Free Married by Monday (Weekday Brides) by Catherine Bybee Page A

curtain moving made him realize that he was stalling. Sitting in her driveway like a stalker wasn’t his style.
    He pushed out of the car and marched to her door.
    He knocked but she didn’t answer.
    “ I know you’re home, Eliza,” he said through the door.
    After knocking a second time, he said. “I’m not leaving.”
    He heard the click of locks disengaging before she opened the door.
    Her hair had been brushed out, her makeup scrubbed clean from her face. Even still, she was beautiful. Although there was a heaviness in her gaze he hadn’t seen before. Worry maybe or perhaps it was doubt.
    She stepped away from the door in a silent invitation for him to enter.
    At least she gave him that small comfort.
    He closed the door and walked into the hall.
    She quickly stepped behind him and slid the deadbolt in place. The move caught him as strange, but he didn’t comment.
    Walking past him she said, “If I wanted to talk to you I would have called.”
    Carter followed her into her kitchen.
    “ When would that have been? Tomorrow? The next day?”
    Water boiled on her stove inside a kettle, and the steam was starting to hum. Without an invitation to sit, Carter leaned against the wall and watched her mill about the kitchen as she made herself a cup of tea.
    “ Maybe.”
    Translation, no. Damn she was stubborn.
    “ Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
    She ripped open a tea bag and placed the packet inside a cup. Each movement was slow and deliberate. “I don’t know,” she finally said.
    From the confusion set behind her eyes, he believed she was just as torn about revealing her secrets as he was torn up for not knowing them.
    “ Are you going to tell me anything? Like did you know those detectives?” He asked both questions deliberately.
    Unfortunately, she didn’t fall for his bait. “I’ll tell you what I want, when I want. Yes and no questions aren’t going to work to whittle away answers.”
    An entire line of questions, ones he’d practiced en route to her home, now needed to be rewritten in his head. “I hope you know you can trust me.” Not a question. She couldn’t diss him for that.
    “ This isn’t about trust.”
    He should take some comfort in that.
    She brought the tea up to her lips and blew across the hot beverage. She peeked over the brim to look at him.
    “ Since we’re talking about trust,” she started. “What the hell was all of that about marriage earlier?”
    He folded his arms over his chest. “I suppose you could say I’m following Blake’s lead. Marriage solves a few fundamental problems in my career path.”
    She stared at him full on now, not trying to look away. “Your problems. Not mine.”
    “ Problems you helped play a role in.” He saw the spark in her eye before she managed her first syllable of defense.
    She sat the tea down and placed a hand on the counter. “That’s low, Carter.”
    “ And true or you’d be the first to tell me I’m wrong. If I had a choice, I’d be married by Monday to help dispel all the media crap created by yours and Gwen’s night on the Texas town. I thought I could come to you and obtain a little bit of cooperation.”
    “ A little bit of cooperation. Marriage is a tad more than a little bit of anything.” Her voice rose and her knuckles started to grip the counter.
    “ Yet you earn your living arranging marriages or partnerships on trite reasons less important than mine.” How dare she follow a moral high ground. Maybe she’d forgotten how well versed he was on her and Samantha’s business.
    “ You forget that our clients have to approve of the relationships we arrange. They have to like the person—”
    He laughed, interrupting her. “Do you really want to pretend we aren’t friends to prove your point?”
    Her cheeks grew rosy which he had to admit was a much better than the pasty color she’d been sporting when he walked into the house. He felt the fire burning inside her as she shot daggers with her