“You are making zero sense.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I wanted the fairytale. I wanted the grand love-affair that included marriage and children. There was a part of me that felt like you were the reason Damian didn’t believe in the fairytale.”
“Ah. You thought I was the reason Damian didn’t want to live the traditional life and get married.”
“That and you always had a horde of women surrounding you. If I’m completely honest, I think I feared maybe there was someone else out there that was Damian’s perfect match. I was always waiting for the shoe to drop.”
“You don’t think you were?” If Carter was being real, he never thought they were either.
Harlem’s shoulder lifted in a small shrug. “I don’t know. I know that we loved each other.” She just wasn’t in-love with him and wasn’t sure if he was either. “We just didn’t share the same beliefs.”
“I see. Dame thought you were over the whole hoopla of marriage and that your commitment to one another was enough.”
I wanted more. Harlem would never admit that. “We were committed.” On paper, they were the perfect couple. Damian checked all the boxes from her childhood vision board. He was handsome, smart, successful, and they shared the same skin tone. He was her black prince. In reality, they were anything but perfect.
Carter got the feeling that Harlem was holding something back, but he wouldn’t push. They weren’t friends and really only started to become friendly after discovering Damian’s illness. “I can’t get his final words out of my mind.”
“What were they?”
“He told me to stop going through life numb. To live and thrive.” Carter sighed. “I’m working on it. He wanted me to find my version of Harlem.” His exact words were if Harlem wouldn’t have me, to find my own version of her. Carter would never repeat that. Instead, he paraphrased Damian’s message. “He wanted her to make me as happy as you made him.”
A pang of guilt hit Harlem.
“I know that I’m not Damian, and I could never be. Nobody can live up to him, but Damian put his trust in me. He made me promise that I would always be here for you and that we would raise this baby together.” Carter held her gaze. “I won’t break that promise.”
Harlem knew from the fierce look in his clear blue eyes that Carter intended to at least try to keep that promise. “If Elaina is truly the one, it might be a little tough.”
“I’ll worry about Elaina.”
Skeptical, Harlem raised an eyebrow.
Carter ignored her. “You have a doctor’s appointment on Saturday at nine, right?”
Harlem never told him about her doctor’s visit. “How’d you—?” She didn’t finish her sentence.
“I have my ways.” He looked at her pointedly. “I meant what I said.”
“It’s kind of creepy. Maybe even stalkerish.”
“Stop being secretive and cagey, and I won’t have to go behind your back to get information.”
Harlem couldn’t promise that. “You’re still on a need-to-know basis, Carter.”
“Then, I’ll continue to get my information how I get it.” He blinked and feigned innocence. “Seriously, we’ll figure our way through the minefields.”
Carter was more optimistic than she was. He was right about one thing, this situation was full of minefields, and Harlem could foresee them blowing up in their faces.
Chapter 7
Carter left Harlem’s condo on a mission. He headed straight to Elaina’s office. They needed to have a serious conversation.
She had overstepped.
Elaina was standing just outside her door talking to someone when she caught sight of Carter walking towards her. She beamed. “Speaking of the devil.”
Her colleague turned around. She gave Carter a head-to-toe once over. “This is your guy? The one who filled your office with all those beautiful flowers?”
“The one and only, Carter Owens,” Elaina said proudly.
She stepped around her friend and walked over to kiss him. Subtly, he moved so that her lips caught the corner of his mouth.
Carter spoke in a low growl. “I need to talk to you.”
His tone and the set of his shoulders clued Elaina to the fact that he was pissed. She wasn’t surprised. She hadn’t expected it to happen this soon. It had only been a couple of hours since she’d spoken with Harlem. Elaina smiled wide and pretended as if there wasn’t any tension between them. “Of course. My afternoon is actually free.” She grabbed him by the arm and walked into her office. Once inside, she closed the door.
Elaina ignored his tempered anger. “You didn’t have to do all of this.” She glanced around the room at the flowers. “Although I do appreciate it. All the ladies in the office are green with envy at your thoughtfulness.”
Carter didn’t waste any time getting to the point. “You were out of line.”
Elaina placed a hand over her chest. She spoke with righteous indignation. “I was out of line?”
“I didn’t stutter. You. Were. Out. Of. Line.” He reiterated.
She dropped all pretenses too. “I know you’re upset. But try to see things from my point-of-view. We can’t make our relationship work if there are three of us in this relationship. There needed to be some clear lines drawn in the sand, and I drew them.”
“I confided in you because I thought I could trust you. Harlem is fragile right now . . .”
“That’s my point! You’re more concerned with her fragility than me. The
