Hard To Love (8 page)

“Yeah, but having a twenty-one year old sex god sure helped make me feel better. And now, I’m thirty something.” Ella could never bring herself to say her actual age. Turning thirty had hit her hard. She had gone out drinking on her thirtieth birthday with her best friend Becky, and cried on her shoulder all night. “What on earth is wrong with Carter to even be looking at me when he has a dozen beautiful young girls falling at his feet?” Ella asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Sis, you are a beautiful woman. He sees what you don’t. Just go with it for once. If he makes you feel good, why the hell not get as much of that as you can? I sure as hell would.” Liv snorted as she laughed.

“Speaking of getting as much as you can,” Ella grinned. “You and Gabe were getting pretty cozy out on the dance floor last night.”

“He’s a good time. We like each other, and have great chemistry in the sack. He’ll do for now,” Liv shrugged, as she put her shoulder bag over her head. “Now, I’m going to go see the only man in my life that I truly love.”

“That damn horse gets better treatment than the humans in your life.” Ella laughed.

“Yeah, too bad I can’t marry my horse. He’s always there to listen, and he never talks back or tells my secrets. He’s always there to carry me when I can’t carry myself. He’s my best friend.” She smiled fondly, thinking about the horse she had gotten on her eighteenth birthday. Buckshot had been a rescue horse and the reason Liv had always wanted to start a horse shelter. The beautiful bay horse was the love of her sister’s life, and now the reason Ella was stuck dealing with Carter Dawson.

Chapter Eight

Carter could not get Ella out of his mind. Driving back to his cabin on the lake, he replayed their conversation back in his mind. She acted like she could care less if she ever set eyes on him again. This woman was grating on his nerves.
Stop thinking about her then, dumbass!
Easier said than done, obviously. It was that dirty mouth of hers, had to be. Or that curvaceous body he loved to run his hands over, or her amazing green eyes he saw every time he closed his. Slamming his hand down on the steering wheel, Carter cursed himself for his asinine behavior. Last night was supposed to get Ella out of his system, not imbed her in his memory. But now all he could think of was how he was going to get to see her again, and when.

Pulling up to his cabin, Carter saw Gabe digging in his diamond plated tool box on the back of his pick-up truck.

“Hey man, what’s up?” Carter called, as he climbed down from his seat.

Gabe turned, holding a black Mossberg .270 rifle in his hands. “Hey bud, look at my new toy. Thought we could go out on the four wheelers and sight this sucker in.”

“That’s nice, man, let’s go fire it up,” Carter said, smiling at his longtime friend.

“Glad to see you smiling this morning. Must’ve had a good night, huh?” Gabe grinned.

“Yeah, I guess you can say that,” Carter answered with a frown.

“Dude, what is with you? You’re mean as the devil when you don’t get laid, and miserable when you do? What the hell?”

“Shut up Gabriel. I’m not miserable. I just don’t want to talk about this,” Carter said, stalking off toward his front porch.

“What? Couldn’t get the flag up the pole? It happens man, don’t beat yourself up about it.”

“Gabe, I’m warning you, shut the hell up.” Carter warned.

Knowing he was getting Carter’s goat, Gabe continued poking the bear. “Seriously man, you are getting older. It happens to the best of us.”

“Gabe, I swear to god if you don’t shut up, I’m gonna shoot you with your own damn gun.” Carter growled.

“Okay, okay. Edgy much?” Gabe snickered. “Well, I don’t know about Ella, but her sister is a damn freak. That girl rode my dick like she was barrel racing at the rodeo.”

Carter chuckled at his friend and shook his head. “You’re a pig you know that?”

“What?” Gabe shrugged looking confused.

After loading the ATV’s down with everything they thought they’d need, they rode out through the middle of the wooded area by Carter’s house, and came to a clearing where they set up a steel gong about one hundred fifty yards away. By the time they shot off a couple of rounds, they decided a beer was in order.

“Damn, I like this lightening trigger. I think it’s the best trigger of all my guns.” Gabe bragged.

“Maybe you’ll get that ten point buck you’ve been belly aching about this season.” Carter teased.

“Maybe. I do think she’ll be my favorite one this season. Maybe the favorite of my whole collection.”

“Do you ever think maybe you’ll want to settle down with just one girl?” Carter asked seriously.

“Do you ever think maybe you’ll always want to eat vanilla ice cream?” Gabe hooted. “Hell no I don’t want to settle down with one woman. And I sure as hell don’t want a bunch of hellions running around. Is that what’s going on with you?” he asked in disbelief, disgust written across his face. “Snap out of it man. You have a record deal coming up. The last thing you need is a damn woman hanging around your neck, weighing you down. They don’t call them the old ball and chain for nothing man. You are twenty-seven years old, you have a lifetime to think about settling down.”

“I don’t know man. I love the nightlife, don’t get me wrong. But I love being at home too.” Carter took a long pull from his beer, looking out at the serene picture in front of him. “The thought of waking up to the same woman every morning for a while might be nice,” he declared.

“After you make your first million, then you can wake up to the same woman every morning if that’s what you still want, and in any damn house that you want. Right now, you need to focus on the light at the end of the tunnel, and stop thinking about a woman.”

“You know that’s my momma’s dream, man, not mine. I’m happy right where I am.” Carter argued.

“Yeah, but you promised her on her death bed that you’d at least give it a shot. You can’t give up now. She’ll come back and kick your ass.” Gabe chuckled. Being Carter’s best friend for years, he’d seen Carter’s momma in action, and she had been a force to reckon with. It had been hard on everyone around to see her deteriorate with stomach cancer the way she did, especially her baby, Carter.

“I know what I promised, Gabe. You think I don’t remember?” Carter grated.

“Well, if you’re talking like this, I think you need a reminder. And you forget, I made a promise too,” Gabe said creasing his eyebrows. “I promised her I’d keep you outta trouble, and that’s what I plan on doing. I ain’t having her come back from the grave to kick my ass, no sir brother.”

“I got news for ya, you ain’t done such a good job of that as it is.” Carter said, as he pulled his ringing phone from his pocket. Looking at the screen, his heart gave a little kick thinking it may be Ella calling, only to be disappointed when he saw a Nashville number pop up on the screen.

“Hello, this is Carter,” he answered in a displeased tone.

“Hi Carter, it’s Laura, Laura Harmon from Nashville Platinum Records. We met at Silver Spurs,” a very feminine country voice came across the line.

“Yes ma’am Miss Laura, I remember. How are you?” Carter asked politely, not really caring one way or the other. Of course he remembered her. She wouldn’t keep her roaming fingers and rushing hands off him the whole time she was here. And he still hadn’t got the Marilyn Monroe red lipstick off the collar of his favorite shirt. She may have been a sexy older woman, under all the eye makeup and hairspray she had been wearing, but Carter still shivered thinking about the taste of smoke she had left in his mouth when she shoved her tongue down his throat.

“I’m fine, thank you for asking. Listen, we’d like to set up a time for you to come for some studio time. I know it’s kinda short notice, but we think now is a good time to sell you,” she said with enthusiasm.

“When were you thinking?” he asked.

“As soon as possible. You’ll need to be here for at least three days, so let me know what your schedule looks like. We’ll have everything set up when you get here.”

“Okay, I’ll let you know something by the end of the week, will that be good?” Carter confirmed.

“That will be perfectly fine.” Carter could hear her smile on the other end. “I can’t wait to see you again Carter,” she purred down the line.

“I’ll give you a call,” Carter said, ending the call as another shiver ran down his spine.

“Was that Cougar Barbie from Nashville?” Gabe asked with humor in his voice. That’s what they had decided to call her, since that’s what she looked like. Bleached, butterscotch hair and red lips on a sexy as sin body stuffed in a black leather skirted suit. She had scared the hell out of them.

“Yes,” Carter said, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. “That’s just great, dammit!” he growled.

“What did she say?” Gabe prodded.

“They want me to come to Nashville for some recording time. I tell you right now, I am not sleeping with plastered on Barbie. She can forget that right now. I’ll never get a record deal if that’s part of the plan.”

“Maybe you need to take a body guard,” Gabe laughed.

“That might not be such a bad idea,” Carter replied.

********

Almost a week had passed since Ella had last seen Carter, making it one long sleepless night after another. She had tossed and turned every night, sleeping with both her cordless home phone, and her cell on her nightstand, hoping he would call, but praying he didn’t. She needed to get Carter Dawson out of her head, and quickly. Almost giving up thinking he was going to call, she was trying her best to put him out of her mind.

With her umbrella in one hand and her handbag and keys in the other, Ella’s phone rang as she was trying to open her office door. “Dammit! Why can’t people call when I don’t have my hands full,” she said, almost dropping everything. The cold wind and rain were blowing her hair in her eyes and mouth, and about the time she managed to get the door open, a gust of wind caused the door to jerk her forward, tripping over the threshold. Looking like a mad wet cat, she threw everything on her desk, fished the never ending ringing phone from her pocket and answered.

“Hello!” she screeched, not even looking at the caller id.

“Well, hello sweetness. Did I catch you at a bad time?” Carter’s smooth voice traveled over the line quickening Ella’s heart rate.

“You always seem to catch me at a bad time, Carter. What can I do for you?” She asked in a breathy voice, hoping he couldn’t hear her heartbeat rushing through her ears.

“Did you miss me?” he asked in his sexy, sensual voice.

“Carter,” she smiled, hoping he couldn’t pick up on the excitement in her voice.

“What? I’m just asking, did you? Cause I’ve been thinking about you.” Ella could hear his heavy breathing on the other end.

“Will you stop,” she said, heat rushing up her neck to her cheeks. Was he being serious? As if reading her mind, Carter answered her unspoken question.

“I’m serious, El. I’ve thought of you all week. I don’t know what it is about you, but I can’t get you out of my head. I can still smell you on my pillows, and it makes my dick hard every night.”

“Maybe you should wash your sheets,” she tried to say sarcastically through the lump building in her throat. Why was he saying these things to her? He wasn’t just messing with her mind, now he was messing with her heart, which was currently beating at a rapid rate.

“Nooo. I like it. I like thinking about you, and dreaming about you.”

Ella couldn’t believe the words she was hearing, as she stood staring out her office window that faced the beach. Angry waves of the ocean crashed on the shoreline and grey skies hovered over it, mimicking the emotions flowing through her body right now. Ella wanted to believe Carter could find her as sexy has she found him, but Derek had left her feeling undesirable, and she found it very hard to believe Carter would be so attracted to someone older than him. She wasn’t sure what to say him.

“I like that you like thinking about me,” she said so low, she wasn’t sure he heard her.

“Go to Tennessee with me,” he said more as a demand than a question.

“Yeah, right,” she laughed.

“I’m serious!”

“I can’t go to Tennessee with you,” she gasped. What was he thinking?

“Why not?” he pushed.

“Carter, I have a business to run. What are you going to Tennessee for anyway?” she asked, curiosity taking over.

“They want me to do a trial run on recording a song. I’ll be there for three days, and I don’t want to go that long without seeing you again. It’s already been too long.”

“Three days?” she laughed nervously. “Carter, I’m flattered, but I can’t leave for that long.”

“Yes you can, and you will. Besides, maybe you can make some contacts there yourself. You are in the entertainment business, aren’t you?”

Carter did make a good point, she could make some good contacts. But could she really leave for three days? And how would that work? Would they share a room? She certainly couldn’t afford a trip like this. But this might just be the break she had been looking for, Ella thought. To rub elbows with record execs and big stars? Yes, maybe Ella needed to take Carter up on his offer after all.

“I am in the entertainment business, Carter, but how will this work?” she asked.

“What do you mean, how will it work? It’s an all-expense paid trip. The airfare, the room, everything.”

“So, we’d be sharing a room?” she asked inquisitively.

“Yes, a room, a bed, a hot shower. Some mind blowing sex. I’m going to make you come so many times you’ll be begging me to stop. You’re gonna need a vacation to recover by the time I’m finished with you.”

Ella was speechless. She’d never had a man talk dirty to her the way Carter did. His words caused an eruption of sensations to surge through her body. Becoming weak at the knees just hearing his words, Ella found her chair and sunk into it, hoping it would ease the palpitations between her legs.

“Sweetness, are you still there?” he asked, breaking her from her trance.

“Yes,” she breathed.

“I’ll be at your place tomorrow morning by eight. The flight leaves at nine-thirty.”

“Tomorrow! That’s too soon, Carter. I can’t get everything in order by tomorrow morning, even if I did say yes.” He had lost his mind. She was a business owner, with planning to do. The mayor had already booked her for his daughter’s sweet sixteen party next month. Liv’s charity event was right around the corner. A local pastor and his wife were renewing their vows. There was no way she could just pick up and go away, no matter if there were promises of mind blowing orgasms.