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“Yeah, I’m sure. You can make it up to me by making dinner when we get home if you’re up to it. I’ve been thinking about that low country boil you mentioned the other day.”
“I can do that,” she said, standing a little taller, like she wasn’t feeling quite so helpless and defeated by Carter’s dickhead machinations if she could do something nice for him in return.
Devy could cook him all the thank-you meals she liked as long as it made her feel good and she didn’t treat it like obligatory payback. She didn’t need to pay him back. His love didn’t cost a thing even if she might deserve hazard pay for dealing with Carter.
“Do you like bananas foster too?”
“Over some vanilla ice cream?”
“Of course.”
“Mmm, that sounds amazing. Only thing that could be sweeter is you.”
“Eric,” she demurred, and turned her head.
He took advantage to kiss her flushed cheek, nip at her earlobe.
“What? It’s the truth. And now I’m definitely getting the better end of the bargain. Get in the car and make a grocery list while I suffer through Carter whipping it out.”
Devy snorted a giggle and it was worth it. Seeing her smile would be worth spending a lifetime dealing with Carter, which was what he was hoping to sign up for.
“’Kay, Daddy.”
“Good girl,” he told her with another kiss to her cheek and just barely refrained from patting her on the bottom as she headed toward the passenger side.
If the boys were watching, they didn’t need to see that and he didn’t want to poke the bear that was Carter Bishop. Not today, anyway.
Eric steeled himself to deal with this fucking guy. No doubt this asshole would have something to say that would really grind his gears. But like he’d told Devy, it was no big thing.
Whatever nasty words Carter wanted to throw at him might stick for a second but they’d slide off pretty quick like he was made of teflon, whereas he knew Carter could get under Devy’s skin.Hewanted to be the only one getting under her skin, getting inside her head, inside her body. He’d share her heart with the boys no problem, but Carter had no business making Devy feel any kind of way. He’d lost that privilege a long time ago.
“What’s up, man?”
His manners that his parents had instilled in him rebelled at not offering Carter a handshake but whatever. Maybe someday they’d be on decent terms but Carter would need to shape up before Eric would do more than the bare minimum to keep the peace and not make the boys feel like they were caught in the middle. He could be a grown-up and he’d be polite; he had no intention of being nice.
* * *
Devaney rolled the window down to try to hear what was happening between Eric and Carter, poised to jump out if she thought there might be fisticuffs. Eric would be able to control himself, but she wouldn’t place a bet on Carter. He’d always had a short temper.
It was ridiculous that he might get that wound up. First of all, he was a grown-ass adult, he ought to be able to control himself well enough not to get into physical altercations. But also, he’d thrown her away. He was the one who’d left her. Why did he care if she was with Eric now? That didn’t seem fair. Was he just that intent on her being unhappy?
She hadn’t thought he’d care that much either way but maybe he was jealous that she had a handsome doctor for a boyfriend and his fantasies of landing a new model of trophy wife hadn’t come to fruition. Well, that was his problem.
The men seemed to exchange some bland pleasantries and she wondered if she’d thought too harshly of Carter. That didn’t seem likely given her last, well, seventeen years of experience with him but it was possible he was trying to make nice with Eric.
All too soon though, Carter’s tone changed to conspiratorial as he said, “You better watch out for that one.”
Devaney’s face flamed. What had she done?
“Yeah? Doesn’t seem like she’s a black widow or anything, you’re still here.”
The corner of her mouth twitched. Eric sounded bored and skeptical as hell, and Carter would hate that. He always wanted to be the center of attention. The richest, the smartest, and he loathed it when people dared to make him feel like he was second rate.
“She’s not that clever, she’d never get away with murder.”
Devaney knew she shouldn’t be insulted by that—why would she want to be good at killing people?—and yet everything Carter said bothered her so it wasn’t a huge surprise that she was feeling prickly and helpless, sitting in the car while the menfolk hashed things out. Eric really was trying to protect her but she didn’t feel amazingneedinghis protection. That was something to fret about another day.
She thought for a moment that Carter was going to drop whatever he had to say since Eric clearly wasn’t interested, but then her ex leaned forward while stabbing a finger in her direction.
“She will however get herself knocked up and then you’re chained to that bitch for eighteen years. Do you know how much I have to shell out in child support every week? Woman’s got a master’s degree but she’s too lazy to use it to make a decent living. She was working at the mall instead. I bet after she thought she had you hooked she quit that too, using those bullshit migraines of hers as an excuse. She’ll just be living the life off our hard-earned money.”
Her stomach dropped. It was one thing for Carter to resent her, it was another to accuse her of entrapment. She’d done nothing of the sort and it made her stomach and her heart ache to hear him talk about Logan and Chase like they were bargaining chips instead of his children. Good thing they weren’t around to hear that or she might’ve blown her cover to storm out of the car and spill some righteous maternal fury.
It was okay though. It was. Eric knew that wasn’t true. Any second now, he’d scoff and tell Carter he was a lowlife piece of shit making ridiculous accusations that he should keep to himself. He’d tell Carter to shut up, that her pain was real, she’d lost her job to her illness, and she wasn’t faking.
But he didn’t. Where was his vehement defense of her? Where was his protectiveness she loved so much? Where was her knight in shining armor who would tell Carter that he loved her, wanted to marry her, and couldn’t wait to have oodles of babies with her?
Yes, Carter’s words had hurt, but Eric’s lack of a rejoinder hurt a hundred times worse. It got even more terrible when Eric nodded and said, “Thanks, man. I appreciate the tip.”
