A Kiss For Carter

by Davina Stone

  She checked her phone but there was no reply. And now, despite herself, she started to fret.

  What if there’d been an accident? What if the train had smashed into a barrier? What if, as he’d crossed the road outside the station, in his excitement to reach her Carts had forgotten to glance over his shoulder as a truck hurtled towards him? Horrible images of finding the love of her life only to lose him had her eyes welling with tears.

  Judith, this is silly, she told herself.

  The panic started to turn her stomach to acid and sent icy fingers crawling up her spine.

  But not for a single moment did she think he’d stand her up.

  Finally, ten minutes later, having called him twice and sent three more messages, she called Polly.

  “You haven’t seen Carts, have you?”

  “Was Carts home when you left?” she heard Polly say in response, obviously to Solo. Despite her fears, Judith had to smile.

  “No, but let us know if he doesn’t turn up.”

  “Okay.”

  She was just about to ring off when in the darkening light she saw a familiar figure getting closer by the moment, shoulders wide and his head held high. “It’s okay,” she told Polly, “he’s here.”

  Joy and relief surged through her as she ran down the street and hurled herself into his arms.

  Carts dropped his briefcase and embraced her. They stood in the street, hugging and kissing, as she told him she was worried he’d been in an awful accident. And he told her his phone had died. And they laughed and kind of almost cried, and that’s when she said it.

  “I love you.”

  Carts stilled. She felt the thud, thud of his heart against her chest. He buried his face in her neck and hauled in a shuddering breath.

  Oh god, had she done it again? Got too enthusiastic? Said too much?

  She tried to unwind her arms from around his neck and disentangle herself from his embrace. In response, he held her tighter, so her words when they came were muffled against his neck. “Maybe it’s a bit too early to—”

  “No!” Almost fiercely, he pulled back. Dark eyes held hers with vivid intensity before he gently sandwiched her cheeks with his palms. “Don’t take it back.”

  Her heart stumbled, then started beating at double the rate.

  “I love you too. I’ve been holding back saying it but every time I see you, touch you, kiss you, the words just want to come out. I know we’ve only known each other a few weeks, I know it’s early days, I know all that. I know we’ve both been burnt by relationships, but this feels so right. It is right. You and me, Judith. We’re right for each other. I’ve known it from the first moment I saw you.”

  “Ohhhhhhhhh!” Now the tears welled over.

  “I love you so much,” he said. And then he kissed her mouth, tender at first, then bolder. Strong arms pulled her close, and his body pressed hard against hers, and the knowledge of his desire for her all came together, and a little sob of relief welled up in her chest.

  After they’d kissed some more, he wiped the tears from her eyes.

  “I hope these are happy.” He dipped his finger along her lashes and caught one. She nodded and he said, “They’re precious, like all of you.”

  She laughed shakily. “I imagined I’d lost you. Like those movies that look like they’re going to end happily and then, suddenly one of them gets a terminal illness, or a tram runs them over or, or a meteorite crashes out of the sky, or…”

  “Hey,” he said. “I’m here, holding you tight, and loving you with every intact piece of me. See?” He waved a hand at the star-spangled sky. “No meteorite in sight. And outside of Adelaide and Melbourne, I think we’re pretty safe from a tram incident.”

  Another shaky laugh as she burrowed back into him and they stood swaying together for a blissful moment as the news that HE LOVED HER AND SHE LOVED HIM sank deep inside her.

  “I’m sorry,” she sniffed.

  “For what?”

  “Crying. It’s been a very intense week.” A hiccup.

  “I know,” Carts replied. “Probably the most intense week of my life. And the best.” They kissed some more, murmuring words of endearment.

  Finally, Carts said, “Maybe we shouldn’t stay out here, I think it’s going to rain. Can I tempt you into my humble abode?”

  “Said the spider to the fly.”

  He picked up his briefcase and they fell into step. “I’ve explored the outside,” Judith said. “I found your lawnmower, and looked in the window. Your kitchen is very neat, and…”

  “And?” He wrinkled his brow at her as he pulled out his keys.

  “Empty.”

  He threw back his head and laughed. “I could probably locate a tin of baked beans.”

  “That sounds gourmet.”

  In the hallway, Carts hung her coat on a peg and led her past the living room. She spied the sofa with its carefully arranged cushions, a television, a coffee table, a turntable and a bookshelf full of all his LPs. She noticed a pot plant that was bright green and healthy looking. Carts saw where her eyes had travelled and said, “Plastic. Sorry.”

  In the kitchen he brought out glasses and a bottle of wine and opened the cupboard. As they shared the tin of baked beans (he hadn’t been kidding, it was either that or a tin of spaghetti), Carts told her what had eventuated at work.

  “So, you’ve effectively got a promotion.”

  “I’m only acting in the position. But, hey, I didn’t even think Clive knew who I was… but there you are. Karma works, just like Fern says.”

  They drank the wine. Passed the tin of baked beans to each other. Cold baked beans were delicious when you were sharing them with the man you loved, Judith decided. Though she hoped there was a loaf of bread in the freezer because if she was going to stay the night, she’d need something for breakfast.

  As if he read her mind, Carts said, “I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching. And I have to say I’m kind of ashamed that I can barely cook past boiling an egg and heating up takeaway food.”

  “And opening a can of beans?”

  “That too. So, could you perhaps give me some lessons? You know, start simple. None of that baba good nosh stuff yet from what’s his name.”

  “Ottolenghi.”

  His face lit up. “I could become the famous chef, Otto-leggy.”

  Judith slapped her forehead and rolled her eyes, then she came round, took the can from his hands and sat on his lap. “I meant it when I said I love your bad jokes. I’m also aware that love is blind.” She pushed back the hair from his forehead and revelled in the caramel swirls in his dark eyes. “Now, changing the subject, does this house have a spa bath?”

  He looked at her, a wicked grin shaping his lips. “No, but it has a really spacious shower. There’s plenty of room for two.”

  She kept a straight face “That sounds—workable.” And standing up, she took him by the hand.

  “Lead the way, my gorgeous Otto.”

  Okay, so making love in the shower seemed like a great idea until Carts had knocked his head twice on the shower head and accidentally covered them both in a deluge of ice cold water trying to adjust the temperature. And when things had started to warm up again—literally and figuratively—he’d lifted Judith up (for obvious reasons) and she’d caught her butt on the tap while trying to wind her legs around him, they’d given up, and now lay naked on the bed, gazing deeply into each other’s eyes.

  It didn’t matter.

  Experimentation was something to approach with a lot of shared laughter and plenty of mutual respect.

  Carts cupped her breasts, bent his head and kissed each of her nipples in turn, focusing on the smaller breast first, because as he pointed out, it needed to not feel inferior in any way. Then one thing led to another and on this occasion at least, the bed accommodated their needs perfectly.

  A considerable time later, when they’d both got their breath back, Carts asked, “Where did you learn that trick?”

  �
��Which one?” Judith asked lazily. Sex with Carts always seemed to make her really sleepy.

  “The, er, tongue circling around the end of my…”

  “From a little book I bought recently.”

  “I’m intrigued. Tell me more?”

  She settled her head on his shoulder. “I found it at the Book Genie, it’s called Pleasure Your Partner, by this sexologist called Dr Daphne Rubekind. It has all kinds of advice for how to communicate your needs, and um—positions, and… techniques.”

  “You’ll have to let me look at it.”

  She giggled. “A bit of bedtime reading for both of us, maybe. To be honest, I’m not sure about all of her advice. I guess I’ve never really been into bondage, but she talks about it as a potentially playful, respectful kind of thing to tie your partner to the bedpost.”

  “And I do have an awful lot of ties in my closet.”

  She had an idea. “Maybe we could go through and make a list, cross off the ones that are definite nos then the maybes, and end up with the absolute must-dos.”

  “I have a better idea.” He planted kisses along the line of her neck. “We could start with the must-dos, work our way to the maybes, and when we’re lost for something to do on a dull rainy afternoon ten years from now, we could even explore the definite nos.”

  “I feel like I could spend the rest of my life with you focusing on the must-dos.” She sighed happily.

  They lay together contemplating the possibilities, until Judith’s phone buzzed next to the bed. When she reached for it she smiled, and sat up against the headboard. “It’s Mum. Listen to this: ‘Talked to your sister. She didn’t get shouty. It’s a start.’”

  Another message a moment later, Pippa this time.

  “Talked to Mum. She apologised. I managed not to get shouty. It’s a start.”

  Judith gave a rueful laugh. “They don’t think they’re alike. But they’re just opposite sides of the same coin.”

  Carts was grinning at her. “Still feeling okay about not playing peacemaker?”

  She tilted her chin. “Yes. I’ll send a thumbs up and they’ll be just fine without me. Besides, right now, I’ve got more pressing things to attend to.” The phone messages seemed to have suddenly woken her up, and Carts’ warm body next to hers was reminding her how many must-dos they had to work through. “Now, where were we…”

  “I think we were about to try out the first of the must-dos. Dr Daphne Rubikscubes amazing strategy for simultaneous orgasms.”

  “No expectations or anything…”

  “But practice makes perfect, right?”

  Judith dived on him, laughing. “Absolutely!”

  Chapter 21

  Judith stood next to the Arrivals barrier at Perth International Airport, her hand clasped tightly in Carts’.

  A full week had passed, and though not as eventful as the previous one, a lot seemed to have happened. Carts had started his new position as head of small business at Pearson’s. He’d told her he’d brought his own chair in and put it behind Ron’s desk because he couldn’t hack the thought of his butt inhabiting the same spot as Ron’s mouldy old arse.

  Pippa had met Mum for a coffee and now apparently a meal was planned with Shaz and all four parents to meet and get to know each other. It was a coup of Herculean proportions, achieved with almost no input from Judith. She’d not heard a word from Mark. That was to be expected, but she had a plan to tackle that problem if the money wasn’t in her account in a month.

  As for her love life, well, she and her beloved had tried out at least a dozen more of the tips from Pleasure Your Partner, with plenty of checking, “is that okay for you? softer…? firmer…? maybe faster…? slower?”

  Judith forced herself to focus on the imminent arrivals, not her blossoming sex life.

  “I think they’re about to come through now,” Carts said, craning his neck to see through the glass panel above the doors into the customs area.

  Excitement swirled inside her, mixed with a little apprehension. What would she say when she met Aaron? And Alice? She really wanted to make a good impression.

  A familiar heady perfume wafted past her nostrils and there was Polly, her curls wild around her face, wearing a checked 1950s style frock and high-heeled strappy sandals. Solo stood by her side, casual in black jeans and a black T-shirt.

  Suddenly Judith felt like the plus one at a party where she wasn’t really needed.

  She found herself shrinking back a little, and immediately Carts seemed to sense it.

  “What’s the matter?”

  She couldn’t look at him. “You all know each other so well, and I’m the new girl on the block.”

  He ducked his head so she had to meet his eyes.

  “And this is right where you belong.” The non-negotiable tone in his voice sent a little quiver of desire through her. She loved when he played masterful. She resisted an overwhelming urge to nibble at his neck just below his ear.

  Polly, who’d clearly been eavesdropping, looped an arm through Judith’s. “You’re stuck with all of us forever.” So now judith found herself sandwiched between Polly and Carts. There were much worse places to be, she decided. “I want to be the one who introduces you to them,” Polly said, popping her eyes at Carts in a challenge. “You were my friend before you met buggerlugs here.”

  “Stop muscling in on my girl,” Carts teased back.

  And then the automatic doors whooshed open and there were Alice and Aaron, pushing trolleys piled high with luggage. Judith had never met Aaron of course, but with his swept-back trendy blonde hair and bright blue eyes, she recognised him immediately from the photos.

  As if surfing a wave, their little group surged forward, taking Judith with them.

  Aaron suddenly spotted Carts and his face split into a huge grin.

  He left his trolley by the barrier and, with a “Hey, mate!”, locked Carts in a bear hug.

  A lot of back-slapping took place and Judith tried not to feel a teeny-weeny spike of envy as with a squeal of “Munchkin!” Polly flew over to Alice and hugged her.

  “Arghh, death by curls,” Alice said, somewhat muffled by the barrage of Polly’s hair, and everyone laughed. Now Polly hurled herself with almost the same enthusiasm at Aaron.

  It reminded Judith of the way Pip hugged people; her whole being thrown into it, heart and soul.

  Meanwhile, Alice had extricated herself from Polly’s embrace and was heading towards Judith. In her jeans and red Converse, she only reached Judith’s shoulder. “Hello, Judith.” She smiled. “It’s lovely to meet you properly.”

  To Judith’s surprise, Alice went up on tippy toes, placed a hand on her shoulder and kissed her first on one cheek and then the other. “I’ve learnt the European way,” she confided. “At first I’d get caught out when I didn’t expect them to go for my other cheek, and we’d end up nose bumping, but I’ve got the hang of it now.” Her dark eyes were warm behind her glasses and Judith realised why everyone loved Alice. She had a quiet way of making you feel special. An answering smile arced across her face. Alice reached up on tippy-toes again and murmured close to her ear, “He’s a wonderful man.”

  “Yes, I can see that. Really very handsome,” Judith agreed with a vigorous nod towards Aaron. Alice followed her gaze. “I didn’t mean him. I do think Aaron is beautiful, of course—full of faults, and so vain about his hair, but I love him regardless. I meant Carts; he is the most kind, generous, beautiful man.”

  “I know.” Judith felt her cheeks heating. “That’s why I love him—well, one of the reasons.”

  Alice’s eyes scrunched behind her glasses.

  By now Polly was jiggling up and down in her Jimmy Choos. “So now I have to introduce you guys to my… my—what are you?” She cocked her head with a suggestive smirk at Solo.

  “Your shrink?” he suggested. More greetings ensued, and firm handshakes were exchanged between Aaron and Solo.

  “Well,” Polly placed her hands on her hips, “now my tw
o besties have finally met…” Judith blinked. Had she heard right? Did Polly really consider her a bestie? Her heart glowed as Polly continued, “Let’s get out of here. I hate airports unless I’m the one flying off somewhere.”

  “We can’t leave yet,” Alice protested. “We’ve got to wait for Mum.”

  Polly’s mouth formed a big O. “You mean Rowena’s here too? Argghh, you never said.”

  “I didn’t want to spoil the fun.”

  “Oh god.” Polly rolled horrified eyes at Solo. “We’re going to have to move out, babe.”

  Solo smirked and shot her an unmistakably lust-filled look.

  “So where is she?” Polly craned her neck.

  “Customs are probably checking out the binding on the books she’s brought with her.”

  Aaron shook his head. “Rowena was in the row behind us and talked for hours to the guy next to her about some eighteenth-century feminist writer.”

  “Mary Wollstonecraft,” Alice supplied.

  He grinned lovingly at her. “Yeah, her. And your mum got louder and louder in direct correlation to how many gin and tonics she’d consumed. I’ll take the screaming baby row any day over being stuck next to Rowena on a plane.”

  Alice slapped his arm.

  A moment later all their eyes were drawn to a commotion at the automatic doors.

  “Oh, golly gosh, I am so, so sorry.”

  A woman in an almost floor-length, brightly coloured silk dress, with tortoiseshell pins holding up a cascade of salt and pepper hair, stood looking helpless beside a completely empty trolley; the contents of which were now sprayed across the floor, blocking the exit.

  Carts grinned. “Rowena Montgomery does it again.”

  “Oh Mum!” said Alice, rushing over to help. But before Alice reached her, a be-suited silver fox had started to pile Rowena’s bags methodically back onto her trolley. Judith watched Rowena smile dazzlingly back at him.

  “That’s him,” Aaron hissed, “the guy she was raving to on the plane.”

  “Oh James, you are such a gentleman, thank you.” Now Rowena was batting her eyelids at the silver fox.