Love and Always (A Pound of Flesh #1.5) Read online

  Carter sat forward, perplexed, pressing an accusatory finger to his desk. “And this is, like, a thing? People do this?”

  Ben shrugged. “I did. I asked Abby’s father. Bastard sat there with a Smith and Wesson while I did it, too.” He chuckled but Carter didn’t join in.

  God fucking dammit, a Smith & Wesson would be the least of Carter’s worries when Eva arrived to see the three-carat rock on her baby girl’s finger.

  “How did I not know this?” He slumped back in his seat and clutched the bridge of his nose. Just what he needed, another damned reason for Eva to be on his case.

  Granted, she’d been nowhere near as haughty or curt with him since their heated conversation at Nana Boo’s Thanksgiving a year ago, when she found out that it was Carter who’d saved Kat from an almost-certain death when she was nine years old. Eva had even kept her mouth shut when he and Kat had moved in together, but Carter could still sense her disapproval every time they were in a room together, prickling his skin and his self-confidence, like she was just waiting for him to screw up and prove her right. She hid it well, but it was there, lurking under the surface of her immaculate makeup and stiff smile.

  “Don’t worry,” Ben said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “It’ll be fine. She’ll see how happy Kat is and move on.”

  But neither man believed that for a second.

  chapter two

  As noon approached on Christmas Eve, Kat was about ready to crawl out of her skin.

  She’d changed her outfit three times, from jeans to a skirt to dress pants and back again. She’d put her hair up, then taken it down; curled it; then straightened it. She’d made sure the food she’d cooked was organized and ready more times than she could count, and cleaned the house over and over from top to bottom until the wood was gleaming so brightly Carter had suggested in bemusement that they eat off the floor instead of plates around the dinner table.

  But none of it did anything to ease her sense of dread.

  The truth was, Kat had no idea what her mother’s reaction was going to be. Frankly, she didn’t care, though a small part of her longed for her mother to be happy. Kat wanted to marry Carter with everything that she was: body, mind, and soul, and no one could convince her otherwise. But it didn’t change the fact that her mother was a tricky beast.

  After checking the time on her cell phone for the hundredth time, Kat glanced over at the collection of black-and-white pictures that adorned the wall above the fireplace. The memories that she and Carter had created so far were building perfectly in frameless glass, and never failed to calm her. There were pictures of them in Hawaii the past summer, after he completed his parole, tanned and blissfully happy. Carter’s shirtless, inked body was stunningly beautiful, and the Wayfarers he wore made him look sexy as sin. Next were pictures of them eating a picnic at their spot in Central Park, then several arm’s-length selfies taken as they walked down the beach being goofy together, kissing, and last New Year’s at Nana Boo’s house.

  Kat lingered wistfully over the picture of her and her father, which sat on the shelf, next to a white orchid, in an elegant silver frame. She’d been five and he had been her everything. As small as it was, the pang of loss in her chest was all too present. How she wished he were alive to see how happy she was.

  Lord, it would be all sorts of awesome if—like Kat knew her father would have—her mom simply accepted that Kat and Carter were going to get married and live happily ever after.

  “Kat.” Carter’s voice stopped her dead in the middle of the sitting room.

  She looked down at him sitting on the sofa, as though he’d materialized out of thin air.

  “You’re pacing,” he added softly. “Calm down.”

  “Sorry,” she uttered distractedly before stuffing her thumbnail back into her mouth and pacing some more.

  Carter’s hands on her waist and his gentle voice in her ear brought her to another stop. “It’s going to be fine.” He placed a kiss on her neck.

  She turned in his arms and cupped his face. His stubble was all designer-handsome and felt luscious under her palms. “Do you really believe that, or are you just saying it to make me feel better?”

  He paused, narrowing his eyes a little as though deep in thought. “I’m saying it to make us both feel better,” he said finally with a wry smile. His blue eyes looked deep into hers, drawing what little strength she had left to deal with the situation to the surface. She lifted onto her tiptoes and kissed him, needing to show him how grateful she was for his support, and how she would stand by his side no matter what or who got in their way.

  The indisputable sound of a car door closing had them jumping apart and looking toward the front door. “Here we go,” Kat murmured, moving out of Carter’s arms and pulling the cuff of her sweater over her left hand, covering the ring. Carter noticed and, although a gentle frown appeared between his brows, he nodded in acquiescence. They’d talked about how they’d wait until everyone was settled before breaking the big news. Kat’s intention to ply her mother with Carter’s homemade mulled wine first sounded like a stellar plan.

  Outside the sharp wind whipped off the ocean, bringing sand and salt into the swirling and flailing mass of scarves and hair. Kat headed quickly to Nana Boo with a huge smile and a fluttering heart. They hugged and the tension in Kat’s neck instantly eased.

  “Oh, Nana, I missed you. Merry Christmas.”

  Nana Boo laughed and planted a huge kiss on her cheek. “I missed you, too. Merry Christmas, Angel. Let me look at you.” She stepped back, holding Kat by her forearms. “Stunning,” Nana Boo said lovingly. “Simply stunning.”

  Kat laughed. “You’re biased.”

  “You bet your ass I am!” Nana Boo looked over Kat’s shoulder and grinned. “And here’s my second favorite person in the world.” She held a hand out for Carter and he took it with a small chuckle. “Come give me a hug and make an old lady’s day, Handsome.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Carter replied as he wrapped his arms around her tightly.

  Kat cherished the relationship Carter had developed with her grandmother. She knew his love for her came from a place that pined for his own grandmother, and Nana Boo was only too happy to lavish him with the love and attention he secretly yearned for. Truthfully, she spoiled him rotten, and he loved every minute.

  “It’s good to see you,” Carter mumbled into her coat.

  “I wouldn’t have missed it. Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”

  Wanting to give Carter and Nana their moment, Kat turned toward the car. Harrison and her mother appeared from behind the trunk, numerous bags in hand and an excited Reggie on a leash, pulling happily and wagging his tail like he was desperate to stretch his legs along the beach. No doubt Carter would have him running up and down the sand within the hour.

  “Hi, guys,” Kat said, hugging them both.

  Harrison kissed her cheek. “You look great, kiddo.”

  Her mother smiled. “Hello, darling.”

  “Let me get that for you,” Carter said, appearing at Kat’s side to take the large bag from her mother with a wide smile that would ordinarily have Kat’s pulse racing and her legs around his waist. He was damn fine looking in his black jeans and thick green wool sweater. Carter looked steadily at Eva. “Nice to see you, Eva, Harrison. Merry Christmas. Thank you for coming to our home.”

  He wrapped a protective arm around Kat’s shoulders, both staking his claim and making it clear that there would be no bullshit on his turf. Eva gave a tight smile and shifted from foot to foot, clearly taken aback. Harrison winked at Kat while his lips pressed together, as if repressing a smile. It took backbone to put Eva in her place like that, but Carter had had a baptism of fire where she was concerned.

  “Thank you for having us,” Eva replied slowly. “Shall we go inside?”

  Once the official tour of the beach house had been given, glasses of mulled wine were poured and they all gathered in the sitting room by the roaring log fire and the Christmas tree
decorated in silver, red, and white, nibbling on chips and cheese. Nana Boo, who had always loved Christmas and all the extravagance that comes with it, placed more wrapped presents under the tree, and handed Kat and Carter an exquisite blown-glass decoration engraved with their names and the year.

  “For your first Christmas together in your home,” she said. “May it be the first of many.”

  Kat couldn’t have been sure, but Carter’s voice was more than a little tight when he thanked her for it and gave it pride of place at the front of the tree.

  Conversation flowed easily, made so by the wine and the warm atmosphere of the house. Carter told the story of the beach house and its meaning to him, summoning more questions from Eva, who was settled comfortably on the large sofa next to Harrison. She appeared surprised at how warm the house was, despite it sitting by the sea, and marveled at how airy and tastefully decorated it was.

  “I love that picture,” she said, pointing to the photograph of a five-year-old Kat with her father. “It was such a beautiful day.”

  “You took that?” Carter asked.

  “Of course,” Eva replied. “I caught them unawares as they blew raspberries at each other. I look at it and I can still hear them laughing. You were both so happy.”

  “I’m happy now,” Kat murmured.

  Eva sipped her wine, her eyes flickering to Carter. “I know.”

  “So, Carter, how’s business?” Harrison asked.

  “Great. Really good.” Carter had headed two significant and successful mergers since he became CEO. He didn’t like to brag, but he found it hard to hide his pride, especially when Kat spoke about his achievements.

  Kat also told them all how her work at the Brooklyn Young Offenders Institute was going. As much as she missed the Arthur Kill facility, the work she was doing with her group of boys had her springing out of bed every workday. They were no less challenging than the inmates at Kill, due to their home lives and pasts, but they were all utterly endearing.

  “We’re so proud of both of you,” Harrison said with a smile. “Aren’t we, Eva?”

  Eva smiled small, but her eyes conveyed nothing but truth. “Yes. Absolutely.”

  “So, are we doing presents at midnight like we used to when you were younger, Kat, or are we going to be grown up and wait until the morning?” Nana Boo asked with a smile over her wineglass.

  Kat caught Carter’s eye. He paused before giving the back of her calf a small squeeze. It was all the encouragement she needed. “We can exchange one at midnight, if you like. But, Carter already gave me my gift.”

  Smiling at the intention in Kat’s voice, Carter moved Reggie off his lap and stood from his place on the floor between Kat’s feet. He took her hand, raising her from her chair. With his possessive and content stare burning into her, Kat was suddenly a little breathless.

  Nana Boo, always so intuitive, clapped her hands together and pressed them to her mouth. Slowly, and with her eyes firmly on her mother, Kat pulled her sweater sleeve from her hand, showing the exquisite ring Carter had chosen for her. “He asked me to be his wife—and I said yes.”

  Nana Boo and Harrison shot from their seats, showering the couple with hugs, kisses, and congratulations. Kat was surprised that her grandmother, at the age of seventy, could squeal and jump around like an excited child. She tried to lose herself in their love and acceptance, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that her mother hadn’t moved an inch or spoken a word. When Harrison and Nana Boo both calmed, they, too, stood back and looked over at Eva, the expectation in the room suffocating.

  “Mom?” Kat uttered when her mother remained mute, hating the shake in her voice. Seriously, if Eva thought she could ruin today she’d be in for a shock. There wasn’t a law against throwing your mother out of the house on Christmas Eve, was there?

  Kat persevered. “We were thinking about having the wedding here on the beach, or, if it’s available, at the Central Park boat house, or at Nana Boo’s. What do you think? I mean, we could have it . . . wherever, because the important thing is that we’re together.”

  Eva placed her glass of mulled wine onto the table and sighed. Carter tensed at Kat’s side and clasped her hand in his. For whose benefit, Kat wasn’t sure, but she held on for dear life as Eva stood slowly. She turned her eyes from the happy couple to the picture of her late husband and her daughter, and Kat could have sworn a smile tugged at her mother’s mouth. Then she stepped closer and reached out for Kat’s left hand.

  Her fingers were gentle over the diamond and Kat’s skin. “It’s very beautiful,” Eva whispered. “Very beautiful indeed.”

  She lifted her eyes to Carter. His back straightened further, making him seem impossibly tall. “Tell me something, Wesley Carter. Does this beautiful ring mean that you’re going to spend the rest of your life protecting and loving my daughter the way she deserves, until your very last breath? Are you going to cherish each moment, and wake up every morning thanking God how lucky you are, to be able to do that and to have her?”

  Carter was very still. “Ma’am, I already do. I just wanted the world to know it, too.”

  Kat brought his hand to her mouth and placed a kiss on the back of it.

  Eva cupped Kat’s face. “Katherine, you are happy and loved—and that’s all your father and I ever dreamed of for you.”

  “I know.”

  Eva smiled. “Congratulations.” She kissed Kat’s cheek and hugged her tight.

  Carter wasn’t exactly sure what the hell had just happened.

  Had Eva just given her blessing to him and Kat? He’d been so ready for a verbal sparring match with her after his conversation with Ben that the adrenaline still coursed through his body even as they ate the wonderful meal Kat had prepared.

  Part of him was still waiting for the punch line, the big “but.” It couldn’t be that easy, could it?

  He really, really wanted a cigarette, just to take the edge off, to calm him down. The toothpick he frequently stuffed into his mouth to quell the nicotine cravings was in his jeans pocket, but it’d be pretty uncouth to pull that out.

  He chewed his steak instead, slow and patient, willing the anxiety to subside.

  Glancing at his Peaches next to him, Carter wondered why the hell he was feeling so freaked out. She’d never looked happier and the sound of her laugh was a pure delight. He reached out and touched her face tenderly, leaning over to kiss her. She hummed and smiled.

  “You okay?” she murmured as Harrison made Nana Boo and Eva laugh again with one of his work anecdotes.

  “I’m great.”

  Eva ate her meal; praising Kat’s cooking and engaging in civil conversation with everyone. She smiled easier than he’d ever seen, and at one point even touched Carter’s forearm as she spoke to him.

  Yeah. Shit just got surreal.

  After dinner and a dessert of Nana Boo’s Oreo cheesecake, Carter brought Jim Beam out to join the festivities so that everyone could share a Christmas toast. A little before midnight, and with Michael freakin’ Bublé warbling Christmas songs in the background—at Kat’s insistence—the five of them sat in the sitting room with two large bowls of popcorn and exchanged one gift each.

  Carter received cologne from Eva and Harrison, an awesome Alexander McQueen silk tie and a leather wallet from Nana Boo, and a pair of insanely cool cuff links from Kat. They were silver and were engraved with his initials, WJC. A minute diamond punctuated the last letter on each.

  “Do you like them?” Kat asked. “Now we both have diamonds,” she added with an adorably tipsy giggle.

  Carter watched her, enraptured as he always was. “I love them.” He kissed her.

  “Merry Christmas, baby,” she uttered against his mouth, making Carter wish that everyone would leave so he could feast on her body until Christmas morning. Her blithe demeanour was more than a little sexy.

  It had been a very long time since Carter had enjoyed a Christmas Eve as much. Last year had been nice, but he and Kat hadn’t lived together
then and, because they were both indecisive morons, each wanting to please the other, they’d traipsed from one friend’s party or meal to the next with no chance to make time for themselves. His gift to her that year of a key to his TriBeCa apartment had been a stroke of genius. She’d moved in by New Year’s. This year, being in their own home and doing what they wanted to do, spending time with family, made Carter feel truly settled, truly accepted.

  “Thank you for this, Carter,” Eva said, holding the colorful handwoven scarf he’d given her. “It’s lovely.”

  He smiled. “You’re welcome.”

  “Isn’t it gorgeous?” Kat exclaimed with a mischievous glance in Carter’s direction. “I was so impressed when he brought that home. All by himself.”

  Carter rolled his eyes and nudged her. “Shut up. I’m not utterly incapable.”

  She laughed and kissed him soundly. Her breath was suggestive, warm bourbon and sweet popcorn. “Oh, I know.”

  The woman was going to be the death of him.

  When the clock in the hallway chimed two o’clock in the morning, the weary bodies of Nana Boo and Kat made their way up the stairs to bed after Carter offered to clean up. Kat had worked like a freaking dervish the entire day and deserved the break. Harrison and Eva helped him fill the dishwasher and wipe down while he checked on the progress of his roast ham in the slow cooker. It smelled incredible and would be perfect by the morning, ready for Christmas lunch.

  With a large yawn, Harrison shook Carter’s hand, offering his congratulations and thanks again. “I’m really happy for you,” he said with genuine emotion in his large dark eyes. He kissed Eva quickly and disappeared up the stairs, leaving Carter alone with Kat’s mom for the first time since the engagement news.

  The atmosphere in the kitchen changed imperceptibly and Carter suddenly wished he’d not had that last glass of Jim, which had made his head light and his feet heavy.