Page 16 of Cursed Touch
Her chest flushed a rosy red, and she shook her head. “You know what I meant!”
Carter raised his hands in defense. “I didn’t say a thing, sweetheart.”
Vanessa sipped from her water, and he watched her throat move with the action. A sudden image of her lips wrapped around him flashed in his mind before he shook it away.
“So, I’ve been wondering…”
“About what?” he asked, and the waiter returned, halting their conversation.
With their wine poured and their orders put in, they each reached for the stem of their wine glasses.“Salute!”Carter said, tipping his glass toward her.
“Salute.”
The smooth, fragrant wine exploded on his tongue before sliding down his throat. “Mmm… That’s good. Now, what have you been wondering?” he asked and leaned forward after setting his glass on the table.
Vanessa swirled the wine a few times before setting it down. “Very good. Well… How did you find me?”
“Would you believe me if I told you it was fate?”
Chapter 9
She tipped her head, confusion written across her face. “Fate?”
“I know it sounds crazy,” he said and laid his hand atop hers. A current of need sparked at his innocent touch. “I’m sure it sounds like another line from another man, but deep down… I know you know it’s true.
She looked from their hands to her lap as she chewed on her lip, effectively removing the lipstick she had applied for the occasion. “It’s nuts,” she muttered.
Rather than be insulted, Carter chuckled, and the sound flowed over her skin, sending tingles straight to her core. “It’s mental, and that’s coming from a professional,” he teased, bringing a lightness to the seriousness. “Look, I’ve been with and met plenty of women. Unfortunately, my profession seems to draw out the crazy, but I’ve never felt this.” He paused as he sat back, breaking their physical connection. “This… I don’t know what to call it. I feel alive around you, like my cells are losing their shit, bouncing around in excitement. After meeting you, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
Her heart raced in her chest, thumping loudly against her breastbone in an attempt to break free. His words both exhilarated her and scared the living shit out of her. Not because she thought he was crazy… No, rather because she understood exactly what he was trying to say without coming across as some psycho.
“This is our first date,” she whispered.
He leaned forward once more and reached for the hand she’d brought closer to her body. “Shit, I’m screwing this up entirely. I sound like a stalker who belongs in an institution. I’m sorry, Vanessa. You’re right. This is our first date. I shouldn’t have—”
“I feel it too,” she blurted and turned her palm up.
He froze, and the slight trembles she expected came from his leg stopped.
She sucked in a breath and decided that if he could be raw with his honesty, she could too. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you either. When I’m around you, I feel something. I can’t describe it, but I know I’ve never felt it before.”
He squeezed her hand. “One more thing because I want to lay it all out.” He waited for her to nod and continued. “I’d been at our weekly family dinner, lost in my head thinking about you, when I overheard my sister and sister-in-law talking about some shop they’d gone to. I don’t know why, but in my gut, I knew the shop owner they mentioned was you. I’d hemmed and hawed for quite a bit before stepping inside your boutique today.”
Her brows pinched before her eyes widened with understanding. “Brandy and Serena?” she asked.
The smile that lit his face spoke of the love he felt for the women. “Brandy is my baby sister, and Serena is engaged to my brother Ethan.”
“Wow… what a small world,” she muttered, but before she could say more their food was delivered to their table.
They each took a few bites after releasing the other’s hand. The delicious food excited her taste buds as her mind tried to wrap around the information bomb. Vanessa was prone to being led by her mind and not her heart, so while the two warred often, she found them coming to some sort of consensus on the current situation. With Carter a few feet from her, her body hummed, eager to be the one to take the lead for once.
“Tell me about your family?” he asked after a few minutes of silent eating.
Vanessa swallowed her bite as she stabbed her fork into the seafood. “Normal middle-class family. My parents are still happily married, and I was an only kid after they had trouble conceiving any more.”
His fork clattered on the plate. “I can’t imagine not having my siblings. Did you like being an only kid?”
She shrugged and took a sip of the wine as it soothed her erratic nerves being around him. “I don’t know any better. I’ve at least had Georgia most of my life, so I guess she’s like my sister from another mother.”
