Holt and Sterling had been gone for 3 hours and Carter and I have developed a routine. We both are sitting at the counter on laptops. He is doing god knows what, and I am laying out a digital flyer for a client. It is better than sitting around and twiddling my thumbs. Carter is as imposing as the other two. Sandy blonde hair, well over 6 feet tall, muscles for days, and green calculating eyes are what you see first.
Where was Western North Carolina hiding these guys? Carter rubbed a large hand over his lightly stubbled and angular jaw. My eyes caught the riot of colorful tattoos on his arms. One was partially hidden by his shirt but I could see the edges of it creeping up his neck.
He had an air of danger surrounding him. Almost like he had nothing to lose. All three of them acted like they had extra lives. It was very interesting. Carter was pleasant enough, but very distant.
All of a sudden a bell dings. Carter stands and goes toward the door. Before he opens it he turns around, as if remembering I am here.
“I’ll be right back. Don’t move,” he demands. He quickly sweeps out the door. You would think I would hear him going down the stairs. As big as he is, he makes little to no noise. Come to think of it, they are all pretty light on their feet.
In a few minutes, Carter is back with a takeout bag. The bag has the name of my favorite lunch spot. Carter opens it and takes out a box. He hands it to me and then grabs another box. Opening the box, I see my usual lunch order. A spinach salad, with dried cranberries, candied pecans, apples, and grilled chicken. He even substituted the poppyseed dressing for my favorite vinaigrette.How did he know?
He hands me a bottle of water from the refrigerator and sits down. Completely unaware of the question hanging in the air, or at least pretending to be.
“You know my order,” I state. Staring at him. He shrugs his shoulders and takes a bit of the sandwich from his box.
“Lucky guess,” he says after he swallows. I’m not buying it, but I won’t push just yet. We both go back to our work. I can’t let it go.
“You must have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell me too, right,” I say sarcastically. Carter sighs. As if he just doesn’t have the time for this.
“Sterling is going to be pissed at me for letting the cat out of the bag,” he says almost carelessly.
“What cat out of what bag,” I prod. I want him to keep going. Obviously Sterling had something to hide. Carter huffs and takes a swig of water before going on.
“I background checked you,” he states simply. He continues to eat. My mouth drops open. That’s all he has to say.
“How does a background check include knowing about my food preferences,” I ask, dumbly. He smirks at me.
“That’s the Carter Gaines special. My background checks are very detailed,” he states proudly.
“I know a lot about you, it was necessary to make sure we weren’t missing anything with your stalker. Sterling asked me to do a deep dive. So I did,” he explains.
“Sterling asked you to do a deep dive,” I repeated. Thats just great. Now he knows ALL about me, and I know nothing about him.
“I should have known. Never trust a 10,” I mutter. Carter raises his eyebrow and puts down his sandwich.
“What’s a 10, and why don’t you trust it,” he asks. I scowl at him and stab my salad with a fork. Taking a bite to mull over my explanation.
“You are all 10s, all tall and imposing with your muscles and good looks. Street models! While the rest of us average 5 6s, and on a rare good day 7s, have to live in your world,” I spout off. Not the most eloquent speech I have given, but I think he understands. He starts to chuckle.
“You have a strange view of yourself and the world,” he states without giving away what he is thinking.
“No I have a true view of the world, this is where 10s don’t understand. You haven’t had to navigate the world as a 6. So you wouldn’t get it, its a kind of privilege. One you can’t necessarily help,” I try to explain.
“I can’t wait until you try to explain this logic to Sterling, that will be fun,” he says laughing.
“Back to this background check and total invasion of my privacy,” I move to the task at hand. “Exactly how much do you know about me,” I interrogate.
“Enough to know that you wouldn’t knowingly put yourself in harms way and that you aren’t involved in shit you shouldn’t be,” Carter stated.
“I still am not a huge fan of you and Sterling digging into my background without asking me first. It would have been nice to have a heads up. And he never said anything! Even after last night,” I trail off. Realizing my rant is giving Carter too much information.
Carter chuckles. I don’t think he understands. This isn’t a joke to me. This interaction between Sterling and I has been lopsided since the beginning. I just continue to owe him. Owe him for my truck repair, owe him for the security and body guards, owe him for the orgasm he gave me last night.
I don’t know that I can keep going like this. In the last 72 hours I have gone from depending on no one at all, to this damsel in distress that can’t take care of herself. It is more than humbling. It is embarrassing. And now, to find out that any privacy I may have had has been taken away, makes me extremely uncomfortable.
“I think I need to leave,” I state. I think I surprised him. Good! Someone needs to take these guys down a peg or two.Who do they think they are?I realize that I am being irrational, but I can’t take this anymore. And since I started this, I’m committed.
“Leave,” Carter says slowly. As if I am speaking in a foreign language. He shakes his head and his arms cross in front of him.
