Hart to heart, p.1
Hart to Heart, page 1
Hart to Heart
Copyright © 2015 M.E. Carter
All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Title Page
Dedication
Author's Note
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Epilogue
Author's Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
When I wrote my debut novel, Change of Hart, it was supposed to be a standalone novel. Technically it still is. But a strange thing happened…as I got down to the last few chapters in CoH, this continuation started rolling around in my brain. I’m not quite sure why the characters told me this additional story, but they did.
I feel strongly that once you find the love of your life and get married, happily ever after doesn’t just happen. Life happens. Terrible shit happens. And the Harts are about to go through some of the worst things any married couple can experience. So be forewarned.
There are some of you out there who will read this with an overly critical eye, and that’s fine. But please be aware that a lot of research has gone into this book. I have consulted with an entire team of people directly involved in these issues to make sure I got it right. I made sure that things that were true five years ago about these topics but are no longer the case today were written accordingly. Were there a few liberties taken for literary purposes? Sure. But the overall, vast majority of the technical details have been verified by multiple sources.
As I say that, please don’t let the technical parts take away from the overall story. It’s an important one that I feel needs to be told because it’s part of my heart.
So with all that being said, I now give you Hart to Heart.
“You know I’m taking credit for this whole thing, right?” Lindsay asked as she took a drink out of her big-ass wine glass. No telling how many glasses she’d had already.
“How the hell do you come to that conclusion?” I asked with a laugh as I finally tore my gaze away from my beautiful bride to look at Lindsay. “I paid for this wedding. Hell, I paid for you to get here!”
She waved me off with a flick of her hand while I looked around the patio. The air in Scotland was crisp at night, even in the middle of June. But that didn’t stop the party. I caught another glimpse of Addison dancing with Jaxon. I’ve never seen that beautiful smile of hers look brighter. She was having the time of her life, and who could blame her? We were surrounded by our closest friends and family, who just cheered us on as we became man and wife.
Wow, I thought to myself. She’s my wife. That was going to sound surreal for a while.
“Sure, you paid for the wedding,” Lindsay remarked. “But if I hadn’t asked you to come speak at the school, you would have never met Jaxon. And if you’d never met Jaxon, you would have never met Addison. See? I’m taking credit.”
I laughed as she took another swig. “Ya know,” I started, leaning my elbows on the high round table we were standing at, “I’m the one who found you online. I’m the one who friended you. So technically, it all started with me reaching out to you.”
Lindsay waved me off again as Deuce came bounding up, drunk as all get out.
“Dude,” he said, practically falling into me. “Someone is finally getting laid tonight! I bet you can’t wait to get your woman back to your room and uh, uh, uh,” he said while pumping his hips and making a fool out of himself.
I just shook my head and tried to ignore him, but leave it to Lindsay to egg him on.
“Wait, wait, wait,” she said, leaning in closer. “What do you mean he’s finally getting laid, Deuce? What am I missing?”
Deuce threw his head back and laughed like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “You didn’t know this?” Lindsay shook her head while I slid my hand down my face. I really needed to find a new best friend. “Mr. Hart, Mr. Stud-muffin himself, got cut off before the wedding!”
I groaned. “Don’t you have a wife and son you should be hanging out with right now?” I asked.
He slapped me on the back and squeezed my shoulder. “They’re too busy on the dance floor,” he answered, gesturing a few feet away where Vanessa was spinning baby Trace around in time to the music. Trace was his nickname, since his given name was Michael Johnson the Third. As in uno, dos…Trace. Yeah, it wasn’t spelled like the number, but when they came up with the idea, they were pretty adamant that they didn’t want the baby to have to explain the spelling of his name for the rest of his life.
“Tonight will be the first time he’s gotten laid in six weeks!” Deuce continued while he and Lindsay both laughed at my sexual frustration. Don’t get me wrong, it sucked that I hadn’t been with Addison in that long, but she wanted our first time as husband and wife to be like the first time all over again. Of course, that meant I was going to have to control myself tonight so I could last more than ten seconds. But I understood where she was coming from, and frankly, I’d do anything to make her happy. So that’s just what I did.
“What’s so funny?” Elaine asked as she approached the table. Sara was still on the dance floor with all the bridesmaids living it up.
“Nothing much,” I said sarcastically. “They’re just laughing at my sex life.”
“Nah,” Deuce said with a serious look on his face. “We’re laughing at your lack of one.” He and Lindsay burst out laughing again. They really needed to be cut off at the bar.
Elaine gave Deuce a blank look and turned back to me. “Well,” she said, “I’m not sure I want to know what that’s about. But it’s gotta be safer over here than on the dance floor right now.”
We looked over to see all the single ladies in a small crowd, ready to catch the bouquet Addison was about to toss over her shoulder. And by all the single ladies, I meant all of Addison’s school-aged nieces; Sara, Elaine’s girlfriend; and Samantha, Addison’s sister-in-law. Part of me wanted to go protect those little girls from what was sure to be a rougher play than I had ever been involved with on the field. The other part of me was almost giddy with excitement to see how this was gonna go down. Sara and Samantha were both ruthlessly competitive when it came to something they wanted, and I knew both of them were chomping at the bit to finally settle down. So who would claim the honor of being the next hypothetical bride to be? The anticipation made the topic of my sex life old news quickly.
“One…two…three…” Addison yelled before throwing the flowers over her shoulder. It couldn’t have been better if it were in slow motion. The bouquet sailed in a perfect arch, and right as it dropped into Samantha’s arms, Sara shoved her out of the way and caught it. I couldn’t help but laugh at the scowl on Samantha’s face when she realized what had happened.
“Shit,” Elaine groaned, dropping her head on the table. “I do not want to start planning a wedding.”
The rest of us were still belly laughing as Sara bounded over excitedly.
“Did you see?” she exclaimed, Elaine’s head popping up off the table with a forced smile on her face as she turned to look at Sara. “Did you see me catch it?”
“I didn’t just see you catch it,” Deuce said. “I saw you shut Samantha down!” He raised his hand over the table as Sara slapped him a high five with a big grin on her face.
“Nice job, babe,” Elaine said, putting her arm around Sara’s waist and then taking a nice long swig of her Scottish beer.
“I think that means you’re up, Hart,” Lindsay said, pointing to the dance floor. Addison was looking at me. When she saw me look back at her, she crooked her finger at me, beckoning me to join her.
“Looks like I’m needed,” I said, downing the last of my drink. “Enjoy making your wedding plans, Elaine.
I heard her groan again as I walked towards my wife. I’m pretty sure my smile was just as big as hers at that moment. Once I got to her, I grabbed her hand and spun her around.
“Finally remembered you have a husband that you’ve been ditching all night to dance with your friends?” I joked. She just kept grinning.
“I’ve been right here the whole time, lover boy,” she chided. “You could have danced with me anytime.”
“I was having too much fun just watching you,” I said honestly. “But I’m ready to dance with you now.”
“No can do,” she said with a glint in her eye. “I’ve thrown the bouquet. Now it’s time for you to find my garter.”
“While I’m not opposed to sticking my hand up your dress,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows, “you do realize, with the exception of our son and Tracy’s son, there’s only like one single man here.”
“Just go with it, Jason,” she said huskily. Then she gave me a slow, sensual kiss. When I finally broke away from her and looked up, someone had put a chair on the dance floor and started some old-timey stripper-sounding music.
“I guess that’s my cue,” I said, guiding her to the chair and sitting her down. I walked around her a few times, like I was trying to figure out this puzzle. But I knew what I was going to do. I had already thought the entire scenario through. I knelt down in front of her, grabbed her feet, and slid my hands up her legs. Then I flung the poufy skirt of her dress over my head until I was all the way underneath.
I could hear the laughter and the whistles and Deuce yelling, “Get ‘er done!” I couldn’t help chuckling under my breath at that. But I was on a mission to find a garter, and while I knew the general vicinity, I was gonna take my sweet time finding it.
“Jason,” Addison said as I started kissing the inside of her knee. “Ohmygod, stop!” she giggled. “Just get the garter and get out!”
I ignored her as I kissed up one thigh as high as I could without people seeing my head bob between her legs, and down the other until my lips brushed across the garter. I grabbed it with my teeth and slid it all the way down her leg and over her foot. It was no easy feat to do that with only my teeth. I almost got stuck on the heel of her shoe.
Once I got out from under her skirt, being careful that I didn’t accidentally make her flash the guests, I stood up and took a bow amid the round of applause that was, no doubt, being led by Deuce.
“You’re insane,” Addison said with a smile as I leaned down to kiss her.
“Only for you, babe,” I said, dropping my lips to hers. Then I walked straight over to Adam, who was paying more attention to flirting with Samantha than he was to the show on the dance floor.
“I believe this belongs to you,” I said as I put the garter around his head like a headband.
“Really?” he asked. “There aren’t any other single guys you can put a garter on? That’s been around your wife’s thigh all day, douchebag.”
“Sorry, my man,” I said, slapping him on the back. “You, Jaxon, and Ryder are it.”
“Who the hell is Ryder?” he asked, snatching the garter off his head and dropping it on the table in front of him.
I rolled my eyes. “Tracy’s son.” He looked at me with a blank stare. “Addison’s nephew,” I continued. He just shrugged as if none of it rang a bell.
“Nice, dude. You’ve only spent the last week with this family. Anyway, since the two boys are over there hunting for fireflies with Emma, and are, ya know, children”—I gestured my head toward the grassy area just off the patio, where the kids were playing—“I think they’re too busy to worry about who gets the garter. So it defaults to you.”
I heard him grumble as I headed back to the dance floor.
“I was wondering if you were coming back,” Addison said as I pulled her to me and started slow dancing with her.
“Just had to make sure Samantha knew all hope wasn’t lost,” I said with a smirk.
Addison giggled. “That’s it. Encourage her man-hunt. I’m sure Adam will thank you in a month when he can’t get rid of her.”
“Hey, if he’s dumb enough to fall into that trap, there’s nothing I can do to stop him at this point.”
Addison laid her head on my chest, and I tucked my head down to her neck, breathing her in and just enjoying the peacefulness of the moment. We really had made the right decision going to Scotland for our wedding.
Addison had finally gotten used to the notoriety that surrounded me. We’d been together for close to two years, so she kind of had to. But she still didn’t care for it. It was important to her that any pictures of us on our wedding day were taken on our terms and not as some shady attempt to sell a magazine. Not only did Scotland provide the most beautiful landscape I had ever seen, but no one knew, nor cared, who we were, which made moments like these damn near perfect.
“So I have this fantasy,” Addison said quietly. My head jerked back to look down at her as those five little words caught all my attention. I hadn’t had sex in six weeks. I was more than intrigued now.
“Um…wha…what exactly is happening in this fantasy?” I stuttered, my eyebrows raised in question.
She smirked up at me and pretended to be shy about what she was about to say. But I knew better. She had me by the balls, and she knew it. I could feel myself getting riled up already, and nothing was even going on.
“I was thinking about you and me,” she said, smoothing out the fabric of my tux vest absentmindedly. “Having sex.”
“Uh huh,” I said, completely engrossed in what she was saying.
“While you’re naked.” She looked up at me with her bright eyes. “And I’m in my wedding dress.”
“Done. Let’s go,” I said, grabbing her hand and dragging her off the dance floor, toward the castle we were all staying in.
“Jason!” she laughed. “We can’t go yet! We’re in the middle of our wedding reception.”
I turned around at her protest and moped as I walked back toward her. “I have been with these people all week long. I haven’t been with just you in six weeks. You know all those things you needed for the wedding? Something old, something new, something borrowed?” She nodded. “I brought the blue. It’s in my pants right now. Can’t we please go?”
“Tell ya what,” she said, putting her arms around my waist and pulling me close. “How about we take the next half hour to make the rounds and say our goodbyes. And then we’ll head back to our wing.”
I took a deep breath and sighed. “Fine. I’ve waited this long. What’s another thirty minutes?” I whined.
She smiled and took my hand to guide me around the patio area to chat with everyone one last time, making sure my mom knew she was taking over Jaxon duty for the remainder of the night. It took longer than thirty minutes by the time we got to Deuce and Vanessa. He seemed to know exactly why we were saying goodbye and was determined to prolong my torture as long as possible. But finally, finally, she and I were alone and headed to our private wing of the castle.
We walked hand in hand down the long corridor on our way to the room. We were staying in Balfour Castle on the Island of Shapinsay. It was massive and completely secluded. As castles in Scotland go, Balfour was one of the younger ones, having been built in the late eighteenth century. It had apparently fallen apart after World War II but was renovated after that, and you would never be able to tell there was ever anything wrong. Now, of course, it had all the modern amenities we could ever need to feel like we were on vacation, without taking away the castle feel. It cost a lot to rent it for the week, but there was a whole lot to do on that tiny little island. And it was worth it to fit all our friends and family with room to spare and have an additional wing for Addison and me to be alone.
I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous as I opened the door to our suite. I knew how important this night was for Addison, and I didn’t want to blow it. At the same time, I was so ready I could’ve exploded right then and there.
Addison walked through the door, and I heard her gasp.
“Jason, it’s breathtaking in here!”
I’d been staying in here since we’d arrived, but she hadn’t seen it yet. The room was about the size of the entire downstairs in her little house back in Flower Mound, Texas. While it had beautiful, ornate furniture scattered around the room, the two most impressive parts were the view and the bed.
