Page 4 of Adoring Delaney

“Me giving you space.”

“Space? All you’ve ever given me is space, Carter.”

Fuck. Direct shot to the gut.

“And that shit is done, too,” I said.

“I agree. It’s done. We’re done.”

The hell we were.

“We are never done, Laney.” I verbalized my thoughts.

She tried to struggle but not enough to draw anymore attention to us.

“Let go of me,” she hissed.

“That’s never going to happen either.”

“You’re unbelievable. You say you love me, but you don’t care how badly this is hurting me.”

“I love you, with every fiber of my soul. It started the day I understood what the emotion was, and it will be true until the day I die.”

“You’re too late, Carter. We’re done. I’m sorry, I just don’t love you anymore.” She jerked out of my arms, and my body went solid. Tears brimmed in her eyes and her anguish sliced me to my core. What the fuck? “Take care of yourself.”

Before I could recover from what I saw, she was strutting her ass toward the house. I pulled myself out of my stupor and started after her. Two very pissed-off men blocked my path.

“Not now,” I barked and tried to skirt her dad and mine.

My dad’s hand grabbed my arm and once again I was statue-still but inside I was vibrating with anger.

“Dad,” I warned.

“You ready?” Jasper asked, his voice thick with anger. I remained silent trying to get my temper in check. “That’s what I thought. You get your shit sorted before you go after my girl. I’ve allowed this to go on for as long as I have because I know what you feel for my daughter. I know it runs deep and it’s true. I got nothing but love for you, Carter. I was there the day you were born, held your tiny body in my arms and swore I’d protect you with my life. Still would. But mark this, I love my daughter more. You two have been fucking around since she was thirteen and I wanted to kick your little sixteen-year-old ass for kissing my daughter. But I didn’t. Wanna know why?”

I wasn’t yet recovered from him knowing about our first kiss so all I did was nod.

“Because I knew one day you’d get your head out of your ass and do right by her. I knew you were young and needed to grow up. But mostly it was because I know how much you love her. And in your own fucked-up way you were trying to protect her, I also know when a Lenox man falls in love it happens once. However, your time is up. You’re a man now. Sort your head and make your choice. If you can’t be the man she deserves, step aside. And by that I mean stop sneaking back into town every few months and treating my daughter like she’s your dirty secret. That shit is over.”

Shame washed over me. Shame that hit my soul. I’ve never, not one fucking time, seen disappointment aimed at me from my dad or Jasper. But they were both looking at me like I was an asshole.

1

What the hell was I doing?

Everything about this felt wrong.

I looked into my rearview mirror at the restaurant behind me and serious doubt crept in. I knew this would happen, so I came early. I’d never done this, not in any real way.

I’d had a few dates in high school, but those didn’t count, and I’d tried again in college—once. Lewis had taken me to his fraternity house for a party. It was lame, and all I’d done was compare him to Carter. It wasn’t a good night. Lewis felt it, I was uncomfortable, and he never asked me out again.

It was then I’d known Carter Lenox was so far under my skin nothing would work him out. And at the time, I liked him there. I’d been content to wait for his next call, email, or visit.

I’d lived for those days, when I would get back from class and find I had a message from Carter. I devoured every word. Read and reread them over and over, and when there’d been months of nothing, I’d read them again.

Now I needed to move on.

It was time. I was twenty-five and never been on a real date, been in love with a man who gave me what he could but what he could wasn’t enough. And I’d loved him my whole life. Ever since I could remember, it’d been Carter.

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