8
Jess
Alex and I were returning from a short walk along the road. When we reached his driveway, I saw a little sports car sitting in the driveway. The door opened, and Carter stepped out. He was in a suit again and my mouth watered at how gorgeous he looked. Next to me, Alex beamed, and Carter trotted over to give his father a hug.
"You're back again," Alex said to Carter.
"I'm back to make sure that Jess gave you the cookies I left and didn't steal them and hoard them to herself," Carter said, giving me a wink.
I smirked at him.
"Of course, she gave them to me, and then I hoarded them all to myself," Alex replied. Of course, that wasn't true, and Alex had shared his cookies and he was right, they were probably the most delicious cookies in all of San Diego.
Alex pointed to Carter's car. "Is that new?"
Carter looked over his shoulder, glancing at the car, and then shook his head as he turned his attention back to us. "No, that's an old one. I did buy a new car though dad. It was just delivered, and I will be back around soon to give you a ride. This one actually I'm taking to donate to charity."
We all started walking toward the house, when Carter pointed to my car. "Is that bucket of bolts yours?" he asked.
I gaped at him. "Yes, and I'll have you know that the car gets me from point A to point B back to point A without any problems."
Carter gives me one of his sexy smirks. "But does it get to points C, D all the way to Z? It looks like it's held together with rust."
"Now Carter, stop pestering my physical therapist."
"I'm sorry," Carter said. Then he held out his hand, holding the keys of his little used convertible to me. I looked down on them confused as to what he was doing.
"I was going to donate it to charity anyway, but I might as well give it to you. I'll take your car and donate it to charity, or to a scrapheap, whatever will take it."
This time when I gaped, it wasn't an offense, it was in shock. Was Carter really just handing over the keys to his car to me?
"I’ll sign the title over to you for one dollar, so we can try and avoid those pesky taxes,” he finished.
I turned and looked at the little red sports car, and the young woman in me wanted to accept his offer. I could already feel the wind blowing through my hair as I drove Highway One along the coast.
There was only one big glaring problem; it was a two-seater. There was no backseat. There was no place for a car seat for Tanner.
Sure, I was a little disappointed, but I had already accepted that my carefree life was gone the minute I found out Tanner was coming. And I didn't regret one minute of it, because what Tanner gave me was so much more than what a little shiny red car could give me.
"Carter, that's really kind and sweet, but I can't take that from you."
He maintained his smile, but I saw the disappointment in his eyes.
"In my line of work I have a lot of equipment I have to carry, and it just won't be practical," I said, hoping to soften the blow.
He nodded as if he did take it and then turned to his father. "I hear there's a new restaurant in the Gaslamp that I think we should all go try out."
Alex arched his brow. "Your treat?"
Carter laughed. "My treat. For the both of you."
Me too? I didn’t go out for dinner as it wasn’t practical or affordable for me. But I’d often wanted to go to the Gaslamp district, the beautiful historic area of San Diego.
Alex and Carter look at me expectantly. Once again, I had that yearning for something I'd had to give up when Tanner was born, but I worked to push it away, because one of my goals was always to be home for dinner with Tanner.
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"Come on, Jess," Carter said. "Have dinner with my dad and me. My other brothers have had all sorts of time to get to know you. I'm just looking to have the same opportunity."