Ache For Me, The Everetts of Tyler, Book 4 **Available Now**
After years away from home, Camryn Everett ran from the big city back to her home in Tyler. The rest of her family is settled and happy, and she is... lost. Lost without a show, lost without a stage, lost without a direction. When she's finally given a direction, she's put right in the path of her childhood unrequited love, Carter Jamieson.
Carter has loved Camryn for longer than he will ever admit and promised long ago to leave her alone, but being thrown together--and put in danger-- changes everything.
Amidst gunshots, history, and family connections, their love grows... As long as they can stay alive long enough to pursue it.
Chapter One
Camryn Everett caught herself before the frown appeared on her face. This was her brother's wedding, and surely she could find it within herself to be happy for him. She was surrounded by people in love, by examples of what marriage should be, and she should be happy or at least heartened by it all. Instead, she was ashamed, and a little envious. Okay, a lot envious. Her older siblings had all found their matches and Caleb even had a cherubic little girl to call his daughter—or he would after all the papers were in order at least—and all she had was a bitter heart, a disdain for relationships, and a very guilty conscience.
She held in the sigh that wanted to break free. She should have known better than to get involved with Gavin, but she'd fallen hard and fast for his charms, for his lines. She'd moved in with him almost as soon as they started seeing each other and had been dreaming of a fall wedding in Central Park until the day she came home and her world was shattered.
“Hey, baby, I'm home,” she greeted as she came in, two coffees balanced in her hands. There was no answer, but that wasn't unusual if Gavin was in work mode. She made her way into the kitchen, tossed her keys in the bowl, and set the coffees down.
“Gav?” she called again as she walked through the apartment. Rhythmic banging came from the bedroom and her stomach dropped. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for what she'd find when she opened the door. Part of her wished she could just walk away, pretend nothing was happening, but she refused to be a coward.
“Gavin?” she questioned as she pushed the door wide. There she found him, buried deep in a brunette who wore nothing but a huge diamond wedding set on her left hand. “Cheating with a married woman?!” she screeched.
Gavin's English accent was thick. “No, love, she's my wife. You're the piece on the side,” he explained without missing a stroke, and his wife didn't seem bothered in the least. “You're a good fuck, Cammy,” he went on, never losing focus on the woman beneath him. “Iris doesn't mind, do you, love?”
She hadn't waited for his wife's answer, running out of the apartment, out of the city, out of everything she'd worked toward for years. She'd left it all behind, and hadn't cared a bit. Things could be replaced, but she'd been too weak to go back. She'd always thought herself strong, but she couldn't face him, couldn't look the cast and crew in the eye, not when she knew they all thought she'd slept her way into her role. How many of them had known he was married? So she'd come home to Tyler with no explanations given, and she'd hidden.
Now, she was sitting here with her parents witnessing Caleb commit his life to Haleigh, and she had to pull from every bit of her training not to fall to pieces.
~*~
Carter Jamieson knew something was wrong with Camryn, and had known it since he'd first laid eyes on her when she came home. He hated to admit she was the one Everett he could read at a distance of fifty paces, and the one he couldn't allow himself near. She was ten years his junior, his best friend's baby sister, but he was fully aware she was nothing close to a baby now and hadn't been since she was fifteen.
He focused on the couple getting married to try and stave off the memories of Cam in a bikini unknowingly torturing him at his family's pool while he was in law school. She had dancer's legs, but abundant curves on top, and while he knew she was supposed to be like a sister to him, he couldn't hide his reaction. She'd only gotten sexier in the following years, so he'd avoided her ever since, causing awkward family get-togethers and pain in her swirling hazel eyes.
He hated to hurt her, but what could he do? It was either walk away from her or cause trouble for them both. He wasn't the wholesome, straight-laced man everyone assumed him to be, and he was most certainly too old for Camryn Everett, even if she haunted his dreams every night. No, he wanted to help her, but he couldn't trust himself around her, so he would stay out of her path as he had for the last decade. Even if it made him ache.
Carter has loved Camryn for longer than he will ever admit and promised long ago to leave her alone, but being thrown together--and put in danger-- changes everything.
Amidst gunshots, history, and family connections, their love grows... As long as they can stay alive long enough to pursue it.
Chapter One
Camryn Everett caught herself before the frown appeared on her face. This was her brother's wedding, and surely she could find it within herself to be happy for him. She was surrounded by people in love, by examples of what marriage should be, and she should be happy or at least heartened by it all. Instead, she was ashamed, and a little envious. Okay, a lot envious. Her older siblings had all found their matches and Caleb even had a cherubic little girl to call his daughter—or he would after all the papers were in order at least—and all she had was a bitter heart, a disdain for relationships, and a very guilty conscience.
She held in the sigh that wanted to break free. She should have known better than to get involved with Gavin, but she'd fallen hard and fast for his charms, for his lines. She'd moved in with him almost as soon as they started seeing each other and had been dreaming of a fall wedding in Central Park until the day she came home and her world was shattered.
“Hey, baby, I'm home,” she greeted as she came in, two coffees balanced in her hands. There was no answer, but that wasn't unusual if Gavin was in work mode. She made her way into the kitchen, tossed her keys in the bowl, and set the coffees down.
“Gav?” she called again as she walked through the apartment. Rhythmic banging came from the bedroom and her stomach dropped. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for what she'd find when she opened the door. Part of her wished she could just walk away, pretend nothing was happening, but she refused to be a coward.
“Gavin?” she questioned as she pushed the door wide. There she found him, buried deep in a brunette who wore nothing but a huge diamond wedding set on her left hand. “Cheating with a married woman?!” she screeched.
Gavin's English accent was thick. “No, love, she's my wife. You're the piece on the side,” he explained without missing a stroke, and his wife didn't seem bothered in the least. “You're a good fuck, Cammy,” he went on, never losing focus on the woman beneath him. “Iris doesn't mind, do you, love?”
She hadn't waited for his wife's answer, running out of the apartment, out of the city, out of everything she'd worked toward for years. She'd left it all behind, and hadn't cared a bit. Things could be replaced, but she'd been too weak to go back. She'd always thought herself strong, but she couldn't face him, couldn't look the cast and crew in the eye, not when she knew they all thought she'd slept her way into her role. How many of them had known he was married? So she'd come home to Tyler with no explanations given, and she'd hidden.
Now, she was sitting here with her parents witnessing Caleb commit his life to Haleigh, and she had to pull from every bit of her training not to fall to pieces.
~*~
Carter Jamieson knew something was wrong with Camryn, and had known it since he'd first laid eyes on her when she came home. He hated to admit she was the one Everett he could read at a distance of fifty paces, and the one he couldn't allow himself near. She was ten years his junior, his best friend's baby sister, but he was fully aware she was nothing close to a baby now and hadn't been since she was fifteen.
He focused on the couple getting married to try and stave off the memories of Cam in a bikini unknowingly torturing him at his family's pool while he was in law school. She had dancer's legs, but abundant curves on top, and while he knew she was supposed to be like a sister to him, he couldn't hide his reaction. She'd only gotten sexier in the following years, so he'd avoided her ever since, causing awkward family get-togethers and pain in her swirling hazel eyes.
He hated to hurt her, but what could he do? It was either walk away from her or cause trouble for them both. He wasn't the wholesome, straight-laced man everyone assumed him to be, and he was most certainly too old for Camryn Everett, even if she haunted his dreams every night. No, he wanted to help her, but he couldn't trust himself around her, so he would stay out of her path as he had for the last decade. Even if it made him ache.
