Accidental Lovers (The Accidental Series, Book 3) Read online

  ACCIDENTAL LOVERS

  Book Three of the Accidental Series

  Tina Martin

  Copyright @ 2013 by Tina Martin

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written consent of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and products are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events is entirely coincidental.

  Visit the author’s website at: www.tinamartin.net

  Book Cover Design by Dynastys CoverMe (www.dynastyscoverme.com)

  *PLEASE NOTE: This novel is the third book of The Accidental Series. The first book in the series is Accidental Deception. The second is Accidental Heartbreak.

  Accidental Lovers

  Chapter 1

  Another long, lonely, boring night at the office…

  Carter leaned back in the chair, sitting behind his desk at work nine o’clock at night, dreading going to Terrance’s place yet again. Since voluntarily leaving home, so that Shayla wouldn’t leave, he’d been staying with Terrance for two weeks now, waiting patiently for a phone call from Shayla or some indication that she wanted him to come back home.

  He didn’t get one.

  Even after calling Shayla every, single day since he dropped the bombshell about Jacob, he didn’t get an answer. All of his calls ended up going to voicemail, which only fueled his frustration.

  He took out his cell and scrolled through his call log for today. Did he miss a call from her? Probably not. Shayla wasn’t receiving calls from him and she definitely wasn’t making them. Once he realized there were no calls from her, he slammed the phone on his desk. So much for wishful thinking…

  Never had he been in a predicament like this, his future hanging on the actions and decisions of a woman who completely had his heart. He’d been intimately intertwined in her life, in her thoughts and feelings and somehow, and it still surprises him to this day, he let his guard down and fell in love. It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that she was his deceased brother’s fiancée. He was in love with her, and now she was angry with him after he’d mustered up enough courage to tell her something she needed to know. Something that haunted him every single day.

  Maybe there were some things in life that were better left unsaid – things that were outright unforgivable – acts that were so betraying, one could never recover from them. Things that, no matter how much you want to tell your spouse, you know it’s just too damaging to the relationship to ever reveal it. But ‘reveal it’ is what Carter did because his conscience wouldn’t allow him to keep this secret from her, even though it allowed him to hold on to it for months and carry it over to their marriage. He should’ve just told Shayla from the beginning – that her ex-fiancé, Jacob Dempsey, was his brother.

  He had his reasons for keeping Jacob private from her. One – he wanted Shayla. He wanted a life with her. Two, when Jacob was alive, his relationship with him was nonexistent. Yeah, they were brothers, but the natural affection one feels for their siblings – the brotherly bond that’s supposed to tie men together – hadn’t bonded them. And the third reason he kept Jacob a secret was because he didn’t want to dredge up any bad memories for Shayla by bringing up his brother’s name. He didn’t want her to relive the pain of losing Jacob, remembering the suicide and other events of that sad day when Jacob decided to take his own life.

  So the longer Carter waited, the harder it became to tell her and now, not only was he left feeling the pain of losing Shayla over his bad decisions, but additionally he was also thinking about the broken relationship he had with Jacob, beating himself up because, though he tried to help his little brother, he hadn’t tried hard enough. His fabulous life got in the way.

  But those things hadn’t kept him from Shayla, had it? When a man really wants something, especially a woman, he finds the time and resources to devote to the cause. And in his lifetime, Carter couldn’t recall ever wanting anything more than he wanted Shayla. Not the cars, the substantial income or the women who had met his acquaintance before her. And despite what guys say, men will change for a woman if they loved her enough, respected her and couldn’t imagine her being with anyone else besides him.

  That’s what Carter did. He changed for the woman he loved, gave up his wild, bachelor lifestyle and became something he never wanted to be – somebody’s husband. Nothing was more important to him than Shayla, and though they were in the middle of a dispute, a setback, a bump in the marital road to love and happiness, he wouldn’t give up on their marriage. He just needed the signal from her, something that indicated she was ready to sit down and talk through this mess. Like many other nights, he probably wouldn’t be getting that sign from her tonight.

  He picked up his cell phone again, dialed their home number and talked into the voicemail, hoping she’d be in the bedroom and would hear his message in real time:

  Shayla, baby, it’s me again…just calling to say goodnight. He frowned. Hopefully we can talk soon. We need to talk. I love you.

  He hung up the phone, feeling knots of nervousness in the pit of his stomach. What if Shayla never wanted to see him again? What if this marriage was already over for her? What if…

  Carter blew a defeated breath and buried his face in his hands. What to do? He could just roll up to the house and force a conversation with her, but realizing that would probably cause more harm than good, he stayed away. In anguish, in love and all, he stayed away.

  Then there was the matter of going to Terrance’s house…

  Terrance tried to be a friend, but Carter didn’t want to talk to him every day about his personal situation with Shayla, and he wasn’t in the mood for Terrance’s big, loud mouth tonight. So standing up from the desk and packing up his briefcase, he left the office, thinking about staying at The Blake Hotel for the night. A quiet room would give him the time to think about every thing that was going on in his life without distraction.

  Before heading to the hotel, he drove by his home that he shared with Shayla, riding by slowly to make sure her car was in the driveway and that the house appeared to be in order, something he did every night since their fight, but this time, he pulled off the road, next to the curb and sat there in the car, looking at the house, wanting to go in. He was satisfied that the place appeared to be in order and now that he’d verified it, he drove on to what would be his resting place for the night.

  Chapter 2

  At the hotel, he stripped off his clothes and took the longest, hottest shower he’d ever had in his life. When he finally stepped out, he stared at himself in the mirror while towel-drying his curly hair and his body. Then realizing he didn’t have any clothes, except the ones he took off twenty-five minutes ago, he slid on his briefs and sat there on the bed, close to the pillows and next to the nightstand.

  Dr. Westbrook was right all along, he thought. She was blunt and forthcoming but she was right. He should’ve taken the doctor’s advice and told Shayla about Jacob from the start. Now he wished he could travel back in time and tell her, and then rush back to the present so they could resume their lives as normal. If only it was that easy…

  Thinking about Dr. Westbrook’s advice reminded him of Jacob’s therapy notebook that the doctor had covertly left on his doorstep, coincidentally the same night he had the argument with Shayla. Carter was so busy trying to rescue his marriage from disaster, he hadn’t had the time to thoroughly read all the sloppy, handwritten passages. Besides, the first entry in the notebook left him confused. He took the notebook from his briefcase, opened i
t and read Jacob’s words again:

  Most of my life, my Mother compared me to my big brother, if you can even call him that. To be considered siblings, we would have to have either the same Mother or same Father. We have neither, and Carter, as smart as everyone says he is, is too dense to realize that our “family” isn’t really a family at all. For a long time, I knew something wasn’t quite right between us, and when my Mother knew I had figured it out, she wrote me out of the will. But I don’t want to spend my therapy focused on people who don’t give two cents about me. I want to get myself together so I can make a happy life for Shayla.

  She cooked breakfast for me today and all she talks about is the wedding. We’re getting married soon, but little does she know that I can’t afford it. I lied and told her I had enough savings to cover our wedding and the bills for the next few months, but I barely have enough money to put in my gas tank. I can’t afford anything. But I wanted so badly to make her happy. I was so desperate to satisfy her that I decided to ask my Mother for the money. Of course she wanted to know why I wanted the money and since we didn’t speak, she had no idea I was getting married, so reluctantly I told her about Shayla, my engagement and the wedding plans only to watch her laugh to my face. She said she couldn’t afford it. I only needed three-thousand dollars, a drop in the bucket for her, and she couldn’t afford it. Liar. I knew I shouldn’t have gone there, but I did it for Shayla. I didn’t want to let her down. But that’s what I did. I let her down, and all I could do was cry as I sat in my car in front of our apartment. I felt like a failure…no, I was a failure. I am a failure. I failed her. I’d let Shayla down many times before, and after each and every disappointment, she always assured me that she loved me, that together, we could get through anything. I’m not sure she’d be so forgiving this time.

  * ~ *

  Carter frowned. After reading the entire passage, he had one thought: What does he mean by saying we don’t have the same Mother? Was he speaking figuratively? Carter knew they didn’t have the same Father, but Mother? Impossible. Admittedly, he and his brother were polar opposites. Jacob was quiet and introverted while Carter was the life of the party, the excellent public speaker, the leader, the boss, the Vice President of Global Operations at corporate. Still, that didn’t mean they weren’t brothers…

  We grew up together. And we do have the same Mother. Maybe he wrote this out of anger…

  Carter then recalled the last conversation he had with his Mother. She’d flat-out told him she didn’t know Jacob was seeing anyone and she didn’t know he was engaged. But Jacob’s words, if they were true, revealed his Mother was lying. She had known Jacob was engaged because Jacob went to her for money. So why’d she lie about it?

  Carter rubbed his hand over his face. If his Mother lied about this, what else did she lie about? His thoughts were interrupted by his cell. He hurried to look at the display thinking that, by some remote chance, it could be Shayla, but he was disappointed when he saw it was Terrance instead.

  “What’s up, man?” he answered, crestfallen, placing the notebook back into his briefcase.

  “Yo…you still at the office, dawg?”

  “Nah. I’m at The Blake—”

  “Dang…you got over Shayla real quick, huh?” he said, then grunted out a laugh. “Who you got over there?”

  Carter frowned and felt his body temperature rise a degree. “Terrance, are you implying that I’m cheating on my wife.”

  “I’m just sayin’…you’re supposed to be staying over here and you done ran off to a hotel and whatnot.”

  “I didn’t run anywhere, Tee, and the reason I’m here is because I can’t hear myself think at your place. I got a lot on my mind and listening to you play Xbox, crunch on Doritos and crack jokes about my situation is not working for me. And in case you didn’t know, I would never cheat on Shayla, so don’t ever make that implication again.”

  “My bad, Carter. Lighten up, dude. I was just being silly. I know you love Shayla.”

  “Then don’t say things like that. I’m already going through enough trying to save my marriage. I don’t need extra crap from you.”

  “Ah’ight, man. Ah’ight. I get it.” Terrance paused a moment, realizing how serious Carter was and said, “Just do what you gotta do to get it worked out. I’m sure she’ll come around. And I’m here if you need me, bro.”

  “All right, Tee,” Carter told him. He pressed the call-end button and laid on the bed, exhausted, clicked off the lamp on the nightstand and closed his eyes, tight, trying to force himself to go to sleep, though his body ignited with heat at the very thought of making love to Shayla between these sheets. But he couldn’t have her tonight and the thought he may never have her again angered him. Why did she have to be so freakin’ stubborn? All he wanted to do was confess, come clean and love her and she was doing everything in her power to avoid him, leaving him alone again tonight with no solace, and in heavy frustration.

  Chapter 3

  Shayla helped Rebecca out around the shop as a favor for a couple days here and there. She would pluck dead leaves from some of the plants, make a few orders of flowers, water them and assist wherever she could help out. It was something to keep her occupied, to kill time and take her mind off of her personal life. Besides, the late fall season going into winter was a slow time of the year and Rebecca didn’t need much help, which is why she took the ‘help wanted’ sign from the front window. She decided to wait to hire someone right before spring.

  So using the time to separate herself from Carter, having just learned he was Jacob’s brother, she tried to wrap her head around his admission. Carter didn’t look a thing like Jacob. Jacob’s skin tone was noticeably darker than Carter’s. They didn’t resemble each other in the least bit and if they were standing side-by-side, no one would even think they were brothers. But they were, by Carter’s admission, and Shayla felt used and stupid. How could Carter know this all along and not tell her, especially after she’d told him so much about herself.

  He was her confidant even before they were married. She cried on his shoulder many a nights, telling him about how she missed Jacob and laying out details of the day she found him unresponsive on the bathroom floor with empty pill bottles next to his body. She talked about her brief engagement to Jacob and the wedding that never happened. And at any point in the discussion, Carter could’ve come out and said that Jacob was his brother, but he did not. And she wanted to know why.

  “So what exactly happened between you and Carter? You’re being real hush-hush about it.” Rebecca probed.

  Shayla frowned as she sat down on a stool, interlocked her fingers and sighed. She had been tight-lipped about the incident for weeks and she knew Rebecca was going to want to know what went down sooner or later. There were no customers in the place so the two of them could talk freely. Openly.

  “Um…” Shayla started. Some things were okay to discuss with friends. Some were off limits. Still she couldn’t deny her need to talk to someone about it. So after taking a deep breath, she said, “Well, um, I don’t remember if I mentioned this to you or not, but before I met Carter, I was engaged to a guy named Jacob Dempsey. He committed suicide.”

  Rebecca snapped her head back. “Oh my gosh. No, I would’ve remembered that.”

  “Yeah. So after he died, I lost our condo…well, I pretty much lost everything and was homeless for a while and Carter found me on the street…dirty and…” she said, her voice cracking with tears forming in her eyes. “Well, Carter confessed to me two weeks ago, that Jacob was his brother.”

  “Wait,” Rebecca said, and shook her head quickly as if physically tossing this around in her brain. “What?”

  “Jacob is his brother.”

  “So the guy you were engaged to, who killed himself is Carter’s brother?”

  “Yeah.” Shayla dabbed her eyes. “I guess I’m so upset about it because I didn’t know. All this time I’ve been with Carter and he kept this from me. I feel so stupid.”

&
nbsp; “But how would you have known, Shayla, unless he told you?”

  “When we were together, maybe Jacob mentioned Carter’s name before and I hadn’t paid attention. I don’t know. I do know that Carter told me, when we first met, he didn’t have any siblings, and it wasn’t until he ran into an old co-worker of his that I found out he had a brother. And I didn’t even think to ask what his brother’s name was. I’m so stupid.” Shayla shook her head. “All this time, he has listened to me talk so much about my past, about Jacob and not once did he tell me they were brothers. There’s just something wrong with that.”

  “Maybe he didn’t tell you because he was afraid of what your reaction might be. Carter’s a very outspoken, articulate guy. He usually holds nothing back.”

  “Yeah…then there’s the matter of the suicide note…”

  Rebecca shook her head.

  “Jacob wrote a suicide note and mailed it to Carter the day before he died. The day of his death, the detectives searched the condo inside and out, looking for a suicide note and didn’t find a thing. So as a part of his confession, Carter let me read Jacob’s note.”

  “Wow.”

  “I can’t tell you how painful it was to relive that. Just to see Jacob’s handwriting on that paper was enough to destroy me, Rebecca. The memories of him are so hard to deal and I thought I was doing a good job of moving on with my life.”

  Rebecca, at a lost for words, could only shake her head.

  Shayla went on to say, “And in the letter, Jacob asked Carter to take care of me. And I feel like that’s the only reason why Carter married me…he’s fulfilling his brother’s wishes.”