His anger visibly subsides by the time the food arrives. “Feast” is a better way to describe it. What’s laid out on the table is enough to feed a small village.
“I didn’t know what you liked,” Carter shrugs.
I don’t question him. I’ve noticed food makes him more mellow, so I have a good chance to find out more about my taciturn roommate.
“You suffer from a serious case of small-town dried-up dating pool,” he says, looking through the food containers.
“We can’t all live in thebig city, dating a new academically inclined supermodel every Friday.”
“You think I date a lot?” The corner of his mouth lifts, while he scoops the perfect bite with the cheap chopsticks.
“Yeah, obviously. Stop fishing for compliments.” I poke around for a piece of sweet and sour chicken with my trusted fork.
“Don’t know about that. They sound good coming from you.”
Carter’s eyes rest on my face and trail down to my mouth. He couldn’t be attracted to me. It makes no sense. What I overheard the first morning still rings in my ears.Dull. Mess.
“Then I must take a vow of silence. We can’t risk your head getting bigger.”
When we clean up I’m struck again by the way he moves through the space like no other man. Each movement is the embodiment of sheer efficiency.
I’ve learned this trait also extends to the way he communicates. He doesn’t say anything unnecessary to fill the space with words. Something I do whenever I’m uncomfortable. Or excited about something. Or bored. But I’ve trained myself to reel in my impulses, so I don’t annoy the people around me.
I place the glasses in the sink, hip-bumping him to move. Instead, I end up plastered to his side.
“I’ll take care of those.” Carter is unmoving, the cloudy gray in his eyes swirling dangerously. He’s searching for something in my expression, and I’m pulled toward him again, against my better judgment.
The tension in the air is close to a breaking point, our breathing shallow and I’m frozen in place, my body humming with anticipation. There’s a resolution in the lines of his face before Carter lowers his gaze to my lips and time stills around me.
A loud ring breaks the silence, and the walls go up again. He takes a big step away, answering the phone.
“No, I’m not doing anything important. Do you have any updates?” His voice trails until he reaches the back porch. I’m released from the spell keeping me in place by the creak of the outdoor furniture, a dull ache in my belly replacing the dimming heat.
Chapter Thirteen
ELIZA
The phone nearly slips from my shoulder, and I press my cheek harder against the screen.
“I’m on my way.” It’s not a lie, more of a different interpretation of distance and time.
“Finn’s already here,” Martha whispers in a giddy voice. “He thought you were staying with us.”
Not paying too much attention to what she’s saying, I pray to all the deities out there I didn’t burn this batch. “Um, OK.”
I hope the Duntons and Finn won’t notice I baked these cookies dead on my feet. The tension crackling whenever Carter and I gravitated too close had me bouncing off the walls all night. I’m frustrated to no end I don’t have the guts to confront him about what happened. Or almost happened.
The phone lands in my open bag with a worrisome crack and I twirl like a tornado so I can leave before Carter returns from his run.
“You’re a bit too hot,” I tell the cookies because I’ve completely lost it. “It’s fine. I’ll drive with the windows down.”
The thud of the front door mocks my best-laid plans and the man I’ve been hoping to avoid halts to a stop in front of the kitchen. His grimace, assessing the mess, propels me into damage-control mode.
“I’ll clean it, don’t worry.” I cut him off before he gets to say anything. I throw the dirty bowl and the spoon in the sink. “Pretend you don’t see this” —I gesture to the messy surfaces and the ingredients scattered all over the island—“until I get back. They’re for…”
The words dim into silence on my lips when Carter steps closer. My sleep-deprived brain is not equipped to handle the heat radiating from him. This man has zero regard for the frail thread holding my sanity together and bends over the tray, lightly grazing my waist with his fingers.
“Mmm, I wish I could take a bite.”
