“Fine. I win, two books of my choice, cuddle date, and—“
“And what, baby? What do you want, Carrie?” he asked, his voice almost hoarse, lips over hers as he was standing so damn close he felt her body tremble.
“Go with me to the school I tutor at next week.”
“Deal.” His nose flared and he wanted to pump his fists in the air. She wanted to spend time with him by sharing not only what she did but what she was really passionate about.
“Just like that?” she asked, and he nodded.
“Just like that. Especially if it means I get to spend more time with you. I’m in,” he shared, leaning in, taking her lower lip into his mouth, lightly grazing it with his teeth and sucking it into his mouth only to let it go with a pop after kissing her deeply.
“Wow,” she sighed as his nose skimmed hers and he breathed in her scent and savored the taste of her mouth.
"That's a lucky kiss right there," he muttered, kissing her forehead before going to the ball return to grab his ball.
With swagger in his step, he reached his destination. He could feel her eyes as she watched and turned his head to look at her while his body was still facing toward the pins. With a wink, he threw the ball down the alley with the utmost confidence, knowing he would get each and every pin. All while never taking his eyes off her.
"How did you do that! That was awesome," she asked, surprise clear on her face.
"Did I mention that I was on a bowling team growing up?" He watched as she shook her head and grabbed the hot pink ball he'd chosen for her.
"So, those crappy throws before and the gutter ball? What was that? A rouse?"
"Maybe, maybe not." He shrugged as she approached him, and he sure as hell didn't miss the sexy sway to her hips as she did so.
"Thank you," she said when she reached him. He searched her eyes, trying to figure out what she could possibly be thanking him for.
"For?"
"For the best first date of my life." The last first date of your life. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he bit down and didn't let them escape. He didn't want to scare her off. He couldn’t. She was finally relaxed around him and he could see that her usual walls of defense were slipping.
“It’s not over.”
“Are you saying you think it’s going to take a turn for the worse?”
“I’m saying you have no idea how much better it’s about to get.” She giggled at his flirtatious answer.
Chapter Nine
Carrie
Tied. They ended up tied. Same score at the end. How was that possible? she wondered as she slipped her boots back on. Thankfully, she had an ace up her sleeve that made her the winner.
Glancing toward where he was returning the bowling shoes they had rented, she couldn’t seem to take her eyes away. She felt like a teenager crushing on the hot guy at school who was finally paying attention to her. Every second that ticked away she knew she was falling deeper and deeper in… well, whatever it was that she was feeling. Lust? No, it was more than lust. It was real and steady. Something that made her want to throw caution to the wind and jump into the abyss, because she knew he would catch her. Don’t be an idiot, Carrie, the cynical part of herself reminded her. She liked what he was showing right now. What if he was playing her? All an elaborate game? No. She refused to lie to herself. Whatever was going on between them and what she was feeling was real.
She forced herself to look away, scanning the bowling alley when a couple walking in caught her eye. The woman was beautiful. Tall with black hair and olive skin and a great laugh. She was also eerily familiar. Staring at the woman and who was obviously her husband, she smiled at how cute they were together. Their interactions reminded her of a cute couple in a Hallmark movie.
“Hey.” Joel’s lips were at the side of her face as he was standing behind the chair she was sitting on. She turned to look at him.
“Hey.”
“I see you spotted one of Hope Falls’ celebrity couples,” he said smiling and looking in their direction.
“Celebrity couple?” She frowned as she looked back at them. Sure, the woman looked familiar and now that she looked at both together, they both seemed familiar, like she had seen them in the past.
“Karina Blackstone.”
“The pop star?”
“The very one.”
“Wow.” She grinned, looking away and into Joel’s handsome face. “So?”
“So?”
“What should we do now?”
“Are you tired or hungry?” he asked, and she leaned in the couple of inches between them and kissed him. She couldn’t resist when he was being so thoughtful.
“What was that for?”
“Complaining?” she asked him.
“Hell, no.” His lips smirked upward and she kissed him again, but he pulled away this time the moment her fingers roamed into his hair. “I just wanna know, so I can do it again,” he told her, and she laughed.
“Just…” How could she tell him that she really liked how thoughtful he was without sounding like an idiot? She couldn’t. “Hungry and tired,” she responded instead. “But I am all yours and game for anything.”
“How about we get some food to go? Hang out back at the cabin? I have movies and…”
“Are you nervous?” she asked with surprise, smiling at him, holding his furry, handsome face in her hands, and he shifted so he was kneeling in front of her.
“I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable—“
“Do I look like I am?” she asked, slightly amused.
“No, but I don’t want you to be nervous about coming back to my place.”
“I’m not. Plus, I’m sure I won our bet,” she told him as she bit away her own smile.
“What?” He narrowed his eyes.
“Well—“
“We tied here,” he pointed out, and she kept a slightly stoic look on her face.
“I know.”
“Then?” he prompted.
“But I was two strokes up during miniature golf if I remember correctly.” She smiled while he laughed.
“That’s right.”
“Yup.”
“So, I guess we have a bookstore trip to make tomorrow,” he told her, and she beamed up at him. She got to go to a bookstore with a guy who looked like he belonged between the pages and on the cover of a romance novel. She was definitely one lucky girl. “Let’s go get some takeout?”
“Sue Ann’s again?” she asked, her stomach choosing just then to grumble.
“Is that what you want?”
“Yes, please.”
“Then that’s what we will get.” He kissed her and stood, extending his hand to her. “Let’s go.” She took his hand, and like anytime her hand went into his, a quiet electric energy flowed between them.
Stepping out of the bowling alley, they both stopped mid-step over the wooden sidewalk and looked around.
“Oh, my!“ she gasped.
“Kelly was right.” He chuckled as they took in the sight of Main Street covered in a thin blanket of snow.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed as she looked up at what looked like twinkling small confetti flitting and floating down, falling around them.
“Most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” his voice rumbled as she watched the quiet street in the darkness and scrunched her nose as pretty flakes landed and melted at the touch of her skin. She glimpsed back at him. His eyes were solely on her.
“Joel,” she breathed out but couldn’t find any other words for him.
“We should get you in the truck. It’s cold. I can’t have you getting sick on our date.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll run in and get us food at Sue Ann’s if you know what you want.”
“Soup and breadsticks sounds good.”
“You got it, baby,” he whispered at her temple, her body lax at his side, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked slowly and unrushed through the pretty snow toward his
car.
***
He opened the door, their duffel bags over his shoulder, and motioned for her to walk in, so she did. He hadn’t been kidding about how close they were to town; even in the snow they were only about fifteen minutes away from Hope Falls.
“Let me get a fire started,” he told her. She watched him roll up the sleeves of his thermal shirt and looked down at how his coat hung off her body as she held it tightly against her.
“Would you like me to get dinner set up for us at the kitchen table?” she offered, nervous energy flowing through her as she looked around the space. It was decorated in masculine neutral colors with an oversized brown sectional, a large TV mounted on the wall in front of it, and a cream-colored ottoman in between.
“Sounds good,” he replied over his shoulder.
She walked past the cozy living room with the bags from Sue Ann’s and stepped into a kitchen that had been clearly newly renovated. “Oh my god!”
“What is it?”
“Your kitchen is beautiful,” she told him over her shoulder as she set the bags on gleaming black granite countertops. There was a big beautiful bay window in front of a beautiful white farmhouse sink, as well as sage green cabinets. The wooden slat walls were a bare wood and pristine in the good-sized kitchen. One that made her itch to cook or bake in. Heck, she could even see herself enjoying washing dishes while looking out the window. She shook her head as she took out the containers from the bag. She was daydreaming about cooking and baking and washing dishes in his kitchen? A giggle escaped her. She was totally having domestic daydreams. God help her, she was worse than Lucy.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, making her jump.
“Crap,” she mumbled as his hands wrapped around her waist, his head resting at her shoulder.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“So, what was so funny?” he asked again, and she turned to try to look at him.
“Nothing.” How could she tell him about her sudden urge for domesticity?
“Tell me,” he urged in a soft tone, and she couldn’t resist.
“Your kitchen makes me want to cook.”
“Oh.” He grinned kissing her cheek. “Are you a good cook?”
“Not even a little bit,” she admitted and enjoyed the deep sound of his laughter at her neck and the way his body shook against hers.
“You don’t cook, but you work at a bakery?”
“I never said I was a baker there.” She giggled as she leaned into his hold. “I can cook simple things, chicken and pasta dishes if it isn’t too complicated. And I can bake a mean cupcake or cake if I use a box mix.”
“That works, because box mix cake is my favorite,” he whispered, and she felt his hands splayed open at her hips. “Let me get some bowls. Would you like wine?”
“Wine?” That surprised her. He seemed more of a beer guy.
“I have red, white, rose—“
“You have a variety of wines? Just chilling in your fridge?” she asked.
“I have a mom, who I might or might not have called yesterday and asked to stock my fridge,” he admitted. Her heart did a funny flip in her chest. He’d called his mom to stock his fridge. Something about that warmed her up all over again as a rush of joy flowed through her veins.
“Carrie?” He snapped her out of her thoughts.
“You think I’m a wine kind of girl?”
“I—“
“Do you have beer in there?”
“Of course,” he scoffed, and she fought laughing.
“What kind?”
“Sam Adams, Corona, and local brew from—“
“I’ll take a Corona.”
“Corona and chicken noodle soup?” he asked, wide-eyed, and she grinned. She liked this with him.
“What can I say? I’m easy to please.”
“So, you’re not a wine drinker?”
“I drink it but mostly when I get together with the girls. But I’m a little more low-key. Beer or hard cider is more my norm at home after a long day at work,” she shared as she set the bowls of soup onto the table. Watching him as he set the bottles next to the bowls then went back for the bread made her heart feel funny again.
“Just when I thought you couldn’t get more perfect,” he said, and she stilled. God, she was so far from perfect it was ridiculous. But before she could say anything, he pulled out her chair for her and she sat down, happily surprised when he kissed the top of her head before walking away to settle into his chair.
Chapter Ten
Joel
He wasn’t kidding when he’d said she was perfect. She was. For him, she was utterly and beautifully perfect.
“Do you cook?” she asked, taking a sip of her soup. He nodded.
“I do. I like it, actually.”
“Really?”
“How about tomorrow, I cook dinner for you and you make dessert?” he suggested, throwing out the possibility of staying out here another day, knowing she wouldn’t miss it.
“Dinner and dessert?”
“We could stay another night. You don’t have to be back till Monday.”
“You are very tempting, Joel…“
“Think about it. We can hang out here until noon before we need to decide.”
“I don’t need to,” she told him. “We can stay,” she surprised him, making him feel like he had just won the freaking lottery. Then he pushed his luck further.
“So, speaking of things we do after a hard day at work, what happened at Monarchs Academy?”
“Layoffs.” She shrugged, digging into her soup, but he didn’t believe it for one second.
“Carrie—“
“My boss was a jerk, okay?” When she looked up at him from her bowl of soup, he could feel the hairs at his neck stand on end.
“Did he do something?”
“No. Not really.” With a sigh, she put her spoon down and placed both of her hands together while looking him dead in the eye. “Trent Lara and I didn’t agree on something and there was no way to find a resolution that we would both be okay with, so I found my spot in the unemployment line.”
“But you love teaching,” he pointed out. He had seen it with his own eyes. The passion and drive she had every day.
“I do. But Monarchs Academy isn’t the only school in Los Angeles.”
“But it’s one of the best.” He knew that without a doubt. It was one of the reasons that Riley Tech was testing its line of educational software there.
“It is, but I couldn’t stay there, Joel. He…“
“What did he do?” He couldn’t help the rough way the words came out. The idea of that man trying anything with his girl made his blood boil. That was until her cool hand covered his and he looked at her.
“He didn’t do anything.”
“Baby—“
“Tell me what you like to cook? Like what’s your favorite dish?” She was attempting to change the subject, and breathing in, taking in the image of her in his space, his home away from home, he exhaled knowing he was going to give in and let her.
“Steak and potatoes, a nice salad,” he replied. When her hand squeezed his, he felt his anger start to taper down.
“How did you get into it?”
“I was the oldest. My mom worked a lot.” He shrugged. “I learned so I could help her out.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Anyone would have done it.”
“We both know that’s not true.” She squeezed his hand again before she let it go and continued eating as they talked about the snow. She had never seen it snow before, and he was glad she had experienced that for the first time with him.
After dinner, they took turns taking showers and changing out of their clothes and into pajamas. She had insisted he go first, so he did, taking a quick shower and changing into red and black plaid flannel pants and a grey t-shirt. After handing her clean towels, he slipped out of the bathroom and was filled with unsettled energy. Trying to keep busy, he d
ecided he would wash the few dishes they had used during dinner only to find she had already done them.
He grabbed a thick blanket from his linen closet and a couple of throw pillows from the guestroom’s bed and tossed them onto the couch, trying to make sure Carrie would be comfortable as they watched a movie. After giving the couch a once-over, almost positive he didn’t miss anything, he walked to the fireplace and knelt.
The fire was burning steadily and he might have looked like he was staring at the flames, but all he could see in his mind’s eye was Carrie. She was beautiful and sweet, and funny and kind, and hell, just everything. She was everything. She was the kind of woman he could have imagined he would have ever wanted and more. He liked the small peeks of the woman who lay beneath her bravado. When she opened up to him, dropping little hints like breadcrumbs, it took everything in him not to push and ask for more. Something in his gut told him that if he did, she would push back. Instead, he had to be patient and let her share at her own pace. He could do that. I can wait, he thought with a small smile on his lips as he added more wood to the fire. An ember popped and flew out, landing on top of his hand. He swatted it off promptly, stifling a curse.
Two pretty feet showed up in his line of sight. Lavender-colored toes wiggled and he held his body tightly, his eyes roaming upward over her narrow feet and slim ankles. He swallowed hard, his mouth dry as he roamed her endless, bare legs, cute knobby knees, and silky, smooth-looking thighs that were covered in hot pink plaid shorts mid-way.
“I didn’t know it would be snowing. Or we were sharing, umm… space. As you can see, I didn’t pack according—“
“You look beautiful,” he said, his voice as strained as his entire body. Clearing his throat as he stood, he took in the way the shorts hugged the slight curve of her hips and the way the black tee molded to her torso gently. He never knew he could envy cotton fabric, but at that moment he did. He wanted to wrap himself around her, feeling her skin over and under his.
“Joel?” she whispered, and he breathed in deeply. Damn, he liked it when she said his name in that sexy little tone of hers.
Hope Falls: Carried Away (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 6