Yolo (Carter Brothers #7)

Chapter 14

If you have a sister-in-law, please remember to check on them. They’re really stuck living with your brother, and they’re probably not okay.

— Garrett’s secret thoughts

GARRETT

She called me Gee again.

That made me feel…free.

Like I’d finally been let out of a cage I hadn’t realized I’d been in.

“ Walk me to my door?” she asked as she unbuckled.

I already had my seat belt off and was reaching for the door handle when she’d asked.

“ As if I would let you get there on your own,” I teased as I bailed out of the truck.

After getting her all the way to her door, she let Rooster inside, then closed the door on him.

When we were fully alone, I couldn’t stop myself from staring at her lips.

Her eyes were wide open, and she’d taken the stupid sunglasses off as she’d entered the elevator.

She looked tired, and there were dark circles underneath her eyes.

“ You don’t have to wear those around me, you know,” I said, touching the marks on her nose where the glasses had rested for an overly long time.

She leaned into my touch and closed her eyes. “ You’re sure?”

I nodded, then laughed. “ Yeah , I’m sure.”

She scrunched up her nose at me. “ What did I say to be funny?”

“ I nodded at you, then realized you couldn’t see that,” I admitted. “ I’m sorry.”

She placed her hand on my chest, right over my heart. “ Hey , Gee ?”

I swallowed, because she opened her eyes, and it felt like she was looking directly into my soul.

“ Yeah ?” I croaked.

“ Would you kiss me already?”

I didn’t waste time.

I reached for her and pulled her into my arms, our bodies touching from knee to chest. She threaded her arms around my neck and lifted her lips, waiting for me to close the last few inches.

I did, placing my lips over hers.

Her lips tasted like berries, and I trailed my tongue over the lower one before pressing inside.

The hands that were around my neck moved upward to curl into my hair, and she gasped. “ You have curly hair!”

I chuckled. “ Yeah , if I let it get long.”

“ Please , please, please, always let it be long,” she teased, pressing in for another kiss.

I hadn’t made out with a girl since I was a teen, and I had to say, it was everything. But I imagined it was everything because of who I was making out with.

She finally pulled away, still breathless, and said, “ I really, really, really want to continue this. But I want to make a good first impression at my job tomorrow.”

My hands squeezed her hips as I said, “ You already did with Rufus today.”

Her shoulders slumped, and then she said, “ Um , Gee ?”

I licked my lips, dying to press my lips back against hers.

“ Yeah ?” I asked.

“ Do you think, maybe for a like a couple of months, that we could, um, hide this from everyone? I don’t mean to even suggest that you’re someone I want to hide, but I want to establish myself first. From what I learned, being a Carter is a big deal at DPD . I want to make sure that they trust me for me, and don’t look at me differently because of who I’m with,” she rushed out, sounding horrified that she even had to say that.

I chuckled. “ I’ll hide us for a little while. But don’t make me wait too long. I’m not sure how long I can keep my hands off of you.”

“ Oh , you don’t have to keep your hands off of me,” she bantered. “ At least, not when we’re out of the office. I don’t even necessarily need you to hide it when we’re out in public. Just when we’re at the office, maybe for just a couple of weeks?”

“ Deal ,” I teased. “ I’ll see you in the morning.”

Her brows rose. “ You could stay here if you’re the one giving me a ride…”

“ I’d fuckin’ love to,” I said. “ But I have to go get Boss fed, then I have to get my uniforms cleaned, so I have something to wear tomorrow. But maybe I’ll pack a bag and some dog food, and we can have a sleepover tomorrow.”

“ Orr …” she suggested. “ I could pack a bag, and I could finally check out this house.”

“ Fantastic .” I pulled her in for one last kiss, keeping it fairly chaste this time in order to be able to leave. “ Get inside. Dead bolt the door.”

She turned around and did just that, leaving me outside with the strangest feeling of fullness in my heart.

I had no idea if she liked coffee.

Also , I had no clue what kind of Danish she’d like, so I got her a lot.

I also got her a few to take into the office so that she might or might not be liked a little more by the office staff.

Not that anyone wouldn’t love her.

There was no way that would ever happen.

But they weren’t above being bribed.

I’d just pulled up to the curb in front of the apartment building when I saw a man standing there that looked familiar.

It took me a few seconds to place him, but when I did, my eyes narrowed.

I got out of my cruiser, leaving the coffee and food behind, and started reaching for my handcuffs.

If this fucker so much as stepped into that building…

He was staring up at it with narrowed eyes, not quite close enough to reach for the door, but still close enough to count, if you asked me.

The handcuffs were in my hand, and it was the clink of me opening them up to put around his wrists that had him backing up and turning around with a smile.

“ Well , hello, Officer .” He grinned.

I didn’t show any outward sign of annoyance like I really wanted to.

“ You are perilously close to breaking the trespassing order,” I replied. “ Why are you here?”

“ I was waiting for Lea to come out, but she’s late.” He shrugged.

My eyelid twitched.

“ The next step in all of this is a restraining order,” I said. “ That would label you as a stalker, though. Are you ready for that? Because people that run background checks can see you have a restraining order against you.”

“ I already have a job, and they won’t require a background check because it’s family. Therefore , I’m not sure that your threat is valid,” he drawled.

This pompous jerk.

“ Anyway … I thought y’all broke up?” Joseph asked, a gleam in his eyes.

This bitch…

“ No ,” I said simply. “ We didn’t.”

“ Then why haven’t you been around?” he asked.

My eyes narrowed. “ I have…but that brings a bigger question. Why are you stalking her enough to know that I ‘haven’t been around?’”

Joseph shrugged as if he couldn’t care less that he’d just revealed that he was around enough to know her habits.

“ I mean, if you’re this nonchalant about things, we could just go and get a restraining order because you can’t leave her alone. I’m sure that a judge will have no problem issuing that to a woman that was blinded by the man that’s stalking her,” I offered.

“ I didn’t blind her. That rock did,” he countered.

“ You’re splitting hairs,” I explained. “ You were fully able to stop your hike and bring her back down the mountain to a doctor. Because you didn’t, she suffered a significant brain bleed that impaired her optic nerves. Had you gotten her to the emergency room instead of leaving her there to finish your hike, she would’ve been able to see today.”

“ That’s not what happened.” He rolled his eyes.

“ That’s exactly what happened because I was the man that carried her down that mountain after she’d been sitting there, terrified and hurting, for two hours.” I took a threatening step forward. “ I saw her that day. I picked her up in my arms and held her close. I soothed her worries. I held her hand when she was scared that she’d never be able to see again. So yes, I know exactly what happened. And mostly, what I know is you’re a poor excuse for a man. You don’t deserve to be on the same planet as her, let alone breathing her air or wanting a second chance. Now , for once, think about someone other than yourself, and leave her the hell alone. She’s been through way too much already.”

“ I think you’re exaggerating a little bit. And the rock that hit her was tiny. How was I supposed to know it was that bad?” he asked.

I immediately wanted to throat punch him.

The thing was, my eyes had landed on the small boulder that hit her. It’d been on the side of the trail about to tumble down the mountain to nail another unsuspecting victim.

It was about the size of my hand, and I knew that because my brother had picked it up and moved it farther into the path so it wouldn’t fall a second time.

My brother had picked it up with one hand, sure, but it’d taken everything he had to hold on to it.

“ I think it’s time to leave,” I heard said.

I turned to find Bindi there with Rooster , Rooster looking happy as always, and Bindi’s face expressionless.

“ Oh , hey, Lea .” Joseph pulled out the smarmiest smile I’d ever seen.

“ I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to hear you. I don’t want to even hear about you,” she replied simply.

“ You already can’t see me…” Joseph offered.

This fucking asshole.

I took a threatening step forward, ready to fuck him up despite the fact that I was in my DPD uniform, but Bindi somehow found my hand and held it. As if she knew I was about to lose my shit.

“ Have a good day, Joseph ,” she said. “ When I have time, I’ll be filing a restraining order.” She paused. “ Or maybe I’ll just take this entire thing to the attorney’s office, and we can file a real lawsuit this time.”

“ You said you wouldn’t do that,” he said. “ We already paid you.”

“ Well , funny how I can’t remember any verbal agreements.” She shrugged. “ And also, I would like to point out that life is a whole lot harder than I expected. It’s been months and months of hell for me, Joseph .”

Joseph did look scared then.

The thought of losing his money, or more of his family’s money, actually did the trick.

He left without another word, but I knew that wouldn’t be the last time that we heard or saw him.

“ He’s gone, right?” she asked.

“ Right ,” I growled.

She squeezed my hand and then leaned into me.

Without thought, I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers.

Soft and sweet and cherry.

Yum .

“ I hate him,” I said when I pulled away from her, slightly breathless.

“ Agreed ,” she said. “ Maybe I do need to find a lawyer. I don’t think he’ll stay away.”

“ No ,” I agreed. “ I don’t think so either.”

The smile that lit her face when she got the food and the coffee was worth waking up twenty minutes early for.

Her favorite bakery item was the cream cheese and cherry monstrosity that was a delight to watch her eat.

By the time we got to DPD , she’d devoured the entire thing and sampled one other before closing the box up.

“ Which one of these boxes is for me to take in?” she asked curiously.

I wanted to kiss her so bad in that moment.

I didn’t like seeing her nervous.

“ Get out of the car, and I’ll grab the box,” I said. “ I should’ve pulled over and kissed you before we got here.”

Her cheeks flushed. “ I would have liked that.”

I was tempted to pull out of the parking spot I’d just backed into, but she got out before I could.

I followed reluctantly behind with Boss and the box of sweets for her.

“ You’ll have to tell your sister-in-law that it was delicious,” she said as she rounded the car with Rooster .

“ You can tell her yourself this weekend,” I suggested. “ There’s a family get-together at my mom’s place.”

She opened her mouth and then closed it before looking around—at least pretending.

“ There’s no one anywhere near us,” I commented.

My phone rang before I could say more, causing me to pull it out with a frown.

“ Hold on a minute,” I said. “ It’s the vet.”

She stopped and waited as I answered the call.

Relief hit my chest as soon as I heard the vet’s voice on the other line say, “ Rufus is going to be just fine. He seems to be perfectly okay…but only time will tell. I don’t know that he needs to retire yet, but he needs a month or so off to recover. He’ll be lethargic, and honestly, he may have issues getting back in a car again.”

I didn’t blame him.

“ How will I get him home?” I asked worriedly.

“ There is some calming medication that I can give him that’ll get him there,” he continued. “ Reintroduce the car to him gradually. But don’t push him if he’s not ready.”

After a few more minutes of back and forth, I told him I would pick Rufus up before closing time and hung up.

“ He’s okay?” she asked, hope filling her voice.

“ He’s fine.” I sighed. “ Within reason, anyway.”

I then explained everything that the vet told me.

We were almost to the building as she said, “ I’m coming with you.”

I wanted to reach out and squeeze her hand, but remembered her saying she wanted to spend the first little bit of her time here not being associated with the Carters .

I understood.

Truly , I did.

At least, my brain did.

My heart, not so much.