Chapter 2 | Carter
Carter
Brooklyn Kelley. I liked her name. It suited her.
Although Brooklyn could be considered beautiful by anyone’s standards, her calm and warm disposition pulled me to her.
I’d always preferred natural beauty, which was why I’d been drawn to my ex-wife and Joi.
Her luminous brown skin probably tanned to a red hue in the summer, and the scrubs she wore emphasized her full breasts and thighs.
Brooklyn would be stunning and elegant if she exerted the minimal effort.
Already pictured her in an evening gown as she accompanied me to some black tie affair.
I stuffed my hands in my pockets, hoping that tomorrow could be the start of something.
After being married for eight years, and then with Joi for longer, I’d grown accustomed to having a woman in my bed most nights.
I liked being in a relationship, despite what most women believed.
I’d been a fuck boy in high school and college, but once I met Darren, my college sweetheart, I settled down and had a family.
I also loved being a father of three. Still wanted another child or two.
At forty, I didn’t necessarily want a young wife.
I preferred a woman around my age, which might limit me to one child instead of two.
Brooklyn appeared younger, though her demeanor and profession suggested a woman at least in her thirties.
I walked back into my son’s hospital room and stood at his side. “You’ll be discharged soon, Kani. Stay off your ankle, you’ll get some crutches and heal within a week. Call me once you make it home, and then when you get to Houston tomorrow, since you’re good to fly.”
“Alright, Dad.” He nodded, barely looking up from his cell, typical behavior for a sixteen-year-old.
“Are you going to Dallas or spending time with your other family for Thanksgiving?” Joi snidely remarked.
“Neither,” I answered smoothly and curtly. “I’ll be around if my son needs me when you get back from Houston.”
“In other words, you’re spending Thanksgiving with some new chick.”
Sekani sighed loudly, reminding us he was in the room and he hated our arguments.
I did too. With Darren, my ex-wife, the twins rarely heard us argue because we refused to do so in front of them.
Joi and I tried and failed way too many times.
Our fiery temperaments made it so. I realized that I needed a woman who could soften my roar.
A woman whose simple touch on my chest or arm would curb my mouth or my anger.
I needed the peace of a woman. Something Joi had been incapable of doing, at least with me.
“Not today, please,” I begged Joi. Being around her for any length of time taxed me.
Funny how I used to love this woman and thought we could make it work.
Starting our relationship from an affair ruined any real chances of a lasting love.
She could never trust that I wouldn’t do to her what I’d done to Darren.
My superstar status as an athlete didn’t help matters.
Joi opened her mouth, then clamped it shut and studied her phone.
I held my palm out, and Sekani latched on. “Love you so much.”
“Love you, Daddy.” His eyes watered, and my guilty heart clenched.
My children were hurt the most in both my messy breakups, a fact I would regret the rest of my life.
Maybe more children shouldn’t be in the cards for me if I can’t find a woman meant for me.
I didn’t want to go through another dissolution of a relationship, and definitely not one involving children.
And on impulse, I invited a nice woman to my home—the type of woman who expected and deserved commitment. What did I do? I believe I’ve grown over the years, but have I really grown if I’m moving the way I used to with women?
A frowning Joi sat in the chair by Sekani’s bedside. I’d seen that expression far too much. The reality of us never quite lived up to the fantasy of us. I bent down and kissed her cheek, surprised that her familiar scent stirred more pleasant than bad memories.
Growth.
“Thank you for being a good mother to my son.”
A reluctant smile crossed her face. “Our son. Why do I always have to correct you?”
I stood back up. “Semantics.”
When I approached the door, I looked back at Sekani. “During the holidays, I’ll get the twins, and we’ll all go skiing or hit Disneyland or something, okay?”
Sekani’s sunny disposition returned. He loved spending time with his older siblings, who’d just started college. “Okay.”
My gaze slid to Joi’s, and I touched the bill of my hat again. She nodded, and for now, we were good again.
As I exited the room, Brooklyn approached with discharge papers. She smiled at me, and my heart skipped a beat. I already liked this woman, and I needed to be honest if we were going to spend the next day or so together. “Hey, can I wait for you outside?”
Her forehead puckered prettily. “Sure. I can step away after I drop off your son’s discharge papers.”
A nurse appeared seemingly out of nowhere. “You’ve been here too long. Go home. I can handle the discharge.”
Brooklyn shook her head warily. “Give me five minutes and meet me...” She raised her brows.
“My car is right outside. You won’t miss it, New York.” I smiled away my sudden nervousness and headed to the valet outside of the ER.
Brooklyn walked out of the sliding doors, hefting her leather bookbag higher on her shoulders, searching for me.
When she spotted me near the valet stand, her eyes widened at my Bugatti, and I quickly jumped out to take her bag off her shoulders and opened the butterfly door that swung slowly up and out.
“Can I take you somewhere? It’s a few minutes from here. ”
Her eyes didn’t quite meet mine. “We don’t need to talk. If you’ve changed your mind, it’s cool.”
“Naw, it’s not that. Still want to see you again. You might change your mind after we speak.”
“Okay.” Brooklyn slid into my car and let me place her bag in the back seat.
We were quiet while I drove to the Arboretum, one of my favorite spots to think.
Brooklyn sat straighter and surveyed the emptying parking lot. “It’s closed, isn’t it?”
“Not for me. I’m a major donor. Figured we could walk and talk through the garden since the Christmas lights are already up here.
” I parked and grabbed my jacket from the backseat.
She’d already opened the door, and I hurried around to help.
“Hey... that man you’ve been with must have never opened the door for you. ”
Her forehead wrinkled prettily. “I can open the door.”
“Really, you know how to open a door?” I reached for her hand.
Brooklyn quirked a brow and allowed me to pull her out of my car, and we faced each other. The setting sun cast an orange-pinkish glow over us. She met my gaze, her expression curiously guarded. If this were the end and not the beginning of our impromptu date, I would’ve kissed her.
“You don’t touch a knob when I’m around. My mother and daughter know to wait until I open their doors.” I released her soft, cool hand and closed the door.
“Noted,” she quipped. “Never touch a knob around you, even if I have to wait a long time for you to open it.”
I chuckled. “Nothing wrong with letting a man treat you like a woman.”
“I didn’t say it was. If this were a date, I would’ve expected it. Disappointed if you didn’t do it, but I wouldn’t let it be a strike against you.” She rubbed her arms through her thin sweater.
“When you’re with me, I will always open your door.” I removed my leather jacket and draped it around her, tugging her slightly closer to me. “Warm enough?”
“Yes.” She wiggled, trying to get warm. “If you need your jacket back, let me know. Your shirt is thin too.”
I shrugged. “Your comfort is more important than mine.
Brooklyn kept her lips together, determined to keep a straight face.
“I see you’re stubborn.” Feeling the need to touch her, I straightened the collar of my jacket around her. “You want to smile so bad and won’t because you don’t want to give me the satisfaction that you already like me.”
“No, I don’t. You already see me as a challenge. Didn’t you tell your son that if a woman doesn’t like you, she will?”
“I did. Not a brag. Just the truth. Women want to be mine. My challenge is keeping her happy.”
She turned away from me, and still I caught her pleased grin. “Which way?”
My hand touched her lower back lightly. “Over this way.”
After we waved at the guard and strolled to the entrance of the twinkling rose garden, I tilted my head to see her, wanting to gauge her reactions.
Brooklyn struck me as a woman whose thoughts and moods would reflect in her expression and tone.
She would probably lose at playing poker.
Then again, she had to remain composed while working in a busy emergency room.
“My heart has been broken twice. Once by Joi, the woman you just met. And my ex-wife, who broke my heart first because she loved another man harder than she loved me.” I clasped my hands behind my back. “You ever had your heart broken?”
“Yeah.” She said quietly, “Once, and it almost destroyed me. Haven’t been sure since my relationship ended if I will ever be ready to risk it all again.”
“Feel that. I’m not sure either. I have two broken families because of failed relationships.”
“And you don’t want me to expect anything serious,” she surmised.
“Quite the opposite. I want to be married again and have another child or two. The only way is to push through my fear and do things differently.”
“Okay.” Brooklyn nodded slowly. “And you want to be different with me?”
“I can’t move like I usually move with women to get my way.” I admitted, “I did have plans for Thanksgiving. I’m supposed to fly to Dallas tonight and be with my mother, brother, and our whole clan.”
The edges of her lips turned down, though she suggested. “We can get together when you get back.”