Chapter Eight
Carter was useless at work on Monday. He couldn’t stop thinking about Eliza. Her sweet scent and the flavor of her lips blindsided him at the worst possible moments, leaving him hard and aching for another taste of her. Since he couldn’t have what he wanted, he threw himself into the project at hand, working alongside his men to demolish the kitchen in the house they were renovating, and poured all his longing into every swing of the sledgehammer. The drywall didn’t stand a chance.
During lunch, he checked his messages, hoping for one from Eliza. Instead, he noticed a text from the community center. Looked like they needed him to come in and fix a clogged drain in one of the bathrooms. Plumbing wasn’t his area of expertise, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to use an auger, and he could save the center a nice chunk of change by solving the problem himself. Considering all the good things the center did for the community, offering everything from adult GED classes to yoga, he tried to pitch in when and where he could.
As an added bonus, he’d have a reason to hang around there until Eliza arrived to pick up Audrey from daycare. His animal nature stirred inside him, the bear anxious to be near their mate. His basic shifter instincts warred with his humanity, unable to understand why he hadn’t claimed Eliza yet. The untamed wildness inside him couldn’t fathom human sensibilities, like getting to know someone before you made a commitment. All the bear wanted was to sink its teeth into Eliza and cement the bond between them. Waiting for any reason was inconceivable. The separation clawed at him day and night, like an incurable case of heartburn. He tolerated the discomfort for Eliza, to give her a chance to get to know him on her terms and grow to trust him. For him, there wasn’t a shadow of doubt; she was the only woman for him. He’d waited thirty years to find her. He could wait a little longer. She was worth it.
He worked his ass off for the next four hours and then raced home to shower and change. He arrived at the community center with little time to spare. Thankfully, unclogging the drain was no sweat. Clean up, on the hand, was nasty and took a little longer than anticipated. By the time he finished, he was afraid he might have missed his chance to see Eliza. He hurried toward the daycare, hoping he was wrong. Halfway there, he ran into her walking out with Audrey.
“Hey,” he called out, a smile spreading across his face. Happiness bubbled up inside him at the sight of her and the baby. “I was really hoping I’d run into you today.”
“Hey Carter.” Eliza’s smile was slow and didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m glad to see you too. How’re you doing today?”
“I’m good. Better now.” He cocked his head, confused by the smell of anxiety rolling off her. He examined her a little closer and noticed how dark the circles under her eyes appeared. “How about you? Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Just tired. You know how it goes.”
She was lying. He could tell by the way she looked away right before answering, but pointing out the deception wouldn’t do any good. All he could do was hope she’d open up to him about whatever was bothering her as soon as she felt comfortable doing so. “I do. You work too hard.”
She shrugged. “So do you.”
“You make me look lazy.” His mind whirled, trying to come up with a way to help her out and spend a little extra time with her. “So, as it turns out, I need do something in the city tonight. Since I’ll already be in your neck of the woods, how would you feel about letting me take you and Audrey out to dinner?” Not exactly a lie. He did need to do something. He had to find out what was bothering her. Not knowing would slowly drive him insane. He couldn’t stomach the thought of her going through anything stressful alone.
“Yeah. Okay. That would be nice.”
“Great. I’ll walk out with you.” He glanced down at Audrey. “Hello beautiful. You’re getting so big. You’re going to break your poor mama’s arms. Want to come to me?”
Audrey stared up at him with big brown eyes and clung to her mom.
“I guess not.” He smiled at Eliza. “Looks like Audrey wants to stay with you, but I can carry your bags.”
“All right.” She handed them over. “Thanks.”
“You put rocks in these things?” Carter wasn’t sure which was heavier, Eliza’s purse or the diaper bag.
Eliza laughed, just as he’d intended. “Rocks would probably weigh less.”
They left the building and approached Eliza’s car. “So,” he asked. “Where’s a good place for us to eat?”
“There’s a pretty good diner a block or so from my apartment if you don’t mind a little grease.”
“I love it. Grease should be its own food group.”
“All right. The diner it is then. Do you want to follow me, or do you need to run errands or whatever first?”
“I’m starving. I’ll just follow you, if you want to go ahead and grab something to eat.”
“Sounds good to me.” Eliza unlocked the car and put the baby in her car seat. She shut the door and turned back to Carter with a twinkle in her eyes. “I promise to drive slow so you can keep up with me.”
“You do that.” He chuckled and brushed back a stray lock of hair that had escaped from her ponytail. “I’ll do my best not to let you out of my sight.”
She tilted her chin up and licked her lips. He tracked the progress of her slick pink tongue across her mouth and felt his groin tighten with need. Acting on impulse, he leaned in and covered her mouth with his own. She gasped, parting her lips, and he took advantage of the opening to lick his way inside and get the taste of her he’d been craving since their date.
She ran her hands up his chest and grabbed onto his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin. The feel of her hands on him only intensified his desire for her. The beast within him roused, eager to claim Eliza regardless of their surroundings. He moved forward, backing her up against the car, and kissed her harder.
Before he could get too carried away, Eliza eased back and dropped her arms to her sides. “Wow. We should, um… We should probably take this somewhere other than the parking lot.”
“Yeah.” He took a deep breath, willing his bear into submission, and took a step back. “You’re right. Now’s not the time or the place.” He’d never come so close to losing control before. “How about we go grab that dinner now?” He could use the travel time to cool off.
“Okay.” She glanced over her shoulder through the window at the baby, who was waving around a rubber giraffe. “Just follow behind me then.”
“I will.” He reached out and ran the back of his knuckled over her bicep. “Drive safe.”
She smiled. “Always.”