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He lowered his head and took her lips in front of everyone. He heard a gasp and some giggling, but his focus was on using his kiss to show Zahara how much she meant to him.
She stiffened in surprise, and when he continued to kiss her, pouring everything into his kiss, she opened up to him and began to return his ardour.
The officiant cleared his throat and Carter pulled away, but not before peppering her lips with kisses. When he finally stopped, Zahara was breathing heavily, and when she opened her eyes, they were a magnificent green. Her eyes searched his, and he hoped she could see what he felt for her in his eyes.
She turned to the officiant and said, “I do.”
Elation poured through him, and he turned to his brother, who had Zahara’s wedding band. Her engagement ring was at home, as it had become too tight for her to wear. He had gotten her wedding band widened to fit for now, until he could get a proper band to go with the engagement ring. She could keep this one as a pregnancy gift from him.
It was a white-gold, emerald-cut diamond eternity ring, which looked big on her hand and sparkled due to the amount and size of the diamonds on the ring.
She gasped when she saw the ring for the first time. “Thank you, it is beautiful.” She hadn’t seen it yet, but inside of the ring was an infinity symbol, and he was curious to see what her reaction would be when she saw it.
The officiant finished and introduced them as Mr. and Mrs. Brooks. Carter kissed her again before they turned, and they smiled as they faced the clapping and cheering of the crowd.
She pulled away from him and went over to greet her family and talk to her bridesmaid before they had to sign the papers.
When it was time to sign, Zahara was once again distant.
“Zahara—”
“Kudos on the kiss; it had me believing for a minute that you actually cared. But I know you would do anything to get me to say yes, even play on my love for you,” she said bitterly.
Carter reached for her. “Don’t, not right now,” she stopped him. “You got what you wanted, just let me get through the rest of the day and our reception.”
He didn’t want to push it right now, as she was in a delicate condition, and she now sounded tired. He felt frustrated because he thought his kiss had told her that he had feelings for her. But the way he had gone about getting her to marry him must have carried more weight in her mind, and she was back to being upset and angry with him.
One day she would understand and forgive him. He vowed that he would make her happy and she would want for nothing—today and always.
Chapter 14
“Okay Mom, is Selena being rude or is she just being truthful, and it hurts your feelings?”
Zahara could hear the sound of people and the rattling of plates and cups in the background through the phone. She assumed that her mother and Selena had met up to have the long-awaited talk that they needed to have between them, and she was glad. She loved her mother, but how she treated Selena, her firstborn, was not right, and she had a lot of making up to do. Her mother had been young, spoilt, and selfish when she married her first husband. And when she had divorced him and met Troy, Zahara’s father, she had grown and changed into the woman and great mother she was today.
Her mother did not answer, and Zahara knew from her mother’s silence that she felt Zahara was right.
“Just listen to her, Mom. She is also not the same person she was when she was a girl, and now you can mend fences because I need you both, and I don’t want there to always be tension between us. Plus, you will miss out on the amazing grandbaby you have now met.”
She heard her mom sigh. “You are right, I did her wrong, Zahara, as did her father. We were both bad parents. I tried changing that with you and Ari and Trent.”
“You did a good job with us, Mom.”
“Thank you.” She could hear the smile in her mother’s voice. “I don’t know if she will forgive me,” her mother Lily said sadly.
“Selena is a mom now herself, and from what I have learned and seen myself, she has a great capacity for forgiveness. Just show her that you are sorry and are trying to make amends.”
“Thanks Zahara. I’ve got to go, she is coming back from the bathroom with baby Christian. He is so adorable. Love you.” Her mother hung up.
Zahara sighed and placed her phone on her worktable. She was feeling tired, achy, and just wanted to go upstairs and lie down and rest. Her day had been busy with classes, and she was getting back into the swing of things after being married for a week. She sighed and made her way past her desk and over to Carter’s. She needed to jot down her notes and had run out of paper with all her scribblings.
Carter was out of the house today and over at his new hotel site. Things were still strained between them since saying their vows, or rather, she was still upset with him about having had to marry him this way. And the kiss at the wedding kept coming up in her mind. If she was to judge things based on that kiss, then what he had shown her was that he really did care for her, and she was afraid to hope that was truly what it meant because she didn’t want to get her hopes up with him.
She had thought everything was going well between them until he blackmailed her into getting married before she was ready to.
She felt a movement in her belly and reached under her t-shirt to touch her girls.
“Good evening, ladies, are you up now? You have been quiet today.” She smiled as she tried to feel for them. She was now six months along and looked big. She sometimes found it hard to catch her breath, but she was so happy and excited to see them growing and feel them moving inside of her. She was in awe of them and couldn’t wait to meet her little persons. She could tell that Carter was worrying a bit. The way he was always hovering around her and watching her like hawk was sometimes frustrating, and she was glad that he got called away today so that she could take a small breather from his brooding.
