Cowboy Take Me Away(57)
Her mother used to bring her here with Thomas and Kimi. She’d watch them from the car, letting them run wild on the playground. Kimi was so little Carolyn wondered if she remembered that their mother used to do…motherly type things with them before the arthritis rendered her incapable of everything.
“Whatcha thinkin’ about, Caro?”
“Family stuff. What are you thinking about?”
Carson was by her side in an instant; his hands gently framed her face. “I’m thinkin’ that I’m dyin’ to kiss you. I’m thinkin’ about what an ass I was to you last night. I’m thinkin’ I don’t even know where to start makin’ this up to you.” He paused. “Or if you even want me to try.”
Somehow she kept her eyes locked on his and said, “Try the truth.”
“I wasn’t with that woman last night.”
“You had your arm around her.”
“I know. But that’s all I did and only when you could see it. I dropped it as soon as you were gone.”
“Why?”
“To make you think I was a bastard. That I’d just used you, I was done with you and I moved on to someone else.”
Her stomach dropped to her toes and she tried to break free from his hold.
But he wouldn’t let her go. “You need to hear me out. It’s as hard for me to say as it is for you to hear.”
“I doubt that.”
Carson threaded their fingers together. “I’m sorry I hurt you. Really fuckin’ sorry. Afterward I punished myself by pickin’ a fight, but the pain I received wasn’t even close to the goddamn pain I saw in your eyes when I said the shit I did.”
“Language,” she murmured.
“See? You’re too good to be true. But I want that goodness in my life. I need it. I need you. I know things went a little fast between us last week. I was so tied up in knots over you that I wasn’t payin’ attention to see if anyone else might’ve taken notice of us spendin’ so much time together.”
“Someone saw us?” They’d been so wrapped up in each other that they’d rolled around on a blanket at a picnic area. They’d practically skinny-dipped at Keyhole. They’d gone at it half-naked against Carson’s truck—also just off the main road where anyone could’ve seen them. Then he’d come to her house. Specifically into her bedroom. And he’d parked in the front yard, bold as brass. “Who?”
“Your brother Harland.”
Shock froze her vocal chords.
“Evidently he saw my truck from the road that day I stopped by and he saw our goodbye kiss. He followed me home. When he realized who I was… He returned when I was alone.”
“Are any of these bruises from him?” she demanded.
“His marks are on my throat because he damn near strangled me before I knocked him on his ass.”
She twined her arms around him and pressed her cheek into his chest. She thought she’d cried herself out, but not so. A few stray tears slipped free and soaked into his shirt. “Are you okay?”
“I’m getting there. Look. The short version is your brothers all showed up around my place and threatened me if I didn’t break it off with you. Then they threw a buncha shit in my face I’d done in the past, which combined with them extolling your virtues, went a long way in convincing me to break it off with you because I didn’t deserve a woman like you.”
“All of my brothers did that?”
“Except Thomas. He watched me get my ass whipped last night at the dance after you left. So at first,” a nervous laugh slipped out, “I thought maybe he was there to finish the job. Turns out he wasn’t and he had some advice that pointed me in the right direction.”
“Which direction was that?”
Carson tipped her head back and gazed into her eyes. “Straight back to you.”’
Okay. So her knees went a little weak.
He caught her. “I’m done hidin’, sugar. I’m with you. I don’t want to be with anyone else. So I want everyone to know I’m with you—and that includes your family and mine.”
Her jaw dropped.
He covered her mouth with his, gifting her with the sweetest, most romantic, most convincing kiss. Then he scattered kisses from the tip of her chin to her temple. “Please forgive me for hurtin’ you. I’ll do anything to make it right with you. Anything.”
Carolyn clung to him, letting his soft kisses and promises bolster her courage. She’d never gotten into a fight with her brothers, besides the squabbling when they were kids. If she showed up at home with Carson McKay on her arm…what would happen?