“Really?” His eyes widen, his eyebrows shooting up an inch.
When he smiles widely, I laugh, because he looks like a little kid on Christmas. “Yes, really.”
“Perfect. I’m glad. Wow.” His grin is contagious, and I’m sure we look like morons to bystanders.
Then, his arms are around me, caging me in, and pulling me close to his chest.
“Ew.” I chuckle, trying to push him away when he only tightens his grip. “You’re all sweaty.”
A moment later, I finally give up and lean into him, fully enjoying his embrace.
Nothing feels this good.
When he lets go of me, I hold up my hand between us. “But there’s going to be a rule for our date.”
He laughs before running his hand through his damp hair. “Of course there is. I wouldn't expect anything else from you.” He winks at me, and I’m grinning like a fool, the lightness in my chest making me feel like I’m floating.
His fingers brush a strand of hair out of my face, gently pushing it behind my ear. “So, enlighten me, what is this rule?”
I scoot back on the bench to put some space between us, unable to think straight when he’s this close. All I can think about are his lips on mine and his hands on my body, making me want to forget where we are and climb him instead. I can’t deny how alluring and inviting that sounds, but if this is supposed to be a serious attempt at dating, I can’t waste the chance by falling back on our attraction for each other right away.
Even though it pains me to do this, I hold up my index finger. “No making out or sex.”
He opens his mouth, then closes it again. After closing his eyes, he clears his throat and nods. “Okay, I can deal with that.”
I press my lips together at his obvious discomfort. “Are you sure?”
My heart sighs when he gives me one of his small smiles. It’s his shy one he doesn’t show often, and I’ve always thought it’s cute as hell. The last thing anyone would ever think of Carter is being shy.
He rubs his chin and my eyes zoom in on his sexy stubble. “I wasn’t expecting anything like this, but I understand why you’re asking for it. I’m not going to lie and say it’ll be easy, because my hands are already itching to touch you. But like I said before, it’ll be worth it. And I can handle a few extra cold showers if necessary.”
I might have shot myself majorly in the foot with my rule.
“Any other rules?” He arches one brow, patient as ever.
Shaking my head, I swallow loudly. “Not that I can think of, but I’ll let you know.”
“I bet you will.” He crosses his arms over his chest, successfully distracting me once more. “Well, I have one rule too.”
Now it’s my turn to throw him a confused look. I didn’t expect him to have one. “You do?”
“Yup.” He looks like the epitome of casual, relaxing on the bench for the world to see. “None of those sexy little dresses we bought.”
My chin drops, and he laughs at my expression.
“Sorry, Jules, but without my rule in place, I’m afraid I might not be able to agree to your rule.” He tilts his head to the side as if to say “So what’s it gonna be?”
I didn’t miss the way his eyes raked over my body in appreciation in Vegas, but I thought that reaction was due to the sexual tension between us.
Determined to make this easier for both of us, I nod and stretch out my hand. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
His face lights up, the smile so captivating when we shake hands that I’m ready to melt into a puddle. “Perfect. I can’t wait. I don’t suppose you’ll let me seal it with a kiss?”
I laugh, because he damn well knows that if we seal it with a kiss, there’s no way we’ll stop there. Especially when he uses his husky bedroom voice.
“Freddy, are you trying to get frisky with me?”
He bursts out laughing and shakes his head. “I’m guessing that’s a no.”
Regardless, because he’s Carter, he leans in—I struggle to breathe—and gives me one of his gentle forehead kisses, one of my favorite things in the world.
Apart from the goof in front of me, that is. The goof I’m apparently now dating.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Carter
Julia opens her apartment door before I even have a chance to knock, glaring at me with tired eyes. “I hate you. This is already the worst date ever.”
I can’t help but laugh at her expression, putting my hands over my heart. “Ouch. Good morning to you too, sunshine.”
Her eyes narrow, but I still see the tiniest hint of a smile at the corner of her lips. “When you said date, I thought you were talking about dinner and maybe a movie. No one said anything about you standing in front of my door at six o’clock in the freaking morning to pick me up to go who knows where.”
Grabbing her hand, I pull her into a tight hug, inhaling her sweet scent before I whisper into her ear, “I promise you’ll like it.”
When she agreed to a date yesterday, I spent all evening planning it, after walking her home first of course, basking in her presence as much as I could.
“I doubt that.” She grumbles her complaints into my chest, and I squeeze her one more time before pushing her back gently. “Come on, sleepyhead, let’s go. We don’t want to be late.”
Her gaze flicks upward. “Late? How could we possibly be late to anything this early? Isn’t half the world still asleep?”
I chuckle at her theatrics and reach to smooth out her frown. “Not everyone is a little nocturnal like you.”
My hand moves to her cheek, and I gently brush my fingers over it. My heartbeat feels like it jumped into my throat as I watch her lean into my touch, right before she closes her eyes in pure contentment.
Shit. That feels good.
A soft breath escapes her pink lips, her mouth forming a small O, successfully waking up my dick too.
When she opens her eyes and looks at me, I inwardly groan, not having a clue how I’m supposed to keep my hands to myself today.
She holds up her own. “All right, you win. Let me go pee one more time and grab my bag so we can head out.” She disappears into the hallway that leads to her bedroom and bathroom, but not before I can admire her round ass in the jean shorts she decided to wear—probably in an evil attempt to kill me today—almost missing her faint voice. “I put some water in to the fridge in case we need it.”
“I’ll get it.” I close the door behind me and walk into the kitchen, getting the cold bottles out of the fridge. When I close the door, my eyes zoom in on the piece of paper, held up by what looks like a million little heart magnets.
Her husband checklist.
It’s handwritten, meaning she actually took the time to copy it from her phone after her awful date with Mr. Douche-canoe whose name I’ve already forgotten.
The fact that it’s on her fridge, a place where she continuously sees it, doesn’t escape my notice. Neither does the sensation of not being able to get enough oxygen. This is what Julia wants, what she’s looking for.
A husband—her ultimate goal.
Despite the fact that the sheer thought of being someone’s husband still gives me heart palpitations, there’s also some flutters in my stomach now, shifting my focus slowly but steadily, and I can only hope they stir me into the right direction.
When I hear her footsteps, I spring into action and meet her at the door.
After locking it, she points her finger at me. “Can we get some breakfast somewhere? I’m starving.”
“Yes, ma’am. I was planning on doing that anyway, grumpy butt.” I put my arm around her shoulder and pull her into my side as we walk to the parking lot. When we reach my car, I kiss the top of her head before opening the car door for her.
Once she’s settled, I rush around to my side and slip into the driver’s seat. I’m eager to get us out of here, excited to get to our destination, especially since I know she’ll love my surprise.
“You know, maybe my mo
od would be better if you told me where we’re going.” She gives me a pointed look, and I smirk at her.
“Nice try. Let’s get you some caffeine and sugar. I’m sure you’ll feel more human after that, or at least stop trying to bite my head off.”
“Very funny.” She sticks out her tongue as I drive out of the parking lot.
Half an hour later we’re finally on the freeway, heading south. Julia’s mood has improved after a large breakfast and an almost equally large coffee.
“So”—she brushes the windblown hair out of her face before closing her window—“where are we going?”
A chuckle escapes my lips. “Really? You think I’m that easy?”
I’m relieved to see a small smile. Happy Julia is so much easier to deal with than grumpy Julia.
She gives a half shrug. “It was worth a try.”
“I guess so.”
“By the way, I meant to ask you about Ollie.” Just like that, her tone is more serious. “Have things improved for you guys? Has he started talking to you again?”
I shake my head, hating the heaviness in my chest every time I think about my best friend. “Not really. I mean, he has to talk to me, but it’s always work related. Other than that, he usually leaves the room or ignores me.”
“That sucks. It must be hard for you.”
She sounds sad, and I take her hand, squeezing it lightly. “It hasn’t been a lot of fun, but it’ll be okay. You know your brother, he can be stubborn.”
She sighs. “He’s always been as stubborn as a mule. Some things never change.”
Her fingers begin to play with mine, and I enjoy the comfort it brings me. It makes me feel like we’re in this together.
“Carter, I’m sorry.”
I peek over at her for a second, confused by her statement. “What are you talking about?”
“This whole mess with Ollie. If it wasn’t for me, you guys wouldn’t be having any issues right now.”
If it wasn’t for this busy traffic, I’d be pulling over right now, so I could really look at her, because I’m having trouble understanding where this is coming from all of a sudden. “I hope you’re joking. What’s going on with Ollie and me has nothing to do with you. I mean, yes, it’s because of what we did, but you didn’t do anything wrong. He just needs to wrap his head around it and get used to the idea of us being together.”
She moves around in her seat, leaning across the middle console to rest her head on my shoulder.
The familiarity of having her this close, and being affectionate after I thought I screwed things up, makes my heart beat faster.
This.
This is what I’ve missed.
This is what I would have missed had I not finally understood Mom’s advice about relationships.
It’s everything.
“Thank you.” Her voice is quiet next to my ear.
I turn my head to give her forehead a kiss. “Nothing to thank me for.”
“I think there is. We’re talking about your best friend here. You guys have been like brothers most of your lives. It makes me sad to know things aren’t right with you at the moment.”
We both know this situation is anything but ideal, but somehow I’m okay with that. Maybe it’s some rite of passage that comes with these circumstances. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. It’ll be all right in the end, I promise. Why don’t you close your eyes for a bit? I’ll wake you up when we’re there.”
Just then, a big yawn comes from her mouth. “You really don’t mind?”
I chuckle. “Not at all.”
Having her this close has already made the trip so much better, even when she starts to softly snore into my ear a few minutes later.
We get to our destination without any major traffic jams, and I park the car as close to the entrance as possible.
I turn off the car and try to glance at her. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”
Instead of waking up, Julia turns away from me and snuggles into her own seat.
“Typical.” I laugh when she curls into a fetal position. No clue how she manages that with the seat belt on.
After getting out of the car, I walk over to her side and carefully open the door.
“Jules, wake up. We’re here.” I gently brush the hair out of her face and lean in to give the tip of her nose a kiss. It doesn’t have the desired effect though, because she swats me away with her hand.
I study her for a moment. Now that her guard is down, she looks peaceful and a lot less stressed than she has the last few weeks. This looks more like the Julia I grew up with, the fun girl who couldn’t laugh loud enough and loved life.
I know everyone changes as they grow up, but I never thought that special spark in her life would be dimmed. But I didn’t expect her to go through the hardship she—and Oliver—went through either. It sucked the life out of both of them for a while. Oliver just dealt with it better in the end, or maybe he didn’t. Maybe he wouldn’t have been so overprotective of Julia had their dad been around. We’ll never know.
Trying again, I gently rub her arm, and she finally stirs. “Open your eyes, sweet girl. I promise you don’t want to miss this.”
A low groan escapes her lips, and it takes her another minute to finally look at me through her thick, dark lashes.
The corners of her mouth lift into a small smile when her eyes meet mine. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself.”
She sits up and gazes around. I see the exact moment when she realizes where we are. Her eyes widen and her mouth falls open. She squeals as she unbuckles her seatbelt in a hurry to push her face all the way into the windshield. “We’re going to Disneyland?”
I nod when she looks at me. “Surprise.”
Julia’s always loved visiting the theme park, dragging her parents—and Ollie and me—here as often as she could, even when we were older.
Her eyes glaze over when she leaps out of the car and into my arms. Since I didn’t expect it, she tips me off-balance, and we both fall onto the warm asphalt.
“This is already the best date ever.” Her lips come down onto mine, and after a few moments, our kiss ends way too soon for my liking. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you.” My grin is probably as wide as hers as our excitement blends together. “I thought there wouldn’t be any making out today?”
“Carter, you brought me to freaking Disneyland for our date. You deserve a big bonus for your efforts alone.” Her smile is one of the largest I’ve ever seen, emptying my mind of all concerns and worries.
“It definitely has its advantages when you know your date as well as I know you.” I wink at her.
Her eyes sparkle when she gives me one more kiss before getting up. “Can we go now?”
She bounces on her feet, making me laugh. “Of course. Let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Julia
My face hurts from smiling all day long, and I can’t remember the last time I was this happy. Carter’s officially the biggest trooper in history, going on whatever ride I pointed at, no matter if it was a thrill ride and I screamed his ear off, a slow ride where I felt like a kid again, or a water ride where we got soaked in three seconds flat.
I didn’t realize how much I missed this place until we walked through the entrance. The familiarity was so overwhelming, I was sniffling for a few minutes. It was like my parents were there in spirit with me, the memories of them following me around and making this even more special.
I remember scoffing when my mom said that one day my own husband would take me to Disneyland, maybe with a few kids in tow. When I asked her what if my husband didn’t like Disneyland, she looked at me and laughed. “Jules, you’ll end up with a man just like your dad who’ll do anything for the one he loves. You won’t accept anything less, and the man you love won’t give you any less.”
Carter and I are brand new at this dating thing, but I still think they’d be happy for me . . . for us. Because Disneyland is the fir
st place he’s taken me to.
When Carter told me we’d have dinner at Goofy’s kitchen where Mickey helps out as a chef, I jumped on him once more, not caring about the crowd around us.
No one has ever done anything this thoughtful for me.
No one.
Ever.
When the fireworks around us slowly come to an end, I let out a heavy sigh, sad when the video projections on the buildings start to disappear along with the music.
“Hey.” Carter’s voice is quiet compared to all the noise around us. “Come here.” He wipes his thumbs across my cheeks and studies me. “I hope those are happy tears.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “I didn’t even realize I was crying. Definitely happy tears though.”
Under other circumstances, or more so with any other person, I’d be embarrassed about bawling like a little baby, but not with Carter. This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed how much it helps we’ve known each other for so long. It puts me at ease like nothing else and has allowed me to be me, no holding back.
Dropping my head on his shoulder, I kiss his throat. “Seriously . . . this was the perfect ending to a perfect day. Thank you so much.”
“You’re so welcome.” He pulls me closer into his chest, and I welcome the warmth of his body.
“I’m sad it’s already over. I know we’ve been here all day, but it feels like there’s still so much to explore.” I’m in my own bubble, barely noticing the commotion around us, everyone trying to get past us to make their way to the exit.
Carter pushes me gently away from him and turns me around so I face him. “It doesn’t have to end yet if you don’t want it to.”
My thoughts freeze for a moment as I look at him. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I was kind of hoping for this reaction and reserved us a hotel room. That way we can come back tomorrow for another day.”
There is so much I want to say, but the words are stuck in my throat as I gaze at him, unable to believe his offer.
The Husband Checklist Page 17
