Page 122 of A Better Place

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

James

I’m too anxious to wait in the house for her, so I stand by the door waiting, excited to have her alone. Excited to cook for her, provide her a night that allows her to relax. To offer her a glimpse of what I can and will give her.

A few days ago Barrett, Grady, and I went to my old house and moved out more of the furniture. Not all of it, since the realtor wants me keep some stuff there. But at least now I have bedroom furniture and a few things I was tired of living without.

“No,” I say when I step closer.

She already got out of the car and is now standing next to it. She cocks her head to the side. “Sorry?”

“No way. Nope. Tell me this isn’t your car, Carly.”

She looks from me to the car and back to me again. Every time I’ve seen her, it’s either been at the gym, where Jack drove them in his old pickup he was so proud of or I was picking her up, and her car was in the garage.

My mind is kind of blown that I’ve never seen it before now. She’s lucky I haven’t. Knowing she drove that piece of tin through the winter quite frankly pisses me off.

“What do you mean?”

“Did you steal it from Pebbles and Bam Bam?”

She throws her head back and laughs hard.

“Oh geesh. You’re such a dork. It’s not that bad!”

“It looks like it came from a Cracker Jack box!”

“Ha! Shut it! It does not!”

“Tell me, baby, what do you do in the snow? Do you feed the mice extra so they spin the wheels extra hard?”

“Hey!” She slaps her hand playfully against my shoulder, but before she can take a step back, I grab hold of her wrist and tug her closer to me.

“Hey now, no need for violence,” I tease her. I’m so glad we’re at this place now where we can be playful and teasing with each other, and it doesn’t immediately take her back to that place. To him.

“Oh, whatever. You’re like rock-hard,” she tells me then immediately blushes and rolls her lips together, something I notice she does whenever she’s embarrassed or nervous.

“Damn straight.”

She giggles and raises up on her toes to kiss me lightly. She’s trying to distract me from the conversation about her car. I know this. That doesn’t mean I won’t let her get by with it for a few minutes. I’m not crazy. A few minutes of her mouth fused to mine? I’ll take that any day of the week, whether she’s using it to sidetrack me or not. It’s the best kind of distraction.

I wrap my arms low around her back and tug her closer yet. She sighs into my mouth then opens up for me, tilting her head back to accommodate the height difference. She wraps her arms around my neck, her left hand immediately going to the short hairs at the nape of my neck. Her nails lightly trace patterns while our tongues fight for dominance.

I turn us around so she’s leaning against her Tinker Toy of a car, pressing her harder against it with my body. I have my right hand holding me up, pushing against the tiny frame, and my left hand against the small of her back, making her arch boldly into me. I can’t deny that her distraction method is working incredibly well. But I won’t be deterred. I slow the kiss down and pull my head back just slightly so we are still just a breath away. Her eyes are glazed over, and her chest is heaving.

“Wha…?”

“Baby, nice try. I’m all for your diversion technique. In fact, I plan to get back to it real soon. But you gotta know I’m not letting this go.”

“What is so wrong with my car?”

“You really want me to answer that?”

“I’ve had it for two years, James. Two!” She holds up two fingers in front of my face as if I’m not sure how many that is. “It’s been fine!”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

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