Rapture and Lace(2)

"You don't want a wedding with family?" My heart thumped in my chest erratically wondering if I could do this, if I could jump up and marry Carter this weekend.

"No. I mean… I don't care. If you want that, then we'll have that. All I want is you. How I get you, it doesn’t matter."

"But Carter…" my thoughts trailed off again. I wondered if he'd forgotten what I’d told him. He waited patiently for me to continue. "I can't have kids." My heart dropped. He wouldn't want me now. He would remember that I was damaged goods. I couldn't give him beautiful children with steely blue eyes and silky toffee-colored hair.

"Eva I don't care about that. You're what matters to me, nothing else."

I watched him thoughtfully as he stroked my hair and smiled at me with a soft look in his eyes.

"What do you say, Eva? Will you marry me this weekend?"

My heart flip-flopped in my chest. My brain buzzed with the idea of marrying Carter. I bit my lip, squeezed my eyes tightly and nodded. "Yes, let's do it."

He wrapped his arms around me instantly and squeezed. I could feel his heart beating through his chest, and mine meeting it beat for beat.

"You’re so beautiful, I can't wait to have you all to myself."

"You always did, Carter. It was always just you and me." I smiled peacefully at the revelation in my own mind. I inhaled his delicious freshwater scent and ran my fingertips along the nape of his neck. My stomach swam in a cocktail of lust, passion, love, and excitement.

"Let me call Parker." He pulled away from me, pressing his lips firmly to mine, before pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"Parker, call Livingston and let him know we're flying to Aspen tonight." He made a few more plans and then hung up his phone. "You've got an hour, baby."

My eyes widened in surprise. "An hour? Can't it wait until tomorrow?" I smoothed my hands around his shoulders and skimmed my nose along his neck.

"I want to marry you, Miss Austin, without delay." A roguish grin spread across his face. "Pack some things. Let's go." He swatted me on the bottom.

I pouted and then gave him a peck on the lips. "I love you."

"Say it again." He pressed his forehead to mine as emotion pulled in his eyes.

"I love you." I kissed his nose.

"I love when you say that," he whispered.

"I love saying it." I smiled.

"Now get ready." One of his hands squeezed my bottom. I shook my head with a smile and then pulled away to find a bag to pack some essentials for what would be my wedding weekend. My heart skipped a few beats at the thought.





Chapter Two





"Are you ready, Miss Austin?" Carter held my hand tightly in the back of the Bentley, his beautiful eyes regarding me thoughtfully. We'd just pulled up to a private tarmac at Logan International and were preparing to board his private jet.

I nodded at him. I didn't think I could speak I was so nerved up. The ride to the airport had been just enough time for the excitement to dissipate and the anxiety to set in. Carter probably sensed my nerves since I’d been so silent during the car ride. He'd held my hand the entire time and caressed it softly with his thumb. It was that brief contact that was keeping me from leaping out of the moving car. It's not that I didn't want to marry him; I wasn’t having second thoughts about Carter, I was having second thoughts about marriage period. I'd never been particularly interested in settling down, as my mother often said. Her vision for my future hadn't necessarily been my own. But then again, maybe I'd never found the right person. And now I had.

"Can I still work?" I blurted out. Carter raised his eyebrows.

"Of course. If you want. You don't have to." He continued to stroke my hand with the pad of his thumb. "Are you having second thoughts?" he whispered.

"No." That didn't come out confident at all. "No," I said more emphatically. "I’m just nervous. And I have a lot of questions." I bit my bottom lip distractedly.

"Well don't. Because we'll be perfect." He pulled my lip from my teeth with his thumb. "I love you, and you love me, right?" His gaze penetrated mine. I nodded. "Then that's the only thing that matters." He pressed his lips to mine in a searing kiss. Butterflies jumped in my stomach just like they always did whenever he touched me.

"After you, Miss Austin." He waved a hand toward the waiting plane. A wide smile slowly spread across my face as his grin met mine. I kissed him quickly one more time, turned, and strode to the plane without a second thought.

"Evening, Mr. Morgan. It's a clear night all the way to Aspen. No troubles anticipated." The pilot met us as we boarded the plane.