Carter's Treasure (9 page)

They both looked at him. Shit. He wasn’t aware he’d spoken out loud. He took a breath and walked closer. The pain in his forehead spiked when he clenched his teeth even tighter. He blinked a couple times and forced his mouth open to relieve the pressure.

“What the hell is going on here?”

“Nothing, Brody. Goodnight.”

“Ah-huh. Goodnight is right. Go on in the motorhome. I need to talk to Sterling.”

“No!” She turned around, shaking her head.

“What do you mean no? Go to bed.”

“I’m not a little girl. You don’t just dismiss me and send me to bed. Bite me, Brody. Go back to the pits with Erin.”

He watched Molly as she took a defiant stance. She stood taller, her eyes narrowed. But she hadn’t let go of
him
yet. And Sterling still had one arm around her waist keeping her close to him. Oh, they were pissing him off more and more. Standing there like some united front against him. He let out a shaky breath and lowered his voice, but even he could hear the anger in it. “Good. Night. Molly.”

“Don’t do this, Brody. You don’t want to start this.”

“Try me.”

“It’s okay, Gorgeous.” Carter’s voice was calm and soothing. And while Brody watched his sister melt into it, it grated on his nerves.

“You go, you’re so tired. It’s fine. I’ll talk to Brody. It’s time we had a few words, anyway.”

“Carter.”

“It’s okay, really, honey. We’ll meet in the morning and have breakfast together. Okay?”

Brody stood silent as Carter talked his sister into the motorhome. The pain in his forehead made him wince and he realized he’d been gritting his teeth again. He waited none so patiently with his arms crossed as she finally conceded. It pissed him off even more that she’d only done so when
Sterling
told her to.

“I’ll apologize for my brother’s attitude. I love him, but he’s being an
asshole
!”

Molly’s blue eyes were almost black when he looked in them. He never had her anger turned on him before. Not like this. He was completely taken aback by it. But he wasn’t backing down. She was naïve, innocent, blind, and didn’t know what she was doing. He did. He narrowed his gaze, but kept his retort to himself.

“Gorgeous, its fine. I understand where he’s coming from. Everything will be fine, no worries. You go on, get some rest and I’ll see you in the morning.”

Brody’s anger was fanned as he watched Carter stroke his sister’s cheek, then lean down and kiss her again. A peck on the lips, but a kiss nonetheless. The man had balls. He was going to have them on a platter if the guy didn’t back away from his sister.

“Night, baby.”

Carter shut the door and took a second to himself before turning to face her brother. “Listen.”

“No. You listen. I very distinctly remember telling you and your buddies she was off limits. And yet, here
you
are. And now, I walk up to see your hands all over her. In my book, that makes you no better than that Martins prick.”

Carter narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you
ever
compare me to him. You got me?”

“You don’t even know her. I’m not going to let you take advantage of her.”

“I
am
not and
will
not take advantage of her. And no, I don’t know her inside and out—yet.” Carter let the single word hang. The smoke billowing out of Brody’s ears meant he understood. “But…I am getting to know her little by little. I know she’s sweet, funny, beautiful, and from watching her with you and Joey, I know she’s got quite an ornery streak. I personally find that hysterical. I know she’s timid and shy and I get the feeling she’s fairly innocent.”

“Which,” Brody interrupted, “is why you’re going to leave her alone.”

“If not me, then who, Brody? You going to chase off every man that comes along?”

“It’s been working up to this point.”

“Maybe for you, but what about her?” When Brody didn’t answer, Carter shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“You don’t know what she’s been through.”

Brody was right. He didn’t know, and the scenarios that ran through his mind all made him sick to his stomach. He had dated enough women who had brothers to know this was not a common reaction. Something about the whole night was off. The melt down she’d had during the confrontation with Dylan, the way Brody had been treating him all evening, and now this? Something was way off.

“You know what, Noland, you’re right. I don’t know what she’s been through, and I told her when she was ready, she could tell me. I’m not going to push her, but I’m not stupid. She’s been through something obviously traumatic, and I’ll be here for her when she’s ready. I won’t push. Just like I won’t push her for anything else.
Ever
.”

“I’m not buying that shit.”

This guy was a real piece of work. Luckily for Carter, one of the many things he’d learned from his parents was
patience
. It was a necessity on the track, but in this situation, it was a godsend. He blew out a breath and looked toward the door Molly had disappeared through moments ago. He could imagine her sitting close to the window, even though the blinds were closed. He pictured her listening to every word through the thin walls. It wasn’t as if either one of them was trying to keep their voices down.

Carter had heard the story of his parents’ whirlwind relationship a thousand times. How they met and it was love at first sight. How his dad fell madly in love with this beautiful girl in the library while in college and offered to walk her to her dorm when she was finished studying. They were engaged a month later. Married three months after that. But he never heard anything negative from his grandfather. Surely he must have been a little nervous, like Brody. But Carter knew he had never heard of any knock down drag outs over it.

Love at first sight could happen. It worked for his parents and they’d been happily married for over thirty-five years. He felt it with Molly. With every fiber of his being, he felt she was his. His, as simple as that. Carter’s heart swelled and his anger faded. His to cherish. His to protect. His to love.

He took another deep breath and turned back to Brody. “We can play this however you want. You can fight me all you want or we can get along, but at the end of the day,” Carter waved his hand toward the door, “It’s still her choice. And I’ll do whatever I have to do to prove to her how much I care for her. It might be quicker than rationally possible, but I’m falling fast for that girl. And like I said, I’m not going
anywhere
.”

Carter nodded toward the door and snickered out loud. “Now I’m willing to bet money she’s sitting right inside that door, listening to every word we’ve said. And there’s only one of us that looks like an
ass
right now.”

Carter patted the door to the motorhome twice. “Goodnight, Gorgeous. See you at breakfast.” He turned back around. “It’s your call, Noland.”

As he walked past Brody, he gave him a hard pat on the back. “Night.”

~

Molly and Carter sat together the next morning, eating breakfast at a plastic table outside Brody’s utility trailer. Carter’s hand was on her thigh, lightly stroking her skin with his thumb as she drank her protein shake and happily chatted with him. She sneaked a look over at the man sitting so close. She could feel the heat radiating off his body and her heart skipped a beat—again. She might have to look into getting a medical device to keep it regulated, because, hot damn, the man was killing her.

Brody came trudging up from the motorhome and pulled up a chair beside them with Erin following close behind. “How in the hell can you drink that shit?” Brody said as he plopped down into the chair.

Well, apparently Brody was going for round two. Molly had seen him make an ass out of himself around guys before and it never bothered her. And if she had to be honest with herself, she was always thankful he ran interference for her. This time he was taking things to a whole new level. Somewhere along the way, he’d bypassed crazy on his way to flat out insane.

“Geez. Good morning to you, too. What?” Molly held up her bottle. “This tastes good. I really like the chocolate. The vanilla is nasty, but this one tastes fine.”

Popping the tab on his energy drink, Brody took a drink. “And you argue with me all the time on the modeling contracts.”

Damn. He’s just trying to start something
. Molly blew out a breath, taking her bangs with it. “That’s because I’m no model,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, well, working out two to three hours a day and drinking that crap and living off that nasty grass shit you pass off as
salad
is what makes you a photographer’s wet dream.”

“Damn it, Brody,” she said in almost a snarl. “Don’t be so damn crude. That’s gross. Why do you always say that?” She took in the scowl and tempted the fates above. “Did you not sleep well or something? What’s wrong with you this morning?”

Brody almost growled. “Bite me.”

“That’s my line.”

Erin stood back up and held out a hand for Brody. “You want to go walk around for a little bit?”

Oh thank God
. At least Erin was going to get him out of there. Molly smiled at her in appreciation. Erin rolled her eyes and shrugged. Molly knew that Erin thought Brody was out of line and was doing everything to help. She mouthed
It’s okay,
and winked as she pulled Brody’s arm, trying to tug him out of the chair.

“You sure you feel up to it?” Brody asked Erin as he looked up at her.

“Yeah, I just need some fresh air.”

Brody eyed Carter and Molly still sitting at the table. “You two stay out of trouble. That’s the last thing I need.”

They started to walk away and Molly hollered after them, “Hey, Dad, I’m not fifteen anymore.”

Erin turned back around to smile. “That’s exactly what he’s afraid of.”

When they disappeared around the corner, Molly lowered her head to her hands. She waited a few seconds before running her hand through her hair and turning to see the lop-sided grin of Carter beside her. He had no anger, no embarrassment. He seemed to be taking this all in stride.

“I’m sorry, Carter. I really am.”

“Don’t apologize, Molly. It’s not a big deal, I understand.”

“You shouldn’t
have
to understand. That’s my point. You shouldn’t have to put up this.”

“So, when are you practicing today?” Great. A subject change. Completely new to this
guy thing,
she couldn’t help but wonder what that meant. “George told me three.”

“The guys and I are going to come watch, if that’s okay?”

“Yeah, no biggie.”

“So, modeling huh?”

Molly rolled her eyes but stayed silent. She loved being on a bike, but she knew her skills, like her beauty, were fleeting. Someday she’d wake up and she would be the
has been
. Not a comforting feeling, but a real one nonetheless. In the meantime, she did the exhibitions and modeling to cash in on her name. She didn’t need the money now, so she tucked every penny away for the future. She hated the modeling, especially the shoots where she wasn’t covered from head-to-toe in gear, but they paid damn well. She had grown up on a track. She and Brody were homeschooled so they could travel. She hadn’t made it to college yet because she’d been too busy winning. So far as much as she hated to admit it, her pretty face along with her name in the sport were earning her much more than she ever could working nine-to-five in an office building somewhere.

“What? It’s no big deal. I’m just not a model, no biggie.”

Carter raised an eyebrow, completely serious. “You’ve got to be kidding, right? Have you looked in a mirror?”

“Um, yeah.” It was the mirror that was her second biggest enemy these days. Her memory was her arch nemesis.
I have muscles, whoopee.
It was the scars that she couldn’t hide that floored her. A real model needed perfection and that was something she simply couldn’t give, no matter how well she controlled everything around her, to make her body perfect. The hours spent sweating in the gym, the miles she logged running, it would never be enough. She absentmindedly snaked a delicate hand up to her shoulder. “Yeah, that’s why I know I’m no model. I don’t like people staring at me. With an ad, it’s you on the paper that people are looking at. Put me in gear and I’m fine. Put me on my bike, even better. Anything less makes me cringe. Paycheck or no paycheck, I just don’t like it.”

“But Gorgeous, we all saw you last night, you’re beautiful.”

She looked at him as he hesitantly finished, her eyebrow slowly rising.

“What do you mean, you all
saw
me last night?”

“When you and I ran. Your workout clothes are….well.” It seemed as if he let the description hang open-ended on purpose.

“Well, normally no one is ever up when I workout. But it’s still different than when people are truly staring at you.”

“And you don’t think that every one of us wasn’t staring at you last night?” he asked, grinning nervously.

With blinding speed, her jaw dropped. “Like
staring,
staring? Eww!” She tried to cover herself up with her hands. “No, not until you just said that. You all are just
…eww
…a bunch of nasty boys.”