C is for Carter

“Great. Come on. Let’s go.”

I grabbed my purse and followed them out. We all piled into Deacon’s truck, and he looked in the rearview mirror at us.

“What’s everybody in the mood for?” he asked.

“Not the diner,” Carter and I said at the same time.

We looked over at each other and laughed.

“I’m going to go ahead and agree with that one,” Deacon said.

“How about some Italian?” Everett said. “There’s that little place right outside of town that makes amazing calzones.”

“Angelo’s? That sounds good,” Deacon said.

Carter and I agreed, and he pulled the truck out of the parking lot. A few minutes later, we got to the restaurant, and a hostess met us at the door. She gathered up menus and started leading us toward a table. We hadn’t gone far when a table caught my eye, bringing me to a stop.

“Oh, what in the fresh hell is this,” I said.

“What?” Carter asked. “What’s wrong?”

“In some messed-up cosmic joke, Ashton is here,” I said, trying to keep my voice under my breath so he didn’t overhear me.

“Ashton?” he asked.

He sounded just as disbelieving as I was.

“Yep,” I said. “Right over there. This is seriously ridiculous. We avoid going to the diner on the off chance he’s decided to keep sitting there waiting for me to come back, and of all the places we could have ended up, we go to the restaurant where he already is.”

“Do you want to leave?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m not going to let him chase me away.”

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s go.”

The hostess was headed in a direction that would bring us right past Ashton’s table, and I braced myself. Just as we were approaching the table, Carter reached down and took my hand. I felt my heart jump. I couldn’t believe he had just done that. It finally felt like he was telling me he had feelings for me too. There was no more denying it.

As we walked past Ashton, I kept my eyes focused ahead of me, but out of the corner of one, I could see him notice I was there. His stare locked on Carter’s and my hands grasped together between us, and his expression darkened.

I did my best not to let on to it while the satisfied smile crept onto my lips. The hostess brought us to our table, which was mercifully far enough away from Ashton that I didn’t feel like we were sharing lunch with him. Carter pulled out my chair, and I sat down, looking up at him to thank him. He winked and took his own seat.

I was glad I decided to go with the guys to lunch. Carter and I flirted throughout the meal, and even though there was a possibility he was only doing it for Ashton’s benefit, it felt real. When it carried on even after Ashton stood, tossed his napkin down on the table, and stormed out of the restaurant, I knew for certain.

When we got back to the office, Deacon and Everett headed back to work. Carter lingered with me for a few seconds, waiting until I was settled back at my desk.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I just wanted to make sure seeing him didn’t get to you too much.”

I shook my head. “I’m fine.”

“Good,” he said. Carter looked like something else was on his mind, and my heart skipped a little. “Well, I guess I should get back to it.”

He walked out of the office, and I sagged in my chair. I really thought that was the moment when it was going to happen, but, yet again, it didn’t. Now all I could do was spend the rest of the day trying to work when all my mind wanted to do was scream at him to ask me out already.

13

CARTER

“Will you two knock it off?”

“He wants us to knock it off, Deacon,” Everett said, wiping his forehead with his handkerchief.

“Well, if he wants us to knock it off, maybe, and this is just a wild idea, he should ask her out already,” Deacon said.

“I said knock it off,” I said again.

“Come on, pussy,” Everett said.

“Seriously?” I laughed. “Which one of us ran back into enemy fire to pick up your ass and carry it to safety again?”

“Damn, he went there,” Deacon said.

“Of all the low blows,” Everett added, shaking his head and trying not to let me see him laughing. “Of all the low damn blows.”

“Seriously, you two are something else,” I said. “Remind me again why I agreed to start this company with you two?”

“Enormous piles of cash that we will all have in like six months,” Everett said.

“That’s it,” I said. “I almost forgot.”

Deacon shook his head and chuckled.

“I wouldn’t be shocked if you did,” he said. “The only thing you’ve been thinking of in the last week has been that girl.”