Page 11 of Just One: Box Set

Chapter Eleven

J ackie sat across the table staring at her friend who was holding her hand up. She couldn’t believe it—Archer had put a ring on her finger. A huge ring at that.

"So let me get this straight. You're both going to Emory in the fall, and you want to run away to Vegas and get married over the summer?"

"Yep." Harley grinned. "And I want you to be my maid of honor."

"In Vegas?" Jackie shook her head. "Wow. I don't know what to say."

"Say yes. My dad is paying for everything. Once I explained I wasn't pregnant and that we wanted to do this before medical school and law school consumed us, he was ecstatic."

"Well. If he's flipping the bill, who am I to say no. Besides…" She grabbed Harley's hand in hers. "I wouldn’t miss my best friend saying I do."

Harley bit her lip. "There's only one thing."

"What? You want me to wear ruffles?"

"No." Harley turned her head for a minute before looking back at Jackie. "Carter is Archer’s best man."

"What? No. Harley, I can't. You know he and I can't be around each other without killing one another."

"Look." Harley sighed. "I don't know what happened between you two, but this is my big day, and I need you there. Can't you just put your feelings aside for a weekend?"

Jackie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She and Carter couldn’t be in the same room without fireworks erupting. The thing was… it hadn't always been that way. But she wasn’t about to tell Harley that.

"Yeah. I'll make it work." Jackie sighed. "When are we doing this shindig?"

"Two weeks after graduation."

"Great." Jackie stood. "I gotta get to work. Call me later so we can work out the details."

"Thank you, Jackie, for everything." Harley stood and hugged her best friend.

Jackie headed toward the bar. The place that started her feud with Carter. He worked there as well… making a work night interesting. Her mind drifted back to the night she'd made the biggest mistake ever.

"Jackie." Carter called out from behind the bar. "Can you grab a case of Michelob from the back?"

"Sure." She headed toward the stock room to grab what he needed.

Jackie had been in there longer than Carter apparently thought she should be because he barged into the storeroom, causing her to drop the case in hand.

"What the fuck?" She cried out as the box tumbled from her hands, nearly missing her foot.

"Shit." Carter rushed to her side and kneeled in front of her. "You ok? I didn’t mean to startle you."

"I'm fine. Why and the fuck did you come back here? Was I not moving fast enough for you?" Carter stared at her face, frozen in place. Jackie tilted her head forward and narrowed her eyers. "Did you hear me? Carter?" She waved her hand in his face.

Carter grabbed her wrist and hauled her into his chest, his lips slamming down on hers. Jackie lost her senses and wrapped her arms around his neck, allowing him to hoist her off the ground.

He pressed her against the wall, knocking down several stacked cases of liquor.

The noise seemed to slap them back to reality because Carter dropped her to her feet and stepped back.

"Shit." He ran his palm down his face. "I shouldn’t have done that." Carter turned and picked the case of beer off the ground. He paused by the door and glanced back over his shoulder. "Can you not tell Mandy that happened?"

Right. His girlfriend.

Jackie closed her eyes, willing the tears not to fall in front of him. "Sure. It was a mistake anyway."

Cater stepped out of the room, and the sound of the door closing made her jump. She wanted to scream. He'd just given her the best kiss of her life and then ran out like his ass was on fire. Not to mention he had a girlfriend, making Jackie feel like the scum of the earth.

"Jackie?" the sound of his voice pulled her from the memory. "You alright? I've been calling your name."

Jackie glanced up and glared at Carter, who was standing two feet from her. "Sorry. I was thinking about the fact I have to put up with your stupid ass in Vegas."

"Damn, Jackie. How long are you going to be pissed at me?" Carter sighed. "I said I was sorry."

"Whatever, Carter. Does Mandy know?" She eyed him with one brow raised. When he didn’t answer right away, she stormed past him, bumping her shoulder into him. "I didn’t think so."

"Mandy and I broke up." Carter admitted, making Jackie stop dead in her tracks.

"I don't care."

"I can't wait until Vegas. You make it seem so exciting." Carter grumbled. "At least I can gamble and drink. I'm gonna need the liquor to put up with your cranky ass."

"Fuck you." Jackie spun. "You kissed me." She grated out through a clenched jaw. "And then stormed out like I had some kind of disease. SO excuse me for thinking you’re a class A dickhead. I'm glad Mandy dumped you. She deserves someone who won't kiss other women in a storage room."

"I dumped her." Carter moved past her and stepped around the bar. "Seems my head is stuck on someone else."

"Good for that someone else. Maybe you won't be a cheating bastard with her."

Carter stared at Jackie, his eyes penetrating her to the very core. "I know I wouldn’t… I'm pretty certain she's the one I'll marry."

"Great. Good for you. Can we just not talk anymore? We have to work together—that doesn’t mean we have to be friends." Jackie grumbled.

"I don’t want to be friends anyway." Carter's heated gaze made her skin prickle with emotion.

"Then we agree. When we get to Vegas, stay out of my way and we won't have a problem."

"As you wish." Carter turned and started readying for the evening rush.

Jackie was going to kill Harley. This wedding was going to be the death of her. Because as much as she pretended to hate him… it was just that. A lie.

She hadn’t stopped thinking of that fucking kiss they'd shared in the storeroom. She hated to admit Carter had been the starring role in her alone time with her favorite vibrator on more than one occasion. And now—she was going on vacation with him.

She was doomed. Jackie grabbed a glass and filled it with a shot of whiskey.

The amber liquid burned as it traveled down her throat, pooling in her gut.

She normally didn’t drink on the job, but she needed something to calm her nerves.

It wouldn’t hurt to drink it, if it meant dulling the constant swirl of anxiety Carter created.

Besides… it was just one shot.