Page 73 of My Mistake To Make

I turn to find him watching me, a hopeful expression in his eyes.

‘I’m sorry it’s not a fancy restaurant. A first date should be really special.’

‘Doug,’ I step in front of him, pressing my hands to his chest, ‘it doesn’t get more special than this.’

He directs me to the blankets, and I sit as he opens a bottle of wine and pours me and then himself a glass. I notice the trayof food. Charcuterie laid out beautifully with ciabatta, olives, dipping oils, vinegar, and a delicious-looking tomato salad.

‘It just hit me that I didn’t check for allergies.’ I turn my wide eyes up to meet his and see the worry there. ‘Oh, man, are you vegetarian?’

I smile and shake my head, no.

‘No, this is perfect. Thank you.’ And it really is. Nothing has ever felt like this before.

‘Well then, sit, eat, and tell me something about you I don’t know.’

Considering he doesn’t know much, that shouldn’t be hard, but given there’s not a lot about me to tell, I struggle.

‘Hey,’ he says, and I look up, ‘relax.’ He smiles, and I inhale deeply.

‘I’m not that interesting, Doug. I’m not being self-deprecating, but I’ve played my life so safe all the time… God, I really am boring.’ I sip my wine and swallow hard, avoiding his eyes.

‘Are you happy, being careful, I mean?’Careful, that’s a nice way of putting it.

‘No.’ I release a sad laugh. ‘I’m fed up of it.’

Doug’s smile should be unnerving, but it stirs up happiness and excitement in the pit of my stomach.

‘I can help you if you want me to.’ I pull my lip between my teeth, a little nervous about understanding what he means. ‘If you’ll trust me to let me push you a little, I can help you step out of the box you put yourself in.’

‘Why would you want to do that?’ Why does he want to waste any time on me?

‘Because I like you a lot, and I don’t like the way you talk about yourself or the look on your face when you do it.’ Oh. ‘Cara, let me be clear, something about you, just you, exactly the way you are, has me by the balls. I’m not looking to change a thing about you, but if I can help you smile when somebody asks you aboutyourself rather than look terrified, I want to do that.’ I swallow hard. ‘Now, tell me how someone so “risk-averse”’ he uses air quotes and rolls his eyes, letting me know he hates that phrase being used to describe me as much as I do, ‘comes by so many tour t-shirts.’

I laugh and take another sip of wine. ‘Rock concerts are my happy place.’

The past few hours have been amazing. It’s so easy to talk to him, and that thought amuses me. He was so standoffish when we met, but for some reason, I’ve never found it easier to talk to anyone as I do him. Even when he pisses me off, I have no trouble letting him know.

I stretch out my legs from under me, pointing my feet for a moment to get the blood flowing again, when Doug reaches out and starts to massage one of them. My breath catches, my lungs forgetting what to do for a moment before I melt at the sensation. I lean back a little, my arms supporting me, and close my eyes as I sigh as he moves his ministrations to the other foot.

His deep chuckle has me opening my eyes to find him watching me, a smile fixed.

‘What?’ I ask, too relaxed to be defensive, and his grin widens.

‘I thought I made you feel good last night, but the way you just melted.’ He chuckles again. ‘You like having your feet touched, baby?’

Baby. Oh god, I love the way that sounds. His southern drawl makes the word drip with sensuality and promise.

‘Apparently, I do.’ I smirk. ‘Who knew?’

I notice his brows furrow for a moment, then the slight shake of his head before he releases a deep sigh.

‘He never massaged your feet, did he?’ His voice is more somber than it’s been while we talked about music and movies and family. I startle a little. I wasn’t expecting that question.Doug stops touching my feet and sits back, opening himself up to me. ‘Come here.’

Just like this morning on my bed, I climb onto his lap, and he wraps his arms around me. God, I love sitting like this. I feel so safe and content in his arms. I never had this before, and I realize now what he’s asking. He wants to know about Jamie.

I take a deep breath and drop my shoulders as I blow it out. I can honestly say I haven’t given Jamie more than a fleeting thought since I got on that plane, and those thoughts have only really been in comparison to Doug. I always thought Jamie was the most handsome man in the world. If I passed him in the street now, after meeting the gorgeous mountain of a man currently running his fingers through my long waves, I wouldn’t even grace him with a passing glance.

‘Can we go upstairs?’ I ask quietly, and Doug pulls back a little to meet my gaze.

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