Rafe snickered as Adrian shot him a glare.
Taylor laughed nervously. “Well, we saw you both and thought it'd be a great opportunity to ask you guys out on a double date. We're always looking for couples to hang with.” He looked over at Adrian, “Right?” Then faced them again. “So, what do you say?”
Taylor's eyes lit up and Rafe saw Adrian roll his own eyes. “Taylor is a bit unique.” Adrian voice was condescending, and Rafe wanted to punch the man on Taylor’s behalf.
Rafe looked over at Carter and saw the blood had drained from his face. “We'd love that. Wouldn't we baby?” He tossed an encouraging look towards Carter, who smiled, but he didn't respond.
Rafe leaned closer so he could whisper. “Think how much he’ll hate it.” He didn’t need to say who “he” was. “But you’ll owe me dinner.”
When he pulled back, he winked at Carter and watched as Carter's cheeks reddened. Fuck, he was adorable with his thick, dark hair, the messy curls glinting with a golden hue when the light hit it. The well-groomed beard he sported complemented his medium skin tone, and his thick eyebrows dragged Rafe’s attention to some of the brightest clear amber-colored eyes he’d seen.
Rafe turned back to Adrian and Taylor. “We'd love it. Name the place and time and we'll be there.”
“How about tonight? The hotel restaurant works for us.” Taylor looked excited. “Seven o’clock?”
Rafe looked over at Carter and reached out and took his hand. He squeezed it lightly, and that had Carter's eyes finally meeting his. Carter managed a small smile, and then turned back to Adrian and Taylor.
“You've got yourself a double date,” Carter said. “We'll meet you there.”
“Great!” Adrian mumbled. He looked pissed, while Taylor was beaming with excitement. They both finally left, giving him and Carter more time at the pool by themselves.
Rafe turned to Carter and he started to laugh, but Carter covered his mouth with both hands.
He groaned, “If you give me a hard time, then I'm canceling tonight.”
Rafe pretended to zip his lips and throw away the key, but still smiled. He was excited. This was a chance to spend more time with Carter, and hopefully it was only a matter of time before it would be a real date.
He was sure of it… hopefully.
5
Carter
Carter stared at his reflection in the mirror. He couldn't believe they were going through with the double date. He also couldn't believe he had kissed Rafe the way he had. He could have broken the kiss once Adrian had spotted them, but he’d made no rush to part from the kiss.
Rafe had seemed to be enjoying it… he was pretty sure, although his dating radar was off. He hadn’t had to flex it in way too long. There was a part of him that figured he would never have to use it again.
He slowly released a breath as he stared at his reflection. “You're only going out because it will help you get Adrian out of your system and allow Adrian to see that you've fully moved on.”
You’re not even buying that. He rolled his eyes at himself and moved away from the mirror before he could panic anymore, possibly worse than he did with his first surgery.
There was a knock on the door and he turned in that direction with his heart racing and then his stomach rolled. He wasn’t sure if it was excitement or nerves… yup, this was definitely worse than the day of his first solo surgery.
The knock sounded again and finally spurred him to move to answer it. Carter opened door to find Rafe standing there. He was wearing a black suit that fitted him like a glove, with a black shirt and no tie, and Carter got that glimpse of his chest again, but it was the smile on Rafe’s face that held his attention.
He looked excited and a little nervous, and for some reason, that was even sexier than all the other times Carter had seen him.
“I still don't know why we couldn't have just met downstairs,” Carter said.
“Because we want it to look as authentic as possible, don't we?” Rafe pointed out.
He acknowledged Rafe was right. If they would have met in the restaurant, then Adrian surely would have questioned things. He was certain that Adrian and Taylor shared one room, so it would seem odd if Carter wasn’t doing the same with his boyfriend.
Man, did he like the sound of that… Rafe as his boyfriend.
“Are you ready to get this nightmare over with?” Carter asked.
Rafe crossed his arms. “I don't know that I much appreciate your attitude. First you practically attack me at the pool, and now you want to rush through dinner like we don't even like one another.”
Carter's mouth hung open. “Practically attacked you? Really? That's how you're calling it?”
Rafe threw his head back and laughed. “Come on… I'm teasing. Lighten up for a minute and tonight just might not be so bad.”
Carter released a breath. “You're right. I'm just on edge because I don't want Adrian to catch on that this is fake. He will never let me live it down.”
“Then… I guess we have to do whatever it takes so that he doesn't catch us. Let’s make it so convincing that even we start to question it.” He winked at Carter and that familiar flutter in his stomach returned.
He had a feeling he was the one that would need to remind himself to question it.
They left his room and headed to the elevator. They were just about to get on when Rafe took his hand and instinctively, he pulled back.
“What are you doing?”
“Relax. You never know who's watching,” Rafe said, then held out his hand for him.
Carter stared at it for a brief second before placing his hand in Rafe's. They rode the elevator down to the lobby like that and when the doors opened, it was to find Taylor and Adrian.
Rafe gave Carter a look that said, “I told you so,” before smiling at Carter and walking out of the elevator and approaching the other couple.
Fuck… he was already thinking about him and Rafe as a couple.
“Hey!” Taylor said, a wide smile on his face. He looked down at Rafe and Carter's joined hands and started to squeal. “Aren't they the cutest couple?”
Carter looked to Adrian, and his eyes were also focused on their hands, which made him smile.
“Hey,” Adrian mumbled, and his eyes went back to Carter’s, then back down to their joined hands.
“Hey,” Carter said. He leaned into Rafe and saw Adrian's eyes follow that too. Carter was amused to see that they were getting the exact reaction they wanted, but truthfully, he realized he would prefer if it was just him and Rafe, but since that wasn’t the case, he said, “Shall we go into the restaurant?”
Taylor smiled, and then took Adrian’s hand as they followed Rafe and Carter into the restaurant. They were led to their seats, and Rafe sat so close to Carter that he was practically on top of him—not that he was objecting.
Adrian seemed to notice everything, but all Carter could think was that he wanted to make the most of the evening with Rafe. He decided he was going to stop trying to fight it and actually enjoy himself. He had a feeling with Rafe, that wouldn’t be a problem.
While Carter had gone into this looking to have Adrian jealous of him, he was enjoying the evening for other reasons. He was enjoying Rafe's company, and the food was actually pretty good.
“Are you from the LA area?” Taylor asked Rafe at one point during the night.
Rafe took a sip of his wine and shook his head. “I was born in New York, raised in, well, everywhere, and recently moved to LA.”
“Wow… where have you been?” Taylor leaned forward with interest.
So was Carter since he was also learning everything about Rafe now.
“Well, my parents are doctors, too, but they worked with Médecins Sans Frontières. That’s actually how they met. I spent a lot of time in Africa—Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria. I came over here for college, but then I joined them for a while after Med school in Haiti and Serbia.”
“Wow.” Taylor’s eyes
were wide. “That’s amazing.”
“Yeah,” Carter said, then all eyes fell on him. “I mean, yeah, I never get tired of hearing about it.”
Rafe smiled at him and then started speaking again. “I loved it, but once I chose my specialty, I had to settle down in one place. I did a fellowship in Minnesota for a while, but I got tired of snow and I ended up in LA” He looked over at Carter. “And I’m so glad I did.”
“You seem like a wanderer.” It was the first time Adrian had spoken directly to them since they’d taken a seat. Hell, he’d barely spoken. “So, you’re here for good, or are you going to be leaving soon?”
Carter had to admit he wasn’t mad at the question because he was wondering the same thing, but hold on, had Adrian sounded hopeful?
“LA is giving me great reasons to stay put.” Rafe held Carter’s gaze as he spoke, and Carter’s heart began racing.
When Rafe started mentioning all the places he’d lived and been, Carter had been a little worried the man wasn’t the settling-down kind. He didn’t realize how relieved he would be to hear Rafe say he was staying put.
Rafe reached under the table and took Carter's hand and squeezed it, but didn’t let go, and Carter found he didn't want to let go, either.
“How long have you two been dating?” Adrian asked
Carter turned to Adrian and his mind went blank. They should have thought of those questions, but neither one really considered that Adrian would be so inquisitive.
I know Adrian. I should have known.
“Two months.” Rafe was the one to reply, taking Carter by surprise.
Carter’s lips curved into a small smile. That was a brilliant answer, because it showed Adrian that he hadn’t spent time wallowing on their failed relationship.
“Wow… two months. How sweet!” Taylor cooed.
Carter smiled and glanced over at Adrian. “And you two first hooked up how many months before we ended our engagement?”
“Engagement?” Taylor parroted, his head snapping to Adrian. “What does he mean ‘engagement?’”
Adrian looked at him, then Taylor, but he didn’t seem to have an answer. Rafe squeezed Carter's hand again, then leaned into Carter's ear and whispered, “Remember… you deserve so much more than what he has to offer.”
Carter glanced at Rafe and his heart felt like it was coming out of cold storage… he wasn’t sure what he had read on his face, but Rafe was right, he did deserve way more than what Adrian could or had wanted to give him. It was time he fully let go of the past and finally moved on from it, and well, if he’d thrown Adrian under the bus in the process… then all was well, right?
Carter grabbed his glass and took a sip from it, then turned to Rafe. “I wanna dance.”
“Gladly,” Rafe replied.
They got up from the table and moved to the dance floor. Carter saw Adrian's eyes on him, and it brought a smile to his lips, but he dismissed it just as quickly.
Rafe’s hands went around his waist, and Carter put his own hands first on Rafe’s shoulders, then moved them up around his neck as they slowly danced to the music.
“Are they watching us?” Rafe asked, since his back was to them.
Carter shrugged. “I don't care. I'm done worrying about Adrian and what he thinks. You're right. I deserve so much better than him.”
He stepped closer to Rafe and held him tighter, and they swayed slowly. Carter could hear Rafe's heart beating, and it made him happy. It was good to know he wasn’t the only one feeling whatever this was.
The connection he felt with Rafe was what he always searched for. It just took him some time to find it. Carter sighed and rested his head on Rafe’s chest and they danced. He wasn’t sure where this would go, but Carter was opening himself up to it.
When the song ended, they walked hand in hand back to their table, but they were stopped by Taylor before they got there.
“You two make the cutest couple.” Taylor bit his lips and looked away. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I just found out about you and Adrian. I swear I never knew he was seeing anyone… not to mention engaged.”
“It’s fine, Taylor,” Carter put a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”
They all knew whose fault it was.
“Thank you.” Taylor sighed, “I’ll be going back to LA tonight. I feel like I don’t know anything about Adrian.”
Carter knew how that felt. “If you ever need to talk…
“I think I just need to go home and clear my mind. Maybe another time when we’re all back in LA. Thank you, Carter, it was so nice meeting you.” Taylor looked at his phone. “I have a car coming to take me to the airport.”
“It was lovely meeting you too.” Carter smiled at Taylor.
They went back to the table and it was just the two of them. Carter grinned and looked over at Rafe, and the look in his eyes had Carter’s heart racing and his knees feeling like they were trying to buckle.
Rafe pulled out his chair for him, which wasn’t something Carter was sure he would like, but surprisingly, he did, and Rafe took the seat next to him. They continued their evening, and Adrian never crossed his mind again.
Carter and Rafe didn't let go of one another's hands the whole way back to the room. They didn’t even bother pretending it was just in case they ran into anyone. There was a comfortable but tense silence until they reached Carter's door, and he turned to look at Rafe who let their hands slip apart so Carter could fish out the keycard from his pocket, albeit he did so reluctantly
“I actually had a really good time tonight.” Carter held the keycard in his hand, but didn’t move to insert it into the door.
Rafe chuckled while grinning. “You act like you're surprised by that.” His voice was more than a little teasing.
Carter shrugged. “A little surprised, but mostly excited.” He broke eye contact with Rafe at the admission. “It made me see how I was missing out on wonderful things because I was still holding onto anger toward someone who was definitely not worth it.”
Rafe shook his head. “Would I be a total jerk to say I’m glad you just realized that now.” That had him looking up and meeting Rafe’s gaze again. “You’re amazing, and I guess I’m glad that I’m the one here with you now.”
Carter blushed. “Thank you, Rafe.” God, he liked the man’s name a lot. “I owe you for so much.”
Rafe shook his head. “You don’t owe me anything.”
Carter stood there for what seemed like an eternity, unsure what to do or say next. A part of him was waiting and hoping for Rafe to make the first move, the other part worried that he wasn't going to.
“I should be going then.” Carter looked down as he turned the keycard over in his hands, still not moving to open the door. “It’s getting pretty late.”
He was just stalling in hopes that Rafe would finally get the hint. And Carter would whoop in excitement if he did.
Before he had a moment to think more about it, Rafe’s hand went around Carter's neck and pulled him forward, and he kissed him with a passionate hunger.
The mouth moving against his was warm and firm; the kiss, commanding as Rafe took full control. Rafe slipped his fingers through his hair, and he used the grip to tilt Carter’s head and deepen the kiss. Rafe nibbled on Carter’s lips, his tongue probing, seeking entry, and Carter willingly opened up for him. Their tongues danced, and Carter let out a moan as Rafe’s body pressed against his.
Rafe’s tongue dipped in and out of Carter’s mouth, making him shiver. Need coursed through him. His brain supplied images of Rafe’s body on top of his, and he couldn’t help it, he broke their kiss and blurted, “Would you like to come in?”
Rafe smiled and nodded. “More than you know.”
Carter turned around and quickly unlocked the door… although it took him a few tries. When he finally managed to get it open, he turned and took Rafe's hand and pulled him into the room. Before the door even closed, their lips reconnected.
; Carter tasted Rafe’s tongue and nibbled his lips, and he drew Rafe’s towards him and kissed him deeper.
Rafe took over the kiss, giving him little nips as he worked his way down to Carter’s collarbone. Rafe groaned softly into his ear, the heat of his breath sending a jolt of excitement through his entire body.
“Damn, I want you,” Carter moaned between Rafe's lips.
Rafe chuckled and slipped his hands into Carter's suit jacket, pushing it off his shoulders and it fell to the floor. Carter was about to undo his tie when there was a knock at the door. He groaned and rested his head against Rafe’s shoulder.
Who the hell was at the door?
“Room service!”
Carter frowned and held up his hand. He went to the door and opened it up. A busboy stood at the doorway.
“I didn't order anything.”
“The hotel would like to offer you a complimentary bottle of wine, some cheese, and some fruit.”
“Thank you, but I'm not interested” But then he paused and looked at the bottle of wine and the two glasses and picked them up.
“Actually, I’ll take this. Thank you! Please put the tip on the room.”
He shut the door after he went back inside, his eyes going straight to Rafe, and he couldn’t help smiling. Rafe had taken the liberty of removing his suit jacket, and he was down to just a shirt and pants, sitting on the bed. With one hand still holding the glasses and wine bottle, he started to work on his tie with the other.
He yanked his tie off, then placed the wine and glasses to the side table and quickly undid his buttons and took his shirt off tossing it to the chair. Carter climbed over Rafe and got on the bed beside him, making sure they were as close as could be, then he leaned over Rafe, making sure their bodies touched as he grabbed the wine.
Rafe chuckled, placing a kiss on his neck.
When he sat back, Carter handed one glass to Rafe, and he couldn’t help placing a quick kiss on his smiling lips.
There was something so easy being around him that he didn’t even think twice about resting against Rafe’s chest.
Boyfriend Emergency Page 3