Love and Always (A Pound of Flesh #1.5) Read Online Free

Christmas Eve, was there?
    Kat persevered. “We were thinking about having the wedding here on the beach, or, if it’s available, at the Central Park boat house, or at Nana Boo’s. What do you think? I mean, we could have it . . . wherever, because the important thing is that we’re together.”
    Eva placed her glass of mulled wine onto the table and sighed. Carter tensed at Kat’s side and clasped her hand in his. For whose benefit, Kat wasn’t sure, but she held on for dear life as Eva stood slowly. She turned her eyes from the happy couple to the picture of her late husband and her daughter, and Kat could have sworn a smile tugged at her mother’s mouth. Then she stepped closer and reached out for Kat’s left hand.
    Her fingers were gentle over the diamond and Kat’s skin. “It’s very beautiful,” Eva whispered. “Very beautiful indeed.”
    She lifted her eyes to Carter. His back straightened further, making him seem impossibly tall. “Tell me something, Wesley Carter. Does this beautiful ring mean that you’re going to spend the rest of your life protecting and loving my daughter the way she deserves, until your very last breath? Are you going to cherish each moment, and wake up every morning thanking God how lucky you are, to be able to do that and to have her?”
    Carter was very still. “Ma’am, I already do. I just wanted the world to know it, too.”
    Kat brought his hand to her mouth and placed a kiss on the back of it.
    Eva cupped Kat’s face. “Katherine, you are happy and loved—and that’s all your father and I ever dreamed of for you.”
    “I know.”
    Eva smiled. “Congratulations.” She kissed Kat’s cheek and hugged her tight.

    Carter wasn’t exactly sure what the hell had just happened.
    Had Eva just given her blessing to him and Kat? He’d been so ready for a verbal sparring match with her after his conversation with Ben that the adrenaline still coursed through his body even as they ate the wonderful meal Kat had prepared.
    Part of him was still waiting for the punch line, the big “but.” It couldn’t be that easy, could it?
    He really, really wanted a cigarette, just to take the edge off, to calm him down. The toothpick he frequently stuffed into his mouth to quell the nicotine cravings was in his jeans pocket, but it’d be pretty uncouth to pull that out.
    He chewed his steak instead, slow and patient, willing the anxiety to subside.
    Glancing at his Peaches next to him, Carter wondered why the hell he was feeling so freaked out. She’d never looked happier and the sound of her laugh was a pure delight. He reached out and touched her face tenderly, leaning over to kiss her. She hummed and smiled.
    “You okay?” she murmured as Harrison made Nana Boo and Eva laugh again with one of his work anecdotes.
    “I’m great.”
    Eva ate her meal; praising Kat’s cooking and engaging in civil conversation with everyone. She smiled easier than he’d ever seen, and at one point even touched Carter’s forearm as she spoke to him.
    Yeah. Shit just got surreal.
    After dinner and a dessert of Nana Boo’s Oreo cheesecake, Carter brought Jim Beam out to join the festivities so that everyone could share a Christmas toast. A little before midnight, and with Michael freakin’ Bublé warbling Christmas songs in the background—at Kat’s insistence—the five of them sat in the sitting room with two large bowls of popcorn and exchanged one gift each.
    Carter received cologne from Eva and Harrison, an awesome Alexander McQueen silk tie and a leather wallet from Nana Boo, and a pair of insanely cool cuff links from Kat. They were silver and were engraved with his initials, WJC. A minute diamond punctuated the last letter on each.
    “Do you like them?” Kat asked. “Now we both have diamonds,” she added with an adorably tipsy giggle.
    Carter watched her, enraptured as he always was. “I love them.” He kissed her.
    “Merry Christmas, baby,” she uttered against his mouth,