Accidental Heartbreak (The Accidental Series, Book 2) (4 page)

“I’ll see you later, girl,” Rebecca waved to
Shayla.

“Okay,” Shayla replied, smiling weakly.

Rebecca gave Carter half smile and continued
the walk to her car.

Shayla never took her eyes off Carter,
feeling her heart yearn for him, but knew she couldn’t have him.
What a horrible feeling it was to want someone so badly while
knowing they were out of your reach. Out of your league.

“I was hoping we could talk,” Carter said,
sliding his hands in the pockets of his slacks. If he didn’t, he
was certain to touch her face with them.

Shayla remembered Jacqueline saying Carter
was angry. Standing in front of her, he didn’t come across that
way. But then again, he always had one heck of a poker face. Either
way, she didn’t want to have a conversation with him. What was done
was done and there was no need in rehashing the past.

“I’m tired,” Shayla told him. “I’ve been
standing on my feet all day.”

“Then let me buy you dinner,” he asserted.
“We can sit and talk for a while.”

Buy you dinner
…even the way he said
it sounded smug. “Carter, I just—”

“We need to talk. Don’t you agree?” he
asked, coaching her with his eyes.

Shayla looked down at the keys in her hand.
Of course they needed to talk. The note she’d written him – that
she was moving out – got her point across while showing her desire
for independence, but it didn’t express any real feelings. Could a
person really understand what another person’s true feelings were
in written format? The reader could misconstrue words, add
exclamation marks in their mind that the writer didn’t intend.
Face-to-face interaction was the only way to guarantee
understanding without assumptions. But why now after two
months?

Shayla looked up at him, staring in his
eyes, feeling nauseous. The thought of actually sitting down and
having dinner with him was unnerving. What was there to talk about
anyway? The theater showdown between the two? Her upcoming move to
Virginia? What did he want?

“How about you follow me to Carrabba’s?” he
suggested.

Shayla looked at him intently when he said
the name of the restaurant – the first restaurant he’d taken her
for dinner. The restaurant where they’d literally had a
breakthrough, moments that will forever bond them even if they
never spoke another word to each other. As she stared at him and
watched a few cars whiz by, she knew there was no way she could sit
through dinner with him. No way.

So taking a deep breath and bracing herself
for what he might say in response, she said, “No. I can’t do
dinner. I’m tired and I—” Shayla threw her hands up in the air,
running out of excuses. She stepped around him and walked away out
of frustration. If she could only get to the car…

Carter walked quickly to catch up to her
before she was able to. He touched both of her arms, prompting her
to look at him.

It worked, because Shayla looked into his
eyes, feeling her temperature rise. It seemed as if his hands had
branded themselves onto her skin.

“What have I ever asked of you, Shayla?” he
said, staring deep into her eyes, putting her under his spell. His
body language said he would make her
make
time, no matter
what she said to turn him down. He wouldn’t leave without getting
his way. “All I want is to talk. That’s it. Why can’t we do
that?”

Shayla swallowed hard, looking up at him.
“Why now? Why do we need to talk this instant?”

“Because we need to.”

So Jackie must have told him I was
moving. That’s why he came here. To torture me before I leave.
Shayla rolled her eyes and said, “Yeah, okay,” just to mollify him,
knowing from experience that he wouldn’t stop until he got what he
wanted. Besides, she was leaving Charlotte in a few weeks and after
tonight, she never had to see him again. Never had to succumb to
his charm and authority.

* * *

At the restaurant, she trailed him in and
they sat in a booth – she sitting opposite of him. And while Shayla
sat there avoiding his eyes, Carter took a moment to read her,
trying to understand her feelings and emotions for him, all the
while thinking about what he’d learned from his aunt – the most
important thing being that Shayla was leaving for a new job in
Norfolk soon.

“So, how have you been?” he asked extremely
casual, interlocking his large, strong hands and giving her his
complete and undivided attention.

“I’ve been okay,” she said, looking down at
the menu. The knots in her stomach were making her sick.

“Just okay?” He stared at her hard as if
trying to read her thoughts.

Shayla nodded.

The waitress brought over two glasses of
water. Carter ordered chicken parmesan. Shayla didn’t order a
thing. She couldn’t keep food down even if she wanted to. The man
of her dreams was sitting across from her…still didn’t change the
fact that she was upset with him and needed to get away as soon as
possible. There was no sense in hanging on to hope that he would
eventually see her as a woman worthy of having a relationship with.
And she was at a disadvantage, because she still had to rely on
him. She was still driving the man’s car…

When the waitress walked away, Carter locked
his eyes on her again. “You’re not hungry?”

“No.” She was too nervous to eat. Plus
breaking bread with him would make it seem like all was forgiven
when the reality was, her heart was broken and he was the one who
did the damage.

Carter tapped his fingertips on the table.
He had to admit to himself that the only reason he wanted to talk
to her so urgently was because of his conversation with Jacqueline.
Shayla was moving away and he wasn’t okay with that. He wondered if
Shayla would tell him about her relocation or did she deem it none
of his business. “How are things at the shop?”

“Fine,” she said, staring out the
window.

Carter studied her again. “You know at some
point in our conversation, you’re gonna have to look at me.”

Do I have to
, Shayla thought. Looking
at him had the same effect kryptonite had on Superman – it made her
weak.

“Shayla?”

Shayla looked at him now, feeling her heart
beat faster.

“That’s better,” he said with a half smile,
feeling an urge to reach across the table to hold her hand, touch
her arm…something that would connect them while simultaneously
relaxing her. “So it’s been eight weeks since we last spoke. How
are you physically?”

Like you really care? If that was the
case, it would not have taken you eight weeks to ask.
“I’m
fine.”

“Good,” he said, inhaling deeply and feeling
a slight bit of relief that she was well. “So I spoke with
Jacqueline this morning.”

“That’s nice.” Shayla took a sip of water.
Seemed as if her body temperature rose at least ten degrees.

“She said you were leaving the shop for
another job.”

And how is that any of your business
?
Shayla inhaled a deep breath. “Yeah, I am.”

“So where will you be working?”

Why do you care?
That’s what she
wanted to say, but instead said, “At a tech firm.”

“Does this tech firm have a name?” he asked,
shooting her a penetrating look.

“You probably wouldn’t know it, so—”

“Try me.”

“Zenadel Electronics.”

“Oh.” He nodded like he was familiar with
the place. He remembered one of his fraternity brothers taking a
position at that very same company and he wondered if he still
worked there. “What side of town is that on?”

“It’s not in Charlotte,” Shayla said, though
she had a suspicion he already knew that.

“Where is it?”

“It’s in Norfolk.”

“Virginia?” he said, trying to hide the
frown in his forehead but to no avail.

“Yes.”

“So you’re moving to Virginia?”

“Yep.”

Her short answers were driving him insane.
The woman he loved was moving away. The least she could do was have
a conversation with him.

“Wow,” he said, shocked. His aunt had been
right. She was moving. “That’s a big move for you.”

Shayla snapped her head back
. What’s that
supposed to mean?
He said it in a way that insinuated she
couldn’t handle it by herself and that irritated her. “Yeah, that’s
what I need in my life. A
big
move. It will be good for
me.”

Carter frowned, then quickly removed the
disturbance from his forehead before she saw it. “You know anyone
there?”

“No.”

“So where will you be staying?”

“In an extended stay hotel until I can find
a suitable apartment.”

Carter didn’t like that one bit. If they
were still on good terms, she’d be still living in his home. Now
she was moving to a new city where she didn’t know anyone and would
be living out of a hotel room. “Well, I wanted to take this
opportunity to let you know that I didn’t want things to end like
they did between us,” he said devoid of emotion. He stated it
matter of factly.

Didn’t want things to end like they did
between us
, Shayla tossed around in her mind. He said it like
they were once in an exclusive relationship that didn’t work out.
But there was no actual relationship, so what
thing
did he
not want to end? A friendship? “Well
things
did end,” she
said looking at him. “And I realize now that it was for the best.
I’m not doing bad on my own.”

Her casual response incensed him. “Really,
‘cause you’re going to be living in a hotel, Shayla,” he erupted,
not able to hide his frustration any longer.

Shayla kept her cool. “It’s only temporary.
I’ll find an apartment soon enough.”

With a tightened jaw, he glanced out the
window to process it. Her living in a hotel was a step backwards. A
few more steps in the wrong direction and she would be homeless
again. “I noticed you haven’t been using the money I put into that
account for you. There’s about four thousand dollars in there? Why
don’t you use that to get a place?”

“No.” Shayla unzipped her purse, removed the
bank card from her wallet and placed it on the table in front of
him. “Rebecca has been paying me for my work at the shop. I’ll get
a place when I earn enough money to afford one.”

“Shayla—”

“I don’t want your money, Carter,” she said
irritated. “I’d rather live in a hotel than take another dime from
you.”

Carter swallowed hard, feeling anger build
up in his heart.

Shayla continued, “And I know I still have
stuff at your house. I’ll stop by and pick it up as soon as I have
time. Then I’ll give you your house and car keys back.”

Dismissing everything she said, Carter
asked, “What happened to us?”

“Us?” Shayla chuckled. Was this man losing
it or what? “There was ever an
us
.”

“There was and you know it,” Carter
bellowed. “We were close. I’ve shared things with you that I’ve
never told anyone. You confided in me about your life, your
struggles, your past. We had a strong friendship and out of the
blue you decide to end it all with a note.”

“I ended it all? Really?” she asked, with
raised brows.

Glaring, Carter replied, “You’re the one who
moved out so yeah, Shayla. You ended it.”

A few of the patrons sitting closest to them
were looking now to see where all the loud talk and arguing was
coming from, but neither Carter, nor Shayla gave two cents about
the attention they were drawing. They were focused on making their
point. He didn’t back down and neither would she.

“I moved out because we weren’t getting
along,” Shayla exclaimed. “Plus you told me to leave.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did, Carter. You don’t remember
that day at the movie theater when you practically bit my freakin’
head off telling me all the things you did for me. You said I could
get my stuff and leave. You don’t remember that?”

“Yeah, but you have to understand I said
that only after you had already made it clear to me you wanted to
go. You made the first move, not me.”

“Well, I don’t get why this is still
relevant,” Shayla told him. “It’s been eight weeks and I honestly
don’t know why you wanted to have dinner with me tonight.”

Carter wanted to tell her that he missed
her, that he was lonely in that big house without her there and he
was sorry for the way things ended. Instead, he said, “I just
wanted to see you.”

“Okay, well now that you’ve
seen me
,
I’m gonna go.” She stood and threw her purse strap over her
shoulders.

“Shayla.”

“What?”

Carter’s heart wanted him to say things his
mind wouldn’t let him. After all, this was the woman who left him
by writing a mere note, the woman who was moving away in a few
weeks. And it was going against everything he’d ever known to
actually tell a woman that he loved her.

“What?” she asked again, frowning.

Carter could see she was anxious to leave,
so instead of making the conversation deeper he said, “If I don’t
see you again before you leave, I want you to know that…” He
paused. Those three words, I love you, were on the tip of his
tongue, but he couldn’t say it, even though he knew, without a
shadow of doubt that he loved her. “I just want you to know that if
you need me for anything, you can call me.”

“Thanks, but I’ll find a way to make it work
on my own.” With that, Shayla walked away.

Carter couldn’t find justification in
chasing her. He never chased any woman before and he had no rights
to her. Maybe her moving away was what they both needed but still
it bothered him, having come to that conclusion.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Carter
admitted with bloodshot red eyes as he sat on the couch in Dr.
Westbrook’s office a week later. She was the same doctor he’d taken
Shayla. The doctor Jacob saw before he passed. Now the tables had
turned and he was the patient. Never in a million years did Carter
think he would have to resort to therapy, but the battle going on
in his head and heart had finally erupted into an all out war that
he could no longer mediate.