Page 13 of Beauty Beneath the Sorrow
“I’m good.” He runs his thumb and index finger over hischin. Someone squeezes behind him, forcing Carter into me. Our bodies flush with one another. He is unbothered. “Out with a friend?”
I suck in a gulp of air. “Yes. I—”
“Sorry, that was my client. It would have been unprofessional not to say hi,” Max tells me suddenly at my side.
I nod. I guess now I should introduce them. “Carter, this is Max.” I gesture toward my date. “Max, this is Carter. He’s a pilot for the airline I work for.”
“Awesome. Great to meet you. Thanks for the safe flights, man!” Max excitedly extends his arm for Carter to shake it.
He takes it but shoots me aAre you fucking kidding melook. I can’t say why I know that’s what he’s thinking, but I’m sure it is. Why do I suddenly feel embarrassed to be with Max?
“Nice to meet you too,” Carter says, letting Max release his hand first. It’s probably some alpha male thing. I flush at the thought.
“We should probably get going.” Max turns to me. I get the urge to tell my date that I’ll just hang here with Carter instead.
I nod. Then, I look at the man standing in front of me, whose simple look causes my palms to sweat. “Good seeing you.”
Max’s arm returns to its place around my shoulders as we walk out of the restaurant. I pick up my pace, forcing it to fall once again.
When we reach my car, Max leans against the side of the door. His body language shows he wants a kiss good night. But after seeing Carter, I need to get as far away from Max as possible. Butterflies fill my stomach.
“Are you going to the masquerade party your mom’scompany is putting on?” he asks, breaking my train of thought.
I forgot Max might be there as well. That means I’ll have to wait a lot longer to tell him that I’m not interested. Since his aunt is one of my mom’s clients, I wouldn’t want anything to ruin the mood of the night. If there were, my mother would never let me hear the end of it.
“I think I am. Are you going to be there?” I ask, even though I already know the answer.
His lip quirks up. “Yeah, my aunt would flip if I tried to ditch another one of her charity events.”
I laugh. “My mom’s the same way.”
“Great, well, I’ll see you there.” He slowly moves in, but I slightly turn my head, causing his lips to fall to my cheek. My eyes close, appreciating his expensive cologne.
I need to get laid.
“See you then,” I say, sliding into the driver’s seat of my car.
I watch Max walk to the other side of the parking lot, but when my eyes slide back in front of me, they inadvertently land on a large, recognizable figure leaning against a black four-door Jaguar. Squinting my eyes to get a better look through the dull yellow lights illuminating the dark parking lot, I immediately realize it’s Carter.
What’s he doing?Suddenly, his head tilts in my direction. A simple action that forces a breath from the back of my throat. I’m going to talk to him. Slowly opening my car door, I step out and then lightly shut it behind me. Carter watches as I eat the distance between two lanes of parking spaces.
As I get closer, I catch a glimpse of the smirk on his face.
“Your takeout must be cold by now.” I throw him a cheekycomment, then fold my arms across my chest.
“I don’t mind cold food. Besides, it’s only been a few minutes since I picked it up,” he replies, unbothered.
“Why are you standing out here?”
“Is your date over already?” he answers my question with his own.
Glancing toward the ground, I shuffle my feet a few times, unsure of how I should respond. It would be strange to give him the details on why my date ended early or to dive into my recent change in mindset when it comes to men—because the truth is, it might have something to do with my affection toward him.
“It did.”
“Probably for the best,” he replies with a straight face.
My eyebrows furrow. “What do you mean?”
