Carter's #Undoing, page 16
I smiled. “I didn’t forget anything.”
“And neither did she.”
“It’s perfect mom.”
“I know it is, sweetie.” My mom looked over to where Serenity was standing. “I’ll tell her to come over.”
“What, wait?” I asked, gently grabbing my mom’s arm. “We’re at Caden and Cordelia’s wedding.”
“No we’re not, Carter. The wedding is over and the reception hasn’t begun yet.” My mom glanced at her watch. “And there’s still five minutes left before group pictures start.”
I placed my hand on my forehead. “Mom, it’s still their special day.”
“I already asked Caden and Cordelia if it was okay if you proposed today. The time was Cordelia’s idea so that you wouldn’t stress too much during the wedding reception.”
“Wai— Mom!” I tried to stop her, but she was already halfway across the yard.
“Unbelievable,” I huffed. For more than fifteen years, I’d faced some of the cruelest people in the world, yet, the task I was doomed to always fail was stopping Cynthia Madden when she was on a mission.
Unfortunately, I didn’t even have time to soak in my surprise as I watched my mom tell Serenity to head my way. “Okay, Carter, get it together,” I voiced, shaking out my body like I was preparing for a marathon. And, in a way, I kind of was, only in this case the marathon was me and the finish line was a happy life with Serenity.
“Your mom said you needed me?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah.” I closed my mouth.
She squinted her eyes. “Is everything okay?”
“Great question.” I laughed awkwardly. See, this is why my ass is never moving back to Arkansas. What was I, twelve again?
Serenity stepped closer and placed her hand on my forehead. “At least you don’t have a fever. Maybe we should just make an appearance at the reception and then head back to the villa so you can lie down? I don’t want you getting sick with the jobs you have lined up.”
I took her left hand in mine. “No, we have to be at the entire reception. Besides, I’ll get over this within the next few minutes.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, her eyes widening in utter shock as I got down on one knee.
“Oh my God Carter.” Her right hand flew to her mouth, her eyes searching my face.
“Serenity Mia Taylor, I felt like we belonged together before we’d even met each other. Call it a glance from the sidewalk or a laugh when you thought no one was listening, but I was mesmerized, never once questioning if you would be my future. Instead, I wanted to be the kind of man you deserved. The kind you could love. Most people thought we’d have an easy road to get here, but ours has been littered with obstacles and laced with hurt and pain that we hadn’t seen coming when we used to spend those days drawing on the sidewalk or relaxing by the lake. The brightest parts of my life have you in the leading role. The happiest times I’ve ever had have been the times we’ve spent together.”
Inhale. Exhale. “Taking a deep breath to control my emotions around you is sometimes one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do because this moment right here, this precious moment between us is a dream and a hope I’ve held onto for most of my life.”
Serenity wiped the tears from beneath her eyes before wiping mine.
“When you knew me all those years ago, I was a boy growing into a man. And when I returned seven months ago, I returned a man broken. A man unhinged. A man undone, fear gripping my mind and forcing my heart to do the one thing that I vowed to do the day I first laid eyes on you, and that was to protect you no matter what the consequences. A love like ours has been decades in the making and it’s rare. It’s beautiful. It’s jagged. Imperfect. Intense always, but never disrespectful. We just make sense. You’ve always been my serenity. You make me a better man because you see past the parts of me that are flawed and find a way to make me believe that they are flawless. Yet, you keep me humble. Grounded. I could spend a million lifetimes telling you all the reasons why I love you. Why I can’t live without you. But at the root of why I’m kneeling on one knee today is because, Serenity Mia Taylor, I want to marry you.”
Her tears were flowing faster than she could wipe them, her voice clear and my heart hanging on every word when she muttered, “Carter, you were the truest heartbreak I’ve ever known. The cause of the rawest pain I’ve ever felt. A reminder that some of us may look like we have the perfect life, but beneath our surface lie a series of messed up layers too thick for anyone to take a chance to unpeel.”
She smiled then, my beautiful girl pinning me with those sexy eyes. “And yet, you unpeeled them, Carter. Layer by layer, piece by piece, you unraveled me until there was nothing left but the core of my soul and that, Carter Madden, has always belonged to you.”
She gently touched the scar on my face. “Without pain, there is no growth. Without mistakes, how can we learn? We fell in love so young, but I fall more in love with you each day. We still have a lot of healing to do, but so does everyone in the world. We’ve always been better together than apart. Stronger as one moving unite, than two individuals trying to find their way in the thick fog. I could go on for hours and list everything that makes me long for you even when we’re only inches apart like we are now, but I know you want an answer. So yes, Carter Madden, I will marry you. Without a shadow of a doubt, I want to be yours forever.”
I finally exhaled at her words, our family and friends cheering around us on the sidelines. I didn’t even mind that my mom was yelling around Caden’s backyard that her last baby was getting married. I was way too elated to care.
“Carter fucking Madden,” she whispered in between kisses, “we finally got here.”
I gazed into her eyes, a part of me hating it took us so long, but another part of me feeling like somehow, it happened exactly when it should have.
“Thank you for loving me,” I told her, emotions choking my throat in the last few seconds we had before the group reached us.
“You’re easy to love,” she muttered, and even though I doubted that was true, when Serenity said it, I believed every word.
* * *
The End
Coming in 2020
Crowne Legacy
You thought you met them in Carter’s #Undoing? Nah, you’re not ready for the Crowne’s.
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Caden’s #Situationship
Caden Madden is the epitome of a southern gentleman. Polite. Respectable. With an undeniable sexiness and country bred abs that could only be the result of a hard-working rancher. The only thing you can’t rely on this cowboy for is relationship advice. No woman has ever come close to making him want to settle down… until her.
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Cordelia Sugar Rose is as sweet as her name. Or at least she used to be. This southern belle is taking back control of her life. Too bad her improper thoughts are clouding her judgement, encouraging her to throw her morals —and panties— out the window. One naughty kiss and she finds herself in a fiery predicament she never saw coming.
* * *
With both keeping secrets neither is prepared to share, the passionate air is thick with confusion. But, if two people have sex, can they still be friends? Or does seeing each other naked make for a situation too complicated to categorize?
Excerpt: Caden’s #Situationship
CADEN
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Anyone who ever said that fucking in a barn was sexy, had clearly never scratched their ass on hay. The shit was horrible and gave you a rug burn so bad, you’d swear your ass was on fire every time you sat down.
Even though I didn’t mind some pain during sex, I was too damn grown to roll around in straw. And in this case, I wasn’t even sure how I landed myself in my current predicament.
“Your name is Caden, right?” the woman wearing a bit too much perfume uttered as she played with the top buttons on my tucked in, collared shirt.
“Yes, it is.” I placed my hands over hers and gently pushed them away from my shirt. Unfortunately, that only made her bolder as one hand grazed the outside of my jeans, while the other fumbled with my belt buckle.
Using a little more force, I stopped both her hands again and took a step back. “I think you’ve got the wrong idea.”
“Wrong idea? Don’t you want me to help you get naked?” she purred, leaning against the barrel of hay and batting her false eyelashes at me.
“Darlin’, I’m not having sex with you tonight.” Or ever. I left out that last part because I wasn’t trying to hurt her feelings.
“But I’m ready for you.” She slightly slid her tight skirt up her legs and undid the top button of her cardigan. The shit wasn’t sexy, and I could tell that Miss Prom Queen was used to getting what she wanted. She reminded me of Regine off Living Single mixed with a little Whitley from A Different World. High-maintenance, bougie, and far from my type.
I shook my head. “Not happening. I’m only here to take care of the business I have with Mr. Rose. Nothing else.”
“Nothing else,” she repeated. “You’re only here to talk to my boss?”
“If Lance Rose is your boss, then yes.”
“Figures. What do you want with him anyway? I thought you liked me.”
Is she delusional? We just met! “Ma’am, I don’t even know you. What’s your name again?”
She crossed her arms in a pout. “It’s Abigail, and if you didn’t want to have sex with me, why did you throw those hints my way and come out to my boss’ barn?”
"I came out to the barn because I needed to think, and it was too crowded inside the estate.” I leaned closer to make sure she heard me. “Trust me, I wasn’t hinting at anything. When you kept winking at me, I tried my best to look away, but at one point, I thought you had something in your eye and I have some good eye drops in my pocket.” Her eye started doing that twitchy thing she had done inside of the house, but this time, it was in annoyance at me. She scrunched her forehead as the redness that started at her chest made its way to her face.
“You suck,” she whined. “I can’t believe you thought you could get any of this!” She waved her hands up and down her body as if her fancy, overpriced clothes impressed me.
“You just offered yourself to me a minute ago,” I reminded.
“How dare you!” Her eyes got so big, I almost backed away from her even though she weighed next to nothing. “Consider this rendezvous officially over.”
“Over? When did it start?”
She gasped, then picked up her forgotten glass of red wine and tossed it in my face. I could have moved out the way, but I figured doing so would make her even more upset. Plus, she wanted to save face by feeling like she’d made the last move and I was nothing if not a gentleman.
“Raggedy ass cowboy,” she huffed, as she stormed out of the barn like a category six hurricane, shouting curse words my way as she went back to the estate.
“The story of my life,” I mumbled, adjusting my black cowboy hat as I made my way back to the party I was attending. The top of my white button-up was soaked in red wine, so I took a detour to my black Toyota Tundra truck and changed into the spare shirt I kept in my gym bag for emergencies. Not exactly formal, but hey, it was me: simple.
Taking a deep breath, I glanced at the gravel walkway that led back to the estate. Damn. This is brutal. The last thing I felt like doing tonight was schmoozing with the high-class folks of Dallas, Texas, but I was on a mission and couldn’t leave until I had a chance to talk to Lance Rose, the business tycoon who showed interest in investing in the ideas I had for my business. Granted, at this point, it would be easier to cut my losses, but I never quit at anything.
As I made my way back into the estate, I immediately groaned at the fact that Abigail was already talking to a couple other women who were all shooting daggers my way. It was hard enough forcing myself to be personable and talk about my business without the extra stress that Abigail was clearly out to make sure the women in attendance didn’t want anything to do with me. And from what I heard, the women ran this part of town, so if they didn’t like me, I didn’t stand a chance with their husbands and sons.
“Damn, Caden. Where you been at?”
I glanced away from Abigail in time to see Houston, my best friend and one of my business partners, approach.
“Remember when that woman asked me to talk to her outside?” He nodded. “Well, she wanted to do more than talk. Had me out there in the barn avoiding her advances, when I needed to be in here handling business.”
Houston shook his head. “Shit like that always happens to you.”
“Tell me about it.” And at thirty-four, it was getting old.
“What did you do?” he asked.
“Not her,” I told him. “But she didn’t take the rejection well. Now, she’s over there talking to that group of women, and from the looks I’m getting, she’s telling them her version of the story.”
Houston shrugged. “These Dallas chicks are used to getting what they want, but we came here on a mission. Who cares what some pampered princess has to say.”
“Her boss might,” I mumbled as Lance Rose approached the woman. It didn’t take long before he was also looking my way with a stern expression on his face.
“Shit,” Houston mumbled. “Maybe you should have just fucked her.”
I shook my head. “Not my style, man. You know that.” Besides the fact that she was a prima donna, I wouldn’t have slept with her even if the situation hadn’t caught me off guard. Women like her didn’t have much substance and were more so worried about their social standing in society rather than doing something that impacted their community. My views made me sound judgmental at times, but I had yet to meet a woman like Abigail to prove me wrong.
“He looks pissed,” Houston pointed out.
“No shit.”
I wasn’t sure what she told him, but the last thing I was expecting when he approached me was for him to extend his hand and tell me, “Thank you for being there for my sister when that man tried to get her to go to the barn with him.”
My eyes widened. Sister? She’s his damn sister? “Ah, what?”
Lance glanced over his shoulder. “Abigail told me that you were there to rescue her when a man who had a little too much to drink approached her. I have security trying to find him now.”
“Um, you’re welcome,” I said, deciding to play along. “Glad I’d been out there to help.”
Houston almost choked on his drink. “That’s Caden. Ever so much the boy scout.”
Lance smiled. “Tonight only attributes to the other great things I’ve heard about you. How about we chat in my office about that expansion we discussed on the phone?”
I briefly glanced to Houston before accepting Lance’s offer. We followed him through the crowd, and not surprisingly, Abigail tapped me on the arm when we neared her.
“You’re welcome,” she whispered.
I glanced down at her and squinted my eyes. “Why did you help me land a meeting with your brother after what happened in the barn?”
Her eyes softened. “Don’t get me wrong, no man has ever turned me down before. But I just broke up with my boyfriend, and after I cooled off, I appreciated the fact that you were a gentleman.”
I smiled. Southern charm wins again. “His loss,” I told her, right before I tipped my hat and continued to follow her brother. Okay, so maybe I’d misjudged Ms. Abigail, but I still stood by what I believed. Nothing worse than a woman with good looks and little substance.
Three hours later, the party was ending and we’d successfully landed an investor for our new business venture.
“I wasn’t sure tonight was gonna pan out for us,” Houston admitted as we headed to the parking lot. “But I’m glad it did.”
I nodded my head. “Yeah, it paid off big time. Can’t wait to tell Linc and the rest of the gang that we’re initiating the next phase of the business soon.”
Houston nodded in agreement before he reached to his head. “Damn, dawg. I left my hat inside. Let me get it real quick.”
“I’ll be at the truck,” I yelled to Houston who was already jogging back to the estate. As I neared my car, commotion caught me off guard. I glanced to my right to see a woman yelling into her phone, wearing a dress with so much fabric, I wouldn’t have known it was actually a human being if not for her voice.
“You’re going to regret the day you dismissed my idea,” she yelled. “Everything you just said to me is hosh-posh and irrelevant. Just remember that you passed on perfection.” She hung up the phone and started shouting out words I didn’t even understand.
“Rich folk’s problems,” I mumbled, turning back toward the direction of my car.
“Sir, did you have something to say to me?”
I turned at the sound of her voice directed at me. “No, ma’am. I was just making my way to my car.”
“You know, eavesdropping is a crime.”
I laughed. “No it isn’t. And I wasn’t tryin’ to listen.”
“You were,” she said. “You slowed your stride when you neared me and then you stood there for several seconds listening to my very private conversation.”
Is she serious? “If it was private, why were you having it outside in the parking lot?”
