Wilde About Carson: The Brothers Wilde Series — Book Three Read online

  Holden and Evan kind of waver back as Dylan stands and tries not to make his smile look any more obvious.

  “That’s not the point. I know how qualified she is, and that isn’t what I was talking about. So, clearly, your judgment is a little compromised.”

  I move to retort, but he holds up his hand in mock surrender and shakes his head. “I know this isn’t your fault, and I know you didn’t miss anything. But I bet I convinced you that you did because you have been distracted.” He winks, and I nearly want to yell at him again, but I manage not to.

  I nod to myself and sit back down, so we can finish this.

  “Okay… so we agree that we need to focus on the issue at hand, please?” Holden huffs, sitting down in the chair and rubbing at his temples. It’s mostly calm again until Dylan finds a way to keep digging.

  “Which is how we’re going to keep this from not only the Board, but investors and employees?” Dylan asks, absently flipping through papers.

  “Yes. But we aren’t lying to them, just not disclosing everything. There is no need to cause a panic.”

  We all agree on that, and Evan and I go back and forth discussing it for a moment.

  “That’s not what Dad would have done. Lie, I mean.” Dylan chuckles.

  Holden sighs and ignores him continuing with his own work.

  “We can recover the loss by absolving the company and stripping for assets, then we will inform the Board of the dip in assets when the next reporting period comes. We tell them now, they try to get involved, and then it becomes an internal issue, too. This isn’t damage control, not yet. We’re resolving the issue at hand, got it?”

  I agree. Evan agrees. Dylan… that’s another story. But we manage to get through as much as we can, putting everything in place with the finance operations behind it. The liquidation should take days, and we should be able to come out fairly clean with maybe a minor dip in stock, but that happens all the time.

  Knowing I doubted myself was probably some elaborate scheme Dylan had, but it worked, and it will take longer than an afternoon huddled over papers to get through it.

  “We’re done here. Crisis averted.” Holden stands, starting to pack things up, closing out the laptop. Evan and I stand too. I stretch out my neck and shoulders. It’s completely dark outside now. The entire day gone, and I’m exhausted to show for it.

  “That’s great,” Dylan laughs to himself and gets ready to leave, but he pauses at the door, his gaze directed right at Holden standing a few paces behind him. “Great work, Holden. Really, compromising the integrity of the company. Dad would have never done it this way, would have never done this at all.” He marches off and slams the door behind him.

  I stare after him in shock knowing that Evan is trying not to say something stupid, and Holden is managing not to run after him.

  All I can think is what happened to us and how to fix it.

  10

  Emily

  One of those work weeks where it goes by fast and lasted a lifetime at the same time—I got through it again.

  I’m exhausted more than tired, but it’s worth it knowing I did a good job. Well, I guess I won’t know if I really did, since there is always a delay in account reporting. But it feels like it.

  As I always do on Friday, I get to the office a little later after ten having only one divisional meeting and wrap up loose ends for the week. So, when Kevin asks me to meet him for lunch, I actually have time to meet him. I haven’t seen him in a while. I don’t even know if there is a real connection there. I mean, I enjoy the conversation, his company, beyond that… I don’t know, and I’m not in a hurry to figure it out.

  “Are you ready? We’ll miss the flight.”

  “Carson, the plane won’t leave without the people who chartered it. It’s private.” I laugh to myself as I zip up my weekend suitcase.

  Carson, laughing, jumps on my bed and crushes my purse under him. “You would make a good snooty rich girl. And it doesn’t work like that, we still booked air time. We have to go.” He gets up and pulls my purse with him. He looks ridiculous, and I laugh when he slings the blue tote over his shoulder.

  “I’m ready. Carry this.” I grin, sheepishly. He makes a face but takes the bag anyway.

  We’re going to Cora and Brant’s baby shower in LA since Cora can no longer fly. Mia had a due date sooner than hers, so they did theirs back in August. It’s October now, officially a few days ago, and Cora should be delivering around Thanksgiving, so hopefully it goes to plan.

  As always, the plane is swank. The family themselves own one plane, but the company has three charter jets and a Heli-chopper. I’m not sure what it is actually for or how it helps business, maybe they want big stuff to have their name on it flying through the sky. Though it isn’t like they don’t deserve it. We pull up to the air field the same time as everyone else. Fletcher is meeting everyone there between his training and games since the actual shower is Sunday morning. Grayson couldn’t get leave, and I know all his brothers miss him. Isaac becomes a figment, I don’t often remember that he is gone until everyone is together. I was there for all of it, but Carson and I were only ten. I remember not being able to come over that often, and Carson not talking about his brothers. But we were only ten, and I never paid attention to it until we got older, and his big brother, Isaac, who I remember always being mean, wasn’t around anymore.

  “Sarah, you’re flying us today?” Carson greets the pilot when we walk in. She is very pretty and badass, and from what I remember, one of the only African American pilots in her flight program. It’s no surprise the Wilde’s have only the best person flying them around.

  “Yes, I am. We’ve got about three hours of flight time. I’m expecting some turbulence once we pass the central states,” she informs all of us once we are in the plane. Holden, Evan, Dylan, their mom, and Jeffrey. Alec doesn’t want to spend any moment away from Mia, so he opted not to come. I think it’s nice how over-protective he is, not at all too much.

  “Thank you, Sarah. Will you be on auto pilot?” Jeffrey asks her as he gets up to move to the first row of seats. They are more of small couches with their own tables. The back does have a small laying area, but the last time I have used or seen that was when we flew to London.

  “Do you let a robot do your surgeries for you?” She smiles with a small laugh, and they end up smiling at each other for a long second as I watch. I think everyone is otherwise busy.

  “No, I don’t.” Jeffrey flashes his flirting smile, which I don’t see often. But I know what it is.

  Sarah is wearing her very regal blue uniform pants and white top with ribbons and everything. Her brown hair is pulled back into a bun.

  “Well, we’re taking off in about ten minutes. Seat belts on.” Sarah smiles at all of us, then directly at Jeffrey before disappearing into the cockpit.

  The flight crew, which is two flight attendants, prepare the cabin for takeoff and serve us drinks. I’m sitting next to Carson which is no surprise, but he is on his laptop working, so I decide not to bother him. His mom is next to me sitting on her own with a stack of papers. I suppose she is grading something. Holden and Evan are in front of us to my left also on their laptops. Dylan has fallen asleep behind me, and Jeffrey is dictating on his phone probably patient notes. I only have a new paperback to read. Legal or political thrillers are my thing. We all do our own thing for the duration of the flight which was smooth despite her warning of turbulence and land in sunny LA perfectly fine.

  We take two Surburbans driven by drivers of one of the chauffer companies they own to the hotel. Brant’s house isn’t equipped for guests like this. But they do meet us in the lobby of the hotel, and we go out to dinner together. It’s nice catching up with everyone, difficult with so many people, but really nice. They welcome me into their family so easily every time I am around them. But it also makes me miss my family. My mom is gone, and my dad is always very busy with work. I see him once or twice a year, and we talk every week. His foc
us has been making medical breakthroughs for a long time, even more when Mom passed. But I don’t mind because it’s not like I’m alone.

  * * *

  “Adjoining rooms. We always end up with adjoining rooms.” Carson is yelling through the thin door separating our rooms. The hotel is really nice, the suite itself has four bedrooms, so we are all staying here while Holden and Ana are in another smaller room.

  “I guess it’s like a habit of ours.” I laugh to myself as I check my suitcase making sure I didn’t forget anything. I didn’t bring much since it’s only for two days, basically one and a half.

  “Let’s go to the pool before it closes.” Carson knocks, I open the door to him. He is already in his swim trunks. I have seen him shirtless dozens of times, so I don’t know why I still react the same way—kind of shocked at how chiseled the male body can be, and then matching it with belonging to Carson. The deep lines of his Adonis belt disappear into his blue, rather tight swim trunks. The six ridges of his abdomen are as taut as can be, his pecs and lats widen out to fit his lean frame and broad shoulders.

  “Yeah… um, I’m just going to get changed.” Suddenly I feel overdressed in my leggings and t-shirt.

  “Okay… what’s wrong?” He chuckles softly leaning down to look at me.

  I blink away my trance and smile. “Nothing. Give me a few minutes.” I shut the door before I think about something else.

  That was really weird.

  Once I get changed into my blue two-piece that I recently bought online, I tie my hair up in a bun and throw on a shirt dress to cover it and slip on my flip-flops. It’s already dark outside, so I’m sure the rooftop pool will be even more enjoyable.

  “Is it just us?” I meet Carson in the living room. He at least covered half of himself with a towel over his shoulder.

  “Yeah, my brothers are brooding.” He sighs as we walk out. “I’m glad you came, I like having you here.”

  We walk into the elevator, and I face him. “You like having me anywhere.” I smile, then stammer mortified as I realize what that sounded like.

  “Um, I mean… that’s not what I meant.” I laugh. Carson looks at me funny before he starts laughing too.

  “I know what you meant, Em.” He smiles and narrows his eyes at me.

  I giggle out the awkwardness and hold my towel tight in front of me. The pool is as nice as I thought. The water is heated, and we swim around and keep splashing each other like we used to do when we were kids. I haven’t been swimming in forever and even longer with him, but it’s fun, easy, and I don’t even have to try.

  We play around and end up fake wrestling each other. He is much stronger than me. He could easily win, but he humors me. He humors me right until I’m wrapped around him, my legs around his waist, arms around his neck, and his back on the wall of the pool. His hands freeze around my waist, gripping me tightly. I pull back, water dripping down my face as I look at him. It’s like we’re both frozen and in no condition to move—and I don’t know why.

  I swallow hard, my lips parting like I have words, but I don’t. He does the same, his full pink lips parted, his breath kissing my face from the proximity. I’m flooded by his infectious scent, his shower gel dripping with the chlorine, and his fresh aftershave inches from my nose. I breathe in deep shallow breaths as we end up moving closer. A lot closer. My crotch is at least three inches north of his, the cold air and chills in my body make me feel my nipples pierce my swim top, and I try not to let my chest get any closer to his. I’m four seconds from grinding against him like I’m crazy. It must have really been a long time since I’ve had sex. This is insane. It’s just Carson. I tell myself that a hundred times. A hundred times.

  Until I can manage to put some space between us. I curl my lips inward as I try to laugh it off, but it doesn’t quite come through. I’m way too keyed up. My body is swelling inside, heated, almost as hot as this pool and the air between us. It makes it too hard to think. I must be dehydrated. I stare into the deep pools of his gray eyes softening as he looks back at me. The tether is almost insane, we can’t pull away, can’t look away. I have never looked at him like this, he has never touched me like this. It’s… never been like this.

  “This is a family establishment!” The shout of Evan running into the pool and splashing right next to us makes us jump apart quickly. I wade in the water feet away from Carson, our eyes not fully leaving each other until Evan resurfaces, laughing his laugh that only now I have found annoying.

  Carson smiles softly, taking the blank expression off his face, but mine is still here. My lips close only as I swallow hard and wade over to the exit ladder of the pool.

  “Emily…” Carson calls after me.

  “I’m just going to get water.” I grab the towel, not looking over my shoulder as I escape him.

  11

  Carson

  I watch Emily walk away… I never watch her do much of anything, not in a moment like this at least. When we were having fun, being friends as we are. Just… until… I don’t know. I don’t have the time to process it before Evan rears his head again, burying me under a splash of water.

  “Will you quit acting like a five-year-old?” I splash him back and try to sound mad as I laugh anyway.

  “What? Pools are made for splashing.” He cackles swimming to the bench beside me and trailing me with his eyes. I know it’s coming, I have to wait it out. Evan likes to make a show of things. He also must have stepped it up in the gym lately because he looks like a fitness competitor. I can’t be jealous, though. I know how I want to look, and I have been told it’s good, but we all have good genes. Thanks, Dad.

  “Apparently…” here it comes, “… they were made for other stuff, too.” His brow raises, and his smug gets more irritating.

  “Shut up.” I shake my head, raising my legs in the water and checking the entrance every few seconds.

  “I don’t think I will… unless I’m apologizing for interrupting.”

  “There was nothing to interrupt. We were messing around. Just like we always used to do.” I shrug it off because it really is nothing to me. I’m not sure why Emily got all weird. I know when Emily gets weird, she lies, and then avoids the situation with a lie. There is a pitcher of water behind us. She didn’t even have to go inside.

  “Oh yeah, because spooning each other in the pool is the same as fighting over pool noodles in the third grade,” Evan scoffs at me, giving me a look like I’m supposed to come to my senses and face him.

  I’m not going to because there is nothing to face. Emily and I have been friends since first grade and went to the same school since then—public school, unlike my brothers. Only Alec was homeschooled, and only Grayson, Evan, and I went to public school. Since Evan is five years older than me, we never crossed paths. But Alec only has one year on me, and I have one year on Grayson.

  Emily and I were pretty much inseparable when we met. I think it was over a SpongeBob lunch box she had, but I can’t remember that far back, and she still watches the show now. It was easy to be friends as kids since once our parents found out about it, they were the ones arranging all the play dates and such. My mom met hers when she came for a teacher-student conference in third grade—Emily was kind of bad sometimes. We got in trouble a lot together, but that’s beside the point. When they became friends, it was easy for us to stay friends. And when we got older, it was important that we stayed friends. I think the first time it really mattered was when her mom died when we were fifteen from metastatic cancer. Basically, it’s terminal at any stage, but it was at stage four, and all they had told them to do was say goodbye. It was really hard, and for a long time she cried and then for even longer, she didn’t smile. All I could do was be there for her and try to get her to smile. I was young and didn’t really know what to do, but I guess what I did was enough because one day, she did smile again. We did it all over again when Dad died last year, seven years after her mother. Again, all she could really do was be there and try to get me to smil
e. Our friendship isn’t this loose establishment of frozen yogurt and social events, it’s inside jokes and a special bond I know I’ll never have with anyone else.

  “When will you admit you have feelings for her?” Evan gravels, and for once in a lifetime, there is no humor in his voice. Well, I hear that voice in business meetings sometimes, but even then, he is cracking a joke, or nine.

  “Evan, I really don’t. I know it goes right over your head and whips to think that men could be friends with women and not harbor underlying feelings for each other, but it’s a thing that we have.”

  Evan chuckles once. “I stood there for at least a minute while you guys had your Wild Things moment.” He quotes his favorite movie, which is probably because of the girl-on-girl scenes and not the cinematic pull. “That isn’t nothing.”

  “We…” Shit. I can’t really think of anything now. He isn’t wrong there. We were simply messing around, nothing new for us until… well, I don’t know. I didn’t want to let her go for a second or two. Or couldn’t. And for those few seconds, it felt good not to. I forget to notice how beautiful Emily really is with her soft porcelain features, gorgeous full lips, and a smile that could brighten even the darkest days. I know how amazing she is, and I know exactly who she is. And with all that, she is my best friend.

  “It was nothing.”

  “Fine, dude. Whatever you say.”

  Evan actually stops talking for a little while. I swim a lap or two and return. Emily still isn’t back yet. I get out before I prune, and Evan follows suit. I feel his brooding energy as we dry off. He is waiting to say something to me. I keep looking at the door expecting her to come out.