“I don’t believe you,” I say. “You could buy a house without me. You could hire someone to watch your cat. These are not good reasons to marry someone.”
He smiles, his dimple appearing and making my heart skip a beat. “I’m not done, Sarah. Are you going to let me finish my list or not?” His tone is light, teasing, and I have to wonder what his endgame is here.
The fact that he’s trying to spin this asmedoing a favor for him is incredibly sweet, but it almost feels too good to be true.
I shake my head, smiling despite the worry still pulsing in my chest. “Okay. Let’s hear it.”
He starts moving again, his hands pushed into the pockets of his wool coat. He’s wearing a camel-colored scarf along with it, and the whole vibe is really working for me. I don’t mind him in joggers and team pullovers, but I love this look too.
“I was hoping you’d help me decorate my place,” Carter says. “As soon as I have one, anyway. Which—I want to qualify that by saying I’m not asking just because you’re a woman or because I think it’s something a wife would necessarily do. I’m only asking because you’re an artist, which makes me think you probably have good taste. I don’t have any experience decorating anything, so I could really use the help.”
I don’t point out that he couldalsohire someone to do his decorating, and if I were to actually help, I’d probably hire aprofessional just to make sure I didn’t screw it up. Bare minimum, I would call my college friend, Emerson. He studied interior design at SCAD, and he’s brilliant.
“That’s all?” I ask because surely it can’t be. “Take care of Gordie and decorate your house?”
“Not quite,” he says. “There’s one more thing.”
I let out a little laugh. “You could name ten more things and I’d still be in your debt.” Another sharp gust of wind cuts through the insubstantial fabric of Anna’s coat, and I suck in a breath.
Carter looks over, pausing under a streetlamp, and unwinds the scarf from his neck. He lifts his arms and drapes it around me, tying it into a knot beneath my chin. “Better?” he says softly, and I nod.
He holds my gaze before saying, “I’d like a Sarah Stone original to hang in my house.”
“A painting?” I ask.
He nods. “You don’t have to do anything special—it can be one you’ve already done. I just want to be able to sayI knew her whenand have something to show off to my friends.”
I suddenly understand Anna’sbest friendwarning. It’s going to be very difficult to protect my heart if Carter continues to be so charming.
But what else am I supposed to do? He’s making it impossible to say no, especially when he’s offering me something I desperately want.
He’s offering me a ticket to stay.
8
CARTER
Monday night,I leave my helmet on the bench and skate a few laps around the Vortex. The stands are nowhere near full—not yet— but there’s a good crowd just behind the glass, here to watch warmups before our game against the Denver Summit.
I look up into the stands to where players’ families usually sit and wonder if I’ll see Sarah tonight.
After our walk last night, we headed back to the house and spent the next two hours talking logistics. We came up with a timeline and discussed strategies regarding when and how we’ll share our relationship, first with the team and close friends, then on social media with everyone else.
Miles was thorough in his research about what immigration will look for and how long it will take to file an adjustment of status for Sarah’s visa. As long as we get married before her current one expires, she’s free to stay in the country while hernewstatus is processed, reviewed, and hopefully approved. But that approval will be contingent on them believing our marriage is legit. Which is why it’s so important that we’re living together,that we appear in public together, and that we know enough about each other to handle the interview questions with ease.
I already called the realtor Theo mentioned last week, and we’ve been to see a house I really like. She’s confident if I make an offer, we’ll be able to close quickly—especially if I’m paying cash, which is what I’d prefer.
Everything else we’ll knock out a little at a time as Sarah and I get to know each other. We’re getting together tomorrow night to take some pictures we can share on social media, but the point is to imply that even though we’re onlynowgoing public, we’ve been seeing each other for months.
Considering my very public career, I don’t think it’s a hard sell. As long as we get all the details right, I’m feeling pretty confident we can pull this off.
What we didn’t talk about is whether Sarah would come to tonight’s game. Even though we aren’t sharing anything explicit yet, we’re supposed to be focusing on the team and the Jaguars’ staff, teasing a relationship that exists, just not in the public eye.
I explained the situation to Theo, and he’s on board to help sell things to the team, to fuel the fire, so to speak. And of course, Miles will contribute too. But it seems like Sarah being here would also help matters, so I’m surprised it didn’t come up in our conversation.
For the rest of warmups, I find myself searching the stands, looking for any sign of Miles’s family. Sarah never shows, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she won’t be here. It’s still early.
Once we go public, it might seem weird if she doesn’t come, and the prospect makes a tiny swell of excitement rise in my chest.
