Page 78 of Beauty Beneath the Sorrow
When I make it back downstairs to the recreation room,Warren is in the middle of a victory dance. He must have won.
“He won,” Lina tells me, chuckling at Warren.
“Nice job, man,” I say, patting his back. “You might want to take it easy. You don’t want to fall and break another hip. Remember what happened last June?”
“Oh hell, fine,” he grumbles, sitting in his chair.
“How’s your grandma doing?” Lina bites her lip nervously. It’s fucking adorable. I can’t wait to take her back to my place and make love to her for all the emotions and feelings she’s brought out of me this morning.
“She’s in bed resting. I wanted to let her sleep, so I left. I’ll check in with her tomorrow morning,” I answer Lina but explain loud enough for the table to hear.
Betty grabs Lina’s arm. “Will you come back soon, dear?”
Lina flashes Betty a toothy grin, showing off her straight white teeth. I’d love to glide my tongue along them. With a quick shake of my head, I push away those thoughts.
“I would love to,” she responds.
After Lina and I say our goodbyes to the rest of the table, she heads out to my car as I get a quick update from the doctor. I’m growing more concerned with my grandma’s health recently, and it makes me fearful that my time with her is coming to an end.
My chest is heavy when I walk out of the building and into the sunlight. But the moment I see Lina’s smile through the window of the passenger door, I know I’m not as alone as I feel.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lina
Iwave to the rideshare driver after he drops me off two houses down from mine.I’m a safety girl.I went to brunch with the girls this morning and felt a little lightheaded from the bottomless mimosas. I’ll ask Zoe to take me back to grab my car when she gets home from our mother’s later this evening.
I take the steps two at a time up the stoop to the blue double doors of my townhouse. The only thing on my mind right now is to binge-watch some reality TV and fall into my fluffy couch.
“Lina?”
A warm, familiar voice startles me from behind. I almost fall back but catch myself by grabbing the low white fence to my side. Flipping my head around, I see Carter standing at the bottom of the stairs.
My palm flies up to my chest. “Oh my god. You scared the shit out of me.”
“Just getting home?” He’s wearing joggers, a black hoodie, and a baseball cap on backward.
He looks absolutely delicious right now. “Yeah.” I pull my bottom lip between my teeth. “What are you doing here?”
“I was out for a morning run. I thought I’d come by to see ifyou were home and wanted to join me,” he replies, slowly taking the first step.
“I would have, but they had bottomless mimosas.” Leaning against the door, I cross my arms at my chest and let my eyes rake up and down his sweaty body. “I never did find that bottom either.”
Carter takes the last two steps in stride and stops as his foot hits the same one I’m standing on. “I was waiting for you.”
“You know, stalking someone is illegal.”
“I don’t think you’d mind.” He leans in, grazing my lips with his.
My eyelids close. “Why didn’t you call?”
Carter’s hand snakes around the back of my head, twists, and then grips a handful of my hair. I gasp with pleasure. “Want to come in?”
He releases and loosens his hold. I blink a couple of times before settling my eyes on him. His eye color has changed from amber to light brown.
“Okay, we don’t have to go in. If you really want to run—”
He shakes his head. “It’s not that.”
