Saved By A Soldier (Love Conquers Life Book 1) (12 page)

He approaches with a sense of purpose and places his fingers gently under my chin, lifting it so I’m forced to look into his eyes. “We have time to learn those things. I’m not going anywhere. To make you feel better, my favorite color is blue, I like both TV and movies, I love all food, and I do try to eat healthy, although it’s not always easy.”

I smile as he rambles off the answers to my questions.

The oven buzzes to tell us our dinner’s ready, putting a stop to our conversation.

“Mmm, that smells so good,” he says when I open the oven door.

“You made it,” I say, smiling up at him.

I pull it from the oven and notice the garlic bread is done as well. I place the ziti on one side of the stove and the garlic bread on the other.

I scoop some ziti onto plates while he slices the garlic bread and we sit down to eat. It’s already starting to get late and he has to work tomorrow morning.

“Will you stay with me at my place Friday night?” he asks.

“I’d love to. Then we can spend Saturday together tidying up the apartment before our parents get there. We’ll need to do some grocery shopping Friday night though.”

“We can go after work to stock my place with food, but you’ll know better what to buy than I will. I just need to make sure I have some easier things on hand for when you’re not there.”

He takes his first bite and says, “Damn, I make a fine baked ziti,” and winks at me.

I giggle as I take my first bite and we settle into a comfortable silence, eating our dinner. When we’re done, I get up from the table, taking both our plates and rinse them off to put into the dishwasher. Carter comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around me and pressing his body into mine. He leans into my hair, taking a deep breath. “You smell heavenly,” he says. “Thanks for the cooking lesson. That was fun.”

“Help me clean up and we can move on to some more fun.” I can’t wait to feel his hands on my body.

He moves my hair to one side and kisses below my ear. “I can’t wait to touch you,” he says, sliding his hands over my hips to my ass, and he gives it a quick squeeze. Leaving me breathless he walks away to take care of the leftover bread. I groan in frustration because he is such a damn tease.

“There are containers up in that cabinet. Take down two and I’ll pack some of this up for you to take home with you. There’s no way I’ll eat it all.”

He slips behind me, grinding his cock against my ass while he reaches for the cabinet door. He gets the two containers out and I pack up the ziti to place it in the fridge. When I bend over in the fridge to put the food away he comes up behind me, rubbing his hands all over my ass. I stand to give him a look that screams ‘
really?’
but he just laughs. We need to move on to better things, but I still have the baking dish to clean. While I start doing so, Carter comes up behind me again and starts fondling my nipples through my thin bra. I groan out of frustration because he keeps teasing me.

He leans in to whisper in my ear, “Don’t growl at me, I’ll give you what you need, I promise.” He nips on my earlobe, sending goosebumps all over my body.

I decide two can play at this game, so I start rubbing my ass against his cock hoping I’m teasing him as much as he is me.

When I’m finally done I turn around and he’s right there with one hand on either side of me. He steps toward me, pinning me between him and the counter. His mouth crashes down on mine and our tongues collide into a heated kiss. I grab his ass and pull him even closer so I can feel his erection rubbing against my belly. I rub it through his jeans and he places a hand over mine to stop me.

“Bed,” he orders. “I want dessert.”

I bite my lip as he moves one of his arms, freeing me to lead the way.

He follows me and as soon as we’re at the foot of my bed he slips his hand in mine and tugs gently to stop me from going any further. He slides my shirt over my head, unclips my bra, and slips the thin pink straps down my arms, exposing my breasts. He reaches around me, sliding his hand slowly up my stomach and over my right breast. He massages it for a second then pinches my nipple and it hardens further. He switches hands again, sliding up my stomach to my left breast, massaging it, and pinching my nipple. He walks around me and lowers his mouth, pressing his soft lips to mine. He stays like that for a bit, then he sticks his tongue out and caresses my lips with it. He pulls away as he slips his hands into the waistband of both my panties and leggings, sliding them down over my hips. He squats, taking them all the way down to my ankles, kissing various spots on my body along the way. I step out of each leg and he tosses them aside. He stands up and takes a few steps back to admire the view in front of him. A blush instantly creeps up as I shyly watch his eyes rake over my body. My eyes go to the floor as I can no longer stand him staring at me.

“Patty, you’re beautiful. Please don’t look at the floor. I want to see you.”

I look up at him and lick my lips. “Somebody has far too much clothing on.” I step towards him, pulling his shirt over his head exposing his muscular chest, and toss it off to the side with my leggings. My hands glide down his chest to the button of his jeans. I make quick work of it, releasing his massive cock. I still can’t believe he’s going to fit inside me but I guess we’re about to see. I kiss his nipple, placing a trail of kisses down over his abs at the same time I slip his pants and boxer briefs down. He kicks his shoes off then finishes removing his pants and asks me to lie on the bed.

I lay down in the middle of my bed and he wastes no time. He kisses up the inside of my leg and when he gets to the top he buries his face in my pussy, lapping up every drop of the wetness he has created. His tongue finds its way through my folds to my clit and I moan at the pleasure. He starts licking me like I’m a feast and he hasn’t eaten in days. My hips are moving and I couldn’t stop them if I wanted to. I’m grinding against his face, as I’m about to come he shoves his tongue deep inside me and I explode all over it. I ride out my orgasm screaming his name as he fucks me with it. He’s moaning, lapping up every drop. He kisses up my hip across my stomach to my breast where he sucks my nipple into his mouth. I moan again, loving the feeling of his lips and hands on my body.

He gets up for a condom, slipping it on then climbing back on top of me. He hovers over me for a minute looking deep into my eyes. “You know I really care about you, right? I mean like a lot.”

I bite my lip and nod. “That’s good, because I care about you too and I mean like a lot,” I steal his words.

He smiles and lowers to kiss me. I can taste my release, but I don’t care. I want to be close to him. He deepens the kiss, slipping the head of his cock into my wet pussy. He’s teasing my opening, trying to stretch me because it’s been so long.

“Just give it to me,” I say.

“Please be patient, I don’t want to hurt you,” he says, sliding his length deeper inside me.

I’m grinding my hips with him trying to get him to give it all to me, but he won’t do it. “Carter, give it to me, I won’t break.”

He moves a little deeper but when he pulls it out this time he slams himself balls deep inside me and I whimper at the full feeling.

“Are you all right?”

I nod. “I’m fine, please, Carter.”

He starts moving again so that he’s giving me all he has. I wrap my legs around his waist as he’s pumping his full length deep inside me. “Carter, I’m going to come.”

“Give it to me, sweetie,” he says. He slams into me a few more times and I explode into another incredible orgasm. My pussy tightens around his cock, milking him for his seed. He slams into me one last time, emptying himself deep inside me.

He collapses on top of me, panting from our little sexcapade.

“That was amazing, Carter,” I say, attempting to steady my breathing.

He looks deep into my eyes and says, “That was definitely the best I’ve ever had.”

I grin. “Let me clean up so we can get some sleep.”

When I am in my bathroom he knocks on the door.

“Come in.”

I’m standing naked in front of the sink about to brush my teeth. He throws the condom in the trash and has a brand new toothbrush in his hand.

“Do you mind if I leave this one here?”

I shake my head.

He opens it and begins brushing his teeth alongside me. When we’re done we get into bed and he spoons me from behind.

He kisses my head. “Sleep well, sweetie.”

Chapter 13

Patty

I’ve been up for a while now. Carter slept in a bit this morning since I don’t have a gym for him to work out in. He joked about us spending more time at his place so he can continue to work out on a regular basis.

I’m a bit sore from our night together and decide I need to stretch. I’ve already spent some time posting on social media, promoting the upcoming fundraising event that I’m attending to feed the hungry for the holidays, and talking about my new WIP. When I was done with that, I went online to look at some potential styles for my new haircut. I promised Carter I wouldn’t cut it too short because he really likes my hair long.

It was such a nice night and I loved him holding me while we slept. He woke me this morning with the softest of kisses on my neck and cheek. He told me he couldn’t wait to see me again tomorrow when we’d stay in his new apartment for the first night. I really think he wants to christen his new room, but hey, if it’s anything like last night, I’m perfectly fine with that.

I’m jarred from my thoughts when the doorbell rings. I buzz Bella in. She comes up and I already have my purse and coat by the door. I can’t believe how cold it’s getting. Although I love the scenery at this time of year I hate having to bundle up.

“You could’ve just called me and I would’ve come down, Bella.”

“It’s no big deal. I’m parked right out front. Are you ready?”

“Yup, how do I look?”

“Your outfit is cute. We’re meeting Kelly at her studio when you’re done with your haircut.”

“Thanks for setting that up for me.”

“It’s no problem, Kelly owes me. This shoot is on her.”

“Even better,” I say as I fold myself into her sports car. As soon as we’re both in and buckled, she flies off in the direction of the salon. I bring up dinner at Carter’s in a few weeks. “The weekend after the feed the hungry fundraiser Carter wants to have you and Mom over to his new apartment with his friend Derek. Is that cool?”

“Sounds good to me. What about your dad?”

“We’re having his parents and my dad over on Saturday night for dinner. Because my mom is the way she is I wanted to do two different dinners.”

“That’s kind of a pain, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is, but my mom is a pain and I don’t want Carter’s parents uncomfortable because she says or does something snobby. I don’t know how well his parents get along with her since the divorce. I need to have a conversation with my father.”

“About what?” she questions as we pull up to the salon.

“What really happened between them? I think it’s time I know why my parents divorced and haven’t spoken much since. Think about it, he goes to her fundraisers as the owner of several large auto dealerships, but they barely say two words to each other.”

“Maybe they said all they needed to say to each other during the divorce.”

***

An hour and a half later, I step out of the stylist’s chair with some new highlights and a great haircut that is styled and ready for my pictures. I love what my hairdresser did. She added a lot of layers, giving my hair some great body. The front is cut to the shape of my face so that when I blow it out, it sits nicely around my chin. She even showed me how to curl it away from my face if I choose.

When I step around the corner Bella gushes, “You look great! I love what she did with it.” She jumps up to hug me. “This is perfect. It’s still nice and long for your man, but it has some style to it too, and it really suits you.”

My hairdresser says, “I’m glad you both like it. I’ll see you ladies before the fundraiser for your hairstyles.”

“Thanks,” I reply.

Now we’re off to our next stop, Kelly’s studio, for a round of pictures. It doesn’t take us long to get there and when we pull up there’s a spot right out front. We park and go inside to see what she has in mind for me.

I’m wearing a dark pair of jeans and a light gray sweater, white boot socks, and black calf-high boots. When Kelly sees me, she’s all excited because what I’m wearing goes well with what she had in mind for her backdrop.

“You are going to look great with this backdrop,” she says. “Come see.” She pulls us into another room where she has it all set up. “I’m going to do a bunch of poses for you and I’ll send them to you in color and black and white so you can use what you want.”

She has me pose in a few standing positions, first leaning on props and such, and then she puts me on a stool, taking a few more pictures. It takes her about an hour between posing me, changing props and backgrounds, and making sure she’s happy with what she sees on the screen of her digital camera.

She finally tells us that she thinks she has plenty and that I’ll have some samples to look over this evening. I let her know that I’ll give her a shout out in my next book where the picture will appear. We all hug and say our good-byes then Bella and I are off.

“Where do you want to do lunch?” I ask Bella as we walk out to her car.

“Someplace I can eat somewhat healthy because I have another shoot next week and I don’t want to put on any weight.”

“Oh, I know because you’re getting so fat. You better watch out.” I shake my head because she’s constantly stressing and she’s so skinny.

“Yeah, well if I ate half the shit you do, I wouldn’t stay this way.”

I shrug. “Okay, well wherever you want to go.”

“We’ll go to that place near the mall that has all the yummy salads.”

“The Café?”

“Yeah, that little café,” she says, glancing at me.

“No, Bella, it’s called The Café.”

She chuckles as she pulls up in front of it and sees the sign above the door that says
‘The Café.
The place is pretty busy. We get in line to order our food. I decide to have the Fuji salad that has dried apples, chicken, and walnuts. Bella decides on some tofu salad that sounds disgusting. As we’re waiting for our food, some girl comes up to me and she’s staring at me like I have ten heads.

“Can I help you?” I ask, giving her a look because she’s freaking me out.

“Oh my God. You’re P.A. Fitzgerald.” She’s acting totally awestruck, like I’m a movie star.

“Shh, yes I am.” I try to get her to lower her voice because I don’t want her causing a scene in the café. I’ve never been approached like this before, and I don’t really know what to do. The reporters love me at events, but I feel like it’s more because of my mother than my professional status.

“I’m sorry, I’m just so excited. I love all of your books and I’m on your fan page. May I please have your autograph?” She starts digging through her purse for something for me to write on, but I save her the trouble.

“Here.” I go into my purse, retrieve one of my bookmarks with all my books listed on it, and scribble my autograph on the back.

“Oh my God! Thank you so much. I can’t believe I’m going to say this but my friends will never believe I met you. Can I get a picture and I promise to leave you alone?”

I smile because I don’t know what else to do. She’s so excited to meet me and it’s quite thrilling.

“Sure, hand Bella your phone and she can take the picture.”

“Oh it’s
you
! You’re Bella Campbell the supermodel!” She hands Bella her phone and then jumps up and down like she just won a ton of money. She stands next to me and I wrap my arm around her and she does the same to me. We smile while Bella snaps the picture. The girl thanks me as our number is being called and runs off, I’m certain to post that picture to her Facebook page.

“Look at you! The famous P. A. Fitzgerald takes a picture with a fan in The Café,” Bella teases.

We walk off with our salads to find a table in a corner somewhere, and end up finding a seat in the back of the café in a nice quiet area. As soon as we sit down my phone rings.

“Hey, Joan, what’s up?”

“I have your contract approved for the eight months with five signings, but I want to be clear the signing you just did doesn’t count.”

“How do you know about the signing already?” I ask.

“You’re flagged every time someone tags you on Facebook and I get an email alert.”

“Joan, that’s a little creepy.”

“It’s my job to know what you’re up to and how you’re behaving. By the way you handled that well, but be careful because if you’re starting to be recognized more in public you’ll begin to see more of that.”

“I will. Can you just send me the contract? I’m trying to enjoy lunch with Bella and I keep getting interrupted.”

“Get used to it. You’re
P.A. Fitzgerald,
writer and daughter of Sandra Fitzgerald-Carmichael. It comes with the territory.”

“What was that all about?” Bella questions with a concerned look when I end the call.

“My agent gets an email every time someone tags me on Facebook. I told her I thought it was creepy, but she says it’s her job to know what I’m doing at all times. I’m not sure how I feel about this.”

“I agree with you. I think it’s a tad creepy that she’s stalking you that closely. I would look into that with some of your other friends who use agents.”

“Most of my friends self-publish and if I question it on Facebook she’ll see. I may have to call another agency on the down low and see what they say.”

“Great. Now you not only have fans stalking you, but an agent too.” She chuckles wryly.

“That’s not even funny.” I look up to see Ben staring at me from across the room. I nod in his direction. She turns to see him and gives him the evil eye. He walks away. “He’s another one that creeps me out.”

“I don’t blame you. He’s such an ass and I can’t believe he tried to talk to you at the fundraiser like you guys have anything to say after all this time apart.”

“I have no doubt that my mother had something to do with that.”

Bella gives me a look. “You think she’s still on that?”

“Oh, I know she is. That’s why I finally had to give it to her straight. She didn’t even deny it.”

Once we’re done with our salads, we leave the table to throw our stuff out and get rid of our tray. On our way out the door I hear someone call my name.

I turn to see it’s Ben. I shake my head and keep walking because he will not get any more of my attention.

Our next stop is our favorite boutique just outside the mall. The shopkeeper has the cutest sweaters, tunics, and dresses. We walk in and start going through all the clothes she has hanging. I find one pair of leggings, a matching tunic, and a skirt. As I’m making my purchases my phone rings and it’s Carter.

“Hi, honey,” I say into the phone.

“Are you still out with Bella?”

I look over at her with a smile. “Yeah, we’ve had a busy day, but I’m finishing up at the boutique now and then I’m going home to relax a bit and do some posting on my social media pages. Apparently a girl I met today posted a picture I took with her on Facebook.”

“How do you know?”

“My agent called me telling me she saw it. Anyway, I’m going to get going so I can get out of here, but I’ll see you in the morning at your new place.”

“Yeah, I’m going to meet you there, then I have to run to work. I had the Wi-Fi turned on so you’ll have internet access while you work.”

“Great, thanks. See you in the morning.”

“Have a good night, sweetie.”

When I’m done with my call Bella’s finishing up with her purchases.

“Are you ready to head home or is there somewhere else you want to go?” she asks.

“I think I’m going to call it a day. I need to call my mother about dinner and do some research for my book. I also want look at what this girl posted and see if I can manage to get some insight about my agent stalking me.”

As soon as I’m in the house I dial my mother’s number because I want to get this conversation done and over with.

She picks up right away and I can hear in her voice that she’s excited. “Hello, darling, how are you?”

“I’m fine, Mother. How are you?”

“I’m so happy to hear from you. What are you up to?”

“I just had lunch with Bella and I was talking to her about getting together for dinner with you, her, and Carter’s friend, Derek, at his new apartment. We wanted to have everyone over.”

She sighs into the phone. “Are you still seeing that boy?”

“Mother, he is a man not a boy. Please give him a chance. I really like him and he really likes me.”

She says nothing for a minute then, “Fine, I will have dinner with you. Text me the address and the time and I’ll be there.

“Mother, I don’t understand the problem. His family is friends with Dad. They are in a good place and the man has served our country. He may not be as rich as Ben, but not everything in life revolves around money. You should care more about how he treats me than how much money he has.”