Accidental Heartbreak (The Accidental Series, Book 2) (12 page)

“Sure.” She stood up and followed him. Then
she removed the items from the take-out bag – lo mein noodles,
chicken wings and shrimp-fried rice. She set two plates on the
table, putting a sample of each item in them.

“You want to bring the food in the den?”
Carter asked, looking at her standing near the countertop. Did she
even hear his question? She was less talkative than he remembered
and that bothered him. She used to be comfortable enough with him
to talk openly, but now she was reserved. He noticed it when they’d
talked earlier as well.

“Shayla?”

“Oh…okay, yeah,” she blinked quickly back
into the moment. “I’ll bring it. I didn’t know you allowed food in
there…never seen you eat in there before.”

“I haven’t, but then again, I find myself
doing a lot of things I’ve never done.” He walked over to her,
hugging her from behind and sending a peck to her cheek. “Actually,
I’ll take the plates if you want to grab some forks.”

“Yep.” She walked over to the utensil
drawer. “Got ‘em.” She followed him to the den, got comfortable on
the couch, taking the remote from the coffee table and browsing
through channels.

“What you looking for?” Carter asked her,
taking a bite of chicken.

“A movie or something. Or maybe I should
turn it off.”

“Good idea.”

Shayla hit the power button on the remote
then placed it on the table. She set her plate in her lap.

“You know that nearly killed me.” Carter
took a napkin and wiped his mouth. He was so excited to have her
back, he didn’t have an appetite.

“What did?”

“When you left. It broke my heart. It really
did, Shayla.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I did the same thing to
you.”

They shared a silent moment, both looking at
each other.

“So...um…I need to go back to Norfolk to get
my things and check out of the hotel.”
The hotel
, Shayla
thought, where she had her little bit of freedom and independence.
Now she was back, being taken care of, something most women would
love but she felt weird about it. Besides, men tend to not respect
women who can’t take care of themselves, not saying that’s how
Carter would feel about her, but still…she wondered.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll get your
things, hun,” Carter told her.

“But I gotta turn the car back in, too.”

“You can do that here.”

“Even though I got it from Norfolk?”

“Yeah. Whatever rental car company you got
it from, find the same one here and turn it in. People do it all
the time.”

“Well, I figured I’d turn it in where I got
it from. I have to go back anyway to give my boss notice that I
won’t be coming back.”

Carter frowned. “You can do that over the
phone, or via email, right?”

“No. By notice, I mean I have to give him a
two-week notice and work for those two weeks while they look for my
replacement.”

Carter frowned. Why did she want to go back
to Norfolk so badly? Did she want to see Donovan? He wondered what
kind of relationship they had. When he met up with Donovan
yesterday, it was clear to him that Donovan had some interest in
her. Did she have interest in him? “Well don’t give notice. Just
quit.”

“No. I can’t
just
quit and leave him
high and dry. That won’t look good when I go looking for another
job.”

“You don’t need a job, Shayla.”

“Why don’t I? What do you expect me to do?
Let you take care of me?”

“Why are you saying it like that?”

Shayla set her plate of food on the table
with his. She blew a distressing breath and ignoring his question,
she asked, “And where am I suppose to live now? Here?”

“Of course. Why?”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Maybe I
should move back in with Rebecca. That way we—”

“No.” Carter shook his head. “Why would you
want to move in with her when we’re together now?”

“Because I don’t wanna rush and—”

“So that’s why you want to go back to
Norfolk and work…why you’ve been so quiet today? You don’t want to
be here.”

“Carter, don’t read too much into this. I do
wanna come back.”

“Just not in a hurry, huh,” he said,
irritated. “I asked you if you still loved me or if I was too late.
Apparently you gave me the wrong answer.”

Shayla remembered what it was that she
disliked about him – his temper. It didn’t show often, but when it
did… “I didn’t give you the wrong answer, Carter. I just don’t want
to rush.”

“So you don’t trust me?”

“I do trust you, but we just started
speaking again earlier today. We don’t have to move so fast. That’s
all I’m saying.”

Carter rubbed his left hand over his head,
something he often did when he was agitated.

“Now you’re upset.”

“Why wouldn’t I be? The woman I love doesn’t
know if she wants to be with me.” Carter stood, walked out of the
room, taking his plate to the kitchen. He stepped out onto the
deck, to get some fresh air and think – was he making a big deal
out of nothing? Love was driving him insane.

Shayla took her plate to the kitchen and
watched him walk in from the deck, looking at her.

“Shayla, I’m sorry if I’m being over-the-top
right now, and maybe I am trying to rush things. All I know is that
when you were gone, I wasn’t the same and this house was empty
without you. I just want you back, baby. Full time. Not part
time…not I’m over here and you’re over there. I need you here.”

Shayla hesitated to bring up the movie
theater incident, but nothing good would come out of suppressing
her true feelings. Plus, he needed to know why she was leery about
moving in with him. “You told me to get my things and get out of
your house when we got into that argument at the theater.”

“No I didn’t. Why do you keep saying
that?”

“Because you said it, Carter.”

“No…let me tell you what I said. We were
arguing…you stormed off and was going to leave right then and
there…don’t you remember me chasing after you and telling you to
get back in the car? I didn’t want to leave you like that but since
you wanted to go, I figured I should at least give you the
opportunity to get your things. So my thought pattern was, if you
wanted to go, at least you could get your stuff first. I didn’t
want you to leave with nothing. I never once said,
get out of my
house
. I would never say that to you, Shayla.”

“You could, though, because let’s be real
here. This is
your
house. Everything belongs to you.”

“Wow. I can’t believe this.” Carter
interlocked his fingers over his head. “You
don’t
trust me
after everything we’ve been through.”

“I
do
trust you.”

“Then why is this an issue, Shayla?” he
asked irate, “Because it’ll be all yours once we get married, so
why are you making a big deal out of it now?”

Married?
Shayla thought. Did he
really just drop the ‘M’ word? Was he that serious about their
relationship that he was thinking about tying the knot?

Carter wrapped his arms around her. “I want
you. And I want you here with me. Okay? No Rebecca, no hotel, you
belong here with me. Okay?” His hands moved from her waist and up
to her face. He tilted her head up so that she was looking at him.
“Okay?” he asked again.

Shayla hadn’t heard anything he said after
the word
marriage
. Did he really say that?

He kissed her lips to get her attention.
“Okay, baby?”

Shayla smiled. “Okay.”

He smiled, too, because he’d gotten what he
wanted. But he had plenty more to overcome when it came to Shayla.
But all in due time.

“I want to take a shower,” Shayla said,
releasing him, “But I don’t have any clothes or anything here.”

“That’s not a problem. You can wear one of
my shirts to bed.”

“Okay. I’m heading up then.”

“Okay.”

A few days later, her clothes were delivered
in two large brown paper boxes. Shayla didn’t ask Carter how he was
able to get her things, but he did. He meant business, and she was
his business. He also gave her the house keys, the keys to the
Lexus, her bank card and the silver diamond-studded, heart-shaped
pendant necklace he’d bought for her.

This afternoon, Shayla took a shower then
jogged downstairs and grabbed a ceramic bowl from the cupboard,
along with a box of Raisin Bran. Carter was at work, but called
shortly after she sat at the kitchen table.

“Hey you,” she answered, pouring milk over
her cereal.

“You okay, sweetheart?” he asked, clicking
his favorite retractable pen open and closed. He would’ve liked
nothing more than to be home with her right now, but things were
already tense at work and he didn’t want to cause any further
issues.

“Yeah. I’m fine…eating breakfast.”

“You miss me?” he asked.

Shayla blushed as if he was sitting right
there in front of her. “You know I do.”

“I miss you, too.” Carter sat back in his
chair. He smiled, thinking about how he could never see himself as
the type of man to settle down or to have phone calls like this
with a woman. He was the player, the heartbreaker, but to even
think of breaking Shayla’s heart again gave him unsettling
chills.

“So what are you doing?” Shayla asked then
shoveled another spoon full of cereal in her mouth.

“Nothing…just thinking about you. What are
you doing besides smacking in my ear?”

Shayla laughed. “Not much. I fell asleep
again after you left this morning. I got out of bed about an hour
ago.”

“Good, then you should be well rested for
dinner tonight.”

“Dinner here?”

“No. I wanna take you to this place called
Bentley’s. Well it’s actually called Bentley’s On 27.”

“Where’s that?”

“It’s in Uptown, not far from my building.
Why don’t you meet me here, then we can head over there
together.”

“Okay.” Shayla yawned. “Do I have to dress
up? I suppose so since you’re already dressed to kill, huh?”

“I’m not dressed to kill, baby. This is
everyday attire for me. You know how I do.”

“Yeah. I know how you do,” she quipped.
“Anyway, I’ll try to dress up a little…need to make sure I look the
part.”

“Make sure you look the part?” Carter
frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Never mind,” Shayla said. “So how has your
morning been so far?”

“It’s been good, but I haven’t been able to
really concentrate on work, ‘cause I keep looking at the clock,
thinking about how much longer it’s gonna be before I can get to
see your beautiful face again,” Carter said amidst hearing a beep
in the line.

“You’re too much,” Shayla told him. She took
her phone from her ear when she heard it beep and noticed it was
Donovan returning her call.

“Was that you or me?” Carter asked her.

“It’s me. My boss, well, ex-boss is calling
me.”

Carter frowned. “Why?”

“Probably because I left a voicemail
yesterday to let him know I was quitting. I’ll call him back in a
few.”

“Why? You don’t have to explain anything to
him.”

“I know, but it’s the courteous thing to do
so I’ma call him. I think I owe him that much.”

Carter rubbed his right hand across his thin
mustache and mouth. He was worried about what Donovan might say to
her.

“Anyway, I’ll see you tonight, baby,” she
told him.

“Okay. Meet me here at 6:30.”

“Will do. I love you.”

“Love you too, hun. Later.” Carter set the
phone down and rubbed his face in anguish. He didn’t even like the
thought of Shayla talking to another man. Albeit he knew Donovan
and he was a pretty decent guy in college, he was still a man and
he obviously had some interest in Shayla that went beyond their
short work relationship.

Shayla immediately dialed Donovan’s number
after hanging up with Carter.

“Hi, Shayla,” Donovan said, sitting alone at
a restaurant in Tampa. He was still out of town for business.

“Hey, Donovan. How are you?”

“I was fine up until I received your
voicemail this morning.”

“I know, and I’m sorry I had to leave that
on your voicemail but I tried to call you a few times before and
didn’t get an answer, so—”

“Why’d you quit?” he broke in. “You didn’t
like the job?”

“Actually I loved the job, but I moved back
to Charlotte.”

So you quit because of Carter
.
“That’s too bad. Everyone said you were fitting in very well.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Donovan sighed. Not only did he lose an
employee, but he lost a good woman. He liked her. She reminded him
a great deal of his wife. Why was she wasting her time with a man
like Carter? “So did you move back because of him? The man you told
me about? The one who had you crying every night in the parking
lot?”

Crying every night
. How did he know
she’d cried every night? Was he following her every single night,
or had he made an assumption? Shayla grinned. “Gee…you make it
sound so awful, but yes, I moved back for him.”

Donovan sighed. “You’re one of the good
ones, Shayla,” he said remembering the night they spent together at
Virginia Beach. “You deserve a man that’ll treat you with respect
and dignity, not someone who’ll hurt you and play games with your
heart. Remember that.”

Shayla smiled awkwardly. “Okay. I will.”

“All right, well I’m going to get back to
work. If you ever want to come back to Zenadel, just call me. I’ll
see to it that you’re hired.”

“Thanks, Donovan. That’s really nice of you.
I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.”

“And if you’re ever in Charlotte, call me. I
can introduce you to Carter and maybe we can all have lunch
together or something.”

Introduce you to Carter
. He wanted to
tell her that he already knew Carter – knew him better than she
did. “That sounds good, Shayla. In the meantime, take care of
yourself.”