Accidental Heartbreak (The Accidental Series, Book 2) (13 page)

“I will.”

“All right. Later.” Donovan looked at his
phone. He’d still had Shayla’s name programmed in it, even though
Carter told him to get rid of her contact information. But he
wasn’t ready to delete her number just yet.

“This is a beautiful place,” Shayla said, as
she stepped in Bentley’s on 27, looking around, admiring the art
glass collection of varying colors – lime green, blues and oranges.
Tall ivory-white pillar candles stood by the fireplace, while
golden chandeliers dangled over a few dining room tables. But even
more exquisite was the extraordinary view from the twenty-seventh
floor of Charlotte Plaza building. And while Shayla stood next to
the table, staring out the windows taking all of this in, she
remembered how just months ago, instead of having dinner in a ritzy
place like this, she was begging for spare change in the streets
below. “This place looks expensive, Carter.”

Carter pulled out her chair, watched her
sit, kissed her cheek then sat adjacent to her. “It’s not that
bad.”

Shayla smiled briefly, turning her attention
to the view again.

“You look beautiful,” he commented, looking
upon her adoringly and stroking her hair.

She was dressed very elegantly, her curly
hair flowing nicely over her shoulders. She wore a white halter-top
blouse and black slacks with a pair of black flats.

“Thanks.”

“So what did you do with the rest of the
day? Did you call Donovan back?”

Shayla frowned. She was almost certain she
hadn’t told Carter the name of her boss. There was no reason for
her to. So how did Donovan’s name roll off of his tongue so
easily?

“Shayla?” Carter said, when he noticed she
went mute on him.

“Oh, yeah. I called him.”

“And?”

“Um…he was upset and rightly so—”

“He’ll get over it,” Carter said
nonchalantly, interrupting her thoughts.

Shayla squinted at him, trying to recall a
time when she’d mentioned the name of her boss to him. She couldn’t
find one. She scratched her temple and stared at him.

Carter sat quietly staring at her, thinking
about his life before her. He thought about the emptiness of it, of
living for himself without a connection or concern for anyone else.
Now he had a connection and there was no way he would lose her
again. And he wasn’t about to spend a romantic dinner with his lady
talking about Donovan.

“Shayla,” he said soft-spokenly.

“Yeah?”

“Can you see yourself with me?”

Shayla smiled and blushed at the same
time.

“Why are you smiling?” Carter asked, but
before Shayla could respond, the waitress approached the table.

“Good evening folks,” the waitress said with
a cheerful smile, interfering with the flow of their
conversation.

“Good evening,” Carter said, sending an
inquisitive glance Shayla’s way as if trying to read her
thoughts.

“Here are your menus,” the waitress
continued. “While you look them over, can I start you off with
something to drink?”

“Yeah. Bring us a bottle of
Rosé,” Carter said without even having to check the wine
list.

“
I’ll get that right
out to ya,” the waitress said then walked off.

“
So I get to drink
alcohol tonight?” Shayla grinned.

“
Just a smidgen.”
Carter interlocked his fingers, briefly looked out the windows and
at the buildings that made up the Uptown area and asked, “So…can
you see yourself with me?”

“
You mean like
this…like we’re together now or—”

“
I mean forever,”
Carter said with conviction.

“
Can you see yourself
with
me
, forever?” Shayla tossed
back.

“
Why do you do
that?”

“
What?”

“
I asked you a
question but you deflect it back to me.”

The waitress brought
over the bottle of Rosé and two champagne glasses. She poured some
from the bottle for the both of them, then asked if they were ready
to order.

Carter gestured to
Shayla to order first, but her eyes were glued to the menu.
“Shayla, you ready to order, hun?”

“
Um…not yet,” she
said, more interested in the prices than the actual
entrees.

“
Okay, well, I’ll have
the filet and lobster tail,” Carter told the waitress. “And I want
the steak cooked medium-rare.”

“
And for you ma’am.”
The waitress looked at Shayla. “Or do you need a few more
minutes…”

“
Um…hmm,” Shayla
crooned. “Sorry. This is my first time here.”

“
That’s fine. Do you
need me to come back?”

“
No. I’ll try the
filet and scampi,” she said nervously, choosing the first dish that
caught her eye.

“
And how would you
like your steak cooked?”

“
Medium-well,
please.”

“
Okay,” the waitress
said. She collected their menus and walked off.

Shayla’s eyes met
Carter’s. For a split second, she wondered why he was staring at
her so acutely. Then she remembered he’d ask her a question.
“Carter, the reason I deflected the question back to you is because
I wanted to know how you felt about me before I answered your
question.”

“
But you know how I
feel about you. Besides, if I’m the one asking you if you can see
yourself with me, then nine times out of ten, you know I wanna be
with you. So instead of answering my question, why did you turn
around and ask me the exact same question?”

Shayla shook her head.
“It’s complicated.”

“
Try me.” Carter took
a long swig of champagne, analyzing her.

“
Okay…um…I’ll try to
explain this the best way I can. Um…when you look at me, I feel
like you’re looking at the homeless woman you found…not at how I’ve
changed since then. So for you to ask me if I can see myself
spending the rest of my life with you…um…it just seems like a
question only you can answer, Carter. I’ll be in your life if
you
want
me to be in your life.”

Carter frowned. Now he
was getting irritated. “What are you talking
about?”

“
I just think you hold
all the cards in this relationship, Carter. I mean, you’re the one
with everything so our relationship is lopsided.”

“
Our love isn’t
lopsided, is it?”

Shayla shook her head.
“No. I think you love me just as much as I love
you.”

“
You think, or do you
know?” he asked her.

“
I
know.”

“
So I’m not the one
with everything then, right? You have my heart. I don’t own it. You
do.”

Shayla
smiled.

“
And, sweetheart, when
we’re married, everything that’s mine is yours. I mean, it already
is, baby, but if you want to get technical then…”

Did he just mention
marriage, again? Carter Williams? The man who once told her love
wasn’t for everyone? That it complicated things? She smiled when he
said it, felt a joyful beat in her heart at the thought of being
his wife. Even if he didn’t mean it, even if he was just tossing up
marriage in the air because he thought it was something she wanted
to hear, she didn’t care. She was already happy. Marriage would
just be the icing on the cake.

* * *

The two talked more
while they ate, about random things. He wanted to know if she liked
living in Charlotte and if she was comfortable with the size
of
their
home. She tossed out a few jokes about his
middle name, wanted to know if he was happy with his career and how
things were working out with Jacqueline in his life
again.

Later after they were
nearing the end of their entrees, Carter took a napkin, wiped his
hands and mouth then said, “I see you’re slowing down. How was
it?”

“
It was delicious. I
just can’t eat anymore.” Shayla took a sip of champagne. “You look
very handsome tonight, by the way.”

“
Thank you, sweetie,”
Carter told her.

“
You seem very relaxed
and happy.”

“
I am. I’m here with
the woman I love, just had a good dinner…life is good.” Carter took
her left hand into his. “
You know I’d do anything for
you, don’t you?”

Shayla nodded, her hand trembling in
his.

“I don’t think you do,” Carter told her.
“You don’t know how much I love you, how much I appreciate you. But
you will know. You’ll have a lifetime to know.” Carter pushed away
from the table, then kneeled in front of her.

Shayla felt a tingle run up her spine.

“Shayla, sweetheart, you mean the world to
me and when I didn’t have you, I was miserable and unhappy and
angry. And when you came back to me, all the sadness went away. And
now,” Carter said with tears in his eyes, “I’m on my knees, asking
for you hand in marriage.”

Shayla’s eyes bubbled with tears. Her heart
was beating so fast, she could hardly think straight.

“Will you do me the honor of being my
wife?”

Tears streamed from her eyes as she stared
at Carter holding an opened, black velvet box with a huge,
four-carat, princess-cut, diamond ring there, awaiting placement on
her finger. She saw his lips moving, but still in a state of shock,
she couldn’t hear what he was saying. Everything sounded muffled,
like her ears were plugged and for some reason her body seemed
numb.

“I hope those are happy tears,” he told
her.

Shayla gasped for air. “I can’t
breathe.”

“Shayla?” Carter said, concerned. “Baby,
relax. Look at me.”

Shayla did as he asked while pacing her
breathing, squeezing more tears from her eyes.

“You okay?”

“Yes,” she cried. She wiped her eyes so she
could see him clearly.

“Shayla, are you okay?” Carter inquired
again.

She nodded while continuously wiping her
eyes.

When he noticed she’d regained some of her
composure, he asked, “Will you marry me?” sending a peck to the
backside of her hand.

“Yes,” Shayla said tearfully. She wrapped
her arms tight around him. The patrons sitting closest to them
admired the beautiful moment between the couple. And Carter, with
watery eyes, was happy and ready to start his new life.

The plane
effortlessly descended at Honolulu International Airport as the
pilot’s monotone, robotic-like voice filled the cabin, telling
passengers that the temperature was a perfect eighty degrees and
how he wished everyone would enjoy their stay in Hawaii.

Sitting
comfortably in first-class, Shayla stared out the window, reliving
Carter’s proposal. Her stomach was filled with butterflies, a
feeling akin to stage fright, and as she took slow, deep breaths
she could sense Carter looking at her.

“
You nervous?” he
asked, clenching her right hand.

Shayla squeezed
his hand as tightly as she hugged him a few nights ago when he
popped the question. He didn’t tell her at the time that he had
already bought plane tickets to Hawaii, the place where they would
tie the knot and permanently establish a lifelong commitment to
each other. He was
that
confident she would say
yes.

“Shay,” Carter said to
get her attention.

“
Yeah?” she asked,
using her thumb to twirl her new diamond ring.

“
You nervous,
baby?” he asked again.

“
I’m a little
nervous, but I’m glad we made it…in one piece,” she said, then
giggled.

“Actually, I wasn’t
talking about the flight…I was talking about the wedding.”

“Oh,” Shayla said.
“Well, I’m a little nervous about that, too.” Why was she nervous?
She was marrying the man she wanted. But lingering in the back of
her mind was Jacob.

“
Just think, we’re
gonna be married in a few hours.”

“
Yeah,” Shayla
said idly as she thought briefly about Jacob, but trying to
disguise her feelings with a plastered smile. Why was she thinking
about Jacob when she was so happy with Carter? Was this marriage
happening too fast? Was she going with the flow?

Carter studied her
for a moment. “Hmm…you act like you don’t want to be Mrs. Carter
Williams.”

“
I do.” She looked
adoringly upon him. “I just want to be sure
you’re
sure.”

“
Of course I am. I
want to spend the rest of my life with you, baby.”

Shayla smiled while a
Caucasian couple sitting next to them looked on.

“
Are you guys
getting married, too?” the woman inquired.

“
Yes,” Shayla told
her.

“
So are we,” she
screeched, beaming like a
normal
soon-to-be-bride would. “I’m Kaitlin and this is my
fiancé
, Russell.”