"He will. I will make sure of it," Liz cut in. "All you have to do is say yes."
After the shower was over, Allie cleaned up. As Carter worked near her, she periodically snuck looks at him. She didn't want to be forward and ask him to ask her out—that seemed weird. She didn't want him to think she was trying to snag him. She knew he didn't like that, and she also had too much dignity and respect for Carter to guilt him into being with her for her career.
Her phone beeped. She wondered if it was Bryce. That was another complication that could blow up into something career and relationship ending.
"What are you thinking about?" Carter asked her with a smile. She felt butterflies as she saw the dimple in his cheek.
"Work."
He looked around then came over to her and wrapped his arms around her.
"You work too much," he said, kissing her.
"I have to."
"Not necessarily," he said, nibbling her collarbone. "You could find a great guy, marry him, and have a ginormous wedding."
"I don't want a big wedding," she told him seriously. "I just want what comes after. A lovely house, stability, a partner, a teammate."
He smiled at her softly.
"Let me take you out, somewhere nice."
She took a deep breath and said, "Okay."
"Yeah?" Carter's face lit up in the light from the dying fire.
"Yes," she said.
58
Carter
Carter was thrilled that Allie had agreed to go out on a date with him. And she actually seemed excited about it. Maybe Stacy was just making up stuff to mess with him.
A few nights after the couple's shower, Carter showed up at Allie's door. He was wearing a nice suit and even had flowers.
He thought Allie seemed skittish as she opened the door a crack then opened it fully to let him in. He chalked it up to nerves as he kissed her in the doorway.
"You're not ready," he said.
"I just have to put my dress on."
"I didn't know you owned anything except for your bartending clothes and your business casual wear," he said as he put the flowers in the sink.
"I bought it for work events," she said.
He helped her do up the zipper on the formfitting black dress, casually running his hand over the bare skin on her back as the zipper closed over it.
Her phone buzzed on the bookshelf, and he thought he felt her tense up.
"Expecting bad news?"
"No, it just surprised me is all."
Allie seemed on edge, and he wondered if he had anything to do with it.
"Look," he said, turning her around to face him. "I don't know what's going on with you, but I just want to have a good time with you tonight. I'm not going to lie—I want something more than a casual relationship, but I can understand if you want to slow down."
