Valerie
Iknew he was too perfect.Staring at Carlyle from under my lashes, I scooped some of my strawberry sundae into my mouth in an attempt to cool my brain. He wasn’t nearly as subtle as he thought, and I wasn’t so naive as to think those questions and comments were meaningless.I wonder what happened today to make him come try to confess in the first place.
“So, this business trip to Nevada. Is it involved with your anxiety over this hostile takeover thing?” I mean, who the Hell asks what a person thinks about him if he was a criminal? During the car ride, I couldn’t stop thinking about that whole cage match conversation. Carlyle wouldn’t lie, I didn’t think, but there was another reason he brought it up other than just the one he gave. His hazel eyes flickered to mine, and I clamped my lips around my spoon to suck off the strawberry sauce.
“I don’t know, to be honest. Things that happen far away have even farther-reaching consequences. Like with your mother, I’m trying to do damage control because of someone else’s mistakes.” Nodding firmly, I leaned on my forearms on the table even as he sat back a little to frown under furrowed brows.He’s lucky he’s so damn handsome and polite. Otherwise . . .“I had a business associate in Nevada that’d I paid to do some ongoing contractual business. The city they live in was in the midst of a boom, so I figured I’d get in on it. After a few fumbles on their part, mostly because of incompetence, I pulled out.”
“Why go back when they already proved they couldn’t do the job?” One thing I knew very little about was business, and Carlyle cocked his head as he hummed in acknowledgment. His lips pursed around his spoon, and I nibbled my own as they tingled from the residue of our kiss.
Truth be told, I hadn’t realized he didn’t kiss me until I was already doing it . . . and I knew why. Those lips told no lies, and theylikedme.
“It’s coming to bite me in the ass. I thought the operation was sound, but it just fell apart so easily, and I lost a lot of money. I’m not stupid enough to think I can attempt to get it back, but if I could figure out what happened, I can stop it from happening again.” I scraped the bottom of the banana boat for syrup as Carlyle spoke, and he reached across the table to hold my wrist gingerly. “Also, I was looking for a reason to impress you.”
Giggling as flames licked my cheeks, I only shook my head, and he cracked a sexy smirk as he thumbed my skin. A shiver lodged between my shoulder blades, and I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth fully as I locked eyes with him. Carlyle had mastered the art of being genuine while hiding his true intentions and now was no different.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, yet.
“You just want to get me drunk, so we can get hitched, and you’d have an excuse. I know what you’re doing, Carlyle, and I’m not gonna fall for it.” He chuckled, and the sound caressed my ears even while they burned with all the heat radiating from my abdomen. “You’re lucky you’re sexy and don’t use slang. Otherwise, you’d have nothing going for you.”
“Come on, that’s not fair. I have nice hair, too.” Sniggering at that, I shook my head, and Carlyle smiled broadly, squeezing my wrist before retreating to hold up his boat. “I guess it doesn’t make up for being a terrible person, you’re right. I’m just wrong for wanting to spend time with you, Valerie.”
“I guess that makes us both wrong. Then again . . . ” Sliding my foot up his inner leg, I hummed softly as Carlyle’s eyes narrowed on me. “What’s that saying?”
“What’s wrong is wrong, and what’s right is left.” Barking a laugh at that, I slump back in my seat to cover my face with my free hand, and Carlyle grinned broadly. Merriment brightened his eyes, and he propped his cheek on his fist as I stifled my giggles. “Whatever you say or do is always right, and I’m always wrong. That’s the way it goes.”
“You got jokes, and they’re funny.” Carlyle chuffed softly, and I sat up over my empty banana boat to pull my hair over my shoulder absently. Sighing as a short silence stretched between us, I licked my lips heavily, and he didn’t break eye contact while he ate the last of his banana smothered in sauce. All the flirtiness was suddenly sucked from my chest, and I twisted my hair around and around as my foot fell from his thigh. “T-to be honest, Carlyle, I don’t want to get a new phone. I’ve been putting it off because if they have my mom, they know all about me— my birthday, my name— they’ll find my new number. It’s almost a guarantee.”
“Has Natasha gotten any phone calls?”
“Not that she’s mentioned.” I couldn’t help the irrational hope bubbling in my chest that if Carlyle really was a little shady, he could help me out. Clearing out the restaurant to talk about a voice demodulator program, having a bodyguard like Theo, and tonight, it all pointed to some less than squeaky clean shoes. “I shouldn’t have broken my phone. I was just . . . I didn’t want to get dragged in again.”
“Do you still have it? I could hand it to my cyber guy, Jerry.” Nodding, I inhaled deeply, steadily, and Carlyle sat back to rub his chin thoughtfully under furrowed brows. “If I found anything, would you want to know, or do you want it handled externally?”
“Um . . . I don’t really know how to answer that.” It’d been a few weeks at this point, and I shrugged as Carlyle set down his empty boat. “Yes?”
Sliding out of the booth first, he held out his hand for me, and I followed suit before he gathered the boats to dump them in the trash. His palm was warm and dry, hard against mine, and I lifted it to my cheek to feel the hairs on the back of his hand bristle.
“We should’ve stayed in bed.” The almost unbearable urge to get naked and just cuddle swept through me in powerful waves, and I spoke up as we entered the parking lot. Carlyle wrapped his arm around my neck, pressing his lips to my temple, and I closed my eyes after stepping off the sidewalk and onto the asphalt. “I’m sorry I dampened the date.”
“You don’t have to apologize, Valerie. If you want, we can get a hotel room. We’ll get your phone first, though, alright? I’ll have Jerry work on the security once we know your new number.”
“I’d like that.” Tonight had started feeling like a really nice date, and I just had to ruin it. “Um . . . have you been to this mall before? I haven’t.”
“The Walden Galleria? Not personally. It’ll be an adventure.” Smiling encouragingly, Carlyle pulled his keys out of his pocket, and we paused while he unlocked the car. Shirking off my gloominess, I rubbed my hands up my face and through my hair and heaved a massive sigh.
All I had to do was focus on the man in front of me, and I’d have a great time.
Not the fact that he made comments about assassinating people.
Or that he alluded to some shady business dealings.
Or that I really didn’t care either way.
