Saved By A Soldier (Love Conquers Life Book 1) (7 page)

“Are you trying to make me blush?” I ask, taking another sip of my coffee.

He laughs. “I wasn’t, but it was cute when you did it the first time, so why not?”

I slap his hand playfully and the jolt I felt when he helped me out of the car returns.

I yawn, and he says, “Looks like you need to get home before I put you to sleep.”

“I’m sorry, Carter. My mother tires me out with all the prepping she makes me do before these events. Besides, it’s getting late and we’ve been sitting here for a while.”

“No problem. Come on, gorgeous, I’ll take you home as long as you promise I can call you.”

I giggle as and slip my phone out of my purse. “Text yourself from my phone, that way we’ll have each other’s numbers.”

He does it and then hands it back to me. He takes my hand and we walk back to his Jeep so he can take me to Bella’s. As he pulls away I give him directions to her house. I pull out the keys to my car, thankful I didn’t leave my keys inside her place or I’d have to go back to the event.

When he pulls up to her house he gets out and runs around to my side of the Jeep, opening the door for me yet again and helping me out. He walks me to my car and when we reach it he says, “Thanks for having coffee with me.”

I smile. “Thanks for buying me coffee.”

“So, can I see you again sometime soon?” he asks, sounding very unsure of himself.

“I think I’d like that.” I look down to hide the blush that’s creeping up.

“Great, I’d like to take you to dinner Monday night after I get out of work.”

“Sure,” I say, looking up at him with a shy smile.

He’s looking into my eyes, like he wants to make a move, but is unsure of himself. He leans in and kisses me on the cheek. “In you go. I want to make sure you get in safely.”

I unlock the door and climb inside, giving him a brief wave before he pulls away.

Chapter 8

Patty

What the hell is that buzzing noise?

I stretch in my bed looking around trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Then I realize someone’s at my door. I look at the clock. 10:30 a.m. Holy shit, I slept late. I jump out of bed as the buzzer rings yet again. I run to the speaker and press the button.

“Who is it?” I shout angrily.

“Me, let me in!” Bella screams into the speaker. I press the button to let her up. She’s going to kick my ass because I just realized I never texted her last night. A minute later I flinch when she starts pounding on my front door.

“Hold your horses!” I shout as I open it.

“I’ll text you, you said. I’ll call you, you said. Did I get either?
No!
Do you realize I was worried about you all night?” she screams, pacing my living room.

“I was with Carter, not Ben. I don’t know why you were so worried. I said I would call you so I could tell you how it went. Sorry I didn’t realize you would be so worried.”

“How come you two left last night?”

“Oh my God! I didn’t even get to tell you what happened.” I sit on the couch.

“So you going to fill me in or leave me in suspense?”

“While you were networking, Ben stepped in on my dance with my father and led me off the dance floor without anyone noticing. When we were close enough to the door, he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room to try and talk.”

“Are you serious?”

I nod. “He started to hurt me, so I pulled my arm away and told him there was nothing to talk about. He disagreed and pulled me completely out of the room. We continued our arguing and while we were going back and forth, Carter saw what was happening and came to my rescue.”

Now she’s glowing. “Are you serious?”

I give her a look. “Are you going to say anything more than, ‘Are you serious?’”

She laughs. “Sorry. What happened next?”

“The two of them had words from a distance and when Ben was approaching Carter for a fight, Ben’s father came out and stopped him. The worst part was I slipped about him backhanding me to his father.”

She gasps. “No way! What did his father say?”

I shrug. “I didn’t stick around to find out. Carter followed me and introduced himself. I was a bitch for about a minute, then we started talking and it was like we clicked. He wants to see me again. He asked me when he dropped me off last night if we could do dinner and we exchanged numbers.”

“I’ve never seen you like this. You’re absolutely glowing,” she says, and that’s when I realize my cheeks hurt from smiling. “So what did you tell him?”

“I asked him if he was picking me up or if we were meeting somewhere.”

“And? Don’t leave me hanging.”

I burst out laughing. “He’s picking me up tomorrow night at six thirty.” I’m giddy with excitement. “We have to go pick you out an outfit to wear!”

We run to my room and start going through all the clothes in my closet. Then I realize, “Hey, how do I know what to wear when I don’t know where he’s taking me?”

“Text him and ask him.”

When I turn on my phone, I notice I already have a text from him.

Carter: Good morning! Hope you slept well.

Patty: I slept a little too well, just woke up about fifteen minutes ago. How about you?

Carter: I got up around eight to work out.

Patty: You work out on Sundays?

Carter: It depends on my mood and I was trying to occupy my mind because I kept thinking about someone.

Oh my God.
“Look what he just wrote.”

I show Bella the text and she squeals. “That’s awesome,” she says, excited for me.

Patty: *blushing*

Carter: I bet, you’re cute when you’re blushing.

Patty: Are you trying to make it worse on purpose? Where are we going for dinner tomorrow? I need to know how to dress.

Carter: Lol, No I’m not and dress comfortable. Like you did at the lake house ;-)

Patty: Ugh! I got to go. I’ll talk to you later.

Cater: Yes you will. Have a good day!

Patty: You too!

When I look up from my phone Bella is leaning against my bureau with her arms crossed, tapping her foot, like I’ve done something wrong.

“What?”

“Girl you’re redder than a beet, what was all of that?” I laugh and give her my phone so she can read the conversation. Between the two of us, we decide on a pair of jeggings with a cute sweater and a pair of Uggs.

Once we’re done picking my clothes, Bella says, “Go take a shower and let’s go to lunch.”

***

It’s Monday morning and I’m lying in bed exhausted because I barely slept a wink last night. All I kept thinking about was my date with Carter tonight. He looked so hot the other night in his tux. I kept dreaming about him stripping it off painstakingly slowly. I wanted him to rip it off and he wouldn’t. When he was finally done he climbed over me like I was his prey and that’s when I woke up soaked with my want for him.

Fuck this.

I reach over into my nightstand and grab my bullet. I turn it on and rub it gently over my clit thinking of Carter. I’m imagining his large hands rubbing all over my body and his full, luscious lips kissing my neck and collarbone. It’s been so long since anyone has touched me that I’m coming in a matter of minutes. My legs shaking, I ride it out with my bullet pressed between my legs.

I groan in frustration. It’s only helped a little, and I still have to manage to get some work done before we go out tonight.

I send him a text.

Patty: Good luck on your first day!

Carter: Thanks! Hope you have a good day too!

Patty: Thanks! I can’t wait to see you tonight.

Carter: Me too ;-)

I jump out of bed and hit the shower so I can go about my day. When I’m done, I make a cup of coffee and boot up my laptop to see what’s going on in the social media world. I Google my name to see if there are pictures posted from the event Saturday since my agent loves seeing me out in public. I find pictures of me with Bella getting out of the limo and posing on the red carpet. Captioned under a nice pic of me and Bella
is:

Author P. A. Fitzgerald with
model friend Bella Campbell at a fundraiser Saturday night
.

I print that one out. I have a best friend’s frame that I switch the picture out on once in a while and that’s a nice one. I continue scrolling through the pictures when I come across a picture of me and Carter and I’m mesmerized. The caption reads:

Author P. A. Fitzgerald leaves event with mystery man, believed to be the son of Mr. Montgomery, local bank owner.

I’m all smiles because we’re looking at each other and smiling like we’ve known each other for years and yet we only just met. My phone rings, startling me from my thoughts, I look at my phone and roll my eyes.

“Good morning, Mother.”

“Patricia, darling, how could you take off on Ben like that Saturday night? There are pictures of you and that boy all over social media and people are talking.”

“Mother, stop!” I snap. “I did not run out on Ben, he backhanded me and I broke up with him. Stop feeding him false hope that we will get back together because we will
not
. I don’t care if he is the president of the United States, I’m not going back to him. And for your information I left with Carter because he came to my rescue when Ben got drunk and nearly attacked me yet again outside the event. Please stop defending this man.”

“Patricia, I’m your mother, you need to calm down.”

“That’s right, you’re my mother, so how about you start sticking up for
me
because the fundraiser we attended that night took place because of men like Ben? When you’re ready to stop pushing him on me, call me. Until then I have nothing more to say, Mother!”

I hang up the phone panting with anger. I want to scream. My phone starts ringing again and it’s her but I send her to voicemail, refusing to take her call. She calls again and this time I put her to voicemail and then send her a text.

Patty: I’m working right now. I can’t have this conversation with you.

Mother: I’m sorry.

I ignore her text and move on to my email, and of course I have one from my agent. All it says is
“Who’s the stud?”
I send her a brief reply telling her I will let her know if he becomes someone significant, though right now he’s just a date. I answer a few other emails and then get to work on my writing.

A short while later I realize I haven’t eaten anything yet. I take a break to eat and check my social media. I make myself a sandwich, chips, and some grapes then plop myself back in front of the laptop to see what’s going on. When I open my fan page there are a ton of posts asking who my mystery man is and if it’s serious. I sigh, realizing I need to give Carter a heads up about this. I send him a text so I don’t bother him if he’s super busy at work.

Patty: Hey can you call me when you have a free moment?

Carter: Only if you promise it’s not to back out on me.

Patty: I promise

A minute later my phone rings. “Hey, Carter, how’s your day going?”

“Good so far, and I’m hoping it will stay that way,” he chuckles.

“Well, that depends. I logged on to check my social media and chat with my readers and I discovered something. I’m not sure how you will feel about it.”

“You mean our picture all over the place and everyone asking who your mystery man is?”

“You know?” I question, slightly nervous.

He laughs. “Yeah one of my buddies saw it and called me this morning. Listen, I know we don’t really know each other and we’re only going on our first date, but I could care less. Let them post what they want.”

“I’m glad you’re not upset about being my ‘hot mystery man’ as one paper posted.”

“Are
you
mad that I’m your hot mystery man?”

I blush because I know he’s flirting with me. “No.”

“You’re blushing, aren’t you?”

I shake my head, though he cannot see it. “I should let you get back to work.”

“I’ll take that as a yes and see you at six thirty.”

“Talk to you later, Carter.”

I cut the call and debate if I should post something about last night’s photo. I decide to tell my fans that for now I’m keeping his identity a secret, but may decide to introduce him in the future.

With all that’s going on around me I can’t focus on the book so I take a break to simply read and relax for a while before I have to get ready for my date with Carter. As I sit on the couch with a book to read, my mind is wandering to ideas for my book. Now I can’t even focus on reading. I hate days like this. I can’t seem to focus on any one thing. I jot down my ideas in my notebook, toying with the scene on paper until I have it the way I want it. I make note of roughly where I want it to go in the book and once I’m satisfied I decide to start getting ready.

A short while later I’m pacing my living room ready for my date and nervous as heck. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date.

He was so sweet the other night. I smile as I recall us leaving the dinner in his Jeep to go for coffee. He was a complete gentleman, opening doors and buying me coffee and a muffin. We chatted a bit about everyday life and kept the conversation light since it was late and we had both had a long day. The way he looked at me when I spoke was like he was truly interested in what I had to say and he wanted to hear more. I thought it was so sweet that he kissed me on the cheek before ushering me into my car so he could make sure I got off safely.

My thoughts are interrupted when the buzzer to my apartment rings. I’m so deep in thought it makes me jump. I get up and answer it. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me,” Carter says, and I buzz him in. Minutes later he’s knocking on my door.

I open it to find him smiling at me with a small bouquet of flowers in his hand. “Hi, these are for you,” he says, handing them to me.