Love Me: The Complete Series (11 page)

Carter’s mouth fell open. “Seriously? You guys are gossiping simply because I gave her a tour of the office? Grow up. She has a plant service that does corporate maintenance. I asked her to give me a quote.” He strode around his desk, dropped his keys on the top, and fished through the stack of paper and phone messages.

“Yeah, and what other kind of maintenance is she doing for you?” Roger’s raised brow was more than annoying.

Carter wadded the paper he’d just read and tossed it at him.

The guy darted out the door but not before throwing another question at him. “Hey, did you find out if they’re real?”

Carter growled and shook his head. When his cell beeped with a group message from Roger, he glanced at the screen and ignored it. Childish idiot. None of his business.

• • •

Abby didn’t care much for Carter’s friend, or his comments. What a slimeball. Carter did NOT tell them that, did he? Abby stared at the screen, her face heating. The message was a reply to the lunch message from before. Was that what the whole thing was about? A guy’s curiosity on the status of her breasts? We’d just see about that, wouldn’t we?

A dozen other comments flashed after the first, which made her blood boil more. Nothing from Carter though. He was irritatingly silent. She wasn’t sure whether to be glad or furious. What a bunch of losers. Well, according to the rule “judge a man by the friends he keeps,” Carter was given a verdict. Over. Not that they’d even started anything yet. Or would, because she wasn’t interested—not anymore.

Still he’d kissed the brain cells right out of her head.
And gossiped to his friends immediately after.
She’d fix that. Why not? His friend had already screwed
one
ex, why not make it two? Technically, she wasn’t an ex but still—she picked up the phone and punched in a message.

There. What do you think of that, Mr. Kiss-and-Tell? Her stomach clenched. She should feel better about standing up for herself with a bunch of sex-starved gossiping never-left-high-school boys. She didn’t. A flurry of text responses chorused and she couldn’t bear to see what other gross remarks they’d made.

In fact, the rest of the day her body ached with the realization she’d been a conquest in his circle of friends. Something they’d goaded him to prove, and he’d done it. He’d done a hell of a job too. All she could think about was that damned lunchroom door and his mouth trailing kisses across hers while his hands did other things.
Dammit. I’m such an idiot.

“Well, you sure showed him.” Caroline gave her the eyebrow-hovering look that plainly said
and made a fool of yourself to boot.

“Who cares? Those guys are a bunch of teenagers—talking about things like that. He set me up to go out with him so he could test out their theory. You think they made a bet on it? I mean, look at these babies. Can I help it if I have kind genetics?” Abby thrust her chest out and lowered her eyes to observe. Genetics were only part of it, and Caroline knew as much. She ran several miles a week and spent at least another hour at the gym every other day. Releasing the breath she’d held, Abby grimaced. She’d had little time to exercise since the store opened and she needed to get back to the routine.

“Well, if they made a bet, I wonder which way he picked. Real or bedazzled?”

“Does it matter? I mean what kind of guy does that? The wrong kind, obviously. No wonder the chick dumped him for his best friend.” Abby threw a hand to her mouth, embarrassed at the insult. “Do you think that was a set-up too? Maybe one of the guys goaded him into it just to see what would happen?”

“Wow, did you really turn that jaded over night? Talking about the silicone hills on a woman isn’t the same as stealing her.”

Abby rolled her eyes. Caroline didn’t get it. “Need I remind you he wasn’t just talking about them? He was actually tasting and feeling and—”

Caroline held up a hand to stop the conversation. “Please, spare me the details. I don’t want to know. Okay, wait, yes, I do. Exactly how far
did
he get? I mean, were you horizontal when he felt you up? Or just getting started?”

Abby threw the tape dispenser at her. Fortunately, it was plastic and Caroline was fast. It missed, glancing off the corner of a pot before hitting the floor and splintering.

“Way to go, boss. Should we chalk that up to employee theft—or abuse? Now we have to buy a new one.”

Whoosh.
The door burst open. The steady rain had prevented the normal pedestrian traffic from venturing through; the only customer that would step in had to be serious. Abby scraped the broken plastic into her palm, dropped it on the counter, and turned to make a sale.

“You slept with Jackson?” Carter’s face was ashen as he stomped forward, splattering drips across her floor.

“Excuse me? Is that really a question you’re entitled to ask? Who I’ve been with? I mean you hardly know me. Just because you—we—oh, forget it. Look, you had your fun. Now get lost.” Abby whirled around and disappeared into the stockroom. Where did he get off asking? He was the one that locked her in a conference room, kissed her brain cells dead, then embellished the details. What did he care who she slept with? Or didn’t in this case. It wasn’t like he’d made it that far. Thank God for that. At least she hadn’t been a total moron and had held onto at least one or two cells of gray matter. She’d never been the type before and wasn’t likely to start now.

The door to the stockroom bumped her behind when it closed at her back. Her hands shook. She’d squeezed the plastic so hard it carved a small cut in her palm. The patter of Caroline’s shoes was the only sound in the other room. Her muffled voice followed. “Soooo, I’m Caroline.”

Abby peered through the one-way glass window in their office, thankful she’d had it installed. Of course, it had been for an entirely different reason. She wanted to make sure they’d see customers who entered if they were in the stockroom.

At the moment, it was also convenient for watching Carter fume. His eyes widened as recognition hit. He didn’t take the hand Caroline extended. His were shoved in his pockets and didn’t budge.

“Caroline, huh?” His eyes narrowed. “Tell me, Caroline, who likes to take pictures and spy on people—how well does Abby know my friend Jackson, really?”

Caroline’s head started to turn toward the window, then she corrected herself. She squared her shoulders and straightened. “Um. Well, I’d say she has his number memorized. Just like you know which parts of Abby’s anatomy include implants, you sorry turd.”

His mouth dropped. He blinked his eyes twice. And left.

Badeep deep.

Yikes. Should she look at the message? Was there any point in doing so? They were done. Toast. And she had work to do.

Badeep deep.

Oh, hell. She grabbed the phone from her purse.

He crammed the phone in his pocket and stomped through the drizzle to his office. This wasn’t the first time Jackson had tried to horn in on his date. It had been a game since high school. He hadn’t really cared then. Much.

Jackson was charming and everyone drew to him like flies to sugar. It wasn’t too far-fetched that when Carter had grown tired of someone, they clung to Jackson’s supportive nice-guy routine. Not to mention, the guy was filthy rich and hadn’t needed to work full-time his entire life. How they’d become such good friends was a puzzle.

Well, not really. He remembered it vividly. Jackson moved into the house at the corner of his street when they were ten. Since everyone else on the street had daughters, not sons, their friendship was a no-brainer. And a necessity for both of them unless they wanted Barbie dolls and bows on their heads. The competitiveness seemed healthy then. Even in college, it had pushed them to succeed—be their best. Not with girls, but elsewhere.

This was too much, though. Over the line. Carter frowned. He had no idea there’d been a line ’til now. Abby was it.

Abby was it.

The phrase caught in his head. He swallowed the boulder in his throat. Was she?

• • •

For a few weeks, Carter managed to throw himself so deep into work he barely looked up. The only thing he took time for was—more work. And he watered the damn plants. He hadn’t a clue why, but he did.

He also decided to keep chatting with the girl who loved dogs … but didn’t have one. She was a lot less complicated. Pretty witty too. He almost rolled in laugher when she told him about her siblings. He liked her attitude. In fact if he could match
her
personality to the physical attraction he had for Abby—well that would be interesting. Physical attraction only lasted so long, though.

At some point, Abby delivered the new order to the office accompanied by spy girl. Together they arranged the foliage quite well. He was gone then and every time since. The receptionist kept him aware of the scheduled visits and any questions or concerns she mentioned. There were few. One tree died and was replaced shortly after delivery. The ones in the kitchen had
issues
. Per the note, someone was dousing them with coffee, or some other beverage. If it continued, mold would grow and they’d have to replace them as well.

He didn’t care. In fact, he had half a mind to tell her to take them all back. He started to write the note several times but couldn’t finish. One such note glared at him from the desktop when she arrived for the weekly watering. Crap. He looked at his watch and realized he missed his escape. The rap on the door was shortly followed by the door easing open, and she popped in.

Her eyes widened. “Oops. Sorry, I thought you were out. I was just watering—”

He motioned her in. “Help yourself.” He returned to the computer screen, noting her movement in the reflection.
Shit.
Was this as awkward for her as him? It shouldn’t have been—they hadn’t done anything more than share a few kisses. A few searing-hot-nearly-took-her-clothes-off kisses. Yeah, no biggie.

With her back turned, he barely caught the words. “You’re wrong, you know, I haven’t … been … with anyone in over a year. A year and four months. Not that it’s any of your business. So, whatever you thought—it wasn’t right.”

The chair let out a squeal as he turned and leaned to stare at her back, which still made him want to touch her. Dammit.

“Seriously?” That was a hell of long time. So … if that were true, then anything between her and Jackson was ancient history. How could he hold that against her? Or him either.

“Seriously. And don’t think I’m proud of it either. I just don’t get involved that easily. Or deeply.”

Two more raps on the door announced they had a visitor. Holy shit. Speak of the devil. “Jackson. What are you doing here?”

Abby sucked in a quick gasp and turned her back, which caught Carter off balance. Her shoulders were stiff and she hunkered down. She was hiding from him? It had been that awkward?

“I thought we should talk. I know I probably should have done this earlier but I wanted to give you a little breathing time to digest the situation.” Jackson stood at the door as if ready to escape. His face was sullen. “It wasn’t like I meant it to happen.”

Carter glanced from Jackson’s face to Abby’s back. She was a post. He held up a hand in protest. “Let’s don’t talk about it, okay? I don’t want to know.”

“I met her a long time ago. Before you did, actually. It was just—random. We were having fun and then somewhere along the way everything changed.”

Carter hitched a brow. “Changed?”

Jackson shifted feet and glanced at Abby’s back. “Yeah. I would have told you but it all moved so fast and all of a sudden you were asking about a—”

Abby shoved an elbow in his back and spilled water down Jackson’s pants. Not just a little either—she doused him good.
Did she really do that? Wow.

“Oh, uh. Sorry about that, Jackson. You should probably go change or something, right?” She stared at the wet spot. Jackson’s mouth opened then shut. He darted back to Carter’s face with disbelief.

Seconds ticked as the two men glared at each other. Acceptance finally kicked in and Jackson shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I should. Later, man.” He stood but hesitated. “Where’s Roger? I need to kick his ass.”

“I have no idea. Probably his office. Why?”

Jackson left without answering. When the door was closed and the room quiet, Carter cleared his throat. “I gather things didn’t work out very well between you two?”

She held up the empty pot and grinned sheepishly. “Not one bit. So, um, I’m out of water. I’d better go refill. Sorry about the mess. I’ll come back and clean it up later.” She rubbed a foot over the wet spot on the carpet then slipped from the room.

She didn’t return as promised. When Carter went searching, the only person available was spy girl. Caroline. She eyed his approach warily.

“She left, didn’t she?”

“Yep. I don’t know what you said
this
time, but I’d recommend you seek out some dating advice. You suck at it.”

“Apparently I do,” he admitted. As he walked back to his office he heard voices in Roger’s.

Jackson’s voice, loud and clear, thundered. “That was the stupidest idea ever.”

Roger stayed calm. “No. Give it a little more time. I think it’ll work out. Besides you could have done a better job with your part, you know. Mouthing off like that wasn’t cool.”

“Maybe not, but how was I supposed to know she’d do that? You’d better know what you’re doing. Personally, I think it’d be better just to lock them both in a room and let ’em duke it out. Or whatever else comes naturally.”

A chair leg screeched on the floor and steps approached. Carter strode to his office, grabbed his jacket, and left.

Caroline wasn’t letting Abby off easily, no matter how long a day they’d had at work. She snatched Abby’s purse from the counter and held it captive. “Drinks are on me tonight, girl. You need one. Or ten maybe. Let’s go.”