Just Add Heat (18 page)

“Wait. Let
me get out of here first.” He bolted to the door and shut it behind him and I
carefully opened the door of the crate half expecting her to launch herself at
me, but she sauntered out and went to her food bowl. If I hadn’t just seen it
for myself, I wouldn’t have believed she could be so vicious. She had betrayed
me by attacking Carter after I had gone to bat for her to keep her from being
locked up. I was totally on Carter’s side and I wasn’t ashamed. By the time I
made it back to the kitchen Carter was wetting a dish rag.

“I spilled
my mousse,” he said as he walked back to the living room. A long brown stripe
was splashed across the floor. Luckily the glass hadn’t broken; it rested on
the floor next to the mess.

“At least
it didn’t get on the rug,” He just looked up and kept wiping. I could see his
wounds were still oozing so I held out my hand. “Here, let me.” I pulled him up
before taking the rag from him. “You should probably go clean your head up.”

He looked
down at me and my heart started thumping. I wanted him to kiss me in the worst
way but he just smiled and turned toward the bathroom. I looked down at the
mess on the floor and sighed. Fucking Monique.

Chapter Eighteen

I looked down at the
mousse covered rag and went to wash it out in the sink, deciding to use paper
towels to finish the cleanup. Remorse was eating at me. It was my fault Carter
was in the bathroom cleaning his injuries right now. If only I would have listened
to him.

What now?
I wanted to go and check on him but what if he was angry? I was still feeling
out of my depth, but I had to make sure he was okay.

I could hear Monique
screwing around in the laundry room. She was probably tearing something apart
in an act of revenge, but I wasn’t about to go check. After witnessing her
treatment of Carter, I wasn’t completely confident that she wouldn’t attack me,
as well. I trudged to the bathroom to see what was up with Carter’s head. He
had the door shut so I gave it a light tap.

“Are you all right?” He
didn’t answer but he opened the door. I could see the claw marks standing out
against his skin and tiny droplets of blood were still coming out of the
punctures. He had a washcloth pressed to the other side of his head. I met his
eyes in the mirror.

“I’m sorry. I honestly
didn’t realize she would go lion on wildebeest with you, at least not
unprovoked.”

“This
isn’t the first time she’s savaged me, Justine.” He pointed to a thin, pale
scar on his forearm. “This is what she gave me last time she was here.” I
looked closely at his arm. It was really a magnificent arm, but I couldn’t let
myself get distracted.

“Why
didn’t you say something when Mom called?” I mean geez, if I had been fully
informed of the danger I would have at least listened to him about putting her
in the laundry room.

“It was
too late after you got off of the phone, and to be honest, I thought some of
the trauma from her last visit might have come back to you.” I looked at him in
confusion. “Does diarrhea ring a bell?” He waited expectantly for an answer.

Diarrhea?
Did the stress of cat watching give me diarrhea? Ewww. If it did I certainly
didn’t feel comfortable talking about it with Carter. That was too personal
even if we were living together. He must have gathered that I wasn’t up for
talking about my bodily functions right then because he put me out of my
misery.

“The
cat
had diarrhea and she didn’t limit it to the cat box.”
Oh my god, gross
. “She really did a
number on the couch and the rug in the bedroom.” Worse and worse. What good was
this cat anyway?

I didn’t
have anything left. “Sorry.” I was suddenly enraged at my mother. Surely I
would have told her what had happened after the last time she left Monique
here. She had obviously either used the amnesia to her own benefit or she
really didn’t care how badly she was putting us out. I was leaning toward the
latter. She was selfish enough not to put a bit of thought into how much this
was inconveniencing us. No, this went beyond inconvenience. She was putting us
in physical danger. What sort of a mother would do that to her only child?

“She must
have known all that, right?” He nodded. “Why would she bring her back here?”

“I guess
she was hard up for a cat sitter.”

“She
really doesn’t care, does she?”

“I do.” Carter reached
over with his free hand and pulled me into a hug. I was embarrassed by Gloria’s
lack of maternal love. I knew Carter couldn’t even fathom how it felt;
Sharon
showered affection
on Cheryl and Carter. She went out of her way to make sure they knew they were
loved. Cheryl was always receiving care packages from
Sharon
when we were roomies, even though we
lived in the same city. Family dinners at their home, while usually
unpalatable, were warm and wonderful. Gloria’s…not so much, although things
were a little better since she married Bill. He was pretty cool, and I think
she tried to put on a front for him. Oh, but she said she divorced Bill. That
was just another mark against her in my book.

I let
myself stand in his arms, absorbing his pity like a sponge. I knew it was weak
since I have had almost thirty years to get used it, but, as always, it hurt. I
let him comfort me for a moment more before I remembered he was bleeding from
the head.

“Sorry. I
came in here to see if I could do anything for you and you end up making me
feel better.”

“Stop apologizing, it’s
done, but I’m calling a kennel first thing tomorrow.” He spoke decisively. He
wasn’t going to take no for an answer and I found that highly arousing.

“Absolutely.” I gave in
on the kennel without a second thought. Who cares if Gloria (I decided she
didn’t deserve the title of mom anymore) didn’t want to board her
baby
? Not me, that was for sure. “Now,
let me see the damage.” I stepped back from him and took his head in my hands.

It was
ugly and the sight of blood usually made me feel sick, but knowing that I was
partly responsible for the damage seemed to hold off the nausea. I felt strong
in the manner of a WWII nurse treating soldiers under fire. I just did what had
to be done.

“I should
put some antibiotic on it,” I told him knowledgeably. I went to the cabinet and
pulled out the first aid kit. I found some in both cream form and spray so I
pulled out the spray figuring it would give lots of coverage without me
actually having to touch the blood and cuts.

I held the can near his
temple and pushed the button. After a second a weird stream of medicine came
spurting out, punctuated by big droplets of white.
Hmm, the nozzle must be clogged
. I was about to turn the can so
that I could examine it more closely but Carter grabbed it out of my hand and
set it on the counter. He shook his head at the gooey mess on the side of his
face and used the wash cloth to wipe it off.

“I’ll just
use the cream.” He grabbed the tube out of the box and started smearing it on
his lacerations as I stood there feeling superfluous. So much for my nursing
fantasy; he was obviously fine without my help. I turned to leave the bathroom
but he stopped me. “Don’t leave. I like you in here tending my wounds. I don’t
think I’ve ever had a prettier nurse.”

Omigod. It’s like he read
my mind. I couldn’t help the smile that bloomed across my face at his words. He
always knew just what to say to make me feel better. I knew instantly that I
was recalling this from some time in my hazy past, but nothing in particular
stood out, just the knowledge that it was true. It kind of freaked me out, this
half remembering, and I searched for an escape. The kitchen was still filthy
and I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving it like that so I figured now was a
good time to leave Carter to his own devices and get my own head together.

“I’m going
to go take care of the dishes. You can finish up in here without me,” I
whispered as I fled. It was a relief to be out of Carter’s orbit. He still had
the ability to get me flustered. I wondered if I usually reacted like that or
if I had gotten used to being around him. I assumed everything was okay since I
couldn’t imagine inviting him to live with me if I felt even the slightest bit
uncomfortable around him, but who knows? Maybe he dazzled me or something.

I cleaned
the kitchen while thinking of various scenarios under which I would have asked
him to move in. Was it a weak moment after sex? That was a possibility now that
I had experienced some of his sexual prowess for myself, but still, that didn’t
seem like me. Maybe he was hard up for money and needed a roommate so I
generously offered him my home. Hmm, that was unlikely. Cheryl got a pretty big
inheritance when her grandma died so I figured Carter did too. Maybe I just
loved him so much I couldn’t stand for him to be too far away from me. While
that made me seem a bit needy, it still felt nice.

Before I
knew it the kitchen was spotless and I was standing there with nothing to do.
Lucy had been hovering around my feet since her own encounter with Monique so I
picked her up and carried her with me into the living room. Carter wasn’t out
there like I was expecting. I poked my head into the bathroom and office which
were both empty, and when I opened the door to the bedroom he was standing in
front of my night table with his back to me.

“All
better?” I asked as I walked into the room. He spun around and I felt myself go
hot and cold in one horrifyingly humiliating second. Clutched in his hand was a
huge, lifelike penis.

Chapter Nineteen

Holy crap. He found my
vibrator. I could feel the blood rushing to my face. Would my humiliations
never abate? But wait. I didn’t recognize that monstrosity as belonging to me.
Oh my god
. Had I just caught Carter with
his
vibrator? My face got even hotter
than I believed possible. I didn’t know what to do, but I couldn’t look away. I
was enthralled by the sight of that huge penis in his hands. Whoa. I shook my
head.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean
to interrupt.” I started backing out of the room while covering Lucy’s eyes
with my hand. She
so
didn’t need to
see this.

“Wait. Juss don’t go;
it’s not what you think.” Well, he
would
say that wouldn’t he?

“Hey, I’m no one to judge
you. Honestly. I’m open minded.” I kept backing out until I was in the hallway
then I turned around and practically ran back to the kitchen. I needed a minute
to absorb what I had just seen but I didn’t get it. Carter was two steps behind
me still carrying the vibrator in his hands. Well, maybe it was just a dildo; I
couldn’t tell from this angle.

“This
isn’t mine.” He thrust it in my face and I couldn’t help but admire the
impressive size of it. “This is Vlad, don’t you remember?” He named his fake
penis? I thought only I did that. I shook my head at him. I think I would
recognize my own special friend.

“Really,
Carter, it’s okay.” I was trying to wrap my head around this latest development
but it was just too much.

“Vlad the
Impaler?” he questioned me again. Wait. Now that he said it again, that name
did seem slightly familiar. “We have a lot of fun with him. Well, you do, but
me too because we incorporate it into our sex, but it’s for you.” His eyes were
imploring me to believe him. He seemed to be telling me the truth, but what the
fuck was he doing messing with it?

I held up
my hand. “Stop. I need a second here.” If it was indeed mine, and I guess that
really made more sense, the embarrassment was all on me.

“Why were
you playing around with it?” That was a question I needed answered immediately.

“It’s not
like I was stroking it.” He sounded exasperated. “I had just picked it up when
I was in the sex drawer looking for the remote for the DVD player.”

“The sex drawer? Uh uh. I
keep my
things
in a box under the
bed.” I told him piously.

“Babe, we have a sex
drawer. Come with me.” He took my hand and pulled me and Lucy along with him
and back to the bedroom. I wanted to protest but I had to admit to curiosity.
The drawer was still open and he pointed down before helpfully turning on the lamp
right above it.

Holy moly.
I had been right earlier in thinking we may be a little kinky. I recognized
“Steve” sitting in the drawer beside several new items. I must have really
broken out of my shell. I couldn’t imagine leaving all these items out where
anyone could find them. I reached out and picked up a bottle. Strawberry
flavored lube. Interesting.

Carter put
the vibrator back in the drawer and shut it so I decided to give him a break,
even though I was cringing inside. “Okay, I believe it’s mine. Sorry, you just
caught me off guard, that’s all.”