Текст книги "A Pound of Flesh"

Автор книги: Sophie Jackson

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Текущая страница: 21 (всего у книги 27 страниц)

28

Leaving the beach house was hard for Kat. So much had happened in the two days they’d stayed there. She’d clung to Carter at the side of her car, never wanting to be away from him again, but knowing that real life waited for both of them.

The drive back to the city was long and uneventful, except for the moment that Carter flew past Kat’s car on Kala like a bat out of hell, weaving through traffic like a lunatic. She wasn’t sure he even noticed her, but Lord if he didn’t look like sex incarnate riding the damned thing.

After texting Carter to tell him she was home safely, she prepared herself for an unexciting evening of unpacking her suitcase. He’d promised to stop over later, which, even after a whole weekend together, still caused excited butterflies to swarm inside of her. Fred smiled as Kat approached the front desk, her suitcase clattering at her heels across the marble floor.

“Good evening, Miss Lane,” he chimed. “How are you?”

“I’d be better if you’d call me Kat,” she admonished with a playful flash of her eyes.

“Apologies. Kat.”

“My friend Mr. Carter will be here later. Will you send him straight up?”

Fred picked up a pen and made a note. “Is he the tall gentleman with the … tattoos?”

Kat smirked. “Yes, that would be him, but he’s really not as scary as he looks.”

Fred raised his eyebrows. “I’ll take your word for it.”

Kat laughed. “Good evening, Fred.”

“Good evening, Kat,” Fred replied with a tip of his hat.

She turned back from the desk, heading to the elevators. As her hand lifted to press the elevator call button, a figure moved behind her, catching her attention. As realization struck, Kat spun around with a surge of anger.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she spat.

Beth’s face showed no sign of surprise at Kat’s reaction. “I came to talk to you.”

Kat let out a bark of sarcastic laughter. “I have nothing to say to you.”

She turned back to the elevator and pressed the already lit button, praying for it to hurry up.

“You look well,” Beth murmured. “You look really well.”

“Why do you care?” Kat remarked with no inflection to her voice. She turned, crossing her arms defensively. “Look, you’d better hurry back. I’m sure Adam and Austin are eager for you to get back to them to tell them all of my dirty secrets.”

“They don’t know I’m here,” Beth replied, anxiety prevalent in her wide eyes. “I told Adam I was going to get some ice cream.”

Kat’s anger turned to confusion.

“I’m so sorry, Kat. Truly.”

Kat remained apathetic. “And?” she asked with a lackadaisical shrug of her shoulders. She was intrigued as to what had caused Beth’s sudden attack of conscience, although, if it was a trap, then God help her.

“And I wanted you to know that.”

“Fine,” Kat countered, pressing the elevator button again. “You’ve said you’re sorry. Now your conscience is clear, and you can leave.”

Ordinarily, Kat’s brusque attitude would have made Kat feel bad, but a quick apology wouldn’t erase the secrets hanging in the air around them like a noxious gas.

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

Kat froze, unblinking, praying her poker face was enough.

“I know you,” Beth said quietly. “I can see it.” She stepped closer. “Is he good to you? Does he treat you right?”

Kat bit the inside of her mouth. She stayed silent, fighting the urge to run far away. She knew trusting Beth was a mistake.

“You look happy,” Beth continued in a voice Kat remembered fondly. “Love suits you. I know he must be a good man to make you glow the way you are.” Her eyes flitted over Kat’s face. “I know it’s too little too late, but I can admit when I’m wrong.” She sighed despondently. “Adam explained a few things. He told me about Carter and Austin. The way Austin was when they were all growing up.”

“Yeah,” Kat countered sharply. “Carter told me about it, too.”

Remorse whispered across Beth, weighing down her shoulders, making her smaller. “I know Carter isn’t bad, and I know that with him you’re safe. I should’ve trusted your judgment, and I didn’t. For that I apologize.”

Paranoia flared up Kat’s spine. “So now you can go and confirm it all to Austin, can’t you?”

“That’s not why I came,” Beth muttered toward the floor before she started to rifle through her bag. She pulled out two brown folders. “I wanted to give you these.”

Kat took them. “And what are they?”

“They’re jobs.”

Kat cocked an incredulous eyebrow.

“Teaching jobs with starting dates for the new year,” Beth added. “One of them is at the school where I’m currently working. I think you’d be perfect, so …” She cleared her throat and glanced at the ceiling. “I know I went about it in entirely the wrong way, and I will always be sorry for that, but I want you to be happy, and I know Carter does that. But if you’re with him, you have to be careful. If Austin finds out you two are in love he could use it—”

“What? You tried to set me up with this guy. Why would you do that when you know what he’s like?”

“He isn’t a bad guy, Kat,” Beth replied firmly. “But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t make bad decisions. He has to answer to many important people, and they want Carter out, too. He’s under a lot of pressure. I heard about Ben’s visit to the office. Austin’s going nuts trying to find a way to get Carter out. Adam said he’s never seen his brother so angry, so dangerous, and …” She pulled her bag onto her shoulder, breathing deeply. “Just look at the folders. If you’re Carter’s tutor and you’re together, you’re both at risk. Think about Ward, the board, the nonfraternization policy you agreed to. There is so much at stake.”

“You think I don’t know …” Kat snapped her mouth shut. She’d already said too much.

Beth’s smile was small but knowing. “Think about it. I’m here if you want to talk. We could go for coffee, or …” Beth moved her hand toward Kat, but let it drop before she reached her. “I’m sorry and I miss you.”

She hesitated before she closed her coat around herself. With one more repentant stare, she turned, walked across the lobby, and left.

* * *

Carter kissed Kat’s hair and nuzzled her temple. They were fully clothed, under the covers of her bed, where Carter had placed her after she’d almost strangled him when he arrived at the apartment a half hour earlier. She’d flung herself at him and he’d shushed and soothed her, while she explained what had happened with Beth.

“I’m so scared, Carter. I’m scared she’s doing this so she has proof that we’re together. I’m afraid she’ll go to Austin and he’ll use that against you. I never thought that sending Ben would– I’m terrified he’ll threaten you and take you away from me. And I can’t—I can’t lose you, I …”

Carter kissed her, swallowing her concerns. The tremors of fear ran up her spine under his touch. He hated it. He’d fucking kill Austin if he dared to take his Peaches from him. Let the fucker try.

“He can’t do anything. I won’t let him.” His voice grew dark, menacing. “If he wants the company he can fucking have it. The money means nothing. All I want is you.”

She nodded hopelessly, turning Carter’s anger into panic. He was losing her.

“We can’t let them win,” he said, seizing her chin. “After this weekend, you have to promise me you won’t let them win.” She shook her head, but it didn’t appease him. He held her jaw. “Say the words, baby. I need to hear them.”

“I won’t let them win. I promise you.”

He groaned in a mixture of frustration and desire.

His tongue lay flaccid and unusable at the bottom of his mouth. He gritted his teeth. How could he not tell her how he felt? His body was bursting at the seams with emotions for her, and he simply could not express any of them. He kissed her neck and knotted his fingers in her hair, silently fuming and cursing himself.

“If I take one of those jobs, I won’t be your tutor anymore,” Kat mumbled sadly against his rough cheek.

He’d think about having a new tutor and the antagonism he would feel toward them later. Now was not the time. “But I’ll still have you, right?”

She slid her palm down the side of his face. “You’ll have all of me.”

He gripped the back of her knee and pulled it higher above his hip. She pushed her hands under his T-shirt, her nails grazing his back, while her tongue pushed into his mouth. He could taste her fear and pushed back just as hard to soothe her.

“Fuck them, Kat,” he growled. “Come back to me. Be here with me. Right now,” he demanded. “Don’t think about them. Just think about us.”

There was so much to discuss. So much to think about. There was so much at risk that could tear them apart. Carter clenched his eyes shut, pushing his dread as far away as he could. As long as they were together, he thought, everything would be all right.

“Make me forget. Please,” she begged. “Make me forget all of them.”

Carter rolled her onto her back, hovering above her. “Anything.”

29

Days passed, gradually folding into weeks as Kat and Carter continued to fold into each other. Cautious and careful, they continued to meet at the library three days a week, working as they were expected, while at night they worshipped each other’s bodies in an effort to keep at bay the things that threatened to tear them apart. For those sweet, blissful hours when their limbs entangled and their names became frenzied gasps of pleasure, everything floated away, leaving them to imagine what being together without worry or recrimination would be like.

Carter watched his Peaches carefully from one day to the next, hopelessly aware that the strain of their situation had begun chipping away at her resolve. Outwardly, she appeared the same, beautiful and put together, but he’d begun to notice, when they were alone, she held on to him a little tighter, touched him more frequently, more fervently, as though terrified that what they’d built together would collapse around them at any second.

Carter wasn’t naïve. He knew the obstacles. He worried just as much as she did. His cousin was an asshole of the highest order, no doubt plotting a retaliation that would be sure and swift. Max was still falling into blow with no regard for those who cared for him, and Kat’s mother called incessantly, despite Kat’s insistence that she didn’t want to speak to her.

Shit outside of their bubble was not copacetic. Nevertheless, Carter knew he had to be strong for them both. He’d do anything to help see that smile of Kat’s he adored so much, which was why he insisted she look through Beth’s folder of good intentions for a new job when, after two weeks, it still sat untouched on her coffee table. And why he agreed to accompany her when she returned her grandmother’s car to Chicago in time for Thanksgiving.

To agree to the latter, and doing family-type shit, highlighted just how insane he fucking was. But, truthfully, the thought of Kat being away from him for any amount of time was excruciating. He’d just have to nut up and shut the fuck up.

Kat’s small hand shot out across the car’s center console and covered Carter’s leg, which jumped up and down in earnest. Unable to throw himself from Nana Boo’s Jag and hightail it back to his apartment, Carter settled for decimating the side of his thumbnail, which he shoved inelegantly between his teeth, gnawing on it like a motherfucker.

“Sweetheart, relax.” Kat glanced at him and then back to the road. “Everything is going to be fine.”

Carter scoffed.

Fine? Fine? Was she insane?

Her confidence in both him and the situation was endearing as hell, but his brain had been on fast-forward since they’d left the apartment. Oh God, the fumbling, nervous verbal vomit that would no doubt happen when he met Kat’s favorite family member was enough to turn his stomach inside out. His nerves were just about shot to shi—

“I love you.”

Carter’s eyes closed briefly before they slid over to the breathtaking creature next to him. His hand dropped loudly from his mouth to his lap.

“And Nana Boo will, too.” She smiled, her eyes sparkling. “I just know it.”

How the hell did she do that? She knew exactly what to say to help calm him down, and, although the need to leap out of the car was still heavy in his stomach, her words made it all the more bearable.

He kissed her temple. “Thanks.” Even though the sentiment seemed grossly inappropriate for how she made him feel, it was all he had. Carter sat back, keeping her hand tightly on his thigh, fingers entwined, securing himself to her. With a deep breath, he stared out of the car window, watching the world whizz by. They had a long drive ahead of them: nine hours, a stop overnight in a motel, and then another six to Chicago.

He looked at the clock.

Only another eight and a half hours to go.

Terrific. Plenty of time to get riled up.

His cell phone chimed from his jeans pocket. He read the display: Max calling …

“Hey, man.”

“Where the hell are you?” Max’s words were sharp, high, and slurred.

The idiot was filling his nose at nine in the damn morning. The shit was getting out of hand.

Carter sighed. “I’m headed to Chicago, Max. Where are you?” The faint sound of a female voice sounded in the background. “Who’s with you?”

Ignoring his question, Max retorted, “What the fuck are you going there for?” His tone made Carter bristle.

“Thanksgiving,” he replied firmly. “Kat invited me. I told you about it, remember? You said you’d be chillin’ at Paul’s.”

Max laughed, though it sounded humorless. “Oh yeah. You and Kat. The happy fucking couple.”

Here we go again. There was a crash on the line, something hitting the floor, and high-pitched giggling that could only be chemical-induced. “Max. Are you okay? What’s up?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he spat. “You clearly have better things to do, brother. You always do.”

Carter’s temper spiked. “That’s not true. Don’t be a dick, Max.”

But the line went dead. Carter stared at the cell screen, incredulous and angry. He and Max had spoken little about his and Kat’s relationship, not least of all because Max’s bitterness and anger over Lizzie clouded his ability to see how happy Carter was. The more Carter felt for Kat, the madder Max appeared to become. Carter’s joy was apparently of little importance to Max, who was too involved in his own despair. The amount of coke he was doing daily simply exacerbated the situation.

And Carter was powerless to stop it.

Every time he offered to help—be it money or support—he was met with resistance. Max’s pride was almost as difficult to penetrate as his stubbornness. Carter and Paul had discussed an intervention—the only place for Max now was rehab—but both men knew that would only end badly.

“Everything okay?” Kat’s expression was anxious.

“No.” Carter sent a quick text to Cam and Paul, telling them to go to the shop and make sure Max hadn’t choked on his own vomit or some shit. In irritation, he began fiddling with the radio, playing station commando for a good five minutes, appreciative of the fact that Kat didn’t push further.

“Don’t forget you have to call Diane when we cross the state line,” Kat said instead.

“Yeah, I know,” he replied, settling back in the leather seat of the Jag XJ and letting the sounds of Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” relax into his bones. Carter hummed along and played the invisible chords of the song against the blue vein in Kat’s wrist. He brought Kat’s hand to his lips and kissed her knuckle.

She hummed. “Tell me what it is you’re worried about.”

He replied with a peevish shrug, like that shit would discourage her from asking questions. Truth was, there was no escaping Kat and anything she asked him. His ass remained trapped in a cream leather bucket seat traveling across the country at seventy miles an hour.

Awesome.

“Tell me.”

Carter clasped the bridge of his nose. “I’m worried about a lot of things. I can’t think of just one.”

“Okay,” she soothed. “But you should know there really is no need to—”

His patience snapped, his words bursting from him in a sharp rush. “For Christ’s sake, I’m a criminal, Peaches. Of course there’s reason to worry.”

He didn’t mean to bite, but he was beyond edgy. His spine was wired and his stomach was in knots, twisting frequently between fear and panic. Yeah, he was a fucking mess.

Kat remained silent.

He was instantly contrite. “Look, shit, I’m sorry, baby—”

“No, it’s all right,” Kat interrupted. “This is a big deal for you. I’m sorry I’ve not addressed that properly, I really am.” Her sincerity made his chest tight. “Just say the word and I’ll turn the car around. If this is too much for you, I don’t want you to feel this uncomfortable.”

What the hell had he done to deserve her?

“I don’t want you to turn the car around.” He breathed deeply, turning in his seat to see her better. “Not that I don’t appreciate the gesture, but I want to be with you this weekend.” Carter ran his free hand across his head. “I just want your grandmother to see I’m not just a …” He swirled his fingers toward his chest, thinking of a list of not-too-nice adjectives. “You know, and that I care about you.”

Kat slowed the car as they approached a junction. “She will. My grandmother is the very best person I know. She doesn’t judge.”

She laid her palm against Carter’s neck, running her thumb along his jaw. “We can just be us. You and me.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

* * *

They were only twenty minutes from the house when Carter’s gut began to do backflips. His back was also all kinds of fucking sweaty, which was ridiculous considering it was colder than a witch’s tit outside the car. It’d even snowed a little.

“You feel okay?”

Carter rested his head back, watching Kat drive. “I’ll be fine,” he murmured, pressing his cheek against the headrest. “I’m just gonna watch you until we get there.”

She smiled with her eyes still on the road. “Like when you have a flu shot, huh?”

Carter frowned. “What?”

Kat glanced in the rearview, changing lanes. “When I was a little girl, my dad took me for my shots, and he’d always say that if I didn’t look, it wouldn’t hurt as bad. It wasn’t as scary if you couldn’t see it comin’.” She smiled again, her eyes wistful. “I’d hide in his neck and pray for it to be over.”

“Did it work?”

“Every time.”

The sides of his mouth lifted. She’d spoken a lot about her father since they’d left New York. Carter couldn’t deny he would like to have met Daniel Lane, regardless of how the man would have reacted to Carter dating his daughter.

“Do you think …?” Carter wrapped his thumb around the side of Kat’s little finger hopefully. “Do you think that he would have liked me?”

Kat pulled to a stop, as the lights changed to red, and turned to face him. “I think you and my father are more alike than even I realize. I think he would have thought you were awesome.”

God, he wished that were true enough to erase the dark fear lurking just beneath his skin. “You do?”

“Yeah,” she answered with no hint of doubt in her voice. “I do. Kiss me?”

Carter moved so their lips met. Keeping his eyes open, he watched Kat’s roll back into her head. He let the tip of his tongue trace her bottom lip and sighed when she pulled back and continued to drive.

“I don’t remember having my shots,” he confessed quietly.

Kat glanced at him. “You don’t?”

He shook his head, trying to recollect.

Kat scrunched her shoulders, making her voice bright and indifferent, but Carter knew she was feeling sorry for him. The sympathy prickled his skin like a nettle sting, making his molars grind.

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Kat offered. “Having shots is awful.”

It seemed like such a ridiculous thing to want to remember. He exhaled hard at the memories he did have. Hurt. Tears. Isolation. Hate. Fuck it, he thought, when the anger began to rise. There was no changing his past; he had to look forward, and having Kat at his side was one giant leap in the right direction. He squeezed her leg, his fingers whispering over the denim seam running up the inside of her thigh.

“Carter?” She swallowed.

He smiled. “Yeah?”

“We’re here.”

Carter snapped his head around to see a huge redbrick house appearing at the end of a long stone driveway, surrounded by gardens. Carter’s heart gave a resounding kick behind his ribs. He was suddenly desperate for a cigarette. Frantically patting himself down, he found the pack of smokes in his jeans pocket and swallowed in relief. Thank God.

Unexpectedly, a terrible thought crossed his mind: Shit, what if Kat’s grandmother hated smokers?

“Carter?”

Kat’s voice sounded miles away and when he turned to look at her, Carter had the oddest sensation that he was floating underwater, unable to breathe.

Kat unclipped her seat belt. “Are you all right? You look a little pale.”

Carter rubbed the center of his chest, willing his airways to open up. It didn’t help. A wave of cold sweat crashed over him, shooting down his back like icy claws. He couldn’t breathe. Christ. His lungs were seizing.

What was he doing? Why had he agreed to this fuckery? He didn’t do this. He didn’t meet families. It was laughable, really, thinking Kat’s grandmother would accept him. She’d never accept him because he wasn’t good enough. He’d never be good enough.

Stupid, stupid idiot.

“Hey,” Kat said, pulling his hands from his face to her lap.

“Kat, I—I’m not …” He gasped. “I can’t.”

“You’re fine, Carter. I’m here and you’re fine.” Kat put her hands on his neck and rubbed his pulse points with the pads of her thumbs. “Tell me,” she murmured, kissing the fingertips of his right hand. “Tell me you know what you mean to me.”

His lungs shuddered. “I know. I know. But I—”

Her forehead met his, holding it up, holding him up. “No. No buts. That’s all you have to think about.”

See? her tone whispered. Easy.

With three deep breaths, Carter’s pulse slowed. Focusing on her fingers drawing circles on his skin, he managed to sit up a little straighter. He had to get a grip. He couldn’t allow his fear to be the first thing Kat’s grandmother would see. No way.

He moved forward, capturing Kat’s lips. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Are you okay now?”

He dropped his gaze to the floor of the car. “Just don’t leave me, okay?”

“I won’t,” Kat said fervently, dismissing his neediness as quickly as he offered it. “Come on.”

Before Carter could stop her, she was getting out of the car and bouncing excitedly around the hood.

“Here goes fuckin’ nothing.” Carter opened the car door and got out.

He shut the car door and pushed his hands into his pockets against the cold air and the sudden, colder memories of his own mother’s house, the foreboding that settled in his bones every time he was dropped off at the front door and the look on her face when she opened it, regretful and inconvenienced. Christ, he’d just been a kid, scared shitless and alone. He swallowed and fought the memories back. They were soon forgotten when the front door opened and a huge black-and-white dog came bounding out, tongue flopping and tail wagging.

* * *

“Reggie!” Kat squealed and crouched down to him. He whined and barked in happiness.

She rubbed the mutt’s belly until his back legs were scratching and kicking up like a lunatic. “I missed you, too,” she cooed.

“Kat!”

She looked up to see Nana Boo, dressed in a huge parka and mittens, hurrying from the door, looking as wonderful as she always did. Trevor, her help, followed with a warm smile.

“Nana,” Kat breathed, instantly at peace. She stood and allowed her grandmother to envelop her in one of her hugs.

“Angel.” Nana Boo smiled into Kat’s hair. “It’s so wonderful to see you.”

“You too.”

Kat kissed her cheek before she pulled back. She glanced toward Carter shifting on his feet and rounding his shoulders in defense. She immediately grabbed his hand and pulled him with her. His grip on her hand was painful, but she would have taken all he had to ensure he was protected and comfortable.

“Nana,” Kat said with a dip of her chin, “this is Carter. He’s my … Wes.”

Carter’s head almost toppled off his neck he looked at her so quickly. His eyes were wide with surprise, but the smile threatening the corners of his perfect mouth told Kat her words were the right ones.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Carter,” Nana Boo offered with an outstretched hand and an ecstatic smile that creased her face in a thousand different ways.

Carter cleared his throat. “Nice to finally meet you, too,” he said as their hands met.

Nana Boo’s eager arms encircled Carter around his waist. She pressed her cheek against him and squeezed.

“Um, hi,” Carter mumbled, while staring at Kat over the top of the aged woman’s woolen hat. Kat smiled.

“I’ve been so excited to meet the man who’s captured my Kat’s heart,” Nana Boo whispered.

She stepped back and wiped a finger under her shimmering eyes. “Oh my.” She chuckled, observing the tears on her skin. “Silly old woman.”

“Not at all,” Carter said with a half smile.

Nana Boo cupped his cheek and tapped it tenderly. “And, darling, you’re just as gorgeous as she described.” She laughed at the speechless expression on Carter’s handsome face, and snaked her arm through the crook of his elbow. “Let’s get you inside. It’s too damn cold out here. Kat, give Trevor the keys. He’ll collect the bags.”

Carter pulled Kat with him, gripping her hand as if his life depended on it. She rubbed her palm up and down his forearm in placation. God, he’d been truly terrified when they’d been in the car. The distress was almost visible around him, evil and unrelenting. She knew where it came from; he carried it around with him like a lead weight.

Kat bit the inside of her mouth. The hate she harbored for his family made her teeth snap. They’d treated him so appallingly, never loving, caring, or nurturing him as he grew, and he now considered himself unworthy, with no comprehension of just how incredible a man he had become. It was painfully tragic.

“Was the drive good? The car was all right?” Nana Boo asked. She shut the front door behind them and pulled off her hat.

“Yeah.” Kat took a step closer to Carter’s side, knowing his need for contact. “He didn’t complain about my driving once.” She smiled when she saw him roll his eyes, his finger twirling a piece of her hair on her shoulder. “You may have even turned him into a Jaguar fan.”

Nana Boo’s eyes lit up. “You like cars?”

Carter scratched his neck. “Yeah, I, um, I dabble.”

“Carter likes motorcycles, too,” Kat interjected, ignoring the pointed look he shot her.

Nana Boo gasped. “A real-life Steve McQueen! Oh, be still, my beating heart.”

Kat giggled into Carter’s shoulder and closed her eyes when she heard him burst with laughter.

“I wouldn’t say that,” he murmured. “But I like them.”

“Well, I’ll show you the Triumph I have in my garage later.” Nana Boo winked. “You kids need a warm drink.”

Carter stared after the little woman as she scurried past them to the kitchen.

“She has a Triumph?” His blue eyes twinkled.

Kat laughed. “And an antique Aston. Come on, Steve,” she teased. “She makes a killer hot chocolate.”

Seated around Nana Boo’s huge wooden table, Kat allowed the warmth of her grandmother’s house, love, and acceptance seep into her, filling up the gaps of shame and uncertainty that had opened over the past few months. Carter, with his free hand always touching her, sat and listened while, before, during, and after their dinner of enchiladas and Oreo cheesecake, Nana Boo told him story after story of Kat and her childhood escapades. Stories detailing Kat falling off horses, climbing trees, and smashing baseballs through windows kept Carter enraptured.

Seeing him so relaxed, hearing him laugh, and having him slowly realize there was nothing to be afraid of was more than Kat could have dreamed. All she wanted from their weekend with Nana Boo was for him to see he fit into her life. She wanted him to see there were people who didn’t care about his past and the mistakes he’d made. It was important for Carter to understand not everybody would hold them against him. They didn’t define him.

She listened when Nana Boo asked him questions about his hobbies, smiling when Carter became shy and modest about his musicality and his love of all things fast and metal. He explained about Kala, and his desire to buy another motorcycle, which led to Nana Boo telling stories about Kat and her father riding up and down the beach for hours, simply to have the sound of the engine in their ears and the wind on their faces.

“She’s not changed,” Carter mused, smiling at Kat, making her cheeks flush.

Nana Boo was amazing, laughing and joking and never asking questions that made Carter uncomfortable. She listened with absolute attentiveness. Gradually, Carter’s shoulders lost their hard edge and his smile began to appear a little more easily. Even his grip on Kat’s hand loosened.

Although he had yet to resolve one particular issue, and she knew it was driving him beyond distraction.

Kat smiled knowingly when she saw him squirm for the thousandth time. “You can have a cigarette, you know.”

Carter glanced apologetically at Nana Boo. “I’m fine.”

“Trevor smokes out on the back porch, dear,” Nana Boo said dismissively while placing a bowl of Doritos and a sour cream dip onto the table. “Please feel free. You’re on your vacation.”

Carter eyes searched Kat’s for permission. “It’s fine,” she assured him, finding his timidity endearing as hell.

“Okay,” he conceded. He tapped his long fingers against the edge of the table, hesitating. “I need to call Max, too. I’ll—I won’t be long.”

He stood up from his seat and strode toward the back door. Reggie, with claws scratching eagerly across the wooden floor, got up from his place under Nana Boo’s seat and followed him. Carter looked at the dog by his side, cocking an eyebrow in question. Reggie sat down and thumped his tail excitedly.

“He’ll follow you,” Nana Boo explained. “He likes you.”

“Okay,” Carter mumbled, keeping his suspicious eyes on the dog before he opened the door and they both stepped out into the cold Chicago night. Kat stared at the door once it closed.

“He’s wonderful.” Nana Boo sipped her red wine. “He adores you, darling.”

“I adore him,” Kat confessed. She allowed her finger to trace the stem of her wineglass. “He was so nervous, Nana. He wanted to make a good impression so badly. I just wish he knew he didn’t have to worry. He doesn’t see himself clearly at all.”