“You wanna start something?” Carter slurred at me.
I rubbed my temples for a moment, trying to collect myself so I wouldn’t say something I’d regret.
“Carter, you’ve had quite a bit to drink today and I thought it would be a good idea for you to take a break.”
“Yo, you’re not my fucking keeper,” he spat back at me. “So back the fuck up and let me out.”
I was a brick wall blocking the door, which was good on two counts; Carter couldn’t get out and the goddamned camera guy couldn’t get in. I could feel him bumping against the door from the other side so I kept my body pressed against it.
“Can we just take a breath?” I said as calmly as I could manage with a raging drunk client breathing fire right in front of me. “I think Kristen needs a minute to regroup after that … tribute.”
“Fuck you!” Carter lunged at me with his fist in the air. “Take my woman’s name out of your mouth!”
“Whoa, now hold on,” I took a step towards him.
“No,youhold on,” he fumed. “Dorian told me that you two are always off giggling together, like you’ve got secrets.”
“Carter, absolutely not,” I replied.
“That’s not what Dorian said,” he growled. “He told me that I need to be one hundred percent sure that Kristen wouldn’t cheat, and until you came into the picture I was sure. But no, Mr. Handsome and Rich over here has to be all up in our business. I’m starting to feel like we should call off the whole thing.”
My body turned to granite at the thought that he might yank the whole event out from under me. As much as nothing would please me more to see them gone, I couldn’t afford the problems Harrison faced when he pissed off Scarlet Rush’s fans. My brother survived, thanks to Gwen. I wouldn’t have it so easy with their twenty million followers.
“Carter, you have my word. There’s nothing going on.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Dorian said I should keep an eye on you.”
I fumed internally at the asshole director for planting doubts in him. “Don’t believe me? Fine, let’s review the tape. Every goddamn word Kristen and I have spoken to each other has been recorded so you’ll get proof that there’s nothing going on between us.”
He stood up straighter then wobbled a little. “She turned her mic off when you were together in the maze!”
“Yeah, but I didn’t turn off mine, remember? You can still hear everything we said, if that would help. And you know she only turned hers off because she didn’t want anyone to hear her crying. Come on, Carter, don’t do this,” I insisted. “Kristen and I were different people when we were together. It was years ago. And now I’m engaged to Emilia. She’s the love of my life.”
Saying the words out loud came easily, like they were at the tip of my tongue, convincing without me even having to try.
I didn’t have the time to process the way my heart warmed a little at the thought of loving Emilia. First, I needed to avoid getting punched in the face. I could worry about my feelings later.
Carter started pacing in a circle, bouncing on the balls of his feet like he was trying to hype himself up. “Dorian said the sound was muffled for a few seconds when you two were in the maze together. He said he wasn’t sure what happened between you two.”
He kept flexing his fisted hands.
“What happened in the maze, bro?” Carter demanded. “You trying to fuck my wife? Huh?”
“Fiancée,” I corrected before I could stop myself.
Carter’s face went so red that I thought his head was about to explode.
“Oh, that’s fuckingit.”
I heard the door open behind me and glanced over my shoulder to see Emilia and Kristen peeking in. I turned back to Carter just in time to step out of the way as he came flying at me. He ended up landing face down on top of a stack of boxes, his weight collapsing them beneath him.
“Shit,” I muttered when Carter didn’t move. “You okay?”
Emilia ran up beside me and grabbed my arm.
“Carter!” Kristen squealed in shock as she dashed to him. “Oh no!”
He groaned and flipped over but didn’t move from on top of the boxes he’d just crushed. “Ouch.” He didn’t sound angry anymore. Actually, he sounded sheepish, like it had finally sunk in what a fool he’d made of himself.About damn time.
