Carter Read online

  “I know.” Kyle was a nice guy underneath his bluster. Kindhearted, Grace amended. Her brothers were considered bad boys in town, following no rules but their own. Polite, sure, but not nice.

  “Do me a favor,” Kyle said as Grace kissed his cheek then slid into her car. “Keep me in the loop, and don’t go near the woman without Ray and me.”

  “I’m not stupid enough to meet her in a dark alley,” Grace said. “Even if Riverbend had a dark alley.”

  “I bet she’d build one, just for you.” Kyle’s green eyes softened. “Be careful, baby sis.”

  “I will.” Grace waved, both touched at her brother’s concern and exasperated by it. He and Ray walked on eggshells around her these days.

  Grace enjoyed the short drive through town and on to Circle C, reveling in being behind the wheel again.

  The morning was partly taken up prepping for Faith’s upcoming party. Grace perfected her cake and wrote lists of what she’d need for the cookies and other treats she’d include.

  She was spin-drying romaine for a salad at lunch—she liked to wash the lettuce and let it sit a couple hours in the refrigerator to crisp up. The salad spinner’s whir drowned out other noises, including Carter’s step.

  “I heard my ex is trying to meet with you.”

  Grace jumped and lost hold of the spinner, which went whizzing across the counter. She dove for it, but Carter caught it first. Grace’s hands landed on his.

  For a brief instant, she felt his rough, work-worn skin, tanned from decades of being outdoors, creased with scars from his old life and his new.

  Carter’s gaze was on her, hazel eyes sharp. Grace snatched her hands away, but she felt the tingle of his warmth long after she pulled back.

  Carter set the spinner, its basket turning in slower and slower circles, back on the countertop. “Don’t go,” he said.

  Grace wished with everything she had that the Don’t go meant he didn’t want her away from him, not that she shouldn’t meet with Lizzie.

  “I haven’t decided what I’ll do,” Grace said. “Don’t worry, I’ll have my lawyer and my brothers with me, and if Ross wants to come, that’s great too. Anyway, how did you know?”

  “Billy got the same call,” Carter said. “She’s a wanted fugitive, in custody, with a long record. We probably won’t have to worry about her for much longer.”

  Grace wasn’t so sure. Her restaurant partner had been a slick talker, had lawyers and police as his closest friends, and had wooed Grace into bed with him. The burn of that still stung.

  “No matter what,” Grace said, “I’ll do whatever’s best for Faith. Believe that, Carter.”

  Carters still had his hands on the spinner, which kept on merrily going around. “How do you stop this damned thing?”

  Grace reached over and pushed the brake. “It’s got a good spring.”

  “Yeah.” Carter carefully removed his hands from it. “You stay out of all this as much as you can, all right?”

  “I can’t,” Grace said. “I’m deep in it. I’m reminded of that every time I reach for something too fast.”

  Carter’s gaze flicked to hers. For a second, she saw deep anger and deep worry, then he looked away. “I appreciate you helping Faith but …” He broke off. “I can’t watch over you both.”

  The words were full of bitterness. Grace impulsively reached out and put her hand on his arm.

  Steely strength came to her through the rolled up sleeve of his work shirt, and a line of his tatt that peeked below it moved. Heat flooded Grace, and she completely forgot what she started to say.

  Carter’s gaze snapped to her hand, and his chest lifted with a fast intake of breath.

  “Just be careful,” he said. “Don’t go anywhere near Lizzie without me.” He backed away abruptly, and Grace’s fingertips slid from his arm.

  Carter turned and marched out the back door, the banging of it rattling the walls.

  “Smooth,” Grace told herself as she rescued the lettuce. “Way to win a man’s heart, talking about confronting his ex. Better stick with cooking.”

  She might soften him up with a few cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting, but she certainly wasn’t getting anywhere talking.

  ***

  Carter called Ross then got into his truck and drove to Fredericksburg. Ross, who knew every law enforcement official in Hill Country, met him there and got Carter in to see Lizzie.

  She sat in a room with her lawyers—not in a cell where she belonged. Her dark hair was cut and neatly combed, her face free of makeup. She wore a blouse and skirt with flat shoes … exactly the kind of thing Grace would.

  She stood up when Carter entered, facing him with eyes filled with remorse. “Carter,” she said softly.

  Carter knew that this facade of a woman hid the real Lizzie—dressed like a bad girl, always half drunk or high, both charming and cruel. She’d had very young Carter panting after her, until it dawned on him exactly what she was.

  He was across the room before Ross could stop him, fists landing on the table so he wouldn’t hit her.

  Lizzie flinched and looked terrified, right on cue.

  “You stay the fuck away from my family,” Carter said. “I don’t care how many lawyers you got, or how rich your daddy is, you are not coming anywhere near my daughter. Understand me?”

  Chapter Five

  “Not the best thing you could have done,” Billy said to Carter.

  He’d got Carter to calm down and go for coffee with him at Mrs. Ward’s diner back in Riverbend, the restaurant rebuilt and newly re-opened after a bad storm had collapsed half the roof last spring.

  Mrs. Ward had renovated the place with help from AGCT Enterprises, a new business venture by the Campbells. The detailed work of handling the money was Carter’s domain.

  In fact, an Austin business magazine had done an article on the Campbells’ using their money and fame to invest in their hometown, to keep it thriving and owned by locals. The spread had included a big photo of Carter, both a full-length shot and one of him doing stunt riding dressed as a bandit, with the headline, “Million-Dollar Cowboy.” All the Campbell brothers ran AGCT, but the magazine had been especially fascinated with Carter, who’d risen from obscurity in the foster system to become a successful businessman, giving back to the community that had helped him.

  At the moment, the million-dollar cowboy wrapped his hands, which were still shaking with anger, around his cup of coffee. He knew damn well he shouldn’t have gone in there and lost his temper. He’d thought he’d conquered his tendency to rages long ago, but no. One sight of Lizzie, and he was gone.

  “From now on, you don’t make a move without okaying it with me,” Billy went on. “What happened to you and your appointment with me at eleven? We should have gone down there together.”

  Carter studied his lawyer’s ruddy face, his red-gold hair, his bull-rider’s build. He might be just another good old boy coming in for a break, except he wore a well-tailored, top-of-the-line suit.

  “Yeah,” was all Carter could say.

  “I know you’re worried about Faith—I don’t blame you. I am too. But let me fix this.”

  Carter leaned forward and spoke in a low voice. “She can’t take her away from me. Can’t. I won’t let her.”

  “Fine, but you can’t talk to her anymore. You go on home, and let me do my job. I have to tell you, Carter—you need to be prepared for things to be bad.”

  Carter clenched his cup, surprised it didn’t break. “How bad?”

  Billy spread his hands. “Lizzie comes from a rich family, and they’ve hired the best lawyers in Austin. Even if Lizzie is found unfit, her parents are well-established, well-liked, donate to many charities, and so on. They are offering to send Faith to the best schools, get her into the horse scene there, give her a head start in life. Here, she goes to a small public school with a limited budget, her dad’s unmarried, and does a dangerous job.”

  Carter sat back. There was nothing wrong with lif
e out here. It had saved him. But big-city lawyers choosing between a family with money and connections and an adopted kid from Houston, whose parents had abandoned him then died from drugs and violence—there was no choice.

  Carter and Lizzie might have gotten involved in the same kinds of things as kids, come under the influence of the same bad people, but Lizzie had lineage, and Carter didn’t. Olivia Campbell and her sons were big news in Riverbend, but Carter had come from bad blood, and no one forgot that.

  Carter flashed back to the day he’d first brought Faith into this diner, when she’d been about a year old, joining his mother and brothers for an after-church meal one Sunday. Since everyone went to Mrs. Ward’s after church, the entire town had watched as Carter navigated Faith into a highchair, got her fed, and cleaned up the mess she made himself.

  His mom and brothers helped, but Carter had insisted he do most of the work. Riverbend watched Carter, lanky and hard-eyed, lift his daughter to his shoulder and jounce her to quiet her down. They’d watched the badass Campbell boys get all gooey-eyed over her too.

  “It would help if you were more settled,” Billy dragged Carter to the present by saying. “Had a steady girlfriend, making plans to buy a house, marry, start a family …”

  Carter shook his head. “I can’t let her take Faith,” Carter repeated stubbornly. “Faith’s whole life is here. Her family is here; her friends are here. That’s gotta mean something.”

  “It will,” Billy answered. “Like I said, let me work on it.”

  In other words, Shut up and go home.

  Carter raised his hands. “Fine. But the minute anything happens, you tell me. I don’t care if it’s three in the morning, you call me.”

  “Will do.” Billy stood up when Carter did. “Carter. Be careful.”

  “It’s how I live my life,” Carter snapped. He swept up his hat and stalked from the restaurant.

  He was fully aware of people staring at him, both in the diner, the parking lot, and the street beyond. Everyone knew exactly what had happened. Couldn’t keep nothing from nobody in Riverbend.

  ***

  At home, Carter tried to concentrate on the business of the morning, but his restlessness kicked in, and he gave up. Tyler and Grant could go over these new contracts … No, Carter had better do that. Carter had a suspicious mind and wouldn’t let a clause pass that Grant and Tyler might.

  But everything else … Hell, Adam was home. Let the showoff do some work for a change.

  Out of sorts, Carter charged up to the house, looking for food, hoping he could grab something before Grace got in.

  He was met with the heady scent of chocolate cake. As soon as he walked into the kitchen, a pair of oven mitts held out a pan full of cupcakes.

  “Try one,” Grace said.

  She had flour on her nose. Carter couldn’t keep his eyes off it.

  The pan moved up toward his face. “Come on. I need to see if I got the chocolate to cinnamon ratio right, and I can’t taste it anymore.”

  The cupcakes were embedded in the pan without the paper wrappers he’d seen on cupcakes at stores.

  “What, you just want me to dig my fingers in?”

  “Yes,” Grace said impatiently. “No one will touch it but you.”

  Carter hadn’t been doing anything with horses this morning, just paper in the office. Even so, he wiped his hand on his shirt and stuck his fingers around the edge of a cupcake, trying to pry it free.

  It came out easier than he’d thought. His fingers closed on the cake too hard, and Carter ended up with a handful of crumbly, warm chocolate.

  “Are you going to admire it, or try it?” Grace asked.

  Carter realized he was staring at the mess in his hand. Grace’s nose with the flour was just as distracting.

  Carter popped the whole cupcake into his mouth, and Grace whirled around to deposit the pan on the counter. He chewed. A remarkable flavor of chocolate laced with cinnamon and something else Carter couldn’t figure out filled his mouth.

  Carter hated cupcakes—they were dry with a ton of frosting clumped on top. These ones, though, were moist, rich, tasty, no frosting needed.

  “Good,” he said, licking his fingers.

  Grace had turned back. Her apron had chocolate smeared on it along with sprinkles of flour and cocoa powder.

  “Too much cinnamon?”

  “No.” Carter swallowed the last of the cake. “I think it’s just right.”

  Grace’s eyes narrowed. “Hmm. I’ll work on it.”

  She’d ditched the oven mitts, revealing hands that looked smooth except for a couple of old burn marks. Her hands betrayed her passion, as did Carter’s. His were always rough from riding.

  Grace stepped closer to him, and Carter’s breath went away. He’d been speaking to her almost naturally, but that was because they were talking about cupcakes. Nothing important.

  “You have chocolate,” she said. “Right there.” Her fingertips brushed the corner of his mouth. “Do you always shove the food right into your face?”

  “Hey, you have flour on your nose.”

  The nose in question wrinkled. Grace flushed and took a step back, but Carter reached out and rubbed his thumb over the floury smudge.

  Grace stopped. Her breath touched his skin as Carter went on gently caressing.

  The flour dissipated and was gone. Carter let his fingers drift to her cheek, brushing the pink that flared there.

  Grace edged closer to him. “You have a little more.” She wiped her thumb to the corner of his mouth again.

  Carter let the touch open his lips. He turned his head slightly to press a kiss to her thumb.

  Grace made a quick inhalation, but she didn’t move her hand. Carter firmed his caress, making a circle all the way around her cheek. His fingers found the warmth of her hair, sliding under it at the back of her neck.

  She came to him quietly, her soft body meeting his. Carter lowered his head and did what he’d wanted to do for such a very long time.

  The first press of their lips was almost motionless. The cushion of her mouth was warm, a hint of the heat that waited inside. Grace kept her fingertips at the corner of his mouth, Carter intensely aware of her touch.

  He slowly parted her lips with his, moving into a deeper kiss, expecting her to jerk away at any moment.

  Grace pressed closer to him, her breasts to his chest. His heart pounded as he felt the tiny jut of her nipples, tightening as she and Carter pulled together.

  She tasted of chocolate and cinnamon. Good things, Grace things. Comfort and serenity, friendly openness. Everything Carter had never found in a woman.

  Grace skimmed her fingers along his jaw, tracing little circles. Carter moaned low in his throat, his body tight, his cock tighter. She’d feel that, he knew.

  No hiding anymore. Carter scooped her to him, further deepening the kiss, wanting her. On the table, the counter, anywhere. Anything to relieve this desperate need for her.

  Grace made a soft sound, opening to him. One hand curled against his chest, the other touching his face.

  More. Carter intensified the kiss, sweeping his tongue into her mouth. He slid his arm around her, palm stroking down her spine, over her hips to cup her backside. That was a good hold to pull her up solidly into him.

  The kitchen was warm with sunshine, smelled of baking, messy with flour, sugar, smears of butter and chocolate. The perfect place to kiss pretty Grace.

  Their mouths sought, lips clinging as they got to know each other for the first time. Carter cupped her backside and her neck, fearing to move his hands, because they’d go to even more interesting places. Grace uncurled her fist on his chest, splaying her fingers, smoothing across his shirt, fingertips dipping into the spaces between his buttons.

  Her touch on his bare skin beneath jolted him. Carter dragged her even closer to him, his cock digging into her abdomen. Grace wrapped an arm around him and held on.

  Sweet, beautiful Grace, the girl too good for me. Carter had see
n her the night of her cotillion ball, all white dress and lace, her hair in long ringlets. She’d been on the arm of a guy in a tux, getting into a limo, surrounded by friends. Carter had been on the street, in jeans and a flannel shirt, out to grab food for Faith.

  Grace had seen him. Their eyes had met, and Carter had gone hot with feral anger at the callow young man who dared put his hand on the small of Grace’s back. Grace had given Carter her little smile, then she’d been surrounded by her laughing friends, gone, out of Carter’s world.

  Now she was firmly in his world, and he was kissing the hell out of her.

  I’m keeping you right here, Grace. I need you.

  Something buzzed and jangled. Carter jumped, and he and Grace clacked teeth. Grace backed away, pressing her hand to her mouth.

  Carter clasped her shoulders. “You all right?”

  The buzzing cut through his head. Grace swung around and ran for the oven, turning off its timer.

  Silence blessed the kitchen. Grace turned back, her face bright red, her eyes suspiciously moist.

  “I’m really sorry,” she said, breathless. “Did I hurt you?”

  “Wha—?” Had she hurt him? Carter stood, dumbfounded. He’d grabbed her, kissed her, when he had no business to, and she was apologizing.

  “You okay?” Grace asked him in concern.

  “Yeah.” Carter’s cock was pounding against his jeans, sweat beading on his forehead. He needed to calm down. “Fine.”

  Grace had the oven door open, reaching in for another batch of cupcakes. “I put less cinnamon in these,” she said in a rush. “Maybe they’re better.”

  Carter took the opportunity of her turned back to get the hell out of there. He stormed from the big kitchen through to the living room, heading for the front door. He’d get into his truck and drive—somewhere. Anywhere.

  Tyler, coming in from the porch, nearly smacked into him. “Whoa. Carter. Where are you going?”

  Carter pushed past him, boots thumping on the board porch, down the steps. He strode fast to his truck, jumped in, started the engine, stamped down to peel away. He saw Tyler in his rearview, staring at him, openmouthed, but no sign of Grace. No sign of her at all.