Chapter 19
19
A fter my cheeky duck placement, Carter informed me he’d changed his plan for where to place his second duck. Turns out, his new plan was to position the duck inside the cup of Paige’s discarded bra on the floor of the spare bedroom.
I pursed my lips as he positioned it, thinking. “Is this a winning duck? I mean, it could be anyone’s bra. Right?”
Carter shook his head. “Nope.” He snapped the picture then turned his smirk my way. “Nate gave her that one, he’ll know.”
My brows rose as we left the room. “Isn’t that going to cause shit?”
“Yes, but that’s not really our problem, is it? Besides, I’m sick to fucking death of Nate ignoring the red flags with Paige. She cheats on him constantly and not just with Royce.” Carter gave no real emotion to that statement, but the tightness in his shoulders hinted at his annoyance.
I wet my lips, knowing I was walking thin ice talking about his friends. “Sounds like they’re as bad as each other, then. Maybe they deserve what they’ve got.”
Carter stopped dead and whirled to stare at me in bewilderment. “Excuse me? Nate is far from saintly but he’s no cheater.”
I scoffed. “Okay. So he didn’t fuck Carly last year?”
Carter rubbed at the back of his neck, confusion fading away. “Ah, that mess. It’s more complicated than it seems.”
“Uh-huh, sure it is. Listen, it’s gross that Paige is fucking around with other guys but Nate’s a grade A dickhead, he deserves every little shred of bad karma he gets.” I realized too late that I wasn’t keeping my voice down and as though the universe was fucking laughing at me, Nate appeared out of a room down the hall with Paige on his ass.
“The fuck did you just say, Layne?” he snapped, face like a thunderstorm. A split second later, his brows pinched and he took in our state of undress.
I panicked. No way in hell was I getting caught in those crosshairs, so I did the only sane thing I could think to do. I grabbed Carter’s wrist and took off running.
Carter’s unhinged laughter followed as we ran down the main staircase at a speed that threatened a broken neck, but by some miracle we made it to the bottom without falling and I dragged him behind me into the ballroom.
Just as I was about to speak, he grabbed me swiftly and clamped a hand over my mouth.
“Shh,” he breathed directly in my ear, smoothly ducking behind one of the heavy velvet curtains. My whole body erupted with flutters and I didn’t fight his grip as his other hand splayed out across my ribs. Fucking hell, I needed to get laid and if Carter was offering…
“…just saw two come down this way…” someone said nearby and I froze. Utterly froze .
Carter wasn’t trying to fuck me, he was keeping us from being caught.
Oof, how embarrassing. Good thing I hadn’t acted on those thoughts.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the vacant ballroom, then the man sighed. “Maybe it was just cleaning crew. False alarm.” The crackle of a radio suggested he was alone, speaking to security in another part of the house.
“… copy that…” the reply came a moment later “…I’ve found a couple making out in the pool house.”
The guard who’d seen us chuckled, then strolled slowly back out of the ballroom once more.
Carter waited a solid minute after the footsteps faded before he released his hold on me and we slipped out from behind the curtains.
“That was close,” he murmured. “Let’s drop your last duck and get the hell out of here. Where do you want to put it?”
I bit my lip, looking up. “There.”
Carter followed my line of sight and his brows hitched when he registered what I meant. “You really are insane. How? Are you a secret acrobat?”
I rolled my eyes—something I was doing a lot on this unusual date night. “You’re lucky you’re pretty, Bassington, because you’re fucking dumb. Chandeliers all require the ability to come down for cleaning and light bulb changes.” I pointed to the heavy gold chain running from the enormous chandelier to the side of the room. “Lower it for me, I’ll place the duck, then we raise it back up. Easy.”
His lips pursed as his eyes tracked it out, then flicked to the wide-open doors of the ballroom. “Before security circles back and spots us,” he pointed out. “I like it. Close the doors, Spark, I’ll get the chain.”
Grinning, I hurried to do as he said—hopefully security would think the cleaning crew had closed up—and he climbed onto a chair to reach the pulley chain and unhook the locking mechanism.
Within a minute, he had the chandelier gently lowered and I needed to wipe my mouth to check I wasn’t drooling over the way his muscles flexed with the effort. This was definitely a good idea.
“Quick!” he prompted, “I’ll be so pissed if we get caught now.”
I nodded, refocusing my attention on the best spot for a duck. There was a flat section right in the center of the chandelier that would be perfect…except the damn thing was huge up close. It hadn’t seemed that big on the ceiling, but standing beside it was a whole different story.
“Spark, come on. Place your duck,” Carter hissed, and I waved a hand at him to say shut up, I’m thinking . Then I decided fuck it and started climbing onto the enormous gold and crystal structure.
Carter’s shocked inhale was audible across the room, then he was storming toward me with alarm etched across his face. “What are you doing?” he demanded, “you’re going to break something!”
I shrugged. “Too late now.” I planted the red duck where I wanted it, right in the middle of the chandelier. “Perfect.”
“Okay, good, now get the fuck out of there,” he urged.
I shook my head. “Pictures,” I reminded him and he tossed me the Polaroid camera.
Just as I lined up my shot, muffled voices sounded outside the ballroom doors and fear shot through me like a lightning bolt. Carter must have heard it too, because he frantically gestured for me to get the hell out of the chandelier.
Trouble was…I was caught. The hem of my lace panties had snagged on something and I really, really didn’t want to take them off. “Pull it up!” I whisper-yelled at Carter—yes, it was possible to whisper a yell—and gestured urgently at the pulley chain. “Quick!”
The indecision crossing his face was evident, but the voices were right outside the ballroom doors now so it was do or die. He sprinted back to the chain and hoisted the massive light fixture—plus me—back to the ceiling.
Not a moment too soon, as well. The doors opened just as he locked the chain into place and slipped behind the nearest velvet drape.
Three people strode into the room, and I made myself as small as possible in the center of the chandelier, desperately praying to the universe that they wouldn’t notice the slight sway to the fixture.
Please, please, please don’t break!
I had to hope that the chain was strong enough to carry my extra weight. Surely it was, when the chandelier itself must weigh a figurative ton. Sweating, my pulse racing, I slipped my hand down to where my lace was caught and carefully worked to free it as the three people below spoke in low murmurs. One of them said something about Martin, I thought? It didn’t help that their voices were muffled by masks.
Wait, what?
Oh shit. The three below me were in full black robes and masks just like Nate wore when he abducted me!
As they passed underneath my position, I glanced over to where Carter hid and tried to make eye contact. He shifted out enough to gesture something, but fuck if I knew what he was trying to say. I screwed up my nose, trying to telepathically convey that I had no idea what to do now.
He gestured again, the same thing. I still had no idea what he meant.
Then the three robed people exited the far side of the room and Carter darted out of his hiding spot. Faster than I could blink, he positioned himself directly under me and held out his arms.
“Now!” he hissed.
Now what?! Oh. Fucking hell…he wanted me to jump.
No time to think, no time to argue, I carefully shifted from my crouch and climbed out onto one of the chandelier arms. The whole structure tilted dramatically, and my heart lodged in my throat. It was now or never, so I placed my faith in the arms of Carter Bassington Junior.
For the second time since arriving at Nevaeh University, I free-fell and saw my short, uneventful life flash before my eyes. But then Carter caught me and everything blurred as he sprinted us out of the mansion.
“Holy shit!” he whooped as he sprinted down the driveway with me still held firmly in his arms. “Holy fucking shit, Spark, you’re insane !”
“Me?” I protested, holding onto his neck for dear life and determined not to drop the camera. “You’re the one who told me to jump off a fucking chandelier!”
“No I didn’t!” he exclaimed, laughing somewhat hysterically but not slowing his pace. “Is that what you thought I meant? I said now about taking the photo! I would have used the pulley to get you down but you just…jumped!”
Oh. Oh . That made more sense, come to think of it.
Carter cackled, finally stopping and putting me down beside his blacked-out SUV parked by the side of the street just out of sight of the mansion. The door popped open automatically and I realized the driver had been waiting for us this whole time.
Carter gestured for me to get in first, and I pulled the satin robe around myself self-consciously as I slid across the leather seat. To my relief, though, the privacy screen was raised and the driver said nothing before starting the engine and pulling out into the road.
“I didn’t take the photo,” I said with a groan, handing Carter the camera. “I was so focused on getting out without being seen. I didn’t take a picture of the last duck.”
He shrugged, grinning. “Don’t stress. I took one while I was hiding.” He pulled out his phone and showed me the zoomed in shot of me crouching in the center of the chandelier with a little red duck beside me. “If we don’t win this challenge, Spark, I’m calling it rigged.”
I smiled, because I was as confident as him. No way would anyone beat our ducks.
“This was…fun,” I admitted reluctantly. “Thanks for inviting me.”
Carter snatched up my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “The pleasure was entirely mine, Spark. You surprised me…and that doesn’t happen often.”
Fucking flutters were back. I bit the inside of my lip and gave a smile in response. Better to quit while I was ahead, so I yawned and turned to look out my window at the passing night. Then I shivered and Carter draped an arm around me, pulling me closer to lean against his chest.
“Just to keep you warm,” he murmured, and I didn’t question that logic.
Not once did I wonder why we didn’t simply turn the heating on. Idiot.