Karlie showered and dressed, then found him out by her car with the hood up, and Drew knew she was going to give him some shit for what he had just done. “What’s wrong with my car?” she asked.
“Well, see now, I think that you are still trying to figure out a way to go back on your word to me. I’m not calling you a liar, so don’t give me that pretty little pout.” He swatted her behind, making her yelp. “I’m calling you smart. If there’s a loophole inour understanding, you’ll find it and play it against me. So, I am taking out a little insurance policy,” he said.
“I don’t follow,” she said cautiously.
“I took your car apart—just a little.” He held up his hands in defense. She looked like she wanted to launch herself at him. “Just a little. I can put it back together when I think you are gonna stay put and live up to our agreement.” She was huffing and puffing her breath out; she was so mad. He found it so adorable he couldn’t help himself, and he pulled her into his body and then kissed her senselessly. “Baby, I know you’re going for pissed off right now, but you getting all mad is just too cute. I like the fire; it tells me you’re still fighting.” She tucked her hair back behind her ears, and yeah, she even stomped her foot. Adorable, or sexy—he couldn’t decide. Either way, she made him hot.
“You put my car back together this minute or so help me—” Yeah, he found this whole thing sexy as hell. He pulled her in again, kissing her, running his hands over her ass. If she kept it up, they’d be back in bed before he could even finish telling her his plan. And as plans went, this was a pretty good one.
“Stop distracting me with kissing.” She swatted him away. “I am going to see my sister even if I have to call a cab.”
“Now, you don’t have to go and call a cab. You can take my truck. This way, I know you’ll be back because you're too good a person to steal my truck.” She laughed, letting him know that he just might be wrong about that.
“You take all the time you need and have a good, long talk with Jenna because when you get back here, you and I are going to have a nice, long talk about our future together.” He held outhis keys for her and dramatically puckered up his lips for a kiss. She yanked the keys from his hand and huffed off, stomping her feet to his truck, obviously mad as hell. Karlie slammed his truck door shut and gave him the finger. He laughed so hard, he found himself doubling over holding his stomach. Yeah, he loved her all right, and he was sure that life with Karlie would never be boring.
∞
Karlie was beyond pissed at herself because Drew was right. She was going to take off after seeing Jenna. She just didn’t want to face him to say goodbye. It would be easier to break things off with him from Atlanta. She knew that she was doing the right thing by leaving. She needed to put all of this behind her and move on. But how could she put Drew behind her? She thought that she was in love with Jake, but she had been wrong. She felt nothing for Jake compared to what she felt for Drew. When she thought about leaving him and going on with life in Atlanta, she couldn’t catch her breath. She just couldn’t let him give up everything to go back with her. Atlanta was her new life, if you could call it that. She had only one real friend and a job that she didn’t care about. No, her life wasn’t so great back in Georgia, but at least it was drama-free, boring even. She just needed some time to think about what she had to do. She needed to be alone because every time she even got close to Drew, her brain went haywire. She couldn’t think, and half the time she couldn’t talk. Karlie could only feel around him.
She decided to stop at her parents’ place just in case things went badly at the hospital. She wasn’t sure what she was walking into and wanted to be prepared. And then there was Jake. She didn’t want to run into him. She still hadn’t decided if she should presscharges or let everything drop with the police. They’d called her earlier, while she was in the shower, and left a message to stop by the station to give a formal statement. She worried that if she pressed charges, Jenna and her family would never forgive her. But she had done nothing wrong. God, why did her life turn into a soap opera every time she crossed the Alabama State line? She’d just have to add pressing charges against Jake to her long list of problems to figure out once she got back to Atlanta.
Her parents’ house was still quiet. She could smell the coffee that had been brewed earlier in the morning, craving a cup, she walked into the kitchen to help herself and came face to face with her mom and Jake.
“Is Jenna okay? The baby?” Karlie tried to look only at her mom, but Jake stepped into her view.
“Yeah, they are both fine—no thanks to you,” Jake sneered. “Jenna’s up in her bed sleeping. You stay the fuck away from her, do you hear me? I don’t want you upsetting her with any more of your lies, honey.”
“Don’t call me honey,” Karlie whispered, looking to her mom for help. Of course, her mother was going to be no help—she hated confrontation as much as Karlie did.
“Yeah, I’ll try to keep that in mind, darlin.'” He laughed and walked out the front door. Karlie breathed a sigh of relief and noticed that her mother did too, which was interesting.
“Mom, is everything all right?” Karlie moved across the kitchen, not sure if she should even hug her mother. Things had been so off since Jake and Jenna hooked up. Her parents seemed to always be defending Jenna and Jake and attacking her.
“Yes, everything is fine. I’m just worried about Jenna and the baby. I think that asking you to come home for the wedding was a bad idea. I’m sorry that I put you in the middle of everything. If I had known that you would have handled your sister and Jake getting married so poorly, I would have never insisted.” Karlie took a step back from her mom, feeling as if she had been slapped by the woman who was supposed to be on her side.
“Mom, I didn’t handle anything poorly. I went to my sister’s wedding and was attacked, physically, by her husband-to-be. Jake is the one who attacked me.” Karlie was trying to hold back tears and keep her emotions in check. She didn’t want to wake Jenna and upset her further.
“Well, that’s not the story that Jake tells. He said that you found him after talking to Jenna and that you were—" Her mother leaned forward and whispered the rest as if scandalized. “You were coming on to him, begging him for sex. He said that you were out of control, crying, and grabbing at him. He had no choice but to knock you away, and you fell to the ground. How could you do that to him, Karlie? How could you do that to your sister?”
“How could you believe that liar, Mother?” Karlie hissed. “How could you believe someone who cheated on me with my sister?” She stared her mother down as if expecting her to somehow come to her senses, but she knew better.
“He and Jenna didn’t cheat on you, Karlie. Jake broke up with you a week before he and Jenna got together,” her mother said, defending him.
“Well, that’s news to me.” She was almost shouting now. “Do you know when Jake and I broke up, Mom? The minute I found him and my little sister in bed together. Jake has been lying toall of you, especially Jenna. One day, you will realize who he is: he’s a liar! One day, you will realize that you trusted a liar over your daughter.” Karlie paced the kitchen, trying to decide what to do next. She wanted to run, her instincts kicking in. She was so angry. How could Jake do this to her family after how well they treated him all those years? She clenched her fists with new determination.
“Karlie, you need to calm down before you hurt yourself or someone else.” Her mother took a step back. Was she scared of her daughter? “Maybe it’d be best if you just head back to Atlanta, let the dust settle. In time, you could learn to be around your sister and her family. You need to accept that Jake is a part of your sister’s family. He’s her son’s father and, as of tomorrow, he will be her husband. You need to let him go and move on.” Funny, her mother was begging her to leave, but Karlie knew she wanted to be done with running like a coward. Squaring her shoulders, she faced her mother.
“Don’t worry about me moving on, Mother, because I have—with Drew. He and I are moving in together, and he’s offered me a job. I will be staying here, and there is nothing that you can say or do to change that. Jake is a liar, and I want a front-row seat to watch when you all figure it out.” With that, she exited her parents’ house, slamming the door behind her.
∞
Karlie was still furious when she pulled into Drew’s driveway. It looked like he’d put her car back together, but that didn’t matter now. She couldn’t wait to get inside to tell him that she wasn’t going to run. She needed him to know that she wanted to stay and fight with him by her side. She wanted to tell him how muchshe loved him. Karlie ran up his steps and through his unlocked front door, shoving it shut behind herself.
“Drew, where are you?” She walked back to the kitchen but only found dirty breakfast dishes. That’s when she heard the shower. She started for the master bathroom, a devilish smile in place, thinking about what she wanted to do to him when she found him naked and soapy. When she threw her shirt onto his bed, she jumped and squealed at the sleeping woman she found there.
“Lisa?” she questioned.
Lisa seemed quite tired and was very naked in Drew’s bed. She stretched and gave Karlie a “cat that ate the canary smile.”
