“Taking Carson out.”
“Oh, like a date?” He shut the door then faced me.
“Yeah.”
He smiled. “Good. Just don’t take her anywhere nice. She hates pretentious food.”
“Yeah, I figured that out,” I said with a chuckle. “We’re going to a Chinese place.”
“Perfect.” He gave me a thumbs-up. “Maybe have another make-out session afterward.”
“She told you that?”
“Man, she tells me everything, and I mean everything.”
“Good to know,” I said with another chuckle.
“She seems pretty happy. Has nothing but good things to say.”
“Yeah. I’m really happy too.”
He glanced toward the hallway to make sure she wasn’t there. “She told me she wants to wait because she wants it to be different with you.”
I knew I was getting a version of Carson I’d never met before, someone without walls, someone without fear. She was giving me her heart, piece by piece. She didn’t want me because I was hot or had a big dick. She wanted me on a much deeper level, just like it’d been on the couch. “It already is different.” Based on that kiss, she was ready. Ready to give all of herself to me, to make love to me. But I’d let her realize that on her own.
He gave me a clap on my shoulder. “You want a beer?”
“No. I’m sure she’ll be—”
“God, I’m hungry.” She came down the hallway in jeans and a blouse, her long hair in curls, her makeup dark and sultry. She looked like fire, dancing flames. She grabbed her purse from the table and walked up to me, her eyes light with affection, like she couldn’t wait to reach me.
My arms circled her waist, and I gave her a kiss. My hands snaked down and gave both of her cheeks a manly squeeze.
“You enjoy your dinner.” Charlie walked away. “I’m just going to go throw up.”
As if she didn’t hear a word he said, she pulled away and looked into my face with a pretty smile. “Ready?”
“Yeah.”
We left the apartment and headed to the sidewalk.
I grabbed her hand and locked our fingers together.
She turned to me, a slight smile on her lips.
This was what I wanted, what I’d wanted since the moment I set eyes on her. I didn’t miss the strippers or the strangers in the bars. I wanted this, even though I’d thought I wasn’t ready to have this ever again. But she didn’t care about my money. She didn’t want to go to a fancy restaurant and watch me drop a thousand dollars on a single meal. She didn’t even ask me about that sort of thing.
It was exactly what I wanted.
We reached the Chinese restaurant and took a seat at a small table, the same one we had last time, right up against the window.
“If we’re going to get hot and heavy again, I’ll skip the spicy stuff.”
She looked at her menu, a smile moving onto her lips. “Good thinking. I’ll get the chicken lo mein.”
“Me too.”
The waitress came over, and we ordered drinks and our food at the same time.
“When am I going to see that article?” My elbows were on the table with my hands together, and she did the same thing, leaning forward like she was trying to get to me, and I was trying to get to her.
“I’m done with it.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded. “You want to read it first before I publish it?”
“I trust you’ll make me look good.”
She chuckled. “Vince had me rewrite a couple things because he said there was an obvious bias to it…”
“What kind of bias?”
“That I think you’re sexy and charming.”
“Well, I am those things, so that’s fair.”
She laughed. “Now I need to go back and add arrogant.”
“Also true, so also fair.”
“It’ll probably run on Friday. I’ll let you know.”
“I’ll grab a copy so you can sign it.”
“I’m not a novelist,” she said with a chuckle.
“You’re still a writer. I’ll frame it and put it on the wall.”
She didn’t say anything, but her eyes gave away her feelings. My support of her career clearly meant a lot to her. It was her passion, not just her job, and compliments were a big deal.
I hated the danger her job put her in, but I didn’t know what the solution was. If I asked her to stop, she would never agree. And if I asked…she would probably dump me. She didn’t seem like a woman who would want to be with a man who would ask her such a thing. So I just had to keep my mouth shut…and pray nothing ever happened to her.
“What’s new with you at the office?”
I shrugged. “Meetings…and meetings.”
“Come on, that can’t be true. Based on what you told me, you’re pretty involved in product development.”
“Which is done through meetings…”
She chuckled.
“That is the part of my job I enjoy the most. I enjoy steering the guys in development. If I had the skills or the intelligence, I’d probably move down there and actually work alongside them.”
“You definitely have the intelligence. Maybe you just need to acquire the skills. Have your sister take your position, and you move downstairs.”
“Always an idea.”
The food arrived, and Carson immediately dug in. She must have noticed my stare because she offered an explanation. “I didn’t have lunch today. I was running all over the place, and Charlie didn’t have any food when I came back.”
“How are things with Charlie?”
“He was disappointed by Kat’s response but also sympathetic to the situation. I’ve been giving Kat some space…”
“Probably a good idea.”
She stabbed her fork into the noodles, spun them around, and then placed everything into her mouth in a big bite.
“I was thinking we could have dinner with my sister and William this Friday.”
She slowly chewed her food, her eyes on me. When she got everything down, she still took a bit to respond. “Is there a reason why?”
“I just thought it would be nice if you and my sister started over.”
She took another bite.
I hoped this wasn’t pushing her too much, but I’d been optimistic about a more positive response. “If you aren’t ready for that—”
“No,” she said. “Let’s do it.”
Her response was a relief. “You already know William and you’ve met Renee, so I didn’t think it would be a serious thing.”
“It’s fine. It’ll be fun.”
I really loved this new version of her, a woman who wasn’t ready to run the second any kind of commitment was put on the table. She was giving her entire effort this time, wanted us to be together for the long haul. “Renee told me she likes you.”
“What?” She stopped before placing another bite into her mouth. “How can that be? You should have seen the way she ripped into me, which is fine. She was just protecting her brother. If some girl were hurting Charlie, I’d probably go full Cersei on her too.”