The Carrero Solution (Carrero Book 3)

“Jealousy is a killer.” I point out, knowing fine well I probably would’ve kicked Jake’s ass if it’d been me. Jealousy makes us irrational, seeing red no matter how innocent the situation is.

“Well, aren’t we little angelic bundles of insecurity?” Sarah chirps in with a smile, patting Leila’s hand. “I once threw an entire plate of pasta at Marcus in a restaurant because some ex-girlfriend kissed him on the cheek when she came by to say hi.” She shrugs as a matter of fact.

“I tried to convince Jake I was climbing into another guy’s bed because I heard a girl in the background when he was on the phone to me.” I also shrug. The three of us regard each other for a moment, then burst out laughing. Even Leila laughs and wipes her smudgy eyes.

“None of that is healthy at all.” Leila looks deflated. “But it makes me feel less insane. I know I flew off the handle, but honestly, this is so hard. Daniel has made an art out of fucking my head up for the last ten years, and now he’s doing it again. I’m so scared that one of these days, he will turn around and be like … “This ain’t for me, kitten.” She does a very good Hunter impression, alarmingly so, even the way she tilts her head and raises a palm.

“Have you ever thought about not being so hostile and giving him a genuine chance? Letting him in a little so that maybe he won’t want to turn and run?” Now it’s my turn to pat Leila’s hand, and she sighs as the bartender nudges in with a round of drinks, leaving his card in full view in front of Leila, cockily and a little too smoothly. A move Jake would’ve pulled off a hundred times more seductively.

“Call me.” He winks at her before wandering back off back to the bar with a smile. All three of us watch him go with equally unamused expressions. He’s tall like Hunter, overly muscular and blonde, but way less appealing. He has an I’m in love with myself, so I bet you are too aura about him, making him unattractive instantly.

“Asshole,” Leila retorts, dumping the card over her shoulder toward the floor, not caring that he can still see her.

“So, if sexy barmen dropping their card on your lap are not going to cut it, then what next?” Sarah is now trying to decipher Leila’s thoughts, appraising her intensely.

“Guess you better tell the assholes they can come in then and at least try to pretend to look surprised at seeing us here.” She mumbles, sitting up straight, and taking a steadying breath. Fingers in her hair, tidying it up self-consciously.

* * *

As soon as Leila knew they were coming, she lost courage and high-tailed it to the ladies’ room alone, telling us she needed a minute to breathe and fix her face. I know the men won’t take long to get here. Knowing Jake, they are probably camped out on the bar doorstep. He’s probably wearing out a hole in the pavement from frantic pacing.

Sarah and I sip our drinks, watching the scenery, chatting non-descriptively in the few minutes it takes that sexy six-foot-two Adonis to come swaggering in, making my insides liquefy. He has the same effect on me every time I see him. He makes everyone else disappear, with just an appearance, like watching him course through the crowds at the Charity Ball all over again, and my heart soars.

He spots us with his eagle-eyed observation and immediately turns our way with Hunter behind him. Some little brunette appears, stopping their progress, waving her hands and hips at him, and a frown crosses Jake’s face as he looks down at whatever she’s saying. He gently and firmly puts a hand on her shoulder, pushing her aside without another glance, and he keeps coming toward me.

Suddenly, I get what Leila meant. She wanted some sign that Daniel was hers, not just weird, angry dating and sex. She wanted to see him show loving possession in subtle ways like Jake just did. The girl was a test in Leila’s messed-up head, and he failed, whereas Jake just succeeded.

Hunter needs to start making obvious shows of his love for her, be demonstrative, and assure her that this is the real deal for him. I doubt he’s had any chance of showing any form of softness while Leila’s been in high maintenance feisty mode. He needs to be the guy he was when she was sixteen, the gentle boy who made her first time beautiful if he’s ever going to win her round.

Leila is the same insecure and terrified girl I was. She needs Daniel to cut through all her crap and see it too. He needs to romance her rather than handle her; under that crazy-spirited exterior, she’s still a girl shielding a fragile heart.

When they approach, Jake swoops in and kisses me hard on the mouth, a hint of aggression telling me the last half hour has probably been torture for him, and now he needs to expel all his tension. I tilt my head back, straining my neck with the ferocity of his kiss, and lose my breath at the sheer passion in it.

“Steady on, Carrero.” Sarah giggles, slapping him on his huge muscular shoulder. “Let the lady breathe. You might break her neck if you keep that up.” Jake throws her a non-apologetic smirk, then comes back to kiss me, a little gentler, while still cupping my face and saving my neck from injury.

Daniel is holding back behind Jake, looking around sheepishly. He seems tired and stressed and, need I say, heartbroken. He looks nothing like the Daniel Hunter of old, the little lost soul inside of him in full view.

“Where is she?” He butts in, doing another eye sweep of the room. It’s obvious he’s on tenterhooks and can’t seem to stand still. Jake stands and motions to the bar, almost ignoring his question.

“We’re going to get drinks; we’ll be a couple of minutes. You need top-ups?” He strokes a hand down my face, turning away when Sarah and I shake our heads.

“Bathroom.” I raise my eyebrows at Hunter as Jake pulls him away, part of him so sure she wouldn’t be here, and he relaxes a little.

Bless him.

“Wait,” I say hurriedly. Jake halts, and both men look my way. “I know you’re expecting fiery hell-cat and her usual shitty attitude, Daniel, but she needs some delicate handling. It’s all an act; maybe if you try the gentle approach, it might make a difference. She needs the guy who made her first time the best time,” I raise a brow subtly, seeing how his frown ripples across his face as he takes in what I’m saying. Jake throws an arm around Daniel’s neck with a rather intrigued and mildly aggressive expression …

Oops,… a reaction to finding out about Hunter’s removal of Leila’s virginity.

“In that case, seeing as I’m the ‘pussy touchy one’ that you’re nothing like, we should compare notes, right?” Jake jibes Daniel’s own words back at him and pokes at his ribs with his free hand dragging him off to the bar. I would love to be a fly on the wall in their next few minutes of conversation.

I watch the pair saunter to the bar; heads close, as Jake obviously imparts some words of much-needed wisdom or maybe drags Leila’s first-time truth out with hostility. They’re only just getting there when I spy Leila appear across the room. She instantly spots the most attractive pair here by a long shot, and she loses every ounce of Leila confidence and spark. She fumbles with her bag and turns, retreating to the ladies’ room as though her ass is on fire.

This is not going well.

I go to get up, but Sarah catches my arm, sitting me back down, her eagle eyes having seen Leila too.

“Let her regroup and try again, she’s only just laid eyes on him, and I’m guessing it threw her. Give her time to do this on her own.” Sarah is always wise, and I nod as we watch impatiently for any sign of her return. I can’t help catching the way Daniel’s head tilts in the same direction, and I know he’s watching for her coming out. He didn’t see her the first time. His body language emanates all kinds of fear and tension. The boy is seriously desperate to see her, it’s so touching. If Leila can’t see how much he loves her, she’s quite frankly a fool.

It feels like a long time of Sarah and me passing silent tense facial expressions before she nods toward the distance. I turn to see Leila walking out with her head held high, a look of pure defiance on her pretty little face and the stride of a woman in complete bitch mode. She looks at us, locking onto her focus, before marching our way on a mission. She turns as she gets to the DJ box, swinging her hips sexily as she makes her way toward him, leaning in and touching the DJ on the shoulder, whispering something in his ear.

I catch Hunter out of the corner of my eye looking her way, and he moves out. Jake’s hand on his chest stops him suddenly, and Jake leans in, saying something in his ear. Close and serious and Daniel nods without tearing his eyes from his prize.

The DJ nods at Leila and seems to put on whatever request she has made as she moves back with a satisfied fake smile on her little face.

The sound of Pink “So What!” starts flowing across the room, and I know Leila is trying to convey to Daniel that she doesn’t care one iota about his presence. She’s in full defensive mode, and the walls are up. Her song choice is one of attitude, and I don’t need you.

So definitively, Leila. She’s found her spark again, and Daniel better bring his backbone.

She turns to saunter away from the DJ booth saucily, and I’m drawn to the fact that Daniel is almost upon her. Catching her arm mid-stride, she recoils and tries to haul it from him. But he keeps a strong hold tugging her back with him by the wrist to the booth. His arm stretches out as she tries to go the opposite way, but he keeps a firm hold of her while leaning into the DJ and saying something. He holds out what looks like a hundred-dollar bill then the music is cut instantly. As soon as the softer notes of a new song start, Hunter turns back to the deathly still, glaring girl in his grip.

Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” waves across the room, and I can’t help but smile. Hunter is taking my advice, doing this the softly, softly way. I could almost applaud him now; instead of bringing his wild cat back to heel, he’s sweeping her off her feet. He should have done it this way long ago.

The only thing on his face right now is fear, and I watch in fascination. Her little chin lifts and bristles with defensiveness, his body sags, and he becomes completely submissive to her, almost in response, reading her.

Daniel is not being his usual dominant, cocky self with his little fury girl. He’s reaching inside, showing her a part of him that obviously existed when she was sixteen when he’d made her first time with him memorable. A part of Daniel I’m guessing no one ever really gets to see.

Jake slides in next to me, placing two beers on the table, sliding an arm around me, and joins in on watching The Hunter and Leila Show.

“I told him to stop with the games and just talk to her, like a normal person; to stop acting like this was all some “casual see where it goes bullshit” and just be honest with her,” he says huskily.

Games huh? Not so long ago, I knew a certain guy who was rather partial to our little games. That guy seems to have calmed down nowadays, though.

I warmly smile at him, receiving a kiss on the forehead as a reward before my eyes snap back to the couple that I really want to sort things out.

Leila tries to tug herself away again, but Hunter won’t let go. Her normal fire is absent despite her resistance, and she turns her body instead so that she can look away from him. He only steps closer, so he spoons her, his hand instantly moving to her hair, gently brushing it away as he leans in, saying something in her ear. His whole manner is soft and agonizingly sincere, and I can’t help feeling like we’re getting a glimpse into something deep and meaningful. The music flowing over the entire bar only adds to the heart-tugging scene before me, the song, somehow, crazily Daniel.

Whatever he’s saying is having some sort of effect as Leila’s lip starts to wobble, and she bites on it to stop herself from crying. The music gives a helping hand as her defenses start to crumble, lifting that chin again, tensing her body to try to resist. He lets go of her arm and runs a trail of fingers from her wrist to her shoulder, still bent in low, talking directly into her ear. She physically trembles, and I smile, knowing exactly how Jake can make me feel by doing that, knowing Leila has zero chance with Hunter if she does love him. Brief tender touches have a way of going straight into your soul.