by Kay Lyons
"Wow. You're moving right along," Eliza said once she was close enough for him to hear.
"Daddy, look. They had my favorite," Piper said.
"Thanks," he said to Eliza, lifting his chin toward his daughter.
"Of course."
He went back to work and noted the way Eliza immediately pitched in and acted as an assistant. Some people didn't work well enough together to build a cardboard puzzle, much less an arbor, but Eliza tried to stay a step ahead of him so that she was ready to hand him whatever the next piece or tool or fastener happened to be.
Nearby, Piper finished her ice cream and began making sand angels in the shade provided by the tall hotel.
"I hate that I've interrupted your day together," Eliza said. "But I'm so glad you were around to save the day. I don't know how I'll ever repay you."
"Dinner would be nice."
"Oh, of course. I'd be happy to pay for your Daddy-daughter dinner."
"Not what I had in mind," he said, fitting the top in place. "I mean dinner, just you and me."
"Oh. Um…"
"Come on, Eliza. Aren't you the tiniest bit curious about us?" He tightened the screw and noted the way she wouldn't look at him.
"Us? No."
"That was a little too quick, sweetheart. Makes me not believe you," he said, sliding her a look from behind his sunglasses. He sat kneeling on the sand in front of her and shoved his glasses atop his head so she could see his eyes, even if he couldn't see hers. "Give me a legitimate reason why you're so against a simple dinner."
"I'm… just not interested."
"Because of some loser who hurt you?"
"Because I don't have time to date."
"Eliza? Where do you want these?" a woman called, carrying a bucket of flowers.
Eliza looked toward the woman bearing a florist logo-ed T-shirt and waved a hand toward the right.
"There's fine. Thank you, Jess," Eliza said. "I have to go," she said to him. "I have a wedding to set up."
She'd shoved herself to her feet and had turned away when he said, "I'm not taking no for an answer."
Carter saw the other woman's eyebrows rise in curiosity as she glanced between the two of them, but Eliza didn't bother to look back.
"You're going to have to," she called over her shoulder.
He got to his feet, motioning toward one of the teenage boys who'd just lowered a bucket of flowers to the sand. "Hey, give me a hand here, would you? Grab that side."
"Dude, that was harsh," the kid said, laughing at Eliza's rejection as he joined Carter.
Carter never took his gaze off of Eliza and knew the moment she took a discreet glance his way. He winked at her and smiled when her lips parted in a visual gasp. "That it was," he said to the teenager.
But he still wasn't giving up.
Chapter 5
The following afternoon, Carter hefted his almost five-year-old daughter, Piper, higher against his chest and shoulder and buried his head in her stomach with a ferocious growl. Her little-girl giggles filled his ears and brought a squeeze to his heart as they always did.
Sometimes he wondered if Piper's mother ever had any regrets walking out on them the way she had, but then… he didn't want to find out. The last thing Piper needed was for her mom to appear and possibly reconnect, only to leave again.
"There you are," Amelia said, smiling from a chair on the deck surrounding Lincoln's pool. "Hi, Piper."
"Hiii. Daddy, stop tickling me," Piper said, still laughing.
"I only do it because redheads are my favorite snack," he told Piper, letting her slide to the ground now that they'd arrived.
"No shoes?" Amelia asked.
"The monster ate them," Piper said quickly, glancing up at Carter with sweet yet conniving innocence.
"Happens a lot in our house," Carter said, making a fierce Dad face at his daughter. "But only to little girls who don't pick up after themselves and put their shoes in the bin where they go."
"I found one of 'em."
Carter chuckled and tousled his daughter's ponytailed head before he handed over the unicorn pool ring he'd also carried from his house.
Piper asked permission to get in and he nodded. She quickly yanked the unicorn float over her head and ran for the edge, jumping in like the little mermaid she was.
"You ladies are looking lovely. Where's Linc?" Carter asked.
"He had to take a real estate call, but he'll be back out in a minute," Amelia said. "And Mac is on his way over."
"So, Carter…" Marsali said from her chair.
Carter turned his head. "So, Marsali?"
The women both wore sunglasses but he saw the quick glance they exchanged. His gut tightened in warning because he knew what they were about to ask.
Maybe he should go check on Lincoln? Give Mac a hand with whatever he was doing?
Because despite the hours between Friday night and now, he still wasn't sure what he was going to do with that card he'd pulled from Eliza's purse.
"You and Eliza looked awfully good together," Marsali said. "I think my brother was a bit jealous."
Carter grinned unabashedly. "Yeah, well, Mac will get over it."
"Mac heard that."
Carter turned to find his neighbor closing the distance between Mac's house and Lincoln's, a beach towel thrown over his shoulder and a cooler in hand.
"And you'd better not do anything you'll regret," Mac continued as he made it to where Carter still stood.
"Why would I regret it?" Carter asked his friend.
Mac lifted his sunglasses from his face for a moment to shoot Carter a glare before lowering them again.
"Because I'd make you," Mac said, matter-of-fact. "Eliza's family."
"Ah, yeah, she mentioned you'd kissed her and it was like kissing her brother."
Mac shoved the cooler into Carter's belly for that low blow, and he grunted from it even as he grinned. Yeah… apparently Mac didn't feel entirely brotherly about Eliza.
"You kissed her?" Marsali asked, gasping. "When? Why didn't either of you tell me this? Oh, you wait until I talk to her again!"
Mac leaned his head back as though calling on every ounce of patience he could muster.
"It was a long time ago and because it was awkward and never happened again. Let's move on," Mac said, moving to toss his towel onto a lounger by the ladies before using two fingers to point to his eyes and then at Piper in that age-old I'm eyeing you, kid motion.
"Don't jump on me!" Piper screamed, kicking and splashing and laughing in an effort to get away from Mac to the opposite side of the pool.
"Yes, let's move on. So, Carter," Marsali said again. "I sensed some major chemistry between you and Eliza."
"Chemistry is important," Amelia said. "That's one of the questions on Marsali's dating list. Oh, I can't wait until your book releases in a few weeks! I'm going to buy copies for all my friends and have you sign them."
Carter set the cooler aside, kicked off his slides, and tossed the towels wrapped around his neck for carrying. "I have to swim with my kid."
"Nah, buddy. I've got her," Mac called from the pool, laughing. "You just enjoy the interrogation."
"Have you talked to Eliza since?" Marsali asked.
While Mac spouted his nonsense, Amelia ran over and grasped Carter's arm, dragging him toward the loungers and away from the water.
"Sit. I'll get you a drink," Amelia said, pushing him down.
"Ladies—"
"Uh-uh. We need answers," Marsali said.
Carter stared at the beautiful faces looking back at him and barely suppressed the groan struggling to emerge. Mac's mocking laughter from the pool didn't help. Carter glanced toward his neighbor, spotting Mac's smug grin.
Brother, Carter mouthed, throwing Eliza's description of the kiss back at his friend.
Mac drew his arm back and sent it flying, and water sprayed from the pool, dousing the three of them. The ladies shrieked but this time Carter was the one smirking. Given the chem
istry between him and Eliza, he could guarantee a kiss would feel anything but brotherly.
Amelia returned and pressed a cold drink into his hand. He popped the tab and tilted his head for a drink, gaze landing on both females as they turned sideways on the loungers to give him their full attention.
He lowered the can and sighed. "Have at it, ladies."
Several hours and coats of sunscreen on Piper's pale skin later, Carter peeked over to the umbrella-shaded chair where his baby girl sat eating watermelon. Pink marked both cheeks in a wide crescent while pink streams ran down her chin.
"I can't get over how beautiful she is," Amelia said. "If one of the casting reps were to ever see her—"
"No," he said instantly. "She is not going to be a show-business brat," he said, referring to Amelia's connections with Wilmington's Hollywood elite.
"Modeling?" she asked next.
"Forget it."
"Stop grumbling at my fiancée," Lincoln said from his position by the grill.
"I'll stop when your fiancée quits trying to corrupt my baby girl."
Amelia held up her hands in surrender. "I'm just saying she'd be perfect."
"Good news," Marsali said, leaving the house where she'd excused herself a bit ago. "She's coming."
Every adult head turned in Carter's direction. Seriously? "Who's coming?" he asked, playing dumb though his gut identified the mysterious visitor.
"Eliza," Marsali said with a shake of her damp curls. "I called to check on her and she said she's made some progress with the wedding prep for you guys," Marsali said to Amelia. "She, uh, mentioned not being able to read some of her notes from last night, so I told her we were just hanging out by the pool so… she's stopping by to get some details straightened out and get the signed contract from you."
"Wonderful," Amelia said, moving to Lincoln's side to give him a quick kiss in her excitement. "Won't be long now."
"Long enough," Lincoln said.
Carter watched the two lovebirds and tried to rid himself of the tug of envy. Maybe he was a softie, but he really did want that kind of connection with a woman someday. The lasting kind that might not be perfect but gave him the life he wanted for Piper and himself.
His problem was finding the right woman.
Especially when certain women declared themselves uninterested….
Chapter 6
That evening, Carter set the baby monitor on the coffee table and sat down beside his brother on Mac's newly decorated patio, staring out at the beautiful landscaping fronting the canal running in back of all three of their homes. Of the three yards, Mac's was by far the most elaborate with its designer lighting, domed gazebo, and sitting areas. "Where's Mac?"
"He was here earlier but took the bike somewhere to scope out a business."
Mac had his hand in a little of everything. Investments, chain stores, restaurants. When debating an investment, he liked to go as a customer to check out the management and staff before making a final decision.
Carter nodded, a tug of envy in his heart over his friend's two-wheeled adventure. He'd put his bike in storage the day after Piper had been born, determined not to take any chances when he had a kid to raise. His parents had been killed in a car accident, and while he was a safe biker, far too many motorcycle riders were taken down because of other drivers. "Where's Amelia?"
"She's meeting Eliza and Izzy for a dress fitting."
"On a Sunday?" he asked, glancing at his watch to note the time.
"Eliza pulled some strings to make it happen so Amelia could get the ball rolling."
"Good. That's cool. I, uh, saw Eliza yesterday," Carter said. "When Piper and I went to the beach."
"So I heard."
After the nonstop interrogation by the ladies, he wasn't surprised the news had traveled. "Yeah, one of Eliza's workers didn't show and wasn't there to put together an arbor for a wedding, so I helped her out."
Carter felt Lincoln's gaze boring a hole into him.
"Why do I get the feeling there's more to the story?"
Carter inhaled and sighed, wondering how his older brother always knew when he was holding back. Some kind of sixth sense? Considering Linc had been his guardian since Carter was thirteen, Carter would believe it. He'd certainly given Lincoln reason to be thorough in his questioning during those years. "I asked her out."
Lincoln sat forward in his chair.
"You demanded a date for payment?" his brother asked quietly.
"I didn't demand anything."
"You couldn't have just helped her out?"
Carter grimaced at the lecturing tone of Lincoln's voice. Amelia and Marsali had thought it romantic when he'd mentioned the asking to them. "I did help her out. She mentioned not knowing how to repay me so I—"
"Demanded a date," Lincoln growled. "Did you really think that would work?"
"I don't know, maybe?"
"Carter, Eliza isn't one of your barflies."
"I know that."
"Then why are you treating her like one?"
"Treating her like… How is asking her out a bad thing? I just tried to snag a date that way since she said she wasn't interested."
That sound. Carter hated it when Lincoln made that sound, sort of a cross between a sigh and a grunt and something else completely chock full of censure.
"When did Eliza say that?"
Ah, man. Would he ever learn to keep his mouth shut? "The, uh, night you and Mac went to pick up the girls and I tagged along."
"When you walked Eliza to her room."
"Yeah."
"You tried something with her that night?"
Carter's mind slid back in time to his first glimpse of Eliza in her tipsy state. She'd sat there with her dark hair and flashing green eyes. Beautiful, soft, classy—yet adorably kissable. "Not really."
"When the answer's not a simple no, it's a lie. You'd known her, what, five seconds?"
Carter wiped a hand over his face and rubbed. "I flirted with her. Okay? Come on, Linc, she's beautiful. If she'd given me the go-ahead that night, I would've hung around. What guy wouldn't?"
"Someone who cares more about the person he's with than just getting laid. That's who."
"It's not like that. Not with her."
"No?"
"No." But of course Lincoln would think that way. The guy had been married way longer than he'd been single.
"Carter, Eliza is best friends with Marsali, which involves Mac, which means this isn't a game."
"I never thought it was," he said, getting angry.
"You just said you would've taken her up on an offer even though you knew she'd been drinking and we were waiting downstairs for you to return."
"I meant I would've enjoyed hanging out and getting to know her."
"Getting to know her?" Lincoln repeated, sliding Carter a suspicious glance.
"That's what I said." And it was true. One look at Eliza told him she wasn't his usual "type," but he was drawn to her all the more because of it. "Look, maybe it's you and Amelia finding each other after all these years and getting married, but it's really got me thinking about things. You're right about the women I've been with in the past, the ones I attract hanging out where I do."
"And? What about them?"
Yeah, Lincoln was going to make him spell it out. "I don't want that," Carter said. "Not for me and definitely not for Piper. Eliza… When I saw Eliza, I liked her. Just like that."
"That's called lust."
"It was more than that," he countered. "We talked the whole way to her room. We talked on the beach. She's different. Fun. Smart. But she shuts me down at every turn."
Lincoln was silent a moment before he spoke.
"You mean she isn't falling for your tattoos and pretty face like all the others."
He shrugged. "The tats definitely don't seem to help with her."
Lincoln leaned his head back and laughed so hard it echoed off the back side of the house.
"I love it. Finally!"
&nbs
p; "Finally? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you may be on to something. Eliza's making you work for it, brother. I like her even more now," Lincoln said, wiping his eyes. "Oh, that's good."
"Is it?" Because it didn't feel good to him. It felt like rejection. And nobody liked rejection. The kid on the beach was right about that.
"Any woman who winds up with you needs to be able to give as good as she gets," Lincoln said. "And I understand your thinking. Logically, Eliza's already been vetted by Marsali since they've been friends so many years. Mac, too."
Carter agreed with a silent nod.
Lincoln stood up and swung his chair around to face Carter before sitting back down and digging his elbows into his knees.
"I'm playing shrink here, okay? Humor me and listen. Because Eliza is like every other woman."
And here he'd always thought Lincoln was the smart one. "Come again?"
"She sees the outside first, and one look at you tells her a lot. Like the fact you're one of those guys who's never had to work all that hard to score—which isn't her thing and more proof she's not like the women in your past."
"So what do I do?"
"If you want a quality woman, you have to bring quality to the table."
Carter stared at his brother, not liking the thoughts in his head. "I am who I am."
"You're not a bad guy, Carter. I'm not saying that. I've watched you mature a lot in the last ten years, especially the last five since Piper's come along. You've got a great head for business. You're a fantastic dad."
"Okay. So how do I get Eliza to see that?"
"You stop coming on to her, at least until Amelia and I are married."
"What?" Carter asked. How was he going to get closer to Eliza if he wasn't allowed to… get close?
"I mean it," his brother said, his voice a low growl of warning. "You are hands-off. Amelia is stressed enough trying to get everything done without having our wedding planner quit because Eliza is uncomfortable with you coming on to her too strong."
