A Forever Kind of Love (Kinds of Love 1)

“Anyway, it's a pipe dream,” she said with a shrug. “So, right now, I'm just doing everything I can to help the kids I can reach.”

“Can I help?”

She turned sharply to look at him. His blue eyes were wide and open and he had a small smile at her surprise.

“Um, sure,” she sputtered. She knew he wasn't going to be a future foster parent and as a business owner he didn't have a lot of spare time to donate, but as a billionaire, he did have money. “A lot of the kids in foster care don't have anything to call their own. We always need back-to-school supplies, toys, suitcases and stuff like that.”

“I'll see what I can do,” he replied. “You can count on me.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile.

He pulled out his phone and quickly typed something. Her phone vibrated a second later, indicating that she'd gotten an email.

“I sent you my charitable donations person,” he said, putting his phone away. “You tell her what you need, and she'll see that you get it. I want to help. I'll donate as much as I can.”

Mia stared at him for a good ten seconds with her mouth hanging open. She knew the offer wasn't just a casual one that would be taken away. The internet article on him said that he was big on donating huge amounts of money. She just hadn't ever expected to be a recipient.

“I tell Laura to keep the barn clean, but you're going to catch flies like that,” he teased, reaching up and putting his thumb and forefinger on her chin. He pushed up gently, helping her close her mouth.

It was prime kiss position. Everything in her gut said to go for it. He wasn't pulling away, and in fact seemed to be tipping his head and bringing her chin to him. Her whole body heated with desire. She closed her eyes just as their lips were about to meet.

“Mia! We got pizza!” Grayson shouted.

Mia's eyes shot open and she pulled back. Carter looked as startled as she felt. He sat quickly back and Mia knew that they had just missed their kiss by seconds. Again.

“Are you two coming? We can't eat in the barn,” Grayson said, coming up to the two of them and grabbing their hands. He was completely oblivious to what was going on.

Carter chuckled and shook his head before standing and following Grayson. He held the barn door open for her.

“One of these days, there won't be an interruption to save you,” he remarked as she walked past him through the door.

“Who says I want to be saved?” She looked back just in time to see Carter's pupils dilate and his mouth go into the cocky half grin that she loved. With a grin of her own, sh

e hurried to the house to eat her dinner.

Chapter 13

Carter

Everything was quiet in the black of the night. The barn was dark and the only sound was the gentle breaths of breathing creatures. Moonlight softly filtered through an open window and the electric lantern was turned down as low as possible while they waited. Carter was sure that he was the only one awake in the entire world, and right now, that was okay with him.

Mia was sleeping on his shoulder. He didn't dare move, despite the fact that his nose itched, his right foot was asleep, and there was a piece of straw poking at his left ankle. The last thing in the entire world that he wanted was to wake her up and have her move away from him. The way her body pressed against his, even just platonically, was heaven.

He smiled at her as she slept. They'd been sitting on the bench, talking about the kids and cars and various other topics. The conversation had drifted back to his cars, and she'd asked him some questions that took a while to explain. He'd started talking and realized she hadn't said anything for awhile. He'd looked over to see that she'd closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep on him. He hadn't dared to move since.

One of the kids murmured something in their sleep. Carter stretched his neck out as far as he could to see if they were still okay. He couldn't see anything and no other sounds came from the dark. All three of the kids were asleep in the hay of an empty stall. They'd fallen asleep hours ago since nothing was happening yet.

Mia shifted slightly and Carter held his breath. She settled further on his shoulder with a small, contented sigh. It made his stomach do funny things and his heart speed up. She was the last person he would have picked for himself to fall for. She wasn't in his social circle, she didn't know anything about cars or horses, and she didn't want him for his money. Yet, she made him happy.

He was falling for her and falling hard. He reached over and brushed a strand of rich brown hair from her face. She was beautiful in a fairy-like way. She would never grace the cover of a magazine or strut down a runway, but she was stunning nonetheless.

Not to mention she was funny and smart. He smiled more in the time since he'd met her than he thought he'd smiled his whole life. His cheeks hurt after their days together from simply smiling. She made him happier than he'd felt in years, and she did it without even realizing she was doing it.

He loved that the connection between them was so mental and not just physical. Although, dear lord, did he want her physically too. Those “almost” kisses were devastating. They were all he could think about. The cold showers were getting out of hand, but it was all he could do to stop himself.

He took a deep, steadying breath. The last thing he needed to be thinking about with her touching him was her kisses. Or what her skin felt like. Or how her eyes darkened when she looked at him. He was already imagining her in his bed and how her hair would splay across his pillow...

“Did I fall asleep?” Mia mumbled, sitting up and shaking her head slowly. “I'm sorry.”