Love and Always (A Pound of Flesh #1.5) Read Online Free Page A

making Carter wish that everyone would leave so he could feast on her body until Christmas morning. Her blithe demeanour was more than a little sexy.
    It had been a very long time since Carter had enjoyed a Christmas Eve as much. Last year had been nice, but he and Kat hadn’t lived together then and, because they were both indecisive morons, each wanting to please the other, they’d traipsed from one friend’s party or meal to the next with no chance to make time for themselves. His gift to her that year of a key to his TriBeCa apartment had been a stroke of genius. She’d moved in by New Year’s. This year, being in their own home and doing what they wanted to do, spending time with family, made Carter feel truly settled, truly accepted.
    “Thank you for this, Carter,” Eva said, holding the colorful handwoven scarf he’d given her. “It’s lovely.”
    He smiled. “You’re welcome.”
    “Isn’t it gorgeous?” Kat exclaimed with a mischievous glance in Carter’s direction. “I was so impressed when he brought that home. All by himself.”
    Carter rolled his eyes and nudged her. “Shut up. I’m not utterly incapable.”
    She laughed and kissed him soundly. Her breath was suggestive, warm bourbon and sweet popcorn. “Oh, I know.”
    The woman was going to be the death of him.
    When the clock in the hallway chimed two o’clock in the morning, the weary bodies of Nana Boo and Kat made their way up the stairs to bed after Carter offered to clean up. Kat had worked like a freaking dervish the entire day and deserved the break. Harrison and Eva helped him fill the dishwasher and wipe down while he checked on the progress of his roast ham in the slow cooker. It smelled incredible and would be perfect by the morning, ready for Christmas lunch.
    With a large yawn, Harrison shook Carter’s hand, offering his congratulations and thanks again. “I’m really happy for you,” he said with genuine emotion in his large dark eyes. He kissed Eva quickly and disappeared up the stairs, leaving Carter alone with Kat’s mom for the first time since the engagement news.
    The atmosphere in the kitchen changed imperceptibly and Carter suddenly wished he’d not had that last glass of Jim, which had made his head light and his feet heavy.
    Carter rocked back and forth on his heels, thinking of his happy place upstairs, warm and sleeping in bed. “So,” he began, clearing his throat, “have a good sleep and I’ll see you in the morning—”
    “Wesley.” Eva stopped him. His first name reverberated around the stainless steel appliances and granite worktops of the kitchen.
    He took a deep breath and pushed his hands into his pockets. “Yes?”
    “I meant what I said. I am . . . happy for you and Katherine.”
    Carter let the hesitation wash over him. “Good.”
    “But,” she said firmly, making Carter’s heart thump, “I would have appreciated a conversation with you before you proposed to my daughter. It’s common courtesy.”
    “I know,” Carter said, dipping his chin. “And I apologize. Really. But it was a last-minute decision to do it when I did.” He gave a wry chuckle. “I’ve never done this before. I’m learning as I go.”
    “I still have . . . reservations about certain things,” she continued, as though Carter hadn’t spoken.
    Carter’s molars ground together when she paused. The fact that she was filtering and picking her words carefully was troubling. “I’ve no doubt you do.” He tried to relax and make his voice calm. “But I can assure you, my past is my past and I have no intention of it ever being a part of our future. You have nothing to worry about.”
    Eva exhaled heavily and took two steps toward him. “I hope so. Because if you break her heart, hurt her by getting embroiled in something dangerous or illegal, end up back in that shithole on Staten Island, or treat her in any other way than she truly deserves, I will fucking end you.”
    Her palm clapped Carter’s cheek twice.