I shake my head. “Terrible.”
Poor Luke has to bring our food to the table when it’s done. At least Carter is sitting on the opposite side of the booth with Chloe and not over here with me, I guess. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that Luke doesn’t approve of the company I’m keeping, and knowing all I know, I can’t really fault him for it.
Once the stress of being seen with Carter by my pastor’s brother passes, the rest of the night is actually really nice. We take Chloe to the movie theater, get ice cream, then go back to their house and play Mario Kart with her until she passes out on the couch.
Carter takes Chloe upstairs and puts her in bed, so I make sure when he comes back down, I have my purse handy, my shoes on, and I’m standing, my body language clearly informing him that it’s time for me to leave. Ordinarily I wouldn’t come back to his house at all, but I figured with Chloe in the room, I would be safe.
Now Chloe is asleep upstairs and we’re in the house alone, so I am no longer protected by anything. Add to that the fact that he specifically said if he wanted to fuck me, he would take me to his house, and I’m feeling pretty antsy about getting out of here.
As he walks back into the great room, Carter eyes up my defensive position and faintly smirks. “Where do you think you’re rushing off to, princess?”
I keep both hands fastened around the handles of my purse and take a step back. “I need to get home. I have some studying to do before bed, and I already texted my mom and told her I’d be on my way, so… she’ll be waitin’ for me.”
“Nah,” he says, moving directly into my space. “Not yet. We’ve been babysitting all night. Now we can spend some one-on-one time together.”
“Yeah, well, I only really agreed to come out today because the little girl would be there, so…” I trail off as his hand closes around my wrist and he tugs me back toward the couch.
“Come on,” he says.
My stomach drops as he pulls me forward. I put some effort into pulling back, but it’s a measly resistance. Meeting his gaze, I say, “Come on, Carter. Let me go home.”
“I’m not gonna hurt you,” he tells me.
I swallow, watching him warily.
“I’m not,” he insists, dragging me toward the couch. “I want to kiss you, that’s all. Kissing didn’t bother you last night, did it?”
Last night isn’t something I even want to think about, but I’m more focused on this night. “You promise?”
His lips curve up and he pushes me down on the couch. “You believe my promises, princess?”
The breath rushes out of me as I ease back on the couch, watching him like a suicidal gazelle might watch the hungry lion as he approaches. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” I ask, as he neatly moves my legs so I’m horizontal on the couch, then comes down on top of me. Once more, he pins me down, imprisoning my wrists against the soft couch cushion.
“Of course you have a choice,” he says, bending his head to kiss my neck. “I can make you do a lot of things, but I can’t make you trust me. That, you have to give me.”
Does he want that? My trust? If so, boy, has he set some goals for himself. “Do you think it’s easy to trust you when you’re so willing to pounce on me?” I ask him.
“Didn’t say it was easy,” he remarks, nipping at the sensitive skin of my neck, sending a jolt straight through my body. “A challenge isn’t enough to stop the magnificent Zoey Ellis though, is it?”
I crack a smile, even though I know he must be picking on me. “Magnificent, huh? I thought I was an ice princess.”
“Sometimes,” he acknowledges, his lips moving to my earlobe. Pleasurable shivers dance across the back of my neck and down my spine as he nips that, too. “But sometimes you’re warm.” He kisses my neck. “Sometimes you’re sweet.” Another kiss, trailing closer to my face. “Sometimes you’re a real pain in the ass.”
“How romantic,” I say dryly, meeting his gaze as he pulls back to look at me.
His lips tug up in a faint smile. “You’re a lot of different things, just like me.”
That’s true. We certainly aren’t the same, he and I, but given we’ve experienced things with one another we haven’t experienced with anyone else, we probably do have insight into layers that our friends and families haven’t even peeked at.
That’s interesting to think about. Intimacy seemed a little intimidating, but looking at it this way, as another way to bond with someone… well, maybe a little less so.