Page 7 of Carter

“Out,”

“With?” she questions, shaking her head slightly.

“Leandra,” Isabella’s eyes study me for a second. Then she smiles. “I like her. We have become really good friends, you know.” She says as if I didn’t know that those two hang out almost every other weekend. “Well, you two have fun and enjoy yourselves.”

“Oh, trust me, I plan on enjoying her,” I say, smirking. Isabella then makes a gagging noise and shows me a face of disgust. “You’re gross, Carter.” My laugh fills the air as I walk out the door and down to the lobby.

As soon as the doors open, I see her standing there, looking around as if she were looking for someone. Seeing her made my eyes light up, and I could feel it physically. Leandra wore a dark brown overall dress with a white turtleneck long-sleeve shirt underneath. Making my way towards her, I could see a gold pendant along with another gold chain. Her long hair was in curls, but it hit her ass even then. Her ass was the perfect shape. Resembling a ripe peach. She had on boots that passed her ankle, but god damn, did she look beautiful. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Her pink, plump lips, covered in lipstick, are stretched out into a smile as her eyes land on me. “Wow, you look beau--” “Don’t,” she says rather quickly as she puts a hand up and shakes her head slightly. I don’t finish my comment, leaving my mouth half open. Meeting her face to face as our eyes meet, I can see her eyes hold this strange emotion, and I can’t tell what it is.

“I was going to say you look like shit,” I say playfully, chuckling a little. Leandra smiles at my words and lets out a quiet laugh. God, this woman can’t even take a compliment, but it makes me want to break down all those walls she has up so high surrounding her heart. “You look like shit, too,” she says, taking in my outfit as her eyes roam my body then her eyes settle on mine.

Fucking gorgeous more like it. God, how can he be so sexy?

She swallows harshly. I grin because I love this. How was I blessed to hear her honest thoughts? I stare for a few seconds too long before I have to tear myself away from her. She’s one of those women whose beauty is so pure you never get tired of looking at her.

“Are you ready to go,” I question as I clear my throat. She nods. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” I smile as I walk towards the front hotel entrance. Leandra follows behind me. Making our way toward my car. “You would drive a Bugatti,” she says, looking all smug. I open her door as the gentleman I am. As the radio is playing low but loud enough to hear the music play throughout the car, I can see out of the corner of my eye that she begins to play with her fingers. She's nervous, and it was so fucking adorable.

It’s just a date, Leandra. Calm down. OMG, I’m on my very first date.

The drive wasn’t far as I pulled into a small dirt road leading to an open field where a hot air balloon awaited us. Leandra leans forward. “Where are we going?” She questions suspiciously. I drive a bit further, and we come out into a row of hot air balloons. Her eyes scan the area. “I hope you're not afraid of heights,” I tease as I park in an empty space.

Chapter seven

Carter

She rolls her eyes and undoes her seatbelt. “Keep going like that, and I’ll end up pushing you out,” she says, laughing. Leandra opens the car door and steps out. I do the same and turn to face her over the car. “Feisty, I like it,” I comment, shutting the car door and locking it with my keys. She gives me a look that is telling me to shut up. We fall into a slow pace towards the hot air balloon.

I take a step closer to her, our arms brushing slightly. We reach our destination, and we are greeted by the host, who goes into detail about the do’s and don’ts and the rules and safety. “Is this safe?” Leandra questions, raising an eyebrow at me. I step closer to her, letting my eyes slowly roam her face. “Trust me,” I say quietly.

She nods, and I place my hand out for her to take. She does and steps into the balloon carefully.

This isn’t safe.

Her thoughts filtered through my head. “Don’t worry, baby, I’ve got you,” I say as I grip onto her. Her eyes look at me, and they’re heavy with worry. She settles down into the balloon, and I enter after her. She holds on to me tightly as the balloon starts to lift off the ground. Once up in the air, the view is beautiful. However, turning to face her, the view in front of me is even more beautiful. “So why didn’t you want to go on a date with me?” I find myself asking.

I can sense her body language stiffening at my words. She looks out into the sky. “I’ve never really umm…”, she swallows, "been a person to date,” she says rather nervously. “As in you never took a chance to date or you never found anyone you wanted to date?” I question.

Watching carefully, she purses her lips and quickly looks down at her hands. She sighs. “It’s complicated,” I can hear the sadness and frustration in her voice. “Have you had past boyfriends?” Leandra runs a hand through her hair. “Define Boyfriend? Because I had friends that were boys,” she says, trying to avoid the conversation.

How pathetic can I be? Not only was I a virgin past tense, but I never even had a boyfriend.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” She forces a smile. “It’s fine. So, is this where you bring all your dates?” Her eyebrows flex at me as she subtly changes the subject. I chuckle at her statement internally. If she only knew. “I barely go on dates with women,” I say, all serious so that she can see I’m not joking.

“Why?” She asks quietly.

I shrug.

“I guess I've been too busy with work and other obligations. I haven’t found the one.” I respond and let my eyes rest on her. A smile lingers on my lips. She nods slowly at my words as if she’s doubting what I said but trying to process it. “I call bullshit!” she says, but I can hear a sense of playfulness in her voice.

I look at her, confused, and all I can think about is how she must have been hurt in the past not to believe when a man says that he doesn’t just fuck around. Someone has made her feel unworthy. “No bullshit, just the truth,” I say with all the truthfulness in my voice.

Is he mocking me? That’s something I would say.

I frown, hearing her thoughts. We look out into the sky as we watch the sky turn purple, taking in everything around us. It’s so peaceful up here. Her dark brown eyes with golden specs are looking at me. The hot air balloon starts to descend, rocking the basket a little more in the process. She holds onto me tightly, afraid to let go as we exit the hot air balloon.

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