to it like a lifeline for reference.
Five minutes later she opened the door with a big smile on her face. “Let’s do this!”
* * *
It was as if the truce they had silently called never happened.
Emery had called him no less than three times in the last hour with requests for things to add to the shopping list and what she wanted for lunch.
She was trying to kill him.
It was the only explanation.
Now, as he loaded the final bag of groceries into the trunk of his car, Carter was thankful he had brought a large cooler and filled it with ice to keep the perishables cold. Although if he stayed out much longer, it would all be pointless.
The last addition to her list had been rather specific ingredients for ice cream sundaes. How the woman could possibly think about desserts or sweets after all the food they were going to make plus the baking they had planned for tomorrow, he’d never know. Either way, there was no way he would comment on it or deny her since she had her meltdown this morning.
And yeah, he still felt like major crap for that one.
It really had been done in the name of fun. He hadn’t thought about how Emery might not see it the same way. It just seemed natural for them to have something to argue about since it was their thing, but he really felt bad about doing it.
Lesson learned.
Not that he was going to refrain from picking fights with her. There was no way that was ever going to happen. It would be like someone asking him not to cook. It was just part of who he was. Who they were.
Though unfortunately, lately…Carter was having a hard time with what exactly they were.
Maybe it was all the close proximity. Maybe it was that they were both mellowing with age.
Or maybe it was because he was so damn attracted to her that he could barely stand himself anymore.
A Dash of Christmas Page 10
