Read Online Road to Absolution by Piper Davenport - Free Book Online Page A

quickly. “Text me when you’re inside and safe.”
    “I’ll try.”
    “Do.”
    She rolled her
eyes. “Still bossy.”
    “Still
stubborn,” he retorted.
    Cassidy sighed.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    Ace nodded and
watched her climb into her car and drive away.

 
    A FTER I PUT Maverick to bed, I sat for
quite a while on the sofa just staring off into space. I was still blindsided
by the events of the day and wasn’t entirely sure if I hadn’t dreamed it all. I
heard my phone peal from my purse and frowned. It was almost eleven, I couldn’t
imagine who would be calling me at this hour.
    I didn’t reach
it in time, but it started ringing again, so I answered it without looking at
the caller ID. “Hello?”
    “Fuck, Cass,
I’ve been worried sick. Are you home?”
    “Oh, Carter.
Sorry. I totally forgot to text you.”
    “Yeah, I know.”
He sighed. “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine.” I
smiled. “I have managed to get myself home all by myself for the last
seven years or so.”
    “Well, open your
door. I want to see for myself.”
    “Shut up.”
    “Babe, open the
door, yeah?”
    “You’re not
really here, are you?”
    “I’m really
here, staring at apartment number seven-eighty-two.”
    “I’m
seven-eighty-four.”
    “You are not,”
he countered.
    “No, you’re
right, I’m not.” I sighed and checked the peep hole, before pulling open the
door. “Hi,” I said, and hung up.
    Carter grinned,
leaning down to kiss me as he pushed me back into my apartment and closed the
door. “Hey,” he said, between kisses, cupping my cheeks as he held me captive.
“God damn, you can kiss.”
    I smiled against
his lips and broke our connection. “So can you. But what are you doing here?”
    “I was worried
about you. I’ve called you sixty-two times.”
    “What? You did
not.”
    “Okay, no.
Three,” he admitted, and turned to lock the door. “But when you didn’t call me
after the last one, I headed up.”
    “Carter, you
can’t stay. I’m sorry I worried you, but you can’t just show up when you want
to pound your chest and get all alpha male on me.” I was really glad I got the
words out, and I think they sounded legit. Of course, I didn’t mean any of
them. I was beyond flattered that he’d checked on me and I didn’t want him to
leave… ever.
    “Yeah, I can,”
he said, and cocked his head. “Babe, you’re gonna have to get used to this. I
will do my best not to get possessive, but making sure you and Maverick are
okay isn’t negotiable.”
    I slid my arms
around his waist and settled my cheek against his chest. “Okay.”
    He chuckled and
gave me a gentle squeeze. “I thought that was gonna go a different way.”
    “I have missed
you so much. Even if this doesn’t work out, I prayed for just one more day of
us time, so I’ll take whatever I can get.”
    “Baby, it’s gonna
work out. I’m not going anywhere.”
    I nodded against
his chest, drawing in his scent. There was something about the combination of
the cologne he’d worn forever mixed with leather. “Are you still wearing
Stetson?”
    “Hmm-mm. You
still love it?”
    “Hmm-mm,” I
mimicked. “It smells even better on you now.”
    He’d worn the
fragrance for as long as I could remember, it had been a gift from an old
girlfriend, but we’d both agreed it suited him perfectly.
    He kissed the
top of my head. “That’s good to know.”
    “I have a
confession,” I breathed.
    “Not sure I can
handle another one of those in my life, honey,” he joked.
    I slapped his
arm and leaned back. “Jerk.”
    He grinned.
“What’s your confession?”
    “Huh-uh,” I
retorted, walking into the kitchen. “You lost your chance, buddy.”
    Carter chuckled
as he followed me. “I have ways of making you talk. Have you forgotten?”
    “Um, hello,
we’re not in the pond now, and I’m fully clothed. That was the last time I wore
a string bikini in your presence.”
    “But you sang
like a canary in order to get the bra