The Sound of Temptation: A Standalone Second Chance Forbidden Romance, page 42
“Since when does Uber ring the doorbell?” Dina asks.
“I haven’t ordered our Uber yet.” I walk over to my bedroom window and peek outside. There’s a black Cadillac Escalade parked at the curb in front of my house. And the first thing I think is that Duke is here. My heart lodges in my throat, but I try to keep my face neutral
“Hmm. I’ll go—” I turn to an empty room and hear her scream from our living.
I run down the short hallway of my apartment and skid to a stop when I her standing in front of our open door, holding a bouquet of flowers so big that it completely obscures her face.
“What’s going on?” I demand and then lean around her to peer at the man standing in our doorway. He’s huge and nearly fills the entire doorway. He’s dressed in all black and wearing sunglasses even though it’s dark now.
“He sent flowers, Beth,” she squeals the obvious and thrusts the huge bouquet at me.
I take them but put them down to question the man who brought them.
“Who brought flowers? Who sent you?” I ask him sharply.
“My name’s Tony. Mr. Bosch sent me to escort you and your friends to the show tonight.” He speaks with barely moving lips. How fascinating…
“You came for me? Because Carter sent you?” I ask him, saying each word slowly to make sure I didn’t misunderstand.
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll drive you and your guests to the venue and make sure you find your seats,” he says in a clipped monotone.
“Oh my God! And he sent a fucking carriage!” Dina squeals and we link hands and giggle like preteens. My heart is off on a wild gallop. The lasso I had wrapped around my expectations comes flying off and they take off, too.
Tonight, I’m going to take everything the world hands me, and wear it like a technicolor coat of dreams.
“I’ll wait by the car, come down when you’re ready,” Tony says.
“Oh, I’m ready. Right now.” I grab my purse and my keys and walk hand in hand with my best friend toward my destiny.
66
Carter
Making it Right
“So, does she know you were at her wedding?” Dean asks from his perch on my desk.
“God, I’m sorry I told you that story,” I mutter and do one more push-up before I let my completely spent arms rest.
“Why? It’s a fucking great story.”
I shoot him an irritated glance in the mirror. “Yeah, it’s great that I sat in the back pew of a church ready to watch my girl get married.”
He shrugs. ”My wife was married before. Shit happens. Life throws us curveballs. But you’ve got your chance now and you’re taking it. So, yeah it’s a great fucking story. It’s how you got here. Your fans will eat it up.”
“I hope she does, too,” I don’t know how Beth is going to feel about this kind of attention.
But, I’m going to ask her for a lot so I’m wrapping it around a gesture I hope will show her how serious I am.
“Well, Milly’s going to die when I tell her you’re finally going for it. She’s slightly obsessed with yours and Beth’s story.”
“I’m glad you guys could make this show.”
“We wouldn’t have missed it.” He stands up and walks over to where I’m sitting and puts a hand on my shoulder.
“You’re going to do good, kid. I know this is a big deal, but you’ve been waiting for this forever. Go big or go home.”
The set is ending. It’s been an incredible show; the audience has screamed along with every song. The band and I have been in sync like crazy, improvising like crazy. It’s almost been like we’ve just been playing one of our jam sessions where we just decide to fuck the planned set and have a good time.
And with every costume change, I’ve stolen a moment with Beth.
She’s sitting in the special seats we keep for VIPs at the side of the stage. My whole family is here. When we started planning for tonight, Beth wasn’t back in my life. I can’t believe how much has changed in just a few short months.
It’s been amazing to have her eye to catch when I’m singing her songs.
It’s time for the final number and it’s just going to be me and my piano.
I’m going for broke and hoping I can show her and everyone who’s watching just how much I love her and always have.
“Hey Brooklyn,” I call out to the crowd as I adjust my microphone and try to get comfortable. The crowd roars back its approval and I shoot them a smile that makes them scream even louder.
No matter how many nights we do this, getting on stage, especially with a crowd this big, takes swallowing down fear. Some nights, it also takes a hit of weed.
But, by the end of the show, I’ve sweated out my anxiety, I’ve bled my heartache, rebel yelled my triumph and left it all on the stage.
Tonight though, when I sit down at my piano, I’m still very aware of how many eyes are on me. I feel like it’s my very first time on stage and my nerves are in overdrive. I close my eyes, count to five and when I open them, I focus on the woman who I’m here for, and start talking.
“I have a special guest here tonight,” I tell the crowd as I pick out a few notes on the piano. “You guys know all the words to the album, Between Now and Heartbreak. So you already know how I feel about her. Every word I wrote was about that woman over there.”
The crowd cheers, wildly. The stage lighting shifts and drops a beam right over her and surrounds her in a full-body halo. She looks so fucking beautiful. The camera that projects the performance onto the huge screens moves to her and the crowd goes crazy.
Her big blue eyes widen and she looks around her in alarm, like she’s not sure who I’m talking about.
Then she drops her face into her hands. I can’t tell if she’s laughing or crying, but whichever I hope it’s out of happiness.
“I love you, Beth. Tonight, I want to sing you a new song. One that ends with Always. I hope you don’t mind if I share a little of our story with everyone here. ‘Cause loving you is the reason we’re all here at all.”
She shakes her head with her hands still covering her eyes.
“Open your eyes, baby, I want you to see what I see,” I coax softly, just to her.
She hesitates for a beat, but then she slides her hands off her face slowly and looks at me.
The moment our eyes lock, the rest of the world falls away, and it’s just the two of us and my piano.
Like it was the first time we fell in love.
“When I met you, I was lost…fighting demons, trying to figure out where I belonged. Then, you came along. Just like the moon and the stars gift the midnight sky night with light, you made me come alive. It’s because of you I decided to sing for the rest of the world. We’ve been pulled apart more times than I can count. But what we’ve got isn’t something mere men can destroy. A devil like me has no business in heaven, but that a woman like you loves me, even now, when I have no right to that love, has been my saving grace. I want the world to know, It’s you my heart calls queen. If you’ll have me, I don’t want anything more than I want you to be mine.”
The crowd roars their approval and Beth wipes away a tear that rolls down her cheek.
She presses her lips together, and her chin wobbles, but she nods.
“Come sit with me, I want to sing to you,” I ask and she nods again, and I stand up and walk over to get her.
She watches me with eyes the size of saucers but holds her hand out for me to grab. I pull her into a hug and she wraps her arms around my waist and presses her head to my chest. Her shirt is backless and I run my hand down from the base of her neck to her waist and remind myself that tonight, I’m going to have all of her.
I bend my head to her ear, “Thank you for coming.”
“Wild horses couldn’t have kept me away. But, everyone can see me,” she shouts in my ear.
“Lucky them,” I respond and then walk us back onto the stage. I sit down at the piano and pull her down next to me. She looks up at the huge screen, sees us and drops her face against my shoulder.
“So guys, this is Beth. She’s only woman I’ve ever loved and the person who saved me when I was in a pit that was so dark I couldn’t see a way out. And the first time I kissed her, my whole world changed.” I press my lips to her. It’s just a quick touch, but it hits me square in my chest when I think how close we were to losing this.
I tap out the first few keys and she looks up at me, her eyes wide with surprise and soft with tenderness.
“Oh my God. You’re going to make me cry in front of all these people.”
I press my lips to her ear and cover my mike. “It’s only fair. The songs I wrote about you made them cry, too.” Then, with my girl pressed to my side, my fingers do what they were born to.
I don’t look anywhere but her eyes while I sing the words of the song that’s tattooed all over the memories of our time together. I promise her that between now and our forever, I’ll never take her for granted. That from now on, we don’t go anywhere if it’s not together. That I’ll take care of her as long as she’ll let me.
It’s only when I play the last note, that I realize the stadium is so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.
I’m a crooner. I write and sing emotional songs. But I’ve never really shared more than superficial pieces of myself with my audience. I give them what they come for—great music that lets them get lost for a while. Maybe it was too much to share so publicly.
I turn back to Beth and cover my mic. “You okay?”
She nods. “You’ve never sounded more beautiful than you did just now, Carter. If my heart wasn’t already irrevocably yours, that would have done it.”
Then she leans in, cups the back of my neck and presses a kiss to my mouth. I forget the crowd’s reaction or lack of one instantly.
She loved it. She’s who I was singing for. That’s all I wanted. I cup her waist and slide her across the few inches separating us and kiss her back. That seems to break whatever spell the crowd is under and they erupt, so loud that their roar vibrates across the stage.
Then I remember this is still my job and we’ve got to close the show. She sits beside while we do our outro. Letting the band sign off and thanking the crowd and then we all head backstage where her friends are already waiting.
“I never want this to end,” I whisper against her lips.
“It won’t end. Not even when our bodies fail us. That painting, your music, we’ll live forever through them.”
67
Beth
AfterGlow
We’re lying in the hazy afterglow of blistering orgasms. Both of us drenched in sweat and gasping to catch our breath.
We came back to his house, showered, got into bed and at some point in the early hours of dawn, I woke up to the sweet sucking of his mouth on my breasts. We’ve made love twice since and the sun is just starting to come up.
It’s always been this way between us
I start to drift off to sleep again when he turns on the light and gets out of bed.
I squint as my eyes protest and come up on my elbow.
He’s standing at the window, his back to me, his head pressed to the glass.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m leaving or Berlin tomorrow,” he says, his voice troubled.
“I know, it’s incredible. Your first headliner. It’s amazing.”
He shrugs, presses a palm to the glass, and sighs. I wrap the sheet around myself and go stand next to him. I press my cheek to his arm, and he sighs in relief and drapes an arm over my shoulder and pulls me to him. Yet…I can feel the discontent coming off him waves.
“Carter? What’s wrong?” I nudge him.
“Tonight was amazing.” He sounds like he’s trying to convince himself.
“But…”
He turns to face me, taking hold of my shoulders and pinning me with that intense stare of his.
“Will you come with me?” He asks and then cringes as if he’s bracing for a blow.
I don’t even need to think about it. This is everything I wanted and didn’t dare hope for. I lost my job and I can paint anywhere, so….
“I know it’s sudden. I don’t want to rush you, but it’s killing me to think about leaving you right now, even if it’s just for two weeks,” he says, his eyes worried and searching.
“Of course I’ll come.”
He closes his eyes and sags in relief.
“Did you think I’d say no?”
“You’ve got a life here,” he says.
I cup his precious beautiful face, and raise up on my toes to kiss him.
“You silly man. My life is here,” I point at my heart.
“And here.” I point at his.
He smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “I know baby, but…you had a plan.” He strokes the stack of bracelets on my wrist.
“Yes, but my dream came true today, and so my plans have changed. I want to come with you. I can paint anywhere.”
His smile is sunshine breaking through the clouds. He pulls me into a good old fashioned hug before he lifts me off my feet.
“Okay, I’ll have Dean get you an expedited passport. They can do it in hours. You’ll love Berlin and our last stop is Paris. I can’t wait to show you,” he says when he puts me down.
My heart is full to bursting. I’m not the girl in the fairytales I grew up reading. And yet somehow, I’m being given all of her treasures.
“I have one condition.” I smile mischievously.
He laughs. “Hit me with it.”
“Promise not to serenade me on stage every night?”
“What? Once is enough for you?” he says with mock affront.
“I’m sure someone got it on camera. So we can just relive the moment any time we want.”
“That’s cool. As long as we can relive the after party,” he quips and carries me back to bed.
When he kisses me, I don’t close my eyes, and neither does he and in his, I see forever.
68
Beth
Between Now and Forever
“Can you believe it?” I ask Carter when I hang up my call with Dina.
He looks up from the piano where he’s been sitting with his iPad in his lap and shrugs. “That Duke is getting married again or that he and your stepmother are bumping uglies? Nothing about those people surprises me.”
“Both. I wonder if my father knew.”
“If he did, I’d be shocked that he cared.”
“I’d pay to be a fly on the wall at that wedding.”
“I came to your wedding.”
I smile at him and try to feign surprise. “Hmmm?”
He bites his lip and grins. “I was going to watch you get married so I could cure myself of you. But, I left before…I didn’t see you come back down the aisle.”
“I wondered if you were going to tell me,” I say with a nonchalant smile.
“You knew?” he looks offended and I bite my cheek to keep from laughing.
I nod and wrinkle my nose in apology at his deepening frown. “Dina saw you. She told me. I figured you had a good reason for not telling me. And I don’t exactly enjoy talking about it, either.”
He walks over to my draft table and just looks at me for a long moment, his expression, unreadable and my moment of delight at having shocked him fades.
“Say something,” I demand when he continues his wordless stare.
“I was listening to you earlier,” he says, his voice gruff with emotion.
“Huh?”
“You were talking to Phil about changing your name to Mortimer, I was listening, but I pretended not to hear you because I was hoping you’d drop it,” he says.
I frown, startled by the left turn at his admission. “Why?”
He lifts his iPad to show me what he was reading.
I peer at the screen. It’s the New York Health Department’s website. “Information on getting married in New York State.” My eyes fly back to his face.
He drops down on one knee and the words die on my tongue and my heart starts to beat hard and fast.
“I don’t have the ring. I had them bake the ring into the cake at the restaurant. I was going to ask you tonight, at dinner, with our family around us,” he says.
“Ask me?” I whisper, and the smile he graces me with, isn’t just the shape of one, but the physical manifestation of joy. I will never know what I did to deserve this beautiful man, but when he looks at me like that, I know that it’s a reward for something.
He straightens his spine and grasps my hand.
“You are the resounding, unequivocal answer to every single question I’ve ever asked, Beth. I’ve loved you from the minute I laid eyes on you and I will love you always. I would turn my back on heaven and walk through hell to have you. I want to give you my name and make a family with you. And when I take my last breath here on earth, I want to know that I’ve left every single ounce of my cum my body is capable of making inside of you.”
The sob I’d been holding back, dissolves as laughter, belly deep and soul satisfying pours out of me.
“You are so crazy, Carter. What kind of thing is that to say when you’re proposing?”
He chuckles, a satisfied smile on his face. “Your eyes were filling with tears. A girl with a heart as bold as yours and a wellspring of love that is the very essence of her soul, should never cry. I know that’s possible and life will give many reasons to shed a tear. But it is my life’s mission to never be one of those reasons.”
“Baby,” I gasp, so overwhelmed by the beauty of his heart.
“I want to be your home and I want you to be mine. Will you marry me, Beth?”
I nod.
He leans in and we seal our promise with a kiss.
Epilogue
Carter
