Fool Me Once Read online

  “What is?”

  “My mom is planning my wedding to Prince Charming even though I told her the whole sordid tale of how that text came to be. Why did you have to send her that message? You could have literally written anything else.”

  “I was speaking the truth.”

  That gets a chuckle from me. “Really because I don’t recall meeting him. Please point me in his direction.” I’m still trying to calm my mother down who’s apparently received a call from my stepdad who claims to have seen a man at my house. I’m still explaining the situation when I realize Carter’s been silent for a while. When I look up, I find him staring at me, his gaze a whole new level of intensity I’ve never experienced. Especially from someone I just met and punched in the face a few hours ago.

  “What?”

  “You’re looking at him,” he says confusing me.

  “Who?” My brow furrows, and he cracks a smile.

  “The man of your dreams. I’m right here.”

  Chapter 2

  His man of my dreams line didn’t work. Shocker, I know.

  I wish I could say it wasn’t his stupid smile and ridiculously sexy stare as he leisurely checked me out from top to bottom or his emerald eyes that captured my own, putting me in a trance and making me lose all ability to say no.

  I ended up giving him my number, but I never agreed to a date. A girl needs to keep her options open, and I’ve mentioned how gorgeous he is. I’m not shallow, but visual chemistry counts for something. You can talk to a guy for hours, but if he can’t make you tingle, what’s the point?

  Not that I plan on getting tingly around Carter.

  Of course not.

  It’s been two days since I’ve seen him, and other than a few scattered texts, in the beginning, asking to take me out, I haven’t seen him. Only in my dreams. God, how pathetic am I? I think I’m starting to realize I work too much and need to go out more.

  I decide to put all thoughts of Carter aside today and head out for some shopping therapy with my best friend, Amanda. Once I’m in her car, we blare the radio and sing horribly with the windows wide open.

  “What are you thinking, wanna hit the outlets?”

  “How about the mall?”

  “You just want to see your stuff in display cases,” she states knowing me better than anyone else.

  I have no argument as I look out the window pretending to ignore her. Once we get to the mall, we go through the stores that carry my jewelry, and it makes me so happy. I also get to buy a couple new pairs of sandals and desperately need to hit up Sephora before we leave. I’m low on so much of my everyday makeup supplies.

  “Look at this! I didn’t know she had a new lip-gloss line out.”

  “Yeah, I saw that online.” There’s a popular tattoo artist that has her own makeup brand that we love.

  “I wish I could pull some of these colors off.” Amanda pouts her lips, and after an hour we finally leave the store in hunt for some lunch. Shopping is like running a mini-marathon, and I’m feeling carby today.

  “What’s all the commotion?” Amanda mumbles trying to get on her tiptoes to see around a crowd of people.

  “Beats me.” I try to do the same but I’m short, and it seems I’m surrounded by giants. “Whatever, let's get to the food court.”

  We try to bypass the crowd and manage to make our way through the outskirts. When we get to the front of the crowd we’re met with a barrier. What the hell?

  “Miss, I’m going to have to ask you to stay behind the gate.”

  “What the hell? We just want to go to the food court right there.” Amanda points towards where we want to be.

  “Find another way. There’s a film crew working.”

  That remark really has me looking around because there’s no way it’s a coincidence. It has to be Funny Guys.

  Then I see him. Carter’s around twenty feet away wearing a ridiculous outfit. He’s dressed like a Can-can dancer complete with a headdress. How come even though he’s dressed like a woman, I can’t seem to rip my eyes away from his abs? I know his eyes are what first drew me in, but his abs are a close second. He must have to work out eight hours a day to keep each little pack up to par.

  “Well, hello,” Amanda purrs.

  “That’s Carter.”

  “The Carter? Man meat Carter?”

  “The same. They must be filming.” I go to turn around, but she grabs my arm stopping me.

  “Look, I think he noticed you.”

  And he has. Somehow in this massive crowd, he’s spotted me. Carter flags down someone standing off to the side and quietly whispers in his ear before getting back to… whatever the hell he’s doing. It looks like he’s doing the Cha Cha in front of a crowd of old ladies wearing boxing gloves.

  “Excuse me, Miss, Mr. Larue would like for you to hang around and wait for him. He’ll be done filming soon.”

  “Seriously?” I grab Amanda and pull her with me away from the crowd after watching the old ladies unleash fury on the still dancing Carter.

  “Hold up girl, where’s the fire?”

  “I need to get out of here before he’s done filming. You don’t understand, Carter Larue will be bad news for me. Did you see his abs?”

  “Give him a ride he’ll never forget and be done with it. What’s the worst that can happen?”

  “He could break my heart.”

  “Hearts are underrated, if you ask me. Sometimes you have to think with your vagina.”

  That’s why she’s my best friend even though that advice doesn’t help me at all. I need to get far away from Carter before I cave and give him that date he wants. He’ll be leaving soon, and I don’t do casual.

  When my heart’s involved, I’m the all-in type.

  Chapter 3

  “Thanks for coming in at the last-minute sweetie. She was really insistent that you size her bracelet.” I look up from the display case holding my exclusive bracelets and smile at my mom.

  “You know I don’t mind. Plus, you kind of did me a huge favor selling my stuff in the first place.” No statement has ever been truer. If she didn’t give my jewelry a chance and feature it in her window display, god knows where I’d be. It’s not like I size bracelets for everyone, just the women that want to pay for it to fit perfectly around their wrist. Most people are fine with the generic size.

  “Yeah, yeah. I’m just lucky you actually know how to work a pair of pliers. I’d have your stuff in here even if it were beaded friendship bracelets.”

  I smile, “You know how much I love and appreciate you, right?”

  “I’m glad you said that honey, I’ve been thinking about coral and gold…”

  “Let me stop you right there, Mother Dearest, there will be no coral and gold because I don’t even have a boyfriend.”

  “You know I hate when you call me that, I tried to get you to use cloth hangers once, just once! Now I’m labeled as a psychotic mom who tries to ruin her daughter’s life.”

  “Well, you are planning my non-existent wedding.”

  “I’ve always been planning your wedding since you were five actually. Want to see the binder?” She’s holding back a laugh, but somehow, I know she’s telling the truth.

  “Hell no.”

  She quickly looks around making sure none of her customers heard me. “Lex! I don’t want people thinking my daughters some common miscreant. I have a certain type of clientele that comes in here, and I’m sure they’d be less than pleased if I introduced you as the woman who invented the Willow Creek bracelets.”

  “Yeah, yeah. They’d buy them anyway.” I wink at her.

  “Alright, I’ll see you for Sunday dinner.”

  “Kicking me out, are we?” Thank god, I’m exhausted and ready to grab a bottle of wine on my way home.

  “Yes, I’ll see you on Sunday.” She leans over the counter and kisses my cheek. “Be safe sweetie.”

  I give her a salute, head for the exit and jump into my Jeep. It’s the perfect night, and I
’m thankful I took the top and doors off yesterday. This time of year, we’re usually in a crazy heat wave, but it’s held off so far this summer.

  I’m a couple of minutes down the street when I stumble upon bumper-to-bumper traffic. It’s unusual considering the time, and there’s usually not a ton of cars that travel on this back road. Maybe there was an accident or something?

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  I jump, and my foot momentarily flies off the brake pedal. Luckily, I slam my foot back down on it before I hit the person in front of me.

  “Shit, I didn’t mean to scare you. Are you okay?”

  With my hand clutched to my chest and breaths coming in heavy spurts, I turn my neck and look at Carter. After my eyes narrow he throws his hands up in surrender but can’t keep the grin off his face.

  “Sorry, I didn’t recognize you without the fruit bowl on your head. Is this another segment for your show?”

  “Not this part of the traffic. If you’d like, I can get my hands on that outfit again.”

  I roll my eyes. “Wait, you caused this?”

  “How else would I get you to talk to me?” He just admitted he created a traffic jam to see me and has not one ounce of uncertainty on his face. He must think this display of…I don’t even know what to call it. Not love, maybe infatuation? Maybe he has a beat down fetish?

  I throw my Jeep into park then get out. With one of his hands on the frame of my car and the other up in the air to help me, my glare has him keeping his hands to himself. What the hell? When I look up past the line of cars, I can narrowly see a giant orange construction sign in the middle of the road and two guys sitting on the base eating food out of their coolers. They’re actually wearing flannel and hard hats.

  Against my better judgment I crack up. Why not? That shits funny.

  “There’s no way you orchestrated this whole thing for me.”

  “My friends would beg to differ. Now listen, I have a few minutes before people start throwing haymakers and the obvious thing to do would be to go out with me.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes, give me a reason why it’s a bad idea.”

  “The first time we met you called me a hooker and told me I looked like I ate meat.”

  “That wasn’t my fault, I’ve already explained that. Park your Jeep over there,” he points towards a parking lot for a strip of state beach. “You can come with me, and I’ll feed you.”

  “You planning on feeding me meat Carter?” I cock an eyebrow.

  “Baby, you won’t be complaining once you taste my meat.”

  Man, that innocent comment went south really quick, and by south, I mean straight to my vagina. The way this man looks at me is unreal, like he thinks I’m the most beautiful girl on the planet. No one’s ever looked at me like that before, not even my prior boyfriends who claimed to be in love with me.

  “Fine, but only because I don’t want to see your friends get maimed. Give me a second to park.” I get in, crank the engine, and safely maneuver around the cars and into a parking spot. The same BMW from two weeks ago is parked off to the side, so I pull in next to it.

  “This car really makes it hard to be a gentleman. Let’s pretend I’m opening your hypothetical door.” He mimics the motion making me smile.

  “Why thank you, maybe chivalry isn’t dead.”

  “Not for a woman like you it isn’t.”

  “You’re going to be in trouble if you keep hitting me with those one-liners Larue.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping for.” He grabs my hand and helps me out the way he intended before. It’s sweet even though the way his thumb rubs the inside of my wrist sets off a whole different vibe. If he can rub my wrist and make me purr, what’s going to happen when he’s really trying to lay it on thick?

  Pun intended because right now I’m eighty percent sure that someday shortly I’ll be sleeping with Carter Larue. Call it a gut feeling in my vagina.

  He holds the door to his car open for me and I slide in, thanking my lucky stars I’m not wearing a skirt. This car is super low to the ground, and I’m not tall by any means, but I still had to sink into it.

  “For such a big guy you sure have a tiny car,” I laugh after he gracefully folds his giant body in with a grace I’d assume he’d possess.

  “This is my baby, don’t you bad mouth her.” He pats the dashboard as if to soothe her hurt feelings. “This has been my dream car since I was sixteen. When we got our show picked up and got my first big paycheck, I bought her.”

  “Man, why did you want to take me out when you’re clearly in love with another woman?”

  “Hey now, there’s plenty of me to go around. I’m open to a plural relationship.”

  The smile falls from my face because I’m not sure if he’s joking or actually telling me he’s not into monogamy. I guess he’s somewhat of a celebrity in his own right, why didn’t I think about his fast-paced life?

  “Lex, I’m kidding. Dating multiple women would be too exhausting. I think I’ll stick with one gorgeous blonde I’ve had my eye on.”

  “Gee, thanks.” He has me cracking up again as we pull on to the street. He doesn’t sit in traffic, he actually goes around, driving in the breakdown lane until we get up to where his friends are still eating to the music of car horns going off.

  “You all set boys?” He sounds amused, and when the two guys look at Carter, they flip him off.

  “Fuck off Carter.” The guy closest to the car looks past him and at me. A devilish grin lights his face, and I know he’s not going to let it go.

  “Well hello, beautiful.” He looks back at Carter. “Is this the girl you won’t shut up about? Sweetheart, he’s been talking about you for days. She has the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen, it’s like staring into warm caramel.”

  I burst out laughing as a blush creeps up my cheeks. Carter hits the gas, and we speed off down the road. We’re silent for several minutes when I decide to have a little fun with him.

  “Warm caramel, huh? You do know my eyes are blue right?”

  “You my beautiful girl, are lying. You have a pair of whiskey eyes I could stare into all day long.”

  “I need to watch out for you, you’re a smooth talker.”

  Carter’s hand finds mine and squeezes. “Honestly, I’m not. Well, until now I guess. I’ve never really paid much attention to women since we got this gig. We all wanted to make it something we were proud of, and relationships weren’t in the cards with our schedules and how much we traveled in the beginning.”

  “And now, why now?”

  “Why now?” he mumbles. “That’s a conversation best saved for when I have you hook, line, and sinker.” His hand gives me another squeeze.

  For the first time since I’ve met Carter Larue, I think maybe I want to be stuck on his line.

  Chapter 4

  The whole ride to… wherever the hell we’re going, is in silence. Carter keeps his fingers linked with mine in my lap and every time we hit a bump, and they inch upwards on my thigh I have to fight back a groan. I’m surprised he’s been a gentleman and not called me out on it, considering everything that’s gone on and how I met him has been anything but, gentlemanly.

  I have to say my reaction to him is kind of surprising for me. I’ve never blatantly wanted to rub my body against a man I barely know before. I’m usually cool, calm, and collected. People rely on me to be the sane one, the put together one. This feeling, this need is overwhelming. I can’t forget who he is and what he does, what he did the first time we met.

  What happens to girls that give the milk away for free? They’re tossed aside for a milkshake.

  When we pull up at the docks down by the ocean, I’m surprised and confused as to what he has planned. Clearly, I underestimated his planning because Carter isn’t holding back on our first date.

  Is it a first date if I’m forced into it?

  After parking his car, he informs me that he rented out a freaking yacht. I’ve never been nea
r a yacht let alone on one. Us Kile’s aren’t a big boat family. We like to keep our feet firmly on land due to my great-great-great grandpappy starting the family curse. Apparently, he took his wife and three kids sailing in the open seas and never returned.

  I know, it sounds kooky to me too. Who the hell has a grandpappy? I’m sure if anything, they were trying to flee this little seaside town. How the hell else did our lineage continue on if they all mysteriously vanished? It must have been one of my mom’s schemes to keep us off the water because she has a high level of anxiety, especially when we were little daredevils. She also has an overwhelming fear of boats. Something about not being able to see the bottom of the ocean is a trigger for her, and the Titanic really did a number on her. She’s convinced there are random glaciers everywhere just waiting to take out her boat, should she be on one.

  “What’s the matter?” Carter asks trying to pull me towards the large boat, and I dive into the tale of the Kile Curse.

  “You’re kidding right?”

  “Sometimes parents project their fears on their children. I just so happen to be petrified of boats, birds, and the horrific Jelly Bean. I know the logic isn’t there, I’m agreeing that it’s crazy, but my brain just can’t see the logic.”

  “Jelly bean?”

  “Got one of them suckers stuck in my throat when I was twelve, nearly choked to death. I had to give myself the Heimlich on a chair. It was the scariest thirty seconds of my life.”

  “I’m glad you lived to tell the tale. Stay here for one minute.” Then Carter’s off, heading back to his car. A quick minute later, he comes back to me with a tee-shirt in his hand. “Go with it, okay?”

  I nod my head but eye him skeptically. He steps behind me and wraps his arms loosely around my body until he has the shirt in either hand in front of me. It comes up to my eyes, and he’s about to tie it when I protest.

  “What the hell? Is this some weird fetish? Oh my god, is this for the show?” I can’t hide the panic from my voice, and he immediately pulls the shirt down and jumps in front of me.