Page 74 of Love at First Sighting
“Thank you,” he finally stammers out. “Really. This is the nicest thing anyone’s done for me in a long time.”
The thought alone breaks my heart. There’s no one who deserves love and care as much as Carter does. I can’t imagine how many dull birthdays and holidays live in his past. Drab, colorless, boring. I want to fill his life with all the color I can.
“You deserve so much more than you give yourself credit for, Agent Carter.”
“Could I…could I at least make it up to you somehow?”
“Financially?” I laugh. “You don’t need to.”
“Maybe,” he teases, “but I had some other ideas.”
Carter opens the camera box and slides it out, unwrapping the foam and plastic. Once it’s powered up, he fiddles with the settings like a pro and holds it up to his eye.
“Smile,” he demands.
A giggle erupts from inside me. I’m so happy, so giddy, it feels illegal. Maybe we do need those handcuffs after all. “Oh come on.”
“I was serious, Ariel.” The flash goes off. Iknowmy eyes are closed.
“Okay, fine. I can put you to work.” I straighten up and fluff my hair with a wry smile. This is a go-to pose, but this time, it feels uncomfortable. Rehearsed.
“No, no, no,” Carter orders. “I want to take pictures ofyou.El. Not the El everyone gets to see online. The ElIsee. If I get to make moves to get the life I want, so do you. What doyouwant?”
People have asked me the question so many times, but they’ve all had an answer in mind before I did.I want to win this pageant. I want to help you sell this product. I want to collab.Carter is asking me what’ll make me happiest.
I expect it to be a harder answer, but he makes it so easy tosay without fear: “I want to be myself. And I want that to be good enough.”
“So, do I hear a new brand?” he jokes.
“Maybe.”
“What does that look like?”
I lean back with my elbows on the grass. “I hope it looks like me and you galivanting around the globe together. Awkward Instagram stories of us getting into trouble. Me taking pictures of random funny things I see throughout the day without a care in the world. People liking me for the things I know I am but don’t feel brave enough to show—”
The camera flashes again.
“Hey!”
“It’s a candid.”
“Okay, but is it ugly?”
“No,” he persists, turning the camera screen to me. “You’re beautiful.”
Months ago, I would have clocked the crinkles by my eyes or the strand of hair that’s stuck in my lip gloss. I’d already be mentally photoshopping grass stains out of my jeans. But when I look at this, I hardly see any of it. I spent years trying to be beautiful, picture perfect, and sanitized. Here, I look wild, unrefined, casual—and I realize I feel the most beautiful when I’mactuallyhappy.
I take the camera from Carter, set the timer, and push him onto the ground under me. I slide between his legs and press his hands into the grass above his head.
I lean in, crushing my lips to his, just in time for the camera to flash and catch us in the act.
Chapter 22
Carter
El wastes no time getting her hands on me when we return to my apartment.
The second my door shuts and I’m able to rest the camera that costs more than my life on my dresser, she shoves me against it hard enough for it to rattle on the hinges. All night, the only thing running through my head has been how I have never been so goddamn enamored and obsessed with someone the way I am with her. El could burrow herself deep within my chest, nestle herself right beside my heart, and it still wouldn’t be close enough.
