He opened and held the door open for her as she stepped out and passed him into the slightly dreary day. Even though they lived in Southern California, they’d had an unusually wet winter. She walked toward the outdoor tables and sat down at a chair. He sat right next to her.
She looked up at him nervously, but he spoke. "You didn't call," he said trying to make things easier. She shrugged.
"The holidays were crazy around here." Here? Did she mean the bakery or with her friends whom she talked about the way he talked about his family? "I don't teach at Monarchs anymore,” she admitted as she straightened her back, and he wondered if he was somehow at fault.
"Why?"
"Layoffs," she answered too quickly as she broke eye contact with him. "I wanted to call," she shared, her voice so soft and gentle he couldn't keep his hands to himself. His fingers went to the bottom of her chin and gently pulled her face up.
"Why didn't you?" he gently asked. Her eyes widened slightly.
"I'm not really sure." It wasn't much, but he knew she was being honest. "I'm glad you're here though," she divulged, and he gave her a smile. There it was. The small peeks of the woman she hid away from him. The one that made him crave for so much more.
"I am too," he shared, though he had a feeling she knew that. "Go to dinner with me." She shook her head, but he caught the small smile she was fighting.
"I can't." He wasn’t surprised by Carrie’s answer.
"Why? Do you have a hotter date?" he asked playfully, dramatically narrowing his brows, making her laugh as she softly gazed up at him through her pale lashes.
"Nothing like that."
"You sure? Because I could take my shirt off, show you how hot I am," he teased, enjoying the way her laughter rang out.
"I'm sure you look really good under that, but let’s keep your clothes on."
"Damn," he sighed giving her a wink.
"I just started my shift."
"Got it." He understood, but he wasn't ready to give up. "How about tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?" she asked, her eyes widening, and he knew she was trying to think of a way to get out of it.
"She's off tomorrow, actually. She's off the next couple of days, aren't you, Carrie?" the petite woman with dark wild curls from earlier said as she stood by them, Nick next to her.
"Perfect. I am too," he lied, but he knew by the grin on Nick's face it wouldn't be a problem. He finally had a date with his dream girl. "I'll pick you up in the morning," he told her, an idea coming to mind. The perfect date. One that he had never actually planned for a woman. No one before Carrie had made him want to do something like that. But she did. And he knew exactly where he wanted to take her.
"In the morning?" she asked, her eyes shifting back and forth between who he assumed was her boss and him.
"Yeah. Is six too early?" He probably sounded like a lunatic, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. He was done wasting time when it came to Carrie Blue.
"Six? In the morning?"
"Carrie," he said her name to catch her off-guard and knew by the surprised look on her face he’d succeeded.
"Yeah?"
"I need your address," Joel told her, watching as Carrie opened and then closed her mouth. He could almost hear her thinking of an excuse that would save her.
“Here it is.” The woman stepped forward, taking out a notepad of paper from her apron and furiously scribbling something down. “And her phone number.” The woman smiled at him, extending her hand to give him Carrie's information. "I'm Tess Galvan. One of Carrie's best friends."
"She's my boss too," Carrie shared as she shook her head, openly grinning.
"You must be Joel Vega," Tess stated, all while ignoring Carrie, and he wanted to laugh. They acted just like his sisters did when someone caught them mid-argument.
"Tess—" Carrie started to warn, her face turning a bright shade of red.
"You're better-looking than she described," Tess told him. Joel chuckled.
“Tess!" Carrie exclaimed, her face now turning a pretty shade of pink.
"Taller too, and is that a tattoo I see?" Tess asked pointing toward his rolled-up sleeve. Usually, he didn't roll up his sleeves quite as far, always trying to keep a professional appearance, especially if he went to schools, but he also hadn't expected to bump into anyone. Especially not Carrie.
“You have a tattoo?" Carries eyes widened and he could feel them on his forearms. His body ached for her actual touch. He wondered if she liked tattoos or was against them. God, he wanted her to like them. Like his. Touch him. Shit, he needed to get a hold of his thoughts before all the blood in his body travelled south.
"We told her to call you, but she wouldn't listen," Tess kept sharing. He was thankful for the comedic reprieve as he tried to cool the reaction his body seemed to always have around Carrie.
"Tess!"
"The software you help develop at Riley Tech is really awesome. I've seen how much it helps." Tess continued, and pride bubbled up. Carrie had talked about him and what he did to her friends. That’s was good. Right?
"Have you kept volunteering?" he asked Carrie. Why hadn't he gone to look for her there?
"Yeah," she smiled shyly. "I should get to work."
"Tomorrow, six in the morning. Bring an overnight bag."
“Overnight bag?”
“Nothing bad, just a road trip. You said you had the next couple of days off?”
“I didn’t say—“
“She does,” Tess cut her off. He smiled, thanking the spirits above for her friend. “Just have her home before Monday.”
"Okay. I can do that,” he quickly agreed, not missing the amused look on Nick’s face.
“Tess!” Carrie exclaimed again, her eyes wide before landing on him.
"I'll call you tonight to remind you."
"You don't have to—"
"I want to," he told her and meant it, his fingers itching to save her contact information into his phone. They both stood and he closed the small space between them, enveloping her in his arms.
She felt good there. She didn't fight it. If anything, her body molded to his and he felt like he could finally breathe easier since that last day he had seen her at school. Hell, having her in his arms like he had only dreamt of since having first met her, he could finally actually breathe. He held on, noting how her own arms went around his waist. The top of her golden head under his, he tipped his face into her hair and breathed in deeply.
Damn, it was good to have her in his arms.
Chapter Three
Carrie
"You should have seen him!" Tess exclaimed over dinner to Lucy Mack and Liz Del Rio, the other two of their quartet of a family of misfits.
"Hot?" Lucy asked, winking at her, and all Carrie could do was shake her head. They acted like they had never seen an attractive man before.
"He looks like one of those English rugby players Parker and Jake like to watch," Tess swooned, and even though she would die before agreeing out loud, Tess was not far off the bat from the truth with that comparison. Joel Vega was great to look at.
"Damn," Lucy sighed dreamily and shook her head.
"He's all tall and muscular with hefty bulk behind it. He seems so... solid."
"Solid?" Carrie asked, amazed at the way Tess described Joel. Not that she was wrong. He was very solid. But she feared he was solid in more ways than just his muscular appearance.
"And did I tell you he has a tattoo?"
"Why didn’t you tell us he had a tattoo?" Liz asked, her face serious, a perfectly plucked brow raised high.
"I didn't know he had one. He's always in dress shirts and suits," Carrie explained just as Tess moaned dramatically.
"God! Imagining him in a suit!" Tess fanned herself playfully, and Carrie laughed at her friend’s outlandish commentary.
"You need to get laid."
"So do you." Tess winked at her and got serious for a moment. "You didn't tell us he was all scruffy, though."
&nbs
p; "Scruffy, huh?" Liz asked, tilting her head toward Carrie, and again all she could do was laugh.
"That is new. He's usually clean shaven or sporting a five-o'clock shadow whenever I've seen him...”
"He sounds great! And he's taking you out tomorrow?" Lucy squealed clapping her hands.
“He might not return her until Monday,” Tess shared, while Carrie simply shook her head. He’d told her to pack a bag. A bag. Did he think she was that easy?
"I have a good feeling about this guy!" Lucy kept talking, almost dreamily. It was time to be the voice of reason. The party pooper.
"He's far from my type," Carrie commented.
"Because your type has obviously worked out so well," Liz pointed out, and even though she knew that Liz had a point, she ignored her and kept talking.
"He might be really handsome. I’m not saying he isn't—" she started to talk, but she should have known better than to try to get a word in edgewise with them.
"He's charming too," Tess pointed out.
"And charming," she gave in and admitted. "But for all I know, he's probably a player."
"You don't know that," Lucy, the hopeless romantic of their makeshift family, defended.
"You did say he never flirted with any of the other teachers," Tess reminded her.
"I said I never saw him flirt—"
"Not even with that secretary in the office." Melody Hawkins. She was like a pin-up girl crossed with a fairy princess, beautiful and sexy all shaken up together.
"Please. You saw him, Tess. He looks like he could have stepped out of a magazine crossed between Men's Health and GQ."
"And?" Liz asked.
“Yeah, and?” Tess copied, and she could feel the heat burning at the back of her neck.
"He's miles outta my league," she blurted out.
"Care—" Lucy started to talk gently, but she couldn’t do it.
"It's true." She ran her fingers nervously through her hair.
The walls felt like they were starting to close in on her. Sure, Joel was great to look at, but it was more than his looks that worried her. It was the glimpses she'd seen every week or so when he'd stopped by with the excuse of checking in on how the software her class was testing was working. The man Joel Vega was on the inside was what freaked her out more than the sex on a stick Tess had described. He was even more beautiful inside than he was out. He was sweet, considerate, funny, a great listener. A gentleman at every turn, and all that he was, what she knew he was, was too good to be true. "I should call and cancel. It will just be a waste of time. I should be looking for school districts that have openings instead of—"
"Carrie." Liz gently grabbed her hand, and she finally looked at her friend. Liz Del Rio was the tough one of their group. Or at least she had been before she had met Parker Stone and turned into goo. "I get it, babe."
"You don't. It's just—
"Come on, who do you think you're fooling here? If anyone gets it, it’s me. I've been there," she told her, and Carrie’s nose prickled with unshed tears as she thought back to Liz and Parker’s own ordeal.
"I know. I just think—"
"You're scared," Liz pointed out, never having been one to shy away from the truth and laying it out for them.
"I am not..." She couldn't keep talking, her voice wavering on the last word as she stared into Liz's brown eyes. She couldn't lie. Not to Liz. Not when she was right. If anyone got the fear she felt when it came to Joel Vega, it would be Liz. She had gone through her own hell to get to where she was with Parker, and they were good. More than good. They had found the illusive ‘It’ that many only dreamt of finding. "I'm terrified," she admitted.
"It makes sense," Liz said softly.
"Hell, yeah, it does. Look at us," Tess pointed out, and she braced for whatever crazy wisdom she was going to impart on them. "It's not like we had picture perfect childhoods. Except maybe for Lucy." She winked at their redheaded friend, who was shaking her head.
"Shut up." Lucy stuck her tongue out, and they kept talking as Carrie let her own thoughts wander.
Tess wasn't wrong; if anything, she'd hit the nail on the head. Carrie's parents had always been flighty, not in a bad way, just complete gypsies at heart. Total wanderers that had moved them from place to place what felt like anytime the wind changed, without rhyme or reason.
During her childhood, all the moving around and the disinterest they showed towards her had left her feeling like she was a burden, and she never had that sense of belonging to anyone. Even now, at twenty-seven, she was never sure if she had been or not. Not that she spoke to her parents that often. They checked in with her twice a year max. Last she had heard, they were living in Costa Rica renting surf equipment to tourists.
She remembered how the moment she turned eighteen, she had been on her own. She'd had no choice, really. They left the night of her eighteenth birthday. She knew she had to get an education so that one day she would be able to support herself. Grow her own roots and stay put in one place. Looking around the table at the three other women chatting, occasionally laughing and teasing each other lovingly, she knew she had done just that. She’d created the roots she had craved. She would find a new job. She wasn't worried.
Maybe they were right about Joel and letting herself go there. Give him a chance, a voice inside her head whispered softly.
"So?" Liz asked, and the girls got quiet. Suddenly, Carrie realized she'd been lost in her own thoughts.
"I'm sorry, what?" she asked watching her friends.
"Are you going to go with him?" Liz softly asked.
"Do you like him?" Lucy asked in a calm tone, and it was time for Carrie to be one hundred percent honest.
"I do."
"Then let yourself get carried away. Let yourself see where it will go. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen?" Lucy asked, some of her romanticism floating itself into Carrie’s soul.
Yeah, what was the worst that could happen?
Chapter Four
Joel
It was fifteen till six and he was parked in her driveway, grinning like an idiot from ear to ear while he looked at her text messages from last night. He had expected her to try to cancel their date but had been pleasantly surprised when she had texted asking what she should wear. When he'd asked if she had snow boots, she had responded with a witty serious-look emoji, making him laugh out loud. After about an hour of back and forth texting, he had taken a chance and called her. They’d talked easily for an hour before she yawned and he realized how late it was.
He should have been tired too, but he wasn't. He was like a kid on Christmas morning. All he felt was anticipation to see her. When was the last time he had been excited about anything other than work?
He looked at himself in the mirror, noting he needed a haircut with the way the ends of his hair were starting to curl. He ran a hand through the dark beard he'd unknowingly decided to grow out. It didn't look bad. Staring at his reflection, despite his nerves, he smiled. He was no longer the skinny, nerdy kid he had once been. Stretching his neck and looking away, he knew he was far as hell from that kid with self-esteem issues, yet sometimes those old feelings of nervousness popped up. Especially when it came to Carrie Blue.
His phone rang and he picked it up with a smirk at her name flashing at him. "Hello?"
"You can come in, you know?" she instantly said, but he could hear the smile in her voice.
"I said I'd be here at six," he countered, taking the key out of the ignition and opening the truck door.
"You were here twenty minutes before six," she pointed out, and even though heat flashed up his neck, he liked she had noticed. Was she as nervous and excited as he was?
He reached the door and was about to knock when she opened it, phone in hand, her appearance slightly disheveled, looking up at him, but all he could see was the way her eyes glittered. Yeah. She was excited too.
"Hi," she whispered, standing in front of him. Her hair was down and in loose, carefree waves, her face
almost without makeup except for a small trace of lip gloss that only highlighted her pretty little pout. "Joel?" she asked, her eyes meeting his head-on the moment he finished taking in how pretty she looked in jeans and a thick, blue, chunky knit sweater.
And just like that, the last thread of self-control snapped.
His hands had a mind of their own as he pulled her close toward him. She let out a small gasp, her body molding, fitting perfectly to his, and he noted she didn’t complain. His mouth hovered over hers for a small moment.
He had to make sure she wanted his kiss as much as he wanted hers, and thankfully, he was not disappointed. Her hands gripped the front of his black thermal, her mouth closed the remaining space, and there was no slow build to it. Her tongue peeked out tentatively, lightly swiping over his lower lip, and he was a goner.
Their first kiss wiped away any other women from his memory. It was hot and more than he could have imagined, searing her taste of cinnamon toothpaste and coffee into every inch of his body and soul. He backed them into the entrance of her home, but somehow stopped himself from backing her up against a wall. But he wasn't strong enough to stop his hands from moving into her hair. Her dark-blond tresses had always made his hands itch for a feel, and the reality of his fingers tangling within the soft locks blew all the fantasies he'd ever had of her out of the water. And all he was doing was touching her hair and kissing her.
Having the beautiful little school teacher that had been driving him crazy from the first moment they'd met in his arms, her lips moving deliciously over his, was like a dream come true. A dream he needed to last longer. Until his dying breath, if possible. The thought didn't frighten him; if anything, it gave him enough perspective to grab hold of some control. His hands clenched tighter in her hair, and as much as he loved every little thing about that moment, they needed to stop. They couldn't get carried away. Not yet.
He wanted her to know she was more than just a fun time. He knew she was cautious of him and what she felt for him. She thought he was a player, and though it was the farthest thing from the truth, he needed to show her he was the kind of man she could count on. Scraping her plump bottom lip gently with his teeth as it popped out of his own mouth, he swallowed her soft little purr. Joel shut his eyes tightly, praying to gain control on the moment. He placed his forehead against hers as they both caught their breath.
Hope Falls_Carried Away Page 2
