Slow Burn - a Novel: The Elite (26 page)

It took me a second to realize she’d gone silent again. “Baby?”

“I was thinking about what you said last night. About falling in love with me.”

“Oh?” My pulse jumped at the mention of it. I’d meant it, but had cut her off before she had a chance to say anything back. Part of me knew she wasn’t going to say it back and I didn’t want to hear an attempt to stumble through a reply that was bound to be awkward.

She tipped her chin up, resting it against me so she could look up into my eyes. “I don’t think I’m falling in love with you—” my heart sank to my stomach. “I’m
in love
with you, Nick.”

My eyes went wide at her steady declaration. “You are?”

She laughed softly. “I am.”

To prove her point, she kissed me long and hard. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I said, my voice hardly above a whisper as my throat clogged with emotion. The past twenty-four hours had been such a roller coaster that I couldn’t quite believe the sudden three-sixty difference in how I felt lying beside her compared to the previous morning when she’d stalked out of the house without so much as a smile for me.

I kissed her again, letting the memories of the day before melt away. I no longer wanted to think about them anymore. That was the past. Here, in bed with Carly, kissing her softly was the future. Our future.

We parted and I held her close, trying to get every last drop before she would slide away and get up to go see her family. I knew it was an important day and I didn’t want to be greedy, even though I knew it would hurt like hell to let her leave and know I wouldn’t be able to see her much, if at all, during the rest of the weekend.

“Nick?” she mumbled against my chest a minute later.

“I know. You have to go.” I dropped a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in the sweet scent from her shampoo and salty sea air.

“Will you come with me?” she asked. “Come meet my dad and Kelli. I want them to get to know you.”

“Really?” Her offer floored me.

“Yeah. It’s important to me.”

“Of course, baby.”

“Thank you,” she said softly.

I brushed a fingertip over her lips. “You don’t have to thank me for that.”

She kissed the tip of my finger and then rolled out of bed. I followed her and after a quick shower, we both dressed. I watched, mesmerized, as Carly threw on a lightweight sundress over her lush curves. The fabric clung to her body and was too distracting for words.

So was the fact that she’d put on some little bitty sexy ass panties.

I rolled my eyes and pulled on a shirt. “I don’t know how you expect me to sit through a lunch with your family when I know that you’re going to be sitting there next to me with those panties on.”

She laughed and shrugged into her black jacket. “Figure it out. I want my dad to like you, remember?”

“Yes ma’am,” I said, giving her a mock salute.

She giggled and hurried to throw her hair up into a ponytail, using her fingers in place of a comb.

When we were ready, she led the way downstairs to my truck and after letting her in the passenger seat, I raced around and hopped up into the driver’s seat. “All right, you ready for this?” I asked her, starting the engine.

“As ready as I’m gonna be,” she replied, her eyes dancing in the early morning light.

I took her hand across the center console and leaned in for a quick kiss. “That’s all I can ask for, baby girl.”

Breaking down Carly’s walls had taken a lot of effort, but as I stared over at the beautiful woman next to me, watching as her eyes danced with pride and excitement as she prepared to open a new door into her world for me, I knew without a doubt it had all been worth it.

She was worth it.

The August sun blazed down over the coast, and I basked in the sultry heat as I watched all of my favorite people gather together for a summer BBQ right on the beach. Technically, it was a welcome home party, slash engagement party, for two very important friends: Jack “Boomer” McGuire and his lovely—and newly minted fiancée—Holly Parker.

Also in attendance was Aaron and Gemma. A bunch of regulars from the shop—most of whom had shown up for a coffee as the party was taking place on the back deck of
The
Siren
. Nick, of course. And my dad, Kelli, and Alesha had all come into town for a visit as well.

“Thanks for the party, Carly,” Holly said, coming to stand beside me as I mixed up a picture of fresh lemonade at one of the small bistro tables.

“Of course, darling!” I replied. “I’m just so happy you’re back! For good!”

“Me too,” she sighed. “Germany was a lot of fun, but I think another year would have done me in.”

I laughed. “I bet. Hunter and Princess seem to be just as happy to be back.”

We both looked over at the sand where Jack and Holly’s two dogs were chasing a pack of seagulls from the surf. Hunter—now a fully grown chocolate lab—couldn’t seem to decide if he was more interested in chasing the birds or Princess, the yellow lab and his doggy girlfriend.

“Yeah, they didn’t get a lot of beach time over there, that’s for sure,” Holly said. “Poor things were stuck in an apartment with me most of the time.”

“Well now they have a huge house to take over!” Holly and Jack had moved back to Holiday Cove from a naval base in Germany and had decided to settle down in Holiday Cove. They’d purchased a large beach house on the outskirts of the small town with killer ocean views and a slice of the beach right off the back deck.

“Take over being the key phrase there…I swear Hunter acts just like he did when he was a puppy sometimes.”

“I know how that goes,” I said, glancing to where Alesha was standing with Aaron and Gemma. Gemma was busy going gaga over Lady who was slightly bigger than the last time I’d seen her, but still very much in the middle of puppydom. Alesha took her everywhere with her and the pair of them, Lady nestled against Alesha’s rapidly growing baby bump was a heartwarming sight for sure.

“Let me see the ring again,” I said, setting down the stirring spoon and turning back to Holly.

She flashed the solitaire diamond at me, wiggling her fingers to make it sparkle even more.

“Damn, Boomer did good!”

She laughed. “Right? I still can’t believe everything that’s happened. It’s like some kind of dream.”

My eyes drifted over to where Nick was standing, talking to my dad and Kelli, and I couldn’t help but add a contented sigh along with Holly. She was right. It did feel like a dream. Things had changed completely from two years ago when Holly and I had first met.

“Nick seems like a great guy,” Holly said, following my eyes.

“He is.” I couldn’t help but beam from ear to ear. “He’s a keeper, for sure.”

“Oh?” Holly giggled.

I gave a half-hearted roll of my eyes. I was in love and I didn’t care who knew it. In the past, those googly-eyed couples had always annoyed the shit out of me, but since becoming one of them, I understood the struggle to not make everyone in proximity nauseated. Luckily, Holly was a fellow lovesick lost cause and didn’t judge me for it.

“Hey, Holls? Come here for a second!”

Holly and I turned at the sound of Jack calling for her. He was across the patio, standing at the edge of the deck, making sure the dogs didn’t wander too far off.

“I’ll be back,” she said, giving my arm a squeeze.

“You better be! I still need to hear the proposal story! I still can’t believe you’ve been keeping it a secret all this time.”

Holly laughed as she drifted off towards Jack. He’d proposed a month before they came home from Germany but she hadn’t told me about it until I’d gone to pick them up at the airport a few days earlier. There was so much going on over the past few days between them moving into their new home and me setting up the party that we hadn’t had a chance to get any one on one time for her to tell me the full story and I was dying for the details.

With the lemonade mixed, I took the iced tea pitcher inside the shop to get a refill and add more ice. On my way inside, I glanced around and didn’t see Nick anywhere among the other guests. I shrugged it off and figured he’d wandered down the beach to play with the dogs or something. As I stood at the counter, I heard footsteps enter the side door. I glanced over and saw Alesha. “Hey, sis. How are you feeling?”

“I’m good,” she patted her belly. “Baby Joy is doing good.”

I smiled. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

Alesha had found out a few weeks ago that she was having a girl and decided on the name Joy. “Me either.”

“I’m so glad everything worked out, Leash. You’re going to be a great mama. I still need to come out to Phoenix and meet Brian.”

Alesha nodded. Since her return home, she and Brian had made up and were back together and planning to move in together to raise the baby as a family once Alesha turned eighteen and finished high school. Our dad wasn’t a hundred percent thrilled over the plan, but from what Alesha had told me over a series of late night calls, Brian and her were stronger than ever and he was really stepping up to get his place ready for them to move in. I was happy for her and I knew that Dad and Kelli would come around eventually.

“What about you and Nick?” she asked, sneaking a cookie from the sheet of extras I had at the ready off to the side of the espresso machine.

“We’re good,” I replied. “Really good. We’re going on our first vacation next month once things slow down a little around here. He’s keeping the plans a surprise, but I think he’s taking me to Hawaii.”

“Sweet!”

I nodded and brushed the condensation from the pitcher off onto my jean shorts. “It’s a big step, in a way, but I think we’re ready for it. As it is, we practically live together.”

Alesha wrapped a hand around her belly, holding the bump absentmindedly. “I’m happy for you, Carly. You deserve a good guy and I know that Nick is.”

“He’s amazing.”

She smiled and took a step towards me and we embraced. Things really had come full circle since the beginning of the summer. It hadn’t turned out at all the way I’d imagined, but the outcome was well worth it all.

“Come on, let’s go out there before all the good pieces of chicken are gone.”

BBQ wasn’t my forte, so I’d hired a caterer to come in and do the heavy lifting while I stuck to my specialties: drinks and desserts.

I tucked an arm around Alesha as we went outside and saw that everyone was lining up to get the first batch off the grill. I deposited Alesha in line and then went off in search of Nick. I searched around the patio and went up the beach a few feet but couldn’t see him—or my father—anywhere.

The smell of the sticky sweet food wafted over to me and my mouth watered. I went to grab a bite since I hadn’t eaten anything all day because I’d been too busy getting everything set up for the party.

* * * *

“Where have you been?” I asked, craning around to look up at Nick as he settled behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

He buried his face against the skin on my neck and breathed deeply.

“Now, I cleared this with the happy couple—” he gestured at Jack and Holly who were both grinning, “—just to make sure I wasn’t stealing their thunder. But with their express permission, I do have a question I’d like to ask our lovely hostess.”

Everyone, even my dad was smiling at me like they knew something I didn’t and my heart fluttered. He wasn’t…? No…

“Carly, baby, come here,” he reached for me and took my hands, tugging me closer.

“Nick, what are you doing?” I whispered, glancing around the circle of our friends.

He grinned at me and pulled a small box out of the pocket of his jeans. I gawked at it, wondering how I’d missed it all afternoon before realizing he must have disappeared to go get it while I was refilling the drinks.

“Nick!” My hands flew up to cover my mouth and tears immediately filled my eyes.

“Carly Jane Roberts, I am head over heels in love with you. You are the missing piece of my heart and I don’t want to wait another minute to make you mine for the rest of my life. Will you marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?”

He dropped to a knee in the sand, popped the top on the small box, and revealed a vintage art deco ring featuring a glittering diamond surrounded by brilliant sapphires. “Please say yes.”

At first, all I could do was nod my consent. My throat was thick with emotion, like a ball of socks had lodged in there. I extended my hand and let him slide the ring on, my eyes unable to leave his as he placed the symbol of our forever on my hand.

“I love you, Carly.”

“I love you too,” I choked out.

He stood from the sand and wrapped me in a soul-scorching kiss while everyone in the crowd whooped and hollered. Above the cheers, Aaron’s voice rang out, “Damn! There’s gotta be something in the water around here!”

Everyone erupted into laughter and Nick and I broke from the kiss, both of us filled with giddy laughter. After one more glance at the gorgeous vintage ring on my finger—just to make sure it was all really happening—I sent a up a silent prayer and launched back into Nick’s arms and kissed him fiercely.

I was
never
letting this man go.

~ T H E E N D ~

Whew! I hope you love Slow Burn as much as I do! Carly and Nick are part of The Elite Series, set in Holiday Cove, a ficticious sleepy town on the central coast of California. Have you read the other “Elite” books? Turn the page and get more stories! And they’re all free in Kindle Unlimited!

Enjoy!

KB XOXOXO

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