Delectable Desire (23 page)
He had to swallow several times before he was able to speak. Finally, he asked, “What changed your mind about me?”
“Other than the fact that the timeline doesn’t match up?” she asked. She tilted her head to the side, a somber smile touching her lips. “It was something I told my mother from the very beginning. You and Broderick are nothing alike. I know the type of person you are, Carter. You have shown me your heart. It’s not capable of such treachery.”
With a brief nod, she turned and started for the door.
Carter swallowed hard, closing his eyes tight. The lump of emotion clogging his throat felt as big as a baseball. He heard the soft click of the doorknob turn as she opened it.
“Don’t leave,” he managed to get out. He opened his eyes. Lorraine stood with her back to him, her hand still on the knob.
“Don’t leave,” Carter said again.
She turned. A mixture of hope, regret and uncertainty glistened in her expressive brown eyes.
“If you know what’s in my heart,” he said, “then you know better than to think I would let you walk out of here.”
In two strides he was standing before her, mere inches separating their bodies. Carter brought his hand up and caressed her warm cheek, just as a single tear escaped and trailed down her face.
“Carter, I am so sorry,” she whispered.
“Never believe that you don’t deserve happiness, Rainey. If there is anyone in this world who deserves to be happy, it’s you.”
She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Do I deserve
you?
” she asked. Her soft palm cupped his jaw. His eyes slid shut, savoring the feel of her. “Say that I deserve you, Carter.”
“We deserve each other,” he said before dipping his head and capturing her mouth in a slow kiss. Everything in his world fell into place the moment his lips touched hers. Each doubt faded with every swipe of his tongue as it plunged in and out of her sweet, warm mouth. Everything he could ever want was standing right here, wrapped in his arms.
“I love you,” Carter breathed into her. “With every single part of me, I love every single part of you.”
“I thought I’d never hear you say those words to me again,” she whispered. She rested her forehead against his, and looking into his eyes, said, “I love you, too, Carter. With every single part of me.”
He kissed her again, long and slow and deep. He had suffered through an entire week of not tasting her lips; it had been the hardest week of his life. With a certainty that reached to the depths of his soul, Carter knew he would never go this long without her again. Not if he wanted to survive.
He finally released her lips but kept his arms around her. He needed to feel her against him. Forever.
Lorraine lowered her head to his chest, resting her cheek against the place where his heart beat.
“I suppose I will begin earning quite a few frequent-flier miles,” she said.
“You don’t need to fly to Michigan Avenue, do you?”
Her head popped up. “But I thought—”
“I didn’t take the job,” he said. “I belong at Lillian’s. That bakery is a part of me. It’s my family.”
“Lillian’s is lucky to have you,” she said.
“I’m just as lucky to have it, and the rest of my family. I’m lucky to have you, too.”
“We’re lucky to have each other.”
With a smile, Carter lowered his head and found heaven in her kiss.
Epilogue
L
orraine tucked the silk sheet more firmly underneath her arms as she sat up in bed. Dozens of papers were strewn across her lap. She had forms for several grants she was applying for that would benefit Comer Children’s Hospital. For once, she had no problem throwing around the Hawthorne-Hayes name, especially if it meant more money for the hospital.
She stumbled over the application for the fellowship she’d applied for several weeks ago—the one her father had ripped apart in front of her. Back then she’d thought that earning the fellowship would provide the validation that she had been seeking. Lorraine stared at the paper, then balled it up and tossed it aside.
Carter came around the dividing wall in her loft carrying a coffee mug in one hand and a fluted ramekin in the other. He was bare-chested, and he looked good enough to eat.
He set the mug on the table next to the bed. Taking a seat on the edge of the mattress, he picked up the crumpled paper she’d just tossed.
“What’s this?”
“Something I thought I needed,” Lorraine said. “But I don’t. Not anymore.”
Carter shrugged and tossed it with the other forms scattered around the room. He scooted closer to her and spooned a helping of the ramekin’s contents. Holding the spoon out to her, he said, “Tell me this crème brûlée isn’t the best thing you’ve ever tasted.”
“Crème brûlée for breakfast, Carter?”
He shrugged. “It’s time for dessert somewhere in the world. Now open up.”
Lorraine shook her head, but obliged. “Mmm...”
“Good, right?”
“Wonderful.”
“Better than the one at Les Nomades?”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “Goodness, look at all the paperwork I have to complete.” Carter let out a groan, and she fell into a fit of giggles. “I’m only teasing you. It is the best crème brûlée in the entire world.”
“You’re just saying that so I’ll stop trying.”
“Yes, I am, but I know that won’t stop you.”
“Damn right,” he said. He set the ramekin on the table next to her coffee mug and climbed over her on the bed. He sat up against the headboard and pulled her into his arms. “I’m going to perfect that recipe, even if I have to buy every egg yolk in Chicago.”
Lorraine belted out a laugh. “I’ll alert the area chickens.” She nestled closer to him, her naked back against his solid, equally naked chest. “Is there anything special on your agenda today?” she asked.
“I’m heading to the bakery as soon as I can tear myself away from you,” Carter replied, kissing her bare shoulder and sending shivers up her spine. “The entire Drayson clan will be there today. It’s one of our last meetings before heading to L.A. for
You Take the Cake.
” He let out a sigh. “We’ve got a lot riding on this show, Rainey. We really need this to go off without a hitch.”
“It will,” she said. “Don’t worry.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I have a feeling that some family secrets may not remain a secret for much longer.”
“Why so cryptic, Carter?” she said absently, grabbing another grant form.
He tightened his arms around her waist. “I may have inadvertently stumbled across something in New York that I wasn’t supposed to know. It explains a lot about something that’s been bothering me about my cousin Shari.”
His voice held a note of unease that had Lorraine twisting around to face him. “Is it something serious? Is Shari in trouble?”
He peered down at her, and Lorraine realized that the sheet covering her breasts had fallen. Carter’s eyes instantly heated.
“It’s nothing Shari can’t deal with on her own. Besides,” he said, pulling the covers completely away from her and tossing them onto the floor. “I’m about to give you all you can handle.”
* * * * *
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DELECTABLE DESIRE
ISBN: 9781460312438
Copyright © 2013 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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