Wrong to Love You: Strong Brothers Book 3 Read online

  She must've heard the opening squeak of the door, as her head turned back to look at me over her shoulder. I froze mid-step out the door as recognition came to me.

  Jess.

  How many nights after we parted ways four years ago, had I wondered about her? Even now, sometimes without warning, she would appear in my dreams waking me up with an aching heart on. And now here she was.

  She wobbled, and fell over.

  My father came out of position. "Are you alright, Jess?"

  He turned to look in the direction that she was staring, and saw me.

  It shook me from my stupor, and I propelled myself forward. "Hey, dad."

  Jess's eyes rounded for a moment, and then she looked down as she pushed herself back up and then helped my father stand up as well.

  "Carter. I didn't know you were back already.” My father walked towards me with an improved gait sense the last time I’d seen him, but still a bit tentative. I met him in the middle of the terrace, giving him a hug.

  "What are you doing?" I asked.

  My father turned slightly and acknowledged Jess. "Come meet my physical therapist. I think you're the only one that hasn't met her."

  The few times I'd been home since my father's accident, his physical therapist had been out. I knew her name was Jess, and in fact hearing that name had brought back most marvelous memories. But it never occurred to me that his physical therapist Jess would be my fantasy cruise Jess.

  "Carter, this is just Jessica Wilson, although she prefers to go by Jess. Jess, this is the one son that you haven't met yet, Carter," my father introduced us.

  Was I supposed to give away that I knew her?

  She extended her hand, and I shook it, wondering if she remembered me at all?

  "Nice to see you," I said, inwardly kicking myself. This was a woman I'd never forgotten, and now I was acting like I'd forgotten her.

  "You too.” Then she turned her attention to my father. “I’ll go get packed up Alex and have your housekeeper send out some water for you." Before my father could respond, she was already through the door.

  I wanted to go after her and talk to her, but I reminded myself that I’d just made a vow to focus on my father. So, I walked with him to the table on the terrace and we both sat.

  "It looks like your recovery is coming along," I said with one eye at the door that Jess just walked through.

  "Well, I'm impatient, but Jess says that I'm making excellent progress. I tell you that woman is a wonder."

  I nodded in agreement, and then stopped myself because I was only supposed to have just met her. But I remembered thinking she was a wonder when I'd met her on the cruise.

  "How long before you think you'll be surfing again?" I asked.

  My father laughed. "Not soon enough. But Jess says it won't be too long now."

  "Good, because I got you a present. I'll be right back.” I stood up and headed back out to my car looking for Jess as I did, hoping to have a chance to talk with her for a moment. But I didn’t see her. I got to my car and grabbed the present protruding from the small back seat of my car and brought it inside.

  "Will you be staying for lunch, Mr. Strong?" My father's housekeeper asked me.

  Normally I might have said no, but perhaps staying for lunch will allow me to see Jess. "If it's not too much trouble."

  The elderly woman smiled at me. "Your father always loves having you boys here. It's no trouble."

  Of course, I was talking about trouble for her, but my father was one of those people that endeared everyone to him, including his hired help.

  There was still no sign of Jess as I crossed through the living room and made my way back out onto the terrace.

  "What do you think dad?" I asked as I brought his present over to the table where his housekeeper had brought water.

  His face lit up with the sight, making the challenge of bringing this gift back from Asia totally worth it. "Surfboard. Where'd you get it?"

  I brought it closer to him, so he could examine it. Tentatively, he stood and I remained close because I wasn’t sure how stable he was in his recovery.

  "Just a little trinket I picked up in Thailand."

  “Thailand," he said as his hands stroked the board. "I hear it's beautiful there."

  "It is."

  With his attention focused on the board, I glanced over to the door, hoping that Jess was going to come back out.

  When I thought back on that week, I had with Jess four years ago, there were parts of me that wondered if I was embellishing the memory, making it even more magical than it had been. Had I really seen her sitting at the pool with thick red locks tied up on top of her head, her strong curvaceous athletic body sprawled out on the lounge chair, and immediately was drawn to her? It hadn't just been the sexy body and beautiful face because there was an ocean of those around the pool on the cruise. In my memory, there had been something else that had made me go and sit with her, and then spend the next twenty-four hours on the lookout for her, before she and I made the decision to spend the entire trip together.

  But in these few minutes of seeing her again, whatever it was that had drawn me to her, wasn't just in my memory. It was real. And just like four years ago when I couldn't put it aside, I needed to pursue it again.

  2

  Jess

  Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.

  I made a fast escape from the terrace to the gym in Alex's home. It couldn't be possible that the Carter Alex had talked about, was the Carter I'd met on the cruise. What were the odds? Apparently very high, because, holy smokes, he was here. He was my client's son.

  How many times had I wondered about seeing him again? In my fantasies, our reunion was much different than what just happened. In my fantasy, we were like the proverbial two lovers running across the meadow into each other's arms.

  This time I wasn’t quite sure if he even recognized me. There was a part of me that I hoped he hadn't, which filled me with guilt, and yet it was probably for the best. I would've never ever forgotten the cruise that I had taken with Carter, even if I lived to be over a hundred years old. But it was more than just the magical memories that I held from that week. I had a constant, daily reminder of Carter every day in my life when I looked into the eyes of my three-year-old son, Tanner. Eyes that were the same gray as Carter's.

  I sank down onto the workout bench trying to catch my breath at what was happening. I felt compelled to do something, but I didn’t know what it was I should do. What I really wanted to do was to pack up my things and go home. Of course, I'd have to come back here because Alex was my client. I could find him a new physical therapist, but I needed this job, and it would be wrong to leave him in the middle of his rehab. But I could leave now, and then have time to figure out how I was going to deal with the fact that my son's father was my client’s son.

  Oh God! Alex was Tanner's grandfather. I pressed my hands over my face, feeling even greater agony. I knew from spending time with Alex and his other sons, that he was so looking forward to being a grandfather as his son Ryan and his wife Kellie were expecting a child. I even remembered being envious that my son wouldn't have a grandfather like Alex, and now he did.

  I packed up my bag and started toward the front door.

  "Mr. Strong is hoping that you'll stay for lunch," his housekeeper said to me before I could get out of the house.

  "I don't want to disturb him with his —"

  "You know how much Mr. Strong loves to brag about his sons."

  She was right. I'd had several lunches with Alex and his sons, and he had indeed enjoyed bragging about them. If I didn't stay this time, he might notice and think something was up. Darn it.

  I put my bag in the coat closet and let the housekeeper know that I would stay.

  I headed through the living room back out to the terrace. Taking a deep breath and hoping that Carter didn’t recognize me, I stepped outside. Carter's head looked up at me. His eyes flared with a heat that I recognized, and I knew t
hat he remembered me.

  As I approached the table, Carter stood and pulled out the chair next to him for me to sit in. It was a gesture that he did on the cruise, and I remembered thinking what a gentleman he was, and how well his parents had raised him.

  "Jess, I’m glad you’re staying for lunch. Look at what Carter brought back from Thailand," Alex said, pointing to a surfboard that was leaning against the terrace wall.

  "Thailand?" I said hiding my envy that Carter was such a world traveler. Growing up in the Midwest, the most I’d ever traveled was to the Walmart in the next town until I’d won that cruise. The cruise, along with the birth of my son, made me realize that I needed to seize the day, as it were if I didn’t want to be stuck in my small town. It had taken a lot of work and sacrifice, but last year I succeeded in securing a job in San Diego, and moving here with my son. I hoped that as my son grew up, he'd see my example of how hard work could lead him to achieving his goals.

  "Carter here, is our very own Indiana Jones," Alex said.

  Carter's cheeks blushed and he looked down, shaking his head. "Not quite. I've never been almost rolled over by a giant ball. Mostly I travel for the company," he said to me.

  The company was the family shoe business that his grandmother had started from her kitchen table, and now they were expanding their brand outside of the United States into Europe and other parts of the world.

  "Plus, Indiana Jones was an expert in archaeology, whereas you are an expert in finance, aren't you Carter?"

  I looked out at the ocean to try and hide my smile, as I remembered Carter was the first and only person I ever met who was good at math while also being sinfully sexy.

  "How long have you been in San Diego?" Carter asked. His expression suggested that he was wondering if I'd been here the whole time.

  I shook my head of that thought because even if I had been here, it wouldn't have mattered. I was his woman on that cruise ship, but having met the Strong family, I knew that they were out of my league.

  “About a year,” I answered him.

  The housekeeper brought out lunch, and for the most part I listened as Alex bragged about Carter while Carter blushed but didn’t interrupt his father. He was embarrassed by his father's accolades, and yet he knew it brought his father joy to brag on him, so he endured it. It wasn't a surprise to me, because I remember Carter being so sweet and attentive that week I was with him on the cruise.

  At the same time, it hurt me because Tanner didn’t have this. I realized that I needed to tell Carter about his son, but of course I couldn't just blurt it out over lunch. I had to find the right time. And I had to make sure that Carter would be receptive to the idea of being a father. It was going to be a shock for sure. There was no doubt in my mind that he would do the right thing financially and he’d probably make himself available to be a father, but that didn't mean he'd want to. For all I knew he already had a wife and kids.

  I glanced towards his left hand and didn't see a ring, but I also knew that didn't mean anything. Many men didn't wear a wedding ring. And while I knew it was wrong, there was another part of me that was afraid to tell him because clearly, Carter and his family could give Tanner so much more than I could. Not more love, of course, because I loved my son with all my heart. But they could give him opportunities that I wouldn't be able to.

  When the housekeeper came and cleared our dishes, Alex rose from his chair. "I want to take the board down to the water and see how she floats."

  I shook my head. "You're not ready to surf yet, Alex."

  "I won’t surf. I just want to walk out into the water and see how she floats. Maybe even sit on her."

  I looked out over the water to see how large the waves were. I had gone into the water with him a few times before because clearly, he loved it. But we’d only gone in when the waves were small and wouldn’t risk knocking him down.

  "You know I can do it, Jess," he said with a slight bit of annoyance in his tone. Alex was one of the most jovial men I'd ever met, so when I heard that tone, I knew it was important to him.

  I nodded. "Okay, but I should go with you."

  He shook his head. "I can do it."

  I realized we'd reached that part of therapy, when clients felt strong and capable and wanted to push themselves, but it was dangerous too because sometimes they weren’t physically ready, even though they were mentally ready.

  "I'll go with him."

  We all looked to the voice coming out onto the terrace.

  "Noah, what are you doing here?" Carter asked.

  "I came to talk to dad, and hit on Jess," Noah said with a wink to me. It was a game that he played with me. I and everyone in the family knew he didn't mean it, except perhaps for Carter, who sounded almost like he was growling.

  "Get the board son and walk with me to the beach," Alex said to Noah.

  Noah did as his father asked, and I watched as they made their way off the terrace and down to the beach. It was only as I saw them wade into the water that I realized I was on the terrace alone with Carter.

  3

  Carter

  I had never been so happy to see my brother Noah as I was in that moment. With him taking dad down to the beach, I was now alone with Jess. I looked over the table at her as she watched my father and Noah make their way across the sand. I wondered if she was ignoring me, or if she really didn't remember me.

  "It's a pleasant surprise to see you again, Jess," I said, letting her know that I remembered her.

  She flinched slightly, but then turned her attention to me. "I thought you looked familiar."

  I could see she's trying to make this situation light, but it felt awkward. At the same time, it was amazing how strong the urge was to reach over and touch her, as if to make sure she was real. At the same time, I knew that a lot could change in four years. Was she married? Did she have kids?

  I chanced a glance at her left hand to see if she was wearing a ring. I was pleased to see that she wasn't. Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't seeing somebody, but it didn't look like she was married or engaged.

  "Thank you for taking such good care of my dad. He thinks the world of you, and my brothers speak very highly of you as well. I regret that I haven't been home more since his accident,” I said.

  She shrugged and played with the condensation on her glass. "Your father is a joy to work with. I can see now where you got all your manners. He definitely loves to brag about you and your brothers. He's very proud of everything you've done."

  "I'm just a numbers cruncher,” I said. Math always came easy to me, so it was no big deal that my natural talent helped the company.

  "A number cruncher who surfs through Asia."

  I laughed. "Just the number cruncher part. I don't surf. It's dad's thing. I'm not even a very good swimmer."

  Her lips twitched up in amusement. "That's right. I remember when we were at the beach in Mexico and the waves kept knocking you over."

  As she said the words, she looked out toward the water, probably wanting to make sure the waves weren’t going to knock over my father.

  I was just pleased that she did remember me and our time together, including how I embarrassed myself on the beach.

  "How is my dad's progress going? I asked. I had the sense that she was uncomfortable talking about our past and since I wanted to keep her here as long as possible, I would go into territory that she was more comfortable with; my father's treatment.

  "He's making very good progress. We’re at the part where he feels he can do more than he can, which is a good sign, yet, at the same time we need to make sure he doesn't overdo it."

  "How much longer do you think you'll need to work with him?" In truth, I was asking how much time I had to get to know her again, because I really did want to get to know her again.

  "I expect to work with him another four or five weeks," she said.

  I fell in love with her in one week four years ago, so four or five weeks was plenty of time to find out if what we had b
efore could be built again. I surprised myself with that thought because I wasn't a man actively looking for happily ever after like my brothers Ryan and Hunter apparently had been. But there'd been something about Jess that week in Mexico that I wanted to feel again.

  We made more small talk, avoiding any discussion about our time together before until finally Noah and my dad came back up from the beach.

  Jess stood up and went to my father. "You look worn out, Alex. Why don’t I help you get settled in for some rest."

  She was right that my father looked exhausted, and at the same time deliriously happy. The ocean did that for him.

  "Can I talk to you for a minute, Carter?" Noah asked me with a nod toward the door inside.

  I didn’t want to leave Jess’s side just yet, but I couldn’t give a good excuse not to go talk to him. We went inside the house and around the corner into the kitchen where we were alone.

  "What are you doing?" Noah asked me.

  I frowned at him. "I don't know. My brother asked me to talk with him. So here I am."

  In the other room, I heard Jess and my father entering the house, and made their way up the hallway towards the room we'd set up for my father since he couldn't take the stairs right now.

  "You're hitting on dad's physical therapist."

  I arched a brow at Noah. "First, I'm not, and second, what business of yours is it if I was," I said. I had taken his comment about hitting on her as a joke, even as I hated it.

  "Because she works for dad,” Noah said on an exasperated breath. "You know we're not supposed to fraternize with the help."

  I let out a loud laugh. "I don't remember you caring that much when Ryan was fake marrying Kellie and Hunter was sleeping with Natalie."

  Noah actually scowled at me, which was surprising considering he usually didn't care very much about business matters. "If you fuck with her, and she ends up hating you, she could take that out on dad."

  I rolled my eyes at him. "I don't get you, Noah. Jess strikes me as being more professional than that, and I'm still baffled about why you care anyway? Have you been trying to make a play for her?" And if so, I was going to beat the ever living shit out of him.