Page 27 of Suddenly Single

Carter’s lips twisted, then Cort was by his side. Instead of a red face, he now looked green. He put his arm around Carter’s waist, and Carter stepped away from Cort and hissed, “Don’t touch me!”

I waggled my fingers at Cort, who sighed, then walked right out the door.

“Are you satisfied, Asher? Do you feel like more of a man now that you’ve ruined my date?” He pressed his lips together, and I could see the beginning of a vertical line forming between his eyebrows. I wanted to kiss him right there.

“I think you did that yourself, Carter.” I removed my arm from Ted’s shoulders and smiled. “You just told Cort to take his hands off you. What’s a guy to think? So he left. No loss. You can do much better than that snobby prick.”

“I um, well.” Carter shook his head dramatically, then sat across from Ted and me. Then he pointed at Ted. “Are you guys on an actual date?”

“No.” Ted rose to his feet. “I’m leaving now.” Ted patted my shoulder. “Asher, I guess I’ll see you again in a few years or so.” Then he strolled out of the restaurant.

“Sir, did you want to eat at this table?” The waitress asked Carter, who tilted his head in my direction.

“Yes, he does.” I replied, and the server brought a barely touched bottle of red wine and Carter’s glass to him. “Would you like to hear today’s specials? We have a lovely…”

“No.” Carter and I said at the same time. The woman shrugged her shoulders and took off. We stared at each other, neither saying a word for what seemed a very long time. Finally, Carter drained his glass of wine and spoke.

“What do we have to do to make things better? Because I love you, and if that ugly fake date was any indication, you love me too.”

We didn’t bother ordering food. Instead, we killed the bottle of wine and ordered another. I didn’t drive here, and neither did Carter, so we didn’t worry about drinking too much. Plus, we needed something to loosen us up. Talking was hard when you wanted to take the love of your life in your arms and kiss all the problems away.

The thing was, I knew if we went back to our old relationship and didn’t put effort into our marriage, we’d repeat the same mistakes. What I was about to propose to Carter would probably shock him.

“Asher, you’re the love of my life.” He laid his hand on mine, and it felt so damned right. But I forced myself to move my hand away. “Hey, you don’t believe me?”

I stared into his sensual dark eyes, wondering how I was going to put this into words. “I believe you. And I feel the same for you, Carter. I’ve never loved anyone like you before, and I promise you I’ll love no one else. But…”

“But what?” Carter leaned back, and I loved how the candlelight warmed up his black blazer.

“Things have to change.”

“Well, obviously.” Carter sniffed, then topped up his glass. He swirled the red liquid around, then set it back on the table. “I want our new wedding to be planned by Lori Stallings. She’s the best, and I promise you it will be… why are you shaking your head like that?”

“I’m not marrying you unless a few things change first.” I sighed. Nothing would please me more than to walk down the aisle with Carter, but unless certain conditions were met, I refused. “I refuse to be kicked out of our bedroom again, and I refuse to engage in juvenile theatrics whenever you don’t get your way. Carter, I hate to tell you this, but you’re spoiled rotten.”

“What! Me?” Carter winked. He knew I spoke the truth. “Okay, I’ll admit that I can be a little temperamental. But marriage is a two-way street, and there are things you need to work on too. So tell me, what do I have to change to make our relationship work?”

I leaned back and grinned into the wine glass. “If you hadn’t heard, I love you more than life itself. I don’t want you to change who you are, but there is one thing I need in order to move forward.”

“Anything Asher.” Carter swiped at his eyes and laid his hand on mine again. This time, I turned my palm over and squeezed.

“I want you to woo me.”

Chapter 16

Carter

“Pardon me?”

“You heard me, Carter. I want to be courted, made love to. Hell, you can even seduce me.” Asher squeezed my hand. “I want a new beginning for us. And honestly, I feel like when we first met, I did most of the courting. Now it’s my turn to be wooed.”

My stomach flipped, remembering the early days of our romance. Asher would take me to dinners, parties, and plays. He’d flown me to New York for spur-of-the-moment trips, and was constantly bringing me little gifts. The thought of making him feel the way I did when he lavished me with romantic surprises made my pulse ramp up.

“Asher, you are the owner of my heart. If you want to be properly courted, I’m happy to oblige.” I murmured, then kissed his hand. He still had his wedding ring on, while I’d taken mine off before going out with that bore, Cort. God, this man really loved me. “What would you like me to do first? Buy you flowers? Or how about we spend a long weekend in the Bahamas? Karina told me about…”

“Don’t tell me.” Asher grinned. “Surprise me, Carter.”

“I hate to admit this, but I’m unsure of how to impress you.” I said and meant it. “You grew up with enormous wealth, and because of that, you’ve done just about anything in the world you wanted. It’s like buying a gift for a gazillionaire who already has everything they could ever want.”

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