* * *
I was sitting in Carter’s truck outside a shitty hotel while he ran in to change and grab his workout bag.
I hated this place.
I hated that Carter was living here.
Okay, the hotel wasn’t total shit but it wasn’t the Four Seasons and Carter certainly didn’t belong here. It was one of those places where all the doors faced the outside. You could open the door to your room, step out onto the walkway and your view was the parking lot.
It was also old. I’d driven by it millions of times and the building had been here for as long as I could remember. The name had changed over the years but no improvements had been made when the hotel changed ownership.
God knows what the inside looked like. Gauging by the outside the furnishings were probably twenty years out of date.
There was no way he should’ve been staying there. My Carter was way too good for this place. I saw him come out of his room and made a decision to talk to him about moving in with his parents until he could find a place of his own.
* * *
We pulled through the security gate of Triple Canopy and I still hadn’t found the courage to talk to Carter about moving out of the hotel. It was stupid but I felt like I’d be out of bounds. It wasn’t my place to tell Carter where to live but it was bugging the hell out of me.
He parked next to my dad’s truck, left his running, and jumped down, coming around to my side.
I always waited for him to help me down. Not that we’d gone a lot of places together, never out to dinner or on a date, but we had gone to the store together a time or two. And the first time I’d opened my own door and gotten out, Carter lost his mind.
I thought it was a little crazy and overboard but who was I to argue if he insisted on opening every door for me? I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d open the door to a public restroom for me if he could get away with it.
I was out of the truck, in his arms, and before I could protest his mouth was on mine.
It wasn’t a sweet goodbye kiss, it was deep and wet and included a good amount of tongue. In less than a second I was lost in the magic he created. I loved the way he kissed me. Always had. And now that I’d kissed another man and had something to compare it to, I had confirmation Carter Lenox was the world’s best kisser.
“I’ll be done at four but I’m gonna work out after. If you can’t pick me up around six, I’ll find a ride home.”
“You’re gonna work out for two hours?”
“Every day, Laney.”
“That’s a lot.”
“You like what you see?”
My mind was still muddled from the kiss, therefore my filter was nonexistent so I answered honestly. “Well, yeah.”
“Then two hours isn’t a lot.” He smirked.
I didn’t have time to be embarrassed, something caught my attention and my gaze moved beyond Carter.
Great.
My dad.
And he was walking our way and Carter still had his arms around me.
I tried to step away but his arms locked tight.
“No more hiding,” he said.
“My dad’s coming.”
“I know.”
“Morning,” my dad greeted like there was nothing abnormal about Carter holding me close.
‘Close’ wasn’t an accurate description. More like intimate. My front was pressed to his chest, my arms around his middle, and his hand was on my hip.
“Mornin’, Dad,” I mumbled.
His eyes came to mine and he gave me a sad knowing smile. “Morning, sweetheart.” Then they went to Carter and he asked, “Did you get my girl’s car sorted?”
“Yeah. I called Todd’s and they’re coming to pick it up this morning.”
“I’m sending Brady over there this afternoon to put up cameras. Should’ve done it years ago.”
I felt like my head was going to explode. They were carrying on a conversation about me, with me present, but acting like I wasn’t. And I didn’t want cameras in front of my house.
“No cameras,” I told my dad.
“Delaney, I let you talk me out of them when you bought the house. I knew why you’d refused and I gave you that play only because you agreed to the alarm. But the cat’s out of the bag. Not that it was ever in the bag. I gave you that, too, not talking to you about Carter’s truck in your drive even though none of us had seen him or knew he was coming into town. You’ve been left unprotected for long enough. There’s no need for privacy anymore so you and Carter can sneak around thinking all of us are too stupid to know.”
I may’ve flinched—more than once—at my dad’s statement.
He was correct, I’d refused to allow him to install cameras because I knew someone in the security room of Triple Canopy would be watching. And it wasn’t like I could turn them on and off at will. Which meant when Carter came over, they’d know.
“Brady will be there this afternoon,” Dad announced.
“Dad.”
“Laney baby, you need cameras.” I sucked in a breath and held it. Carter had never called me that in front of anyone. Most especially not our family. He called me Delaney when we were around them.
“But—”
“No buts. Last night someone was in your driveway long enough to knife all four of your tires. Thankfully you were not there. If someone’s stupid enough to come back, it will be their last act of lunacy. I prefer for them to be cuffed and hauled away, it’s less messy than the alternative.”
“What’s the alternative?” I inquired.
“The alternative is I have to hunt the fucker down. That’s gonna take time. Time I’d rather be spending with you. Which is gonna piss me off. So when I find the asshole who was in your driveway I’m gonna need to get creative in how I take out my frustrations. Then I’ll be coming home to you and you’re gonna have to figure out how to wash bloodstains outta my clothes. That’s messy.”
I didn’t much like the alternative, especially the part about washing out bloodstains. I also thought him committing a felony and being hauled away in cuffs didn’t sound fun either.
“Cameras, it is,” I grumbled, still not happy.
“You and Emily free tonight?” Carter asked my dad and dread hit my stomach.
“If we’re not, we are now,” Dad returned.
“Seven?” Carter asked and dread turned to ice. They were making plans that I was sure included me, but again, talking like I wasn’t there.
“Hello?”
“You coming to us or are we coming to you?” Dad continued as if I hadn’t spoken.
“Us,” Carter answered.
“I don’t know who ‘us’ is, but I hope there’s space in your hotel room to entertain my parents.” Carter’s eyes swung to me and there was a smile on his face. “There’s nothing funny, Carter.”
“Maybe not funny, but you’re always cute when you’re pissed.”
“You don’t get to invite my parents to my house without talking to me about it first. And before you say it, this isn’t ‘us’ talking about it. This is you being bossy and taking over.”
“I didn’t invite your parents to your house. I invited your parents to our house. And we’re not talking about it because I don’t wanna argue about it. There are things the four of us need to discuss and I know you don’t want to discuss them. But I keep telling you, no more secrets. No more hiding. Everyone knows we’re together, they’ve known forever. So it’s not going to come as a shock but they are going to hear it from us officially and not just see us together. This is our family. People we both respect and love and they deserve the truth.”
“We’re not together,” I protested.
“Laney baby, we’ve been together since the day you kissed me on the beach and told me you loved me.”
“Yeah, and did Lorraine Beck know that when you took her to the football game and I saw you kissin’ her by the bleachers? Or what about Allison Lawson? I didn’t see it but I heard all about it. Did she know?”
“You want a rundown of what I did in high school, I’ll gladly tell you. But it will be tonight, after we’ve spoken to your parents and we’re lying in bed. But just to answer, everyone knew. I was in high school, I was young, I was fighting against the pull of you, struggling with wanting you so badly but having too much respect for your father and you to go there. So, yes, I played the field. But none of them were you. None of them had a chance. And none made me doubt what I felt for you.”
“So then, we weren’t together. And it must’ve been nice, you getting to play the field. Considering no one dared asked me out in fear of getting their asses kicked by you and my brother. Maybe since you got your Lorraines and Allisons now’s the time for me—”
“So help me God, you finish that sentence, your father standing here or not I’ll haul your ass back into my truck and I’ll remind you of what I already warned. You do not ever talk to me about another man. It is a pointless, ridiculous conversation that will only piss me off because it is never gonna happen.”
Shit, shit, shit. Carter had me so angry I’d forgotten my dad was standing there listening. I chanced a look in his direction and he was looking at his feet smiling.
“You can’t say that to me,” I snapped at Carter.
“Just did, Laney baby. You wanna stand out here and fight all day while my truck’s running, burning fuel, with the possibility of every green peace-er in a hundred mile radius coming here to protest me not having a care for the environment, or can I get to work and talk to Brady about the system he’s gonna set up? And you can go about your day, no doubt coming up with ways to further piss me off and plot my murder.”
“I’ll be here at six to pick you up. But the conversation isn’t over, Carter. When we get home, it’s my turn to talk and you’re gonna finally listen.”
“Looking forward to it. See you at six. Now, give me a kiss so I can get to work.”
“I’m not—”
I didn’t finish. His lips crashed into mine and kissed me hard. It was closed mouth but no less intimate and it was done in front of my dad.
Kill me now.
“Love you, Laney. Stay safe and alert. You see something that doesn’t feel right, you call me.”
I nodded.
That’s all I could do. I was still reeling from him being bossy, the kiss, and hearing him tell me he loved me. Again, all done in front of my dad.
“See you tonight,” my dad said on a smile.
“Yeah, tonight.”
I didn’t smile. I walked around Carter’s truck, hauled my ass up, adjusted the seat and froze.
When we get home, it’s my turn to talk and you’re gonna finally listen.
When we get home.
Home.
Shit.
17
Carter
My day had started with Delaney cuddled close, progressed into an early morning conversation that was so normal, I didn’t care it was about something as mundane as her driving me into work. An ordinary discussion an ordinary couple would have. Which meant it was about nothing, but that nothing meant everything.
We were starting over.
Sort of.
In her anger she’d slipped back into calling her place our house, which meant something, too.
We were mixing old with new and making it work.
I wished she hadn’t brought up Lorraine and Allison from high school in front of her dad. I was skating on thin ice with him and he’d given me a clock to fix this shit with his daughter and make her happy. I didn’t need him to be reminded I had indeed been around the block. All of them were before I’d taken Delaney’s virginity. All of them before I’d given in to the knowledge that no matter how hard I’d tried, she was it.
It was a topic I wasn’t proud of but would discuss with her in private if she felt like she needed to know. I never thought of it as cheating. She was right, we weren’t together, even if I’d known I’d loved her. I wasn’t proud of my actions because I’d used those girls. And that made me a dick. I had no intention of ever being someone’s boyfriend, or being exclusive. I’d made it known, and even though the girls had claimed to understand and didn’t want that either, being a man now I knew differently.
However, as a teenage boy, I was being led by my dick, and I’d given in to what my body had wanted.
Delaney hadn’t.
She was true and steadfast.
The more I’d thought about it the more ashamed I’d become. I wasn’t looking forward to having to answer for my stupidity. But I would. Delaney deserved nothing but complete honesty, even if the truth was going to be uncomfortable.
My workday was ending and I was surprised how fast the day had gotten away from me. After Brady briefed me on his site plan for Delaney’s cameras the rest of the day was spent going over the day-to-day operations of Triple Canopy.
I was damn impressed with what my dad and uncles had created. The business was thriving. And if they wanted, we could expand and still have more contracts than we could handle.
“Everything good?” my dad asked from the open door to my office.
“Five by five,” I returned.
“Brady get the cameras installed?”
“Yeah, he called around lunch before he went to his next job. They’re done and functioning.”
“He give you the app for your phone so you can check them?”
“Sure did.”
I wondered how Delaney would feel about me being able to watch the security feed from my phone. I didn’t have to think on it too long to know she’d hate it. And not just me, any of us with the code could, including her dad.
“Jasper said him and Em are going over to Delaney’s tonight. She ready to talk about it?”
“Not even a little bit. Neither of us are. But we have to. I think once she talks to her mom about it she’ll start to heal. She was pissed I sprang their visit on her in front of Jasper but she’ll get over it.”
“You say that but I remember she didn’t talk to you or Jason for a week and all the two of you did was throw water balloons at her.”
He was wrong. She hadn’t talked to Jason for a week. We were camping and I’d snuck into the tent she and Quinn were sharing, laid down next to her and told her I was sorry. We stayed up the rest of the night talking. Though she did give me the silent treatment in front of everyone but that was to throw them off the scent of me sneaking into her tent every night. If Quinn knew I’d been in there after we thought she was asleep, she never told.
“Right. She didn’t give you the silent treatment.” My dad smiled.
“Nope. She didn’t even make it twenty-four hours.”
“I don’t think I want to know.”
“You’re probably right.”
My dad went quiet and a thoughtful look crossed his face.
“What’s on your mind, old man?”
“Fucked up with you. I should’ve listened to your mom and talked to you about Delaney. Could’ve saved you years of pain.”
“I’ve been hearing that a lot. And I catch myself saying it, too. What should’ve been done. But the truth is, even if you’d talked to me, it wouldn’t’ve changed anything. I had to go through it. I had to learn on my own. Maybe I wouldn’t appreciate what I have now because I would’ve always had it. I don’t know, Dad, there’s a lot of ‘should’ve’ being tossed around and not enough, ‘we are where we’re supposed to be’. Delaney and I had a journey we were meant to live. Some of it sucked. But again, we’re all forgetting that most of it didn’t. I know right now Laney’s focusing on all the times I refused to promise her a future so she’s not remembering all we have. But I promise you it was good. And soon, when I get my ring on her finger it’s gonna be great.”
“How’d you get to be so fuckin’ smart?” Dad asked, his voice thick with emotion.
“Mom.”
“Right.” He chuckled. “Once you get Em and Jasper out of the way, I know your mom would appreciate a visit.”
“Did you t
ell her about the baby?”
“No.”
His answer shocked me. I’ve never known my dad to keep secrets from my mom. If she even got a whiff, he was trying to surprise her with something she’d badger the fuck out of him until he spilled. She should’ve been an interrogator, she was that good.
“Not mine to tell, son.”
“Thanks. Let me get Laney through tonight and this weekend we’re headed up to Virginia Beach so I can meet with Logan. He’s coming around to pick up the rest of the crap he’s taking.”
“No shit. You’re taking her up.”
Damn, the shock in my dad’s voice reminded me what an ass I’d been.
“She wants to see it and I promised no more pushing her away. So we’re going up. Haven’t told her yet, but we’re gonna have dinner with my old team.”
“You’re doing good, kid. Proud of you.”
“Thanks. Now if we’re done, I have a two-hour workout I need to complete in an hour thirty.”
My dad’s smile was big, the green of his eyes danced, and he shook his head. “There’s so much I could say about that comment, but all of them would be at Delaney’s expense and I just can’t think of my niece that way.”
“Well, you better stop thinking about her as your niece, because she is not your blood and if you start telling people your daughter-in-law is your niece, they might think we’re a little backwoods.”
My dad chuckled and backed out of my office calling as he went, “See you tomorrow.”
“Later, Dad.”
* * *
When Delaney picked me up she was still irritated. Though her anger had been downgraded to mild instead of nuclear which was an improvement. The closer we got to home the more on edge she became.
“How was your day?” I asked after I finished telling her about mine.
The first thing she’d asked about when I got in the truck was how her dad was. It’d taken me a few minutes to convince her Jasper was fine, he was better than fine actually. He’d given me plenty of lighthearted shit about his daughter being stubborn and that it was amazing to watch her run me in circles.
Adoring Delaney: The Next Generation Page 12
