Page 33 of Rules of Engagement
"I'm going to the bar to drink to Carter's epic shutdown," Mac said, standing.
Carter swiped his drink from the table, glared at Mac's back, and decided he had a wedding reception to crash. His conversation with Eliza wasn't finished.
The inside of the hotel ballroom was lit by massive amounts of carefully placed lanterns, string lights, and table candles. As he took it all in, he wondered how Eliza had managed to pull it off without working herself into the ground the last several days straight.
He scanned the carefully lit interior and found Eliza by the gift table. She looked perfectly put together in a strapless knee-length dress, her long hair pulled up with tendrils framing her face, and sparkling earrings that swung as she turned her head and spotted him approaching her.
He moved toward her, holding her gaze the entire time.
"What are you doing?" she asked the moment he stood close enough to hear her. "This is a private event."
"I thought you could use some help as things wind down."
"Carter—"
"Have you slept at all the last couple of days?"
Her mouth firmed before she took a breath, and no amount of money or willpower could keep his gaze off the act in that dress.
"Not much," she admitted. "But you need to leave."
"How did you get all of this put up?"
"I hired a couple of the hotel's maintenance guys to set up after hours. Thankfully the room wasn't booked beforehand so they allowed me to get in last night."
"Well, I'll help you take it down and you don't have to pay me."
She blinked at him and shook her head. "Carter, why are you doing this?"
"Maybe I'm trying to prove to you I'm not asbad," he said, quoting her, "as you think I am."
She winced. "I'm sorry I said that. It was rude."
"It was honest. But you're wrong about me, Eliza."
"Am I?"
He inhaled. "I have a history. Everyone does. But who I was isn't who I am now. Why won't you let me help you?"
"I don't… want tooweyou."
"You won't. You shouldn't feel that way. Ever. Like I told you outside on the beach, I have a business I started from scratch, and I know what it's like when help doesn't show or gets lured away by the competition. Or," he added, lowering his voice, "costs more than you might be able to afford while trying to regroup."
She crossed her arms over her front. "So you're only here asking to help because you feel sorry for me?"
"I suppose that's… part of it."
"And the rest?"
He chuckled softly. "Maybe I'm a little interested in getting to know you better."
"Oh, yeah? I heard your discussion with Mac outside."
"Mac and I talk smack all the time."
"Yeah, well, smack talk or not, men don't typically help women without ulterior motives."
"My only motive is to get to know you. Look, you've obviously been burned. So have I," he said, taking a step closer and getting a whiff of her perfume. "But right now, I'm just trying to prove to you I'm a nice guy so that when you're ready, you'll give me a chance."
