Perfectly Ever After (Pieces) (10 page)

I hadn't even noticed Cage had come back, but he tried to stop her. "Eva," he said gently.

She simply shrugged him off and kept running. I began moving after her, but felt a strong, sure hand stop me. Carly.

"Let me, Adam."

I simply nodded at her, knowing that to deny her request would undo everything I'd said over the past two days. Watching Carly take off in search of Eva, I found myself left with Cage.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at the floor. But his eyes didn't remain there long. They quickly found mine. "
Mr. Carter, can we talk?"

Why
, I'd love nothing more, Cage.
"Sure," I replied, gesturing him toward the doors we had just been through not five minutes before. I followed him out, and then directed him to a bench off to the left of the ballroom.

He sat heavily, running
a hand through his spiky hair.

Deciding that sitting would put me too close to him, I leaned against the wall beside him instead.

"I really care about her, you know?"

His words startled me, but I didn't doubt them.
It was in the way he always looked at her, touched her, wanted to stand close to her. It was those things that made me like him less. Because I knew his feelings weren't fleeting. But Eva was sixteen. I didn't want her in a serious relationship. I wanted her to stay a kid.

I forced myself to drop down onto the bench beside him. "I know," I sighed.

"But you still don't like me?" Cage looked me right in the eye as he asked his question, and I had to admit, I respected him for it. The kid had balls, that was for sure.

"It's not that I don't like you as a person. I just . . . you worry me."

"Why?" he asked.

I shook my head, trying to clear it and get my thoughts straight. "You guys are sixteen. Too young to be so serious. I don't want her giving up things, not getting involved in other
activities because she's so wrapped up in you. I don't want anything to hold her back."

"I'd never hold her back. I know how great she is, what a great future she can have. But if you'd ever given me half a chance, you'd see that I have those things too. I'm a good guy, and I want
a good future. That's why we're good together. We know that there's life beyond high school. We don't hold each other back. We encourage
each other forward. I'd never hurt her, Mr. Carter. I'd never keep her from being the best person she can be. And I'm better too, just because she deserves for me to be."

Well . . . shit.
The little bastard really had a way with words. I put my elbows on my thighs. "You're right. I guess I haven't been fair to you. Your words just show how little I know about you. You're pretty persuasive," I said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well I have you at a di
sadvantage. I'm captain of our debate team."

I drew back, shocked. "You're kidding?"

Cage laughed deeply. "Nope, I do all that stuff: National Honor Society, Future Business Leaders of America. I wrestle too."

"God, this is embarra
ssing. I didn't know any of that. I looked at you and made up my mind without asking you or Eva a single question. I'm sorry for that. Though I will say, the tattoo on your arm doesn't exactly scream studious." I laughed, but in truth, I was trying to justify my assumptions about him.

"Oh this?" he asked, rolling up the sleeve of his red dress shirt, which I'd just noticed matched Eva's dress damn near perfectly. "This is an airbrushed tattoo. I got it last weekend at a kiosk at the mall. My mom would kill me if I got a real
one."

I buried my head in my hands. Then I stood abruptly, turning to face a surprised Cage. I extended my hand to him. He looked at it curiously. "I've been a real asshole. So I was wondering if we could start over. I'm
Mr. Carter. It's nice to meet you."

Cage stood and wiped his palm on his pant leg before placing it in mine. "Nice to meet you,
Mr. Carter." He smiled broadly.

I clapped him on the shoulder, noticing how solid he was.
It's a good thing I didn't really try to fight him.
"If you'll excuse me, Cage, I think I have some more apologizing to do."

He nodded, still smiling. And I left him to find my girls.

I didn't have to go far. As I approached the room we had been holed up in before the reception, I heard familiar voices.

"Eva, I'm sorry.
You were right: we didn't ask if you were okay with us getting married. We were wrong for that."

"No, I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean it. I love that you're with my dad. You make him happy. He deserves that. I just wish he thought I deserved it too."

I winced when I heard her.
Is that what she thinks? That I don't want her to be happy?

"You are the most important person in this world to him, Eva. He absolutely wants you to be happy. But you have to see it from his perspective
. He's worried that you'll get so caught up in Cage, depend on
him
to make
you happy, instead of finding that for yourself." Carly paused, and I could picture how they looked inside the room: sitting close on the couch, Carly's arms around Eva, making her feel safe. Loved. At least that's how Carly's arms always made me feel. "Dads are interesting creatures. They love so fiercely, so completely, that sometimes they become a little blind to what their love can do to their child—how overbearing it can be. But still, it's a special love. One that is absolute and eternal. Once he realizes that he's interfering with you following your own path, he'll back off. The best dads always do. And he is, you know? Your dad is one of the best I've ever seen. So maybe we can cut him a little slack? What do you think?"

I
held my breath, worried about Eva's reply.

"He is pretty great, isn't he?" Eva let out a small laugh and I inhaled sharply
.

Carly let out a laugh as well. "Yeah, he really is. And he loves you with all that he has."

"Then I guess I can lighten up on him."

"Good."

I could hear the smile in Carly's voice. I heard rustling and assumed that they were getting up and preparing to leave the room.
My eyebrows shot up as I realized I needed to get out of there before they caught me eavesdropping. So I began moving away when Carly's voice stopped me.

"He's not the only one, Eva."

"Not the only one what?" Eva questioned curiously.

"Who loves
you. I want . . ." Carly hesitated briefly. "I want you to know that you can always come to me. Because I love you with all I have too."

I heard Carly’s dress move again
, which I assumed meant they were hugging.

"I love you too, Carly. I'm sorry I messed up your day."

"You didn't mess up anything. This day just got so much better, Eva. You make everything so much better."

That time
I did leave. I walked back into the ballroom and waited for my girls. When they entered the room a minute or two later, I watched as their eyes skimmed the crowd, Eva's eyes falling on Cage, Carly's falling on mine.

Both of them gave each other a soft smile before heading toward their men.

"Everything okay?" I asked warily when Carly reached me, though I already knew the answer.

She put her arms around my neck. "Everything's perfect."

I smiled and pulled her in close to me as we started swaying to the music. "Thank you," I whispered against her neck.

"My pleasure."

Dancing with my wife, I gave myself a second to watch Eva and Cage. He walked shyly up to her, a
small smile on his lips as he put his arms around her—though keeping a fair amount of distance between them—and resumed dancing with her. He looked up and our eyes locked. I shot him a wink, to which he nodded his head.

The rest of the night went smoothly. We cut the cake, earning a bunch of jeers when we politely fed it to each other instead of jamming it into
each other’s faces. Carly threw her bouquet, which was nearly another issue as I watched Eva move to join the other single women. The thought of some guy sliding Carly's garter up my sixteen-year-old daughter's leg had me pushing people out of my way to stop Eva from making it to the dance floor. But thankfully, my dad was evidently of the same mind I was, because he grabbed Eva's hand and gently pulled her back toward him before she made it out there.

Removing Carly's garter made my dick stiffen, and as I slid my hand up her firm leg, it was all I could
do not to haul her out of that room over my shoulder. But I managed and threw it into the crowd of bachelors, not even caring who ended up catching it. And as some guy put the garter on Katie, who'd caught the bouquet, I pulled Carly behind a pillar and pinned her there.

"Can we leave yet?" I asked urgently.

She giggled. "Almost, I think."

"Watchi
ng you all night in this dress . . . knowing that there's nothing under it . . . if we're not out of here in fifteen minutes, I'm going to hike it up and take you against this pillar."

"Guess we better say our goodbyes then."

"Yes." I ground my erection into her, "We’d better."

***

Carly and I made our rounds quickly and headed toward the elevators. Once inside, we could barely keep our hands off each other. My fingers pulled on her dress until they made their way underneath it to feel how wet she already was for me. “Mmm,” I ground against her. “This time I’m going to go slow.” I pushed my hips in soft, teasing circles against hers as I pinned her to the wall of the elevator and trailed my lips down her neck to the swell of her breasts.

             
When the doors opened, we pulled away abruptly and straightened our clothing as an elderly couple entered. They smiled when they saw us. “Congratulations,” the man said. “You have a beautiful bride.”

             
“I know it,” I said, smiling at Carly, whose cheeks were flushed with a combination of embarrassment and desire. “So what’s the secret?” I asked him before the doors opened.

“The secret to what?”

“To staying happily married.”

He chuckled before answering and grinned at his wife.
“No secret,” he replied simply. “You just have to
want
to be happily married.”

As we stepped into the hall and the doors closed, I took one look at Carly and I knew there was nothing I wanted more.

We walked briskly toward our room, both eager to start something we hoped would never end. All day I’d thought of how beautiful Carly would look lying naked on the bed, her red hair flowing over the gold comforter as I kissed every inch of her delicate skin.

But that would come later.
I had other ideas first. Like I’d done earlier, I swept Carly into my arms and carried her over the threshold. She squealed giddily as she wrapped her arms around my neck. “What are you doing?” she asked as I strolled past the bed and into the bathroom.

I gestured toward the burgundy upholstered bench in the middle of the large bathroom.
“Have a seat.”

She stared at me questioningly but said nothing.
When she seated herself so that her back was to me as she faced the large rectangular mirror, I removed my jacket and tossed it onto the edge of the Jacuzzi tub. Then I loosened my tie until it hung open enough that I could undo the top few buttons of my shirt. She watched my reflection, never taking her eyes off my movements.

I stood behind Carly, my hands on her shoulders before they moved up to remove the few pins that held some of her long curls in place.
My fingertips grazed her neck, and I swept her hair to the side so I could whisper in her ear. “Watch us.”

We were always able to see the effect we had on the other, but we never got to see how we looked
together
. And I had a feeling it would be fucking beautiful. Carly drew in a few deep breaths as I followed the length of her left arm with my lips until I knelt beside her. I caught her reaction in the mirror when my mouth made it down to her hand and the ring on her finger. “I love you,” she whispered, her reflection showing the tears in her eyes.

“And
I
love
you
.”

I reached over to dim the overhead lights and began massaging Carly’s shoulders
—softly at first and then harder until she moaned in response. The sound made my already semi-erect cock stiffen completely. It strained against my pants—a position it had become increasingly accustomed to recently—and I ached for Carly to put her warm hand around it.

Gradually, I slowed the kneading of my hands until I stopped to untie the ribbon on the back of her dress and pull
ed it loose. Without instruction, Carly rose to let me undress her before turning around to do the same to me. I struggled to calm my racing heart as my eyes followed her shoulder blades and the curves of her hips to her ass in the mirror.

Carly took her time, undoing my shirt one button at a time until she slid it down my arms and let it drop to the floor.
Her mouth, only inches from mine, begged to be kissed, but I resisted the temptation. My undershirt was the next to go—this time more roughly as she pulled it over my head. My fingers trailed softly along her back, tangling with her hair when finally I moved in to kiss her—our tongues doing the delicate dance that we both knew so well.