I mulled over the idea and the implications during the remainder of the service. Carter and I had already said goodbye for the last time once. Did I want us to have to go through that again? It hadn’t been a tearful farewell or anything, but it had stung. A bit. At least for me. I’d felt a lump in my throat when he bent and kissed me. Would it be better to mail everything instead?
Just take it to him, I finally decided, somewhere before the closing Amen. You can get rid of the ring once and for all. Get his Christmas present out of the house. Maybe it’ll be cathartic. Get rid of his stuff, and get him out of your system once and for all.
By the time everything was wrapped up and I was accepting hugs from church members and wishes for a good week, my decision was made. I still wasn’t sure it was the wisest course of action, but there it was. I just had to survive my father’s interrogation, and pray hard that he hadn’t mentioned this morning’s shocking disclosure to Mom.
I’d rather have faced down a dozen of Nosizwe’s best shifters than deal with that.
Chapter Six
I can’t deny I was a little nervous when I pulled into a parking space in front of Carter’s hotel. What if he was aggravated that I was here? He could certainly be sarcastic and even acerbic when he wanted. I’d endured his barbs more than once during our first adventure together. Funny thing about him, though, was no matter how caustic he could be, when he genuinely went too far he seemed to recognize that fact and acted sorry. There was a decent human being hidden beneath the layers of shapeshifter and sarcasm. I just hoped he was the one I’d run into tonight.
I climbed from the car, gathering up my purse and the small tote bag holding the wrapped Christmas gift. I hadn’t wanted anyone in my family to see it. This afternoon’s meeting with my father had been bad enough. He hadn’t demanded answers or even asked many questions. Instead, he’d given me that sharp, piercing look, the one that said he was both disappointed in me and trying to figure out what on earth I’d been thinking.
“Married, Ellie? Really? And you didn’t tell anyone? I guess I’ll never get the whole story on this, either, will I?”
I’d had to fight against the tightness in my throat that wanted to compress my voice into a whisper.
“Someday, maybe,” I’d answered. “Not now.”
“I see.”
He’d drummed his fingers on the desk in front of him.
“So, when does your mother get to formally meet her son-in-law? Can I expect that you two solved whatever issues you’re having? Are you planning to try and make a go of this marriage, or are you going to call it off?”
That was hard to answer without giving more away than I should. I’d fudged, told him things were still up in the air. Asked him to please not tell Mom—at least until I had more information I could share. He wasn’t happy, but he’d agreed, probably because neither of us wanted to worry or put more pressure on her than she was already dealing with, trying to hold our family and family dynamic together in the face of so much abrupt change.
I shoved all of these thoughts out of my mind as I locked the car and headed across the shadowy parking lot, lit by orange streetlamps. Tiny, scattered snowflakes danced in the ginger glow like they had this morning during Carter’s and my conversation in the park. The scene should have been festive, heartwarming. Instead, I shivered and glanced over both shoulders, scanning the parking lot for any hint of danger.
Or shifters.
It was a habit I now carried with me, and one that I sometimes wondered if I’d ever be able to lay aside.
I felt better once I was inside the hotel’s warm lobby, although I was well aware the presence of other people certainly didn’t mean an absence of shifters. Quite the opposite, in fact.
After obtaining Carter’s room number from the desk clerk by telling her I was his girlfriend, coming to surprise him, I headed toward the elevators across the lobby, stepped inside, and pushed the button for the fourth floor.
This would’ve been easier if I’d thought to get his phone number, I told myself as the elevator whirred to a halt. There was a soft chime and the door clicked open. I stepped into the hallway, noting how quiet and almost deserted it seemed.
Your mind’s playing tricks on you. It’s fine. It’s just a quiet Sunday evening. Stop turning everything into a horror movie.
Pep talk aside, I found it difficult not to scan the area as I made my way down the hall, towards Carter’s room at the very end. The flickering lightbulb overhead didn’t help matters any, adding to the horror-movie ambiance of the scene, but I refused to turn back or be intimidated.
Okay, I was intimidated, but I refused to turn back. Still, once I was standing outside Carter’s door, I found myself thinking, Maybe this was a bad idea.
Too late to change my mind.
I raised my fist to knock, but on the first soft knock the door budged, swinging inwards. It was ajar.
Strange. That didn’t seem right for someone like Carter, who made a living running security, not to have his door locked.
“Carter?”
I pushed the door open a bit further and stepped into the vestibule of his suite, only to catch the sound of voices. Male voices. He was talking to someone, and probably hadn’t heard me. I stalled, debating whether to knock again, call out, leave and come back, step into the room and announce myself…
The familiar gravelly baritone of one voice caught my ear.
Oh, it’s Blake.
Carter had mentioned he was meeting with Joab Blake today to discuss some things. I didn’t want to interrupt, and I sure didn’t want to give Blake any fuel for his fire. He’d already made more than one innuendo about Carter and me, stemming from the night we’d spent together. We’d been on the run, and nothing even remotely romantic had taken place, but Blake liked to bug me about it anyway.
I decided not to stay. Instead, I pulled out the belated Christmas gift from my tote and quietly set it on the table in the vestibule, knowing Carter would see it at some point when he went in or out.
Should I leave a note?
He’d know it was from me when he opened it, but would he think it was weird that I’d shown up and left a gift without saying a word?
I decided I’d better say something so I didn’t come across as creepy or stalker-ish. Trying to be quiet, I dug in my purse for a pen and a notepad. Thankfully, the men didn’t seem to hear the rustling of my purse’s contents as I dug both items out. I scribbled a quick note about stopping by to see him, hearing Blake, and not wanting to interrupt, then ripped it off the notepad and put it on the end table, pinning it with the gift. I’d already made up my mind not to leave my weddings rings, in case they fell or something and Carter didn’t spot them. I knew it was stupid, but I couldn’t bear the idea of the rings getting lost.
Unfortunately, when I tried to stick the paper and pen back into my purse, I miscalculated the distance and dropped the pen. Even more unluckily, it rolled. Rolled out of the tiny vestibule and into the bedroom itself.
Darn it!
This was not going at all the way I’d planned.
I felt like the female lead in a cheesy romantic comedy as I placed my purse on the floor and softly dropped to my knees. I didn’t crawl any further than necessary in order to grab the pen. Stretching my arm out as far as it would go, I reached for it, but my fingertips didn’t quite make it. I crawled forward a few more inches, enough that I could peek around the edge of the door, into Carter’s room.