Page 69 of The Charade

"How did you know those were the exact movies I was thinking of?"

"I'm just good at reading people."

Carter led me back upstairs to the theater room Cambrielle had shown me during her house tour, and we pickedMegamindsince we wanted a good laugh. While Carter got it ready to go, I excused myself to use the bathroom.

In the guest bathroom that was across from Carter's bedroom, I searched the cupboards for some mouthwash—you know, because I was dedicated to oral hygiene, not because I was hoping I might have an excuse to kiss Carter.

Okay, so maybe I wanted to be ready just in case.

And luck must be on my side because I found a small bottle of mouthwash in the cupboard beneath the sink. I gave myself a nice swish and then hurried back to the theater room.

When I made it back, the movie was paused on the opening scene. Carter was sitting on one end of a long couch, his seat in the reclined position all ready to watch the show.

There were several other couches in the room that I could choose from if I wanted to really spread out, but since I wasn't a complete idiot, I sat on the other end of Carter's couch.

I was just trying to get comfortable when Carter looked over at me and asked, "You're going to sit all the way over there?"

"It seemed like a good-enough spot," I said with a shrug, pretending like I wanted to sit with a full cushion between us. "Why?"

If you asked me to scoot closer, I wouldn't say no.

He pursed his lips together thoughtfully. "I guess I was just thinking that there might be a better option, that's all." He shrugged.

Deciding to play dumb for a second, I pointed to the couch behind us. "Is the view better from there?"

He looked over his shoulder at the leather couch.

"That’s a pretty comfortable spot," he said. "But that's not the seat I was thinking of."

"No?" I made a show of looking around and then pointed to the recliner on the other side of him. "Is that the best spot?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Hmmm…" I tapped my chin as if I was really thinking hard about the best place to sit among the many options. "I bet you probably think the floor in front of the couches is actually the best place to watch a movie from. Probably reminds you of your days at the orphanage when you sat on the dirt floors and made your own movies in your head while Señorita Celeste read books to you."

Carter's jaw dropped, and his blue eyes went so wide I worried my attempt at a joke may have just backfired big time.

"Did you really just go there?" he asked, like he couldn't believe he'd heard me right.

"Umm…yes?" I said, the muscles in my neck tightening.

And for a split second, I worried he may cancel our movie night and call a butler or security to come up here and haul my sassy butt out the door.

But then his lips quirked up at the corners and he let out the most boisterous laugh I'd heard from him so far. "Oh Ava," he said, shaking his head as his shoulders shook with laughter. "I think you may be the first person I've ever met who makes fun of orphans."

I scrunched up my nose. "Too far?"

"It's surprisingly refreshing, actually." He shook his head again, the look in his eyes both amused and disbelieving at the same time. "It's kind of nice being able to joke around with you instead of having you be so serious about it. But…" He held up a finger as if about to set me straight. "If you're going to make fun of my orphan status, then you need to at least get your facts right. Señorita Celeste read to me at the childcare. Señorita Silvia was the one who read to us at the orphanage."

"My bad." I held up my hands.

He chuckled again, and I had the feeling that I may never get tired of hearing that sound from him. It was so lighthearted and knowing that I was responsible for his laughter made me giddy.

It made me want to find ways to make him laugh more often.

He drew in a deep breath, signaling that he was getting back to the topic at hand. "Since you’re obviously having a difficult time deciphering which seat I think you should take, I'll give you a little hint."

He slipped his left hand between his cushion and the one beside him to lift some sort of lever, making the seat between us recline.

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