Saved By A Soldier (Love Conquers Life Book 1) (8 page)

“Thank you, they’re really pretty. I’ll just put them in some water and we can go.”

“Cool. I thought we would go to Jake’s. Have you ever been there?”

I turn to him with a smile that shows how happy I am about his choice. “Yes, I love Jake’s. How’d you know?”

“I didn’t. I just figured after getting dressed up this weekend it would be nice to have a casual, relaxing dinner.”

“That’s perfect because to be honest, I’m not a fan of getting too dressed up. I do it to please my mother.” I put my flowers in water.

“I’ve had the…pleasure of meeting your mom on a few occasions.”

“If I know my mom, I’m sure it was no pleasure.” I laugh. “I’m ready if you are.”

“Sure, I’ll drive,” he says, opening the door for me and we make our way down to the car hand in hand.

Being the gentleman that he is, Carter opens the door to his Jeep for me so I can climb in. I’m sitting there fidgeting, my leg jumping, when he gets into the driver’s seat. I don’t realize I’m doing it until he places his hand on my leg. “Relax,” he says. His strong, warm hand feels good on my leg. His touch sends goosebumps all over my body. I look down, biting my lip as I’m blushing.

He puts his key in the ignition and starts the car. As he drives off I can’t help but wonder what this incredible man sees in me. I glance over for a moment while he’s focused on driving. His car is filled with his musky, minty scent and it’s intoxicating.

He senses me staring so he looks over. “A penny for your thoughts.”

I can’t answer him right now. Turning my head, I look back out the window. “Trust me, you don’t want in my head.”

“Oh, but I do,” he says.

A minute later we pull up to Jake’s. He finds a spot immediately and gets out of the Jeep to open my door. I’m nervous and my clumsiness has me practically falling out of the Jeep and into his arms. My body instantly warms as he catches me and looks into my eyes. We stay like that for what feels like forever, but we are broken from our trance when a lunatic screeches into the parking lot.

“Let’s go eat,” he says. “I’m starved.”

When we get inside he gives his name and we’re instantly seated with two menus and water. I love Jake’s because they offer breakfast all day and I love having breakfast for dinner. Carter picks up his menu, but when he notices I’m not really looking at mine he says, “Let me guess, you know what you want.”

“I do. I love their breakfast and always have it when I come here, no matter what time of day it is. I’m having the special. It’s two eggs, two pieces of bacon, home fries, and a pancake.”

“That sounds good. I think I’ll have the same thing.”

“I can never finish it but I get a little of everything I love.”

He closes his menu and leans on the table to start a conversation when our waitress comes over. “What can I get you two tonight?”

“I would like a coffee with the breakfast special,” I say.

She grins at me. “Will you ever order anything else, Patty?”

I laugh. “Maybe someday. I’d like my eggs whites only and scrambled with—”

“Broccoli, peppers and onions. Got it.”

I giggle as she turns to Carter for his order.

“I’ll make it easy on you,” he says, “make it two.”

She looks back to me with a sneaky smile and walks off with our order.

“What was that all about?” Carter asks me.

“What?” I feign innocence. “I saw the look she gave you.”

I shrug. “I’m usually in here alone. It sucks to cook for one person and this place isn’t far from me so I come here anytime I feel like having breakfast. I always order the same thing, the same way, every time.”

“That’s pretty funny,” he says. Our waitress returns with our coffee. Once she’s gone he asks, “Why are you and your mom not on the best terms?”

I sigh, not sure I want to talk about this. I give him the short answer. “She wants me to be someone I’m not. She thinks that just because Ben apologized and he has money I should forgive him and go back to him. He’s boring and not very nice, so why I would do that is beyond me.”

“No offense, but she’s a bit…” he hesitates, trying to choose his words carefully.

“Snobby,” I answer for him.

He chuckles. “Yeah, I guess that’s a way to describe her.”

“She’s very snobby. I’ve never spoken to my father about why they separated but I think it was because she wanted someone with more money. My stepfather was one of the top lawyers around and is now the district attorney, plus he comes from money. My mother likes to be his arm candy and believes that as her daughter it is my place to follow in her footsteps, playing the supportive wife who does whatever her husband bids.”

“I wanted to flatten your ex Saturday night. I can’t believe your mother supports a great cause like a battered woman’s shelter but wants you to be with a man who hits you and treats you that way.”

“I know, I thought the same thing. Anyway, can we shift the conversation? I’d rather not talk about her anymore.”

“Sure, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was such a heavy topic,” he says with an apologetic smile.

“How come I’ve never seen you at the lake house?”

He shrugs. “I was wondering the same thing, but I figured it was an age gap or just happened we weren’t there at the same times.”

“My mom hates the place so I really didn’t start spending time there until I was about twelve or thirteen. My mom always hated that my dad took me there but I loved it so I didn’t care.”

“Yeah, and like I said, I think I’m a few years older than you so I was probably over hanging at the lake house with my dad at that point. Although I have to admit I did enjoy being back there.”

“Why how old are you?” I ask, curious. He doesn’t look that old.

He grins as our waitress delivers our food and when she walks away he says, “I’ll tell you my age if you tell me yours.”

I can’t help the giggle that escapes me. “Okay, fair enough.”

“I’m thirty but I’ll be thirty-one soon.”

“Yeah, you were probably over the lake house then, because I’m only turning twenty-five, so you’re about six years older than me.”

“I was still going, but not nearly as much,” he says.

We both start eating in a comfortable silence, enjoying our dinner. About halfway through he says, “This is really good, I’m glad I got it.”

“I’m glad you like it. I would have felt bad if you picked my favorite meal and decided it sucked.”

“Nah, you have good taste.”

The waitress comes over to ask if we need anything else. I tell her that I’m good and he does the same, so she drops the bill and as I go to take it he grabs it and says, “I got this.”

“But you paid Saturday night.”

He raises his eyebrows like he can’t believe I just said that. “And I’ll pay next time too.”

“How do you know there will be a next time?” I tease him.

“Because I’m about to ask you when can I see you again.” He drops some money on the table. “Do you want to do something else or do you want to just go hang out?”

“How do you feel about a movie at my place?”

“I like it,” he says, taking my hand and pulling me from the booth.

When we get back to my place I unlock the door and hit the light. “Have a seat and I’ll get us some drinks. What would you like?”

“Water is fine,” he says, sitting on the loveseat across from the TV.

I go to the kitchen for two bottles of water and then join him on the loveseat. I have Netflix and On Demand so we can watch pretty much anything. He leans forward to put his water on a coaster on my coffee table and I can feel him staring at me. I glance over and notice he’s inched closer. The back of his fingers brush a piece of hair from my face and he whispers, “I really like you, please tell me you’ll see me again.”

I’m mesmerized by his eyes so a nod is all I can accomplish before his full lips gently press to mine in a kiss. He hovers for a moment waiting for permission to continue. I press my lips to his. He sticks his tongue out, gently licking my lips. I open my mouth to him and our tongues gently caress one another’s.

It’s a soft, sweet kiss that has me instantly wet for him. I haven’t been touched like this in so long and his warm, strong hands are rubbing up and down my leg.

He breaks our kiss. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that.” He presses his forehead to mine in an attempt to gain some control, but I want more.

“How about you do it again?” I suggest, looking into his eyes.

He gives me what I want, though this time his hand goes to the nape of my neck and he deepens the kiss. With a moan I climb over his lap and continue to kiss him. He runs his hands up my back and presses me against his lean, hard body. I love that he’s in shape but not huge, because we fit perfectly together.

I break away, panting. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure what’s come over me. I’m not usually like this.” I look into his eyes. “There’s just something about you that makes me feel comfortable and safe.”

“It’s okay, but we should slow down. I don’t want you to have any regrets. I need to spend some time looking for an apartment this week, but I really want to see you. Why don’t I take you out Friday night? We can do whatever you want.” I bite my lip and nod. “That sounds great.”

He picks me up off the couch with him as he stands, placing me on my feet. Slipping his hand over my cheek, he leans in to give me a chaste kiss. “I think I should go, but I’ll talk to you soon.” I can see the concern on his face as he fights to maintain control.

“Okay,” I say with a smile, walking him to the door.

Chapter 9

Patty

It’s Thursday morning and thanks to distractions I’ve barely done any writing this week. I’ve gone shopping and had lunch with Bella to fill her in on my date with Carter. He has been on my mind way more than writing and unfortunately, so has my mother. She’s been texting me and calling me all week, basically begging for me to stop ignoring her. She wants me to call her so we can discuss Ben and what happened at the event on Saturday night.

I make a fresh cup of coffee and sit down at my laptop to go through my social media and see what my followers and friends are up to. I’m reading through my newsfeed commenting on posts and checking in with my friends before I figure out what my plan is for the day.

Someone bangs on my door and I jump, afraid to answer it.

“Who is it?” I call.

“It’s your mother, open this door right now.”

I look up to the heavens and beg for strength because this woman doesn’t get it. I count to ten before opening the door. When I finally do I find my mother standing there dressed in a pretty, fitted knee-length dress that probably ran her at least five hundred dollars. It’s a gorgeous shade of green that matches her eyes.

“Come in, Mother.” I turn my back to her and walk back into my apartment.

“Patricia, I know you’re upset but ignoring me isn’t going to fix our situation. Please talk to me, darling.”

“Why? You don’t listen to me. You continue to interfere in my life, trying to turn me into someone I’m not.” With total frustration I plop myself onto my couch.

“Darling, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m only trying to do what I think is best for my only child.”

“Mother, I’m turning twenty-five years old. I have a career, I support myself, and I have my own home. I do not need you managing my life. I can handle it all by myself.”

“I guess I just don’t understand why you won’t give Ben another chance. He is such a good boy and wants to take care of you. He told me he tried to talk to you Saturday night and you wouldn’t even hear him out.”

“
Talk
to me?” I growl. “Mother, he practically yanked me out of the ballroom and into a secluded area, hurting my arm and embarrassing me. He probably would have hit me again if Carter hadn’t come along and told him to screw off.”

“I’m sure you must be overreacting,” she says, lowering herself onto the edge of my chair like she really doesn’t want to sit on it but doesn’t want to be rude.

“Mother, I’m not overreacting. He was drunk, and I’m not sure why you support a cause like a battered woman’s shelter when you’re okay with a man like Ben hitting your own daughter.”

“I’m not okay with him hitting you but he said he was sorry and promises me it will never happen again. He loves you, darling, and wants to propose. His family is very well off and I wouldn’t have to worry about you if you married a man like him.”

I shake my head. “First, I will
not
be marrying him. Second, I don’t care if his family is the richest family in the world, I’m not giving him a second chance because I don’t care about money the way you do.”

“That’s not fair. I love Richard,” she says, turning her face like I’ve offended her.

“I’m sure you do, but you also love money. That’s not me. I want to find a man who loves me for me. I would rather make my own money and find a man who truly loves me than marry someone who’s rich and only wants me for arm candy. So, you have two choices, Mother. You can start accepting me for who I am and we can continue to have a relationship or you can continue feeding Ben false hope and pushing your lifestyle on me guaranteeing I will continue to push you away for good. What’s it going to be?”

“I can’t believe you’re giving me an ultimatum.” She has tears in her eyes and she’s starting to make me feel bad, but I refuse to give in to her.

“I don’t want to, Mother, but you’re leaving me no choice. I’m not you and although I love you, I do not want to
be
you. You have to let me be me and live my life!”

“Fine,” she huffs, “No more interfering. I still want you to make appearances at my events, though. It makes me look good and it’s good for your books.”

“Deal,” I say with a small smile, hoping she means it.

“Good, because I have another event coming up in a few weeks and we’d really like for you to be there. Richard missed the last one because of a case, but he’ll be at this one.”

“Fine. Send me an e-mail with the info and I will make an appearance. I will also let my agent know that I’ll be there so she can blab that her bestselling author will be at the event. She loves throwing my name out.”

“Great. Now change out of those yoga pants because Bella will be here any minute to have lunch with us.”

“Mom, just because I work from home doesn’t mean you can simply drop in and interrupt my entire afternoon,” I whine, because she does this to me often.

“You need to eat, darling. I promise a quick lunch and some shopping and I’ll have you right back here so you can work. It’s not like you can’t work from home this evening.”

“What if I have plans with Carter this evening?”

“Are you seeing that boy? You can do so much better than that.”

“Mom,” I warn and she backs right off.

A few minutes later my buzzer rings and I let Bella in. She walks right in and air kisses my mom’s cheeks before giving me a hug.

“Why are you in yoga pants?” she asks. “I thought we were going out?”

I raise one eyebrow at my mother. “We are but I only found out a minute ago. Luckily I’ve already showered and just need to change. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Bella turns to my mom giving her a questioning look.

My mom says, “Don’t you start on me too.”

After changing into some skinny jeans, a sweater, and some calf-high boots, I walk back out of my room with my hair in a ponytail, wrapping an infinity scarf around my neck. “Let’s do this.”

“Don’t you look cute,” Bella says.

“I can be cute when I want to. Just because I don’t want to dress up like you two all the time doesn’t mean I can’t.”

Bella laughs at my outburst. While I’m locking the door my mother is already heading downstairs to call her car around since she refuses to drive.

“Sometimes I swear you do it just to piss your mother off,” Bella remarks.

I shrug. “Maybe if she didn’t push it on me and let me be, I would do it more often, but I’m tired of her trying to turn me into someone I’m not and I told her so today.”

“Fill me in later,” she says as we are approaching my mother.

Mother’s car pulls up and Phil gets out of the driver’s seat to open the door for us. My mother and Bella climb in and he says, “Good afternoon, Ms. Patricia.”

“Good afternoon, Phil. How are you?”

“I’m well,” he says, tipping his head.

After I am inside he closes the door behind me and we’re off to get lunch. He pulls up to one of my mother’s clubs and we go inside. As always the door is opened for us and they tell my mom that our table is ready. I’m given a dirty look because I’m wearing jeans and a sweater, but they don’t dare say anything because my stepfather spends a lot of money at this club.

Once we’re seated my mother says to me, “Darling, my next event is being held here, so please be sure to dress appropriately.”

I know she is only saying it because of the look I got at the door. “No problem, Mother. Had I been informed of our plans for the day perhaps I could have dressed appropriately.”

“I know, dear, and I do apologize.”

The menu is placed down and the hostess walks away after letting us know that Trevor is our waiter and he’ll be right over. I open my menu, not wanting to carry on with the conversation that was just taking place because I really want to call her on it more. However, I decide to try to make the most of the remainder of my afternoon.

After a few moments of us quietly looking over the menu, Bella says, “So what are you ladies having?”

The tension must be killing her. “I’m going to have chowder and salad,” I reply.

“Nice choice,” my mother says. “Luckily you can afford the calories of their delicious chowder. I, however, cannot, so I’m going to have a grilled salmon salad.”

“I’m with you,” Bella says, “The chowder is delicious but with a shoot coming up I can’t do it. I think I’m going to have the grilled tuna.”

After the waiter takes our order, my mother says, “So, darling, tell me about this next book you’re writing.”

Easy question,
I think to myself, however, I’m not sure how I feel about the book so how much do I tell?

“It’s about a woman who’s approaching her thirties and has yet to find love. She’s dated and has even been in a long term relationship but none that made her feel truly loved, so she starts to wonder what being in love is really like. When she finally meets Mr. Right she can’t see it because she’s such a mess over her past relationships. You know me, my characters have a mind of their own and the book could head in a totally different direction, but that was the idea.”

“It sounds sweet,” Bella says. “How far in are you?”

“Five chapters. It can really take a turn at any time, although for some reason I’m really having a hard time focusing with this one. I know I want her to have a happy ending, however, I can’t seem to figure out how to make that happen for her.”

“It will come to you, darling. Take your time and don’t stress over it. Forget about that agent of yours. You know there is no way she’ll drop you because she makes money off your books.”

“Very true. Why am I letting her rush me? It’s not like they’ve given me an advance on the book yet. I’m going to take my time and I can worry about timing once she gives me my advance. As a matter of fact, if she keeps pushing me I may even push to change my contract on this one.”

“There you go, that’s my girl. Tell her you want more money for all the undue pressure.”

I giggle at my mother’s thoughts again heading in the direction of money. I make six figures a year off my books and if this one hits the bestsellers’ list I’ll be pretty well set.

Our food arrives, and we eat quickly so we can move onto shopping. My phone pings in my pocket and instantly I feel bad that I forgot to silence it.

“Excuse me,” I say, taking it out to silence the ringer. I see there is a text from Carter.

Carter: Hope you’re having a good day. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.

Patty: I’m at lunch with my mom and Bella and then we’re going shopping. I’ll fill you in tomorrow.

Carter: Call me later if you need to talk.

Patty: Thanks, will do!

I’ll probably end up calling him later. We’ve spoken almost every night this week. He’s been looking for an apartment now that he has a job and I know how tiring that can be. I make a mental note to ask him about it later.

“Sorry, that was Carter asking how my day was going.” I put my phone back in my purse and finish my lunch.

When we’re all finished my mom signs the bill. She and my stepfather are members here, and they have an account that gets charged each time they eat here. The driver brings the car around, and we all pile in. My mother tells us she’s taking us to some fancy new dress shop she heard about to buy us dresses for her next event. Bella, being the girly one, claps her hands excitedly while I sit and enjoy the ride.

“I would like a black dress this time,” I say as we’re driving toward the shop.

“Why black, darling?”

“I like it and I think it’s elegant and sexy.” I don’t dare tell her that I’m hoping to get Carter to attend with me and if I’m in black it will look good next to either a tux or his dress uniform. He wore a tux last time, though I’m not sure if that was out of choice or if he is not allowed to wear his dress uniform now that he is retired.

We pull up to the shop and I jump right out telling Phil not to worry about the door. My mother runs the poor man ragged. Bella and my mom follow behind me and Bella shuts the door. We walk into the shop and the girl behind the counter is drooling because she saw us get out of my mom’s limo.

“How can I help you ladies this afternoon?”

“We need three formal, floor length dresses. My daughter Patricia wants black and Bella wants…?” She turns to Bella.

“Red, deep sexy red,” Bella says with sass.

The woman tells us she will be right back and she returns in a matter of minutes. She’s carrying three black dresses and two red ones. Bella and I go into fitting rooms to try them on. The first one I put on is pretty and I show my mom but it’s not what I want. I go back in and when I come out, Bella is dancing around, thrilled with her dress. This time I’m a bit happier with what I’m wearing but I still want to try the third. I put on the last dress and when I come out I feel amazing. It’s strapless with a low cut sweetheart neckline. It’s fitted but the material is soft and gathers on one side, which flows down the length of the dress. It has some sort of black crystals throughout to make it sparkle and I love it.