by Ami Snow
“Yeah,” she said, unable to completely mask the disappointment she felt. “I’m ready.”
“It was nice to see you again Carla,” Jason said, sending her a smile that pooled heat low in her belly. If she didn’t leave now she’d have to change her underwear when she got home. The man was irresistible.
“It was nice to see you too Jason,” Carla said, smiling back. Putting one foot in front of the other, she slowly followed her father from the café.
“You’re quiet,” Ben said, noticing the change in his daughter’s demeanor.
“Just thinking,” Carla replied. “Can I ask you something personal?”
“Depends on what it’s about and how personal it is, but go ahead.”
“Would you care if I dated an older guy?”
“How old are we talking and what guy?”
“Well, nothing’s official yet. I’m not even sure he’s interested but he’s about thirty-eight.”
“I’m thirty-eight Carla,” Ben said, his face turning pale. “And I take it if he might not be interested that you must be the one who is?”
“You’d like him dad,” Carla went on, ignoring her father’s deduction. “He’s smart and self-assured. He’s financially stable and he treats me as if I matter. No offense, but sometimes you and mom can shove me off as if I’m in the way.”
Ben sighed. “You’re not in the way Carla, but at eighteen I figured you’d realize by now that your parents want and need to be alone some. You’re not a little girl anymore and I thought by now you’d be itching to move out on your own.”
“I am,” Carla said adamantly. “That doesn’t mean I’m ready yet. I just started working at T’s like three weeks ago. Not to mention that all of my savings would toward rent and getting my TV and internet set up.”
“Bills are tough,” Ben chuckled. “Tell you what. Tomorrow I’ll help you find something you can afford that won’t break your bank every month. We’ll try to make it close enough that we can help you out but far enough away that we both have to call before visiting, okay?”
“You’d do that for me?”
“Carla, you’re my daughter. There’s almost nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
“Almost?” Carla asked, smirking as one delicate eyebrow winged up.
“Well I wouldn’t kill the president for you or shoot an unarmed person. There are limits you know.”
Carla laughed and the anticipation of moving out on her own swept over her. In less than a couple weeks she could have her own place with her own privacy. She could come and go as she pleased without answering to her parents. Her mind automatically clicked over to a romantic dinner with Jason and the fun they could have afterward.
The next week flew by as Carla scouted out apartments with her dad. She’d found several in the paper that worked financially, but she wasn’t about to put a deposit down sight unseen. They were on their next to last one on Carla’s list when they pulled into an apartment complex that afforded her an individual parking space. “This is nice,” she said, commenting on her own slot.
“It doesn’t look too bad,” Ben said, checking for things like security cameras and such. “It seems to be well maintained and looks as if decent people live here.”
“Don’t judge a book by its car cover dad,” Carla said, smirking. “I know some awesome people who driver beaters and some real assholes who drive jags.”
“I’ll never get used to you being grown up,” Ben said smiling.
“Sure you will, especially when you no longer have me under foot when you and mom want to-“
“Yeah, yeah. Get moving,” Ben said, giving Carla’s shoulder a light shove as she walked away laughing. “The sooner we see this place, the better.”
Once they were through the door, Carla led her dad up a flight of stairs to the first landing and down the long hallway to apartment 622B. She didn’t want to know who lived in 622A. She just wanted to know if the apartment had all the amenities the manager had listed in the paper. Knocking on the door, Carla waited for the manager to open the door.
“Coming,” called a woman who sounded nice. When she opened the door Carla smiled. She was young somewhere between Carla’s age and that of her father. Carla had a feeling that she’d get along well with this woman. “Welcome to the Vista Estates.” She stepped back and allowed Carla and Ben to enter. The living room, although it was small sported enough room for a loveseat, chair, end table and small coffee table, besides leaving room for a TV and entertainment center. The kitchen was a galley style set up that had six cupboards a stove and sink, a fridge and a small dishwasher. The bathroom was clean and had a sink, toilet and shower stall and the bedroom was large enough for a queen sized bed, a dresser and a nightstand. The place looked clean as well, which was an important part of renting something like this.
“The carpet is all new,” the woman, who’d introduced herself as Sophie, said as they did their walk through. “The office is also reducing the first, last and security to nine hundred for this month only, instead of fifteen hundred.”
“I like that,” Carla said smiling.
“What do you think about the place?” Ben asked, knowing what he’d say if it were his decision.
“I like it,” Carla said. “Can I put my deposit down on it today or do I need to do a background check or something?”
“We can hold your deposit on it while we run your background check. We do the fingerprinting right downstairs so it runs through faster. We should know something by the weekend.”
“Excellent,” Carla smiled. Carla went downstairs with Sophie while Ben brought the truck around. She paid her first and last month’s rent and her security deposit. She took the extra six hundred and while she was in the office she reserved a hotel room and dinner for her parents. She paid it with her bank card and would get her dad to run her by to deposit the money she’d saved.
“Thank you so much Carla,” Sophie said with a smile. “Hopefully it’ll go through without a hitch and you’ll have your own apartment come Saturday.”
“I’m already looking forward to it,” she smiled. Shaking Sophie’s hand she left the office and climbed in next to her dad. “Can we stop by the bank? I want to deposit this money before they close.”
“Sure honey,” Ben said, more than proud of his only child. “I’m proud of you sweetheart. You waited until you found the right place before you jumped. Not only is there that, but you saved yourself six hundred dollars on the deal and the place really is nice.”
“Thanks Dad,” Carla said, beaming. She was going to be on her own come the weekend. The thought brought a pang to her heart. She’d never lived away from home before and while she was looking forward to it, the realization was a little overwhelming. They drove by the bank and then Ben took Carla back to the house for dinner.
Carla told her mom, Elise, all about finding the apartment and saving money. She gushed about it and her own parking spot. Ben said she needed to take some self-defense courses and looked up a concealed carry class so she could learn basic gun safety as well. “Don’t you think a gun safety course is a little much dad?”
“No,” Ben stated. “If you’re going to live on your own you need to learn how to shoot, how to properly handle a firearm and how to tear down, clean, reassemble and load it. Once you finish the course we’ll find you a handgun you’re comfortable with. Then we’ll make a schedule to go to the range three times a week. I want you as safe as possible and learning how to be comfortable around a firearm isn’t just important, it’s essential. If you choose not to carry concealed that’s up to you, but I want you to have the knowledge.”
“Oh fine,” Carla said rolling her eyes. “Oh, I almost forgot. While I was getting my fingerprints done I reserved y’all a room at Rixby’s for Saturday night and it includes an all-expense paid dinner as well.”
“What?” Elise said, smirking. “Honey, you should have saved your money.”
“And you and dad need a night out. Y’all haven’t
been out together, really been out, in too long. I’m about to fly the coup and I wanted to celebrate. More than that I want you two to know how much I appreciate all your sacrifice. You’ve bent over backwards to give me the best of life and I appreciate it.”
“Well damn babe,” Elise chuckled. “It looks like you’re taking me to dinner on Saturday night.”
“What happens if they call you to let you move in on Saturday?” Ben asked.
“Moving can wait until Sunday. Plus, I’ll probably need Saturday to finishing packing up all my stuff anyways. And I thought I might stop by some yard sales and see if they had any furniture I can purchase.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Elise said. “I can go with you in the morning.”
“Alright,” Carla smiled.
Chapter Two: Tangled
Jason finished his paperwork for the upcoming inventory and sat back, stretching his muscles and rubbed his tired eyes. He was getting too old to do it all. Still, since he couldn’t afford to hire a bookkeeper he’d have to make do with doing the job himself, until more income became available.
He toyed with the idea of hiring an intern and letting him or her keep up the books for minimal pay and the job experience, but somehow paying someone a wage that was less than the minimum grated on his nerves. Deciding the let the issue lie for now, Jason stood up to refresh his coffee when his phone rang.
“You’ve reached Jason Platt,” he said into the receiver.
“Hey Jason, its Carla.”
“Hey Carla,” Jason returned. “How are your parents?”
Would the man never realize that she was grown? “They’re good,” she explained. “Actually that’s why I called. I sent my parents out earlier on a dinner and hotel date night. Only thing is, I got the key to my new apartment and really want to start moving. My dad always said if he wasn’t around I could call you.”
“Ugh, yeah, sure. What’s the address?”
“You can meet me at my parent’s house, it’ll be easier if you follow me over to my apartment from there.”
“Alright,” Jason said. “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”
“Thank you so much,” Carla smiled. Jason fixed a sandwich, grabbed some soda and headed out the door. Little Carla was moving into her own apartment. Man time was flying and he was getting old. He’d been here the day Ben had found out that Elise was expecting. That had been quite the surprise and now, eighteen years later, Jason couldn’t believe his best friend’s daughter was a bona-fide adult. Living on her own and everything.
He pulled into Ben and Elise’s driveway and shut his truck off. “Hey,” Carla said from the doorway.
“Hey Carla,” Jason said, noticing for the first time how womanly she looked. Dressed in jeans and an orange top that complimented both her complexion and her figure, Jason realized he’d been half afraid of admitting that Carla wasn’t a little girl anymore. If they weren’t already men would be tripping over themselves very shortly to take Carla Danvers on a date. He hoped she was ready, because dating was tricky business. “You ready to get started?”
“Yes!” she smiled. Jason felt his gut clench and bit his tongue until he winced. How did you compliment your best friend’s daughter without it seeming as if you were hinting at something else altogether, even when you were hinting at something altogether?
Two seconds in her presence and he was already in deep shit. Jason grabbed the first couple boxes and took them out to his truck. When he came back she had four more ready for him, all labeled with a section of her apartment where they needed to go. “I need to stop by a couple of yard sales as well. There’s one not too far from here that has a living room set for sale I want to check out.”
“Alright,” Jason said with a nod of his head. They packed up the rest of the boxes from her room and headed toward the yard sale. The couch and loveseat were a little too much, but the woman was willing to sell her just the loveseat for a fifty dollar bump due to the separation. Jason helped the woman’s husband load it onto the truck. “Do you need to stop anywhere else or are we just heading over to the apartment now?”
“We can drop all this stuff off and see if we can’t get this behemoth up to my place. Then I need to stop by the furniture store. I’ve had my twin bed since I was about two. I need an upgrade.”
“Your parents must be freaking out huh?”
“Actually I think they’re okay. I’m not so far away that they can’t visit, but we’ll both have our privacy and we’ll all know when visiting is okay and when it’s not.”
“I can hardly believe that you’re grown up enough to live on your own.”
“I’ll admit that it was a bit overwhelming at first. Exciting for sure, but huge as well. It’s a big step to finally move out on my own,” Carla said. It was so easy to talk to this man. “I’m sure I’ll miss them terribly the first few days I’m here by myself, although work will keep me busy.”
“How is the new job?”
“Dad told you?”
“Mm,” Jason said. “He said you’d just started three weeks ago?”
“Yeah,” Carla said. “It’s alright. Not my dream job, but it’ll pay the bills.”
“What is your dream job?”
“I don’t know,” Carla sighed. “I like numbers, like dad. They come easy to me and figuring them out so they work always entertains me. It must sound boring to want to be an accountant or bookkeeper huh?”
“No,” Jason said, an idea sparking in his brain. He’d need to talk to Ben first though. “It makes my head hurt, all those numbers. But that doesn’t mean it’s a terrible job. Accountants make really good money.”
“They do,” Carla agreed. “Although nowadays you have to run a business just about to use an accountant. Everyone else just does their taxes on the internet.”
“Accounting is more than just taxes,” Jason said. “People use accountants for all sorts of things. Keeping their income and expenditures straight, keeping their bank accounts in the black and setting up things like trust funds and such.”
“Which all take more money than I certainly have,” Carla pointed out with a smile. “You can turn here and my apartment space is 622B.”
“You’re very own parking space huh?” Jason said, impressed with the place. “How’s the rent?”
“It’s five hundred a month, but they gave me a discount to three hundred for my first, last and security that was only good this month. I snatched up the savings. I’m going to put the remainder of the money I saved on a new bed. I’m desperate for something new and big.” She laughed and Jason nearly forgot to put the truck in park before he tried to get out. The woman was going to drive him crazy. When the hell had she become more than just little Carla?
***
Carla helped Jason carry in all the boxes first, leaving plenty of walking space for dragging the couch up the stairs. They went down to hoist it off his truck and Carla noticed a young man standing close enough to them that he was obviously checking her out.
“Can I help you with that?” the man asked. Carla smiled and agreed.
“On three,” Jason said, counting off and lifting the couch with a grunt. They carried the loveseat up the stairs and put it on the wall that Carla had left clear.
“Thank you so much,” Carla said, shaking the man’s hand.
“It’s not a problem,” he smiled. “I’m Mark. I live in 565A if you ever need mayonnaise or a whisk or anything.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Carla chuckled. She showed Mark out and turned to see Jason brooding.”
“You’re wearing your, I’m not happy face.”
“Your dad would be ringing that guy’s neck for coming on to you like that.”
“He was just being neighborly.”
“Neighborly my ass,” Jason said as frustration raked through his system. “He would have jumped you if you’d given him the slightest invitation.”
“What the hell’s gotten into you?” Carla said, even as anticipation
pumped through her. “The first time a man looks at me and you’re acting as if he’s taking your territory. You need to smoke a joint or do some blow and relax.”
“And you’d know,” Jason snickered until Carla pulled a well rolled blunt from her purse. “What the hell are you doing with that?”
“It’s legal in this state you know,” Carla smirked. “It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve ever smoked weed. I get mine from the medical marijuana dispensary on 5th Street and Cannon.”
“Do your parents know?”
“I told them that I planned on getting a medicinal marijuana card.”
“And they let you?”
“What were they going to do lock me in my room and demand I stay there?”
“Hell yes,” Jason said, running a hand through his hair. “If you were my daughter I’d tie you up and make you stay put.”
“Well the tied up part works for me, but staying put, not so much.”
“You don’t understand how men are Carla,” Jason said, his voice rough, harsh. “They’ll take advantage of you.”
“Oh and you’re going to enlighten me?” she scoffed. “Alright Jason. Feel free to enlighten me about what I don’t know about men.” She said, lighting her joint and blowing the hazy smoke in his face. She laughed when he coughed. “I know you and dad used to smoke so don’t act all offended.”
“Don’t touch me,” Jason said gruffly, he took the lit joint from her and pulled the herbal medicine into his body. Holding it, he coughed and waited. Exhaling, Jason noticed that Carla was standing so close that he could see the fire in her eyes. Too late he missed the desire that was just as high, just as darkly erotic.
“Why?” Carla said. She boldly reached a hand out and pressed it on his chest. “I want to touch you Jason. I’ve wanted to touch you for some time now. I couldn’t before, despite being grown before my eighteenth birthday. But now I can and I’ve waited for so long.”
