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“And he is too stubborn to admit to himself that he wants her.” Ben, Carter’s other younger brother and Michael’s fraternal twin, stopped on the other side of Leaf, regarding his older brother with silver eyes that looked just like his twin’s. Where Michael’s hair was dark like Carter’s, Ben’s was a light brown.
Carter scowled at them and then punched the bag, hitting all three of them like pin balls and sending them staggering back. He smirked when the trio glared at him.
The private gym’s doors opened, and in walked two dark-skinned women. One was tall and on the thick side, her workout outfit—a big t-shirt and shorts—hanging loose on her. Her hair was twisted into braids and gathered in a bun on top of her head. She wore minimal makeup on her dark complexion. She was pretty in a natural way, but not as glamorously pretty as her companion, whose body-hugging workout gear showed off her petite curves to perfection. Everything went well together and nothing was out of place. Her hair was straightened and pulled into a loose ponytail, her makeup immaculately done, making her deep-brown eyes stand out in her elfin face.
The taller of the two spotted the men and smiled. Carter waved at Michael and Ben’s best friend Ambra and her older sister Diamond. He was glad to see the girls because now his younger brothers’ attention would be off him and onto the ladies that had just come in.
And Carter was right. His brothers lost interest in him as soon as the women came in. Michael jogged over to them and enveloped Ambra in his sweaty embrace. She shrieked when he rubbed his wet cheek against hers and then smashed her forehead into the sweat on his chest. Ben took his time going over to them. He nodded at both of them, and Carter noticed his eyes tracking Diamond as she ignored all of them and went to the women’s change room to put down her gym bag.
“Oh, it’s on Micki,” Ambra said. “Just you wait. I am a patient woman, and I will wait until you least expect it. It might come today, tomorrow, or next year, but an Ambra surprise is coming.” Michael ducked as she swatted at him, and he trotted off to the treadmills area. He put on his headphones before starting the treadmill and breaking into a run, giving her a wink and blowing her a kiss.
Ambra narrowed her eyes and then turned to Ben. She gave him a hug before talking to him for a minute and then following her sister into the change room, pausing for a second to look back at Michael preoccupied with listening to his music and running in place.
Ben still stood where Ambra had left him, his attention focused on the changeroom door and Carter sighed because he knew that Ben had a crush on Diamond. Even though he tried to hide it with his closed-off expressions, the tick in his jaw always gave him away. When Ben was little, you could never tell when he was angry or upset. He would just stare at you calmly until you noticed that little tightening of his jaw, the only indication that he was upset about something. It had been very active lately whenever he was in the presence of Diamond.
His thoughts then turned to Ben and Michael’s best friend since private school. Ambra was in love with his playboy brother, who had no clue that she felt that way and only thought of her as one of the guys. It didn’t help that she acted like one of them and had been a tomboy since they all went to school together.
Carter gritted his teeth when he felt Leaf’s presence at his side. “So, when are you going to admit to yourself that you are interested in Zahara and want to see her again?”
“I don’t.” He grabbed the punching bag and gave it to his brother to hold. Putting his hands up into position before throwing the punch, he paused as Leaf held the bag away, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Carter sighed. “Leaf, I don’t miss her, I just hope she is keeping out of trouble and not trying her experimental concoctions on some unsuspecting person.” He grumbled the last part and flushed as he remembered when she had tried to get him to try the lip balm she had created. Instead of letting her test it on his skin first, he had snatched it out of her hand so that he wouldn’t have to feel her touch on his skin. Her touch would send a warm, tingling sensation through him, which kept him wanting more. Hoping to avoid that at all costs, he had put the balm on his lips before testing it on his wrist, where a reaction would most likely occur. He hadn’t thought he was allergic to anything until he met her.
Leaf gave a sudden bark of laughter and Carter scowled, knowing his brother was remembering how he had looked at the ranch that day.
“Come on big brother. I know that she has an effect on you. Even now you are not your usual boring know-it-all self. I think it is about time you gave someone else a chance. It has been a couple of years since Delilah’s death, and it must be lonely having a woman just for the night. You seem to have—” Leaf sputtered to a stop, searching his brother’s face. Carter’s lips were clamped together in a firm line, and he was shaking his head.
Every part of him had frozen over at the mention of his dead fiancée’s name. Even though it had been years, the guilt and sorrow of losing the woman he had loved still weighed him down at times.
He didn’t bother to answer his brother; he just indicated with his gloves that he was ready.
“We will table this for now,” Leaf said with a sigh.
“Thank you. So how is your darling wife doing? Any babies in the oven yet for Mother to cuddle?”
Leaf raised his eyebrows and then he scowled. “She would be pregnant right now if someone did not have her working late all the time. She is always so tired when she comes home.”
Carter paused in taking jabs at the bag and shrugged. “Sorry if her new job as my chief accountant for our chain of hotels and casinos is keeping your wife busy. She is part of the family now and has responsibilities, unlike her husband.” He stared pointedly at his brother.
“Not going to take the bait. You have two up-and-coming protégées to choose from in the twins. Plus, you will not have my wife here for long. As soon as she gets up to speed, we are heading back to Colorado and our ranch. She will work remotely unless she needs to be at head office here with you. And you are deflecting.”
“I am not deflecting. There is nothing to talk about, it was just—” He snapped his mouth shut. No one knew about what happened between Zahara and him that day in one of Stella’s cabins on her ranch.
Leaf’s eyebrows quirked up. “What? What were you going to say?”
“Nothing, never mind. Just drop it. Zahara and I are not open for discussion, and we will never be together. She does not belong in my world.”
“Be careful! Never say never.” Leaf smirked before holding the bag in position for Carter, who stood frozen because he suddenly felt a tingle running down his back.
Chapter 2
Carter waited in his car as he watched the students walk by on campus. He did not know how he’d ended up here, but he just wanted to see her again. His family was right; he had been losing focus lately. His thoughts preoccupied with her and how she was doing.
He hadn’t seen her since that time at Calum and Selena’s ranch. He’d come here on a whim, before he had to head to the airport to get back home. He’d been in town on business, scouting new hotel locations, and before he knew it, he was parked outside of her university, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. He told himself he just wanted to make sure she was okay and see her one last time before he would leave and put her and his thoughts about her away for good.
The students were eyeing him and the car he had rented. He knew he could not stay long because he was starting to draw attention, and that was the last thing he needed. He was about to drive off when he spotted her.
She was walking towards him on the sidewalk next to the narrow road. He stiffened when he noticed a young male student at her side. His eyes were drawn back to her, taking in her outfit. Zahara was wearing a black winter coat with a long scarf tucked into the open front. On her head was a cute black knitted hat with two white fluffy balls on opposite ends. Her glasses were a bit fogged up from the chilly weather. She was chatting and laughing, looking happy and carefree, which put Carter in a dark mood. She did not look like someone who was pining for him. In fact, she seemed to have moved on with the man she was talking to.
