"I know!" Carter shouted. "I know, but I'm trying to be nice. You need to learn to accept help. You can't just do it all by yourself."
"I always have," she said stubbornly.
Carter blew a breath between his teeth and pulled her close to him and kissed her.
"Let me buy you a nice place," he murmured.
Buy her a place to live? Allie mentally freaked. That was a big step and a big commitment. She didn't know if she could handle that with Carter. Didn't people only move in together if they were in love? Did Carter love her? Did she love him? She didn't want to answer that question.
She didn't know if she could handle him actually loving her. Honestly, she was afraid Carter would grow to be disappointed with her.
Carter stayed the night, though, and practically every night after.
"You sure you don't want to stay in your luxury penthouse?" she asked him one night as he set dinner on the countertop.
"It's weird being the third wheel with Kate and Grant," Carter said, "and I like the privacy of your apartment."
Allie was trying to make the studio feel more like home, but it was so tiny.
When she first moved in, the studio felt cozy with just her and Margot part-time. But now that Carter practically lived there full-time, it felt oppressive. He was so tall—his dark hair almost brushed the ceiling—his shoes were big, and his clothes took up a ton of space. He also left dishes in her tiny sink, and of course she didn't have a dishwasher, let alone a maid.
"Pick up your shit!" she finally exploded at him, grabbing up his socks off of the floor and throwing them at him.
"Your stuff is everywhere too," he retorted, pointing to all of the wedding planning stuff she had on almost every available surface.
"I have to do this!" she yelled, causing Margot to stand up on the bed and start barking.
"No, you don't."
"You don't understand! The wedding is next weekend!" Allie snapped.
"Yeah, I guess don't," Carter said. "I'll see you at the wedding," he told her as he grabbed up his things and left.
"That's not—"
The door slammed behind him, and Allie suddenly felt very alone. She hadn't realized how much she had counted on Carter's being there.
62
Carter
Carter huffed around Grant's penthouse. Allie and Liz were taking off the whole week from work because of Brandy's wedding. Carter felt bad about how he had left things, but he hadn't been able to talk to Allie before she left.
"They're staging for the decorations," Kate explained after listening to Carter's complaints. "Weddings are a lot of work."
"This had better be some wedding," Grant said as he flipped through that day's newspaper.
"Why doesn't she hire someone to do it?" Carter asked.
"Brandy probably ran them off," Grant said.
"Ginny told me Brandy's been particularly unpleasant lately," Kate added.
"I can't believe Allie," Carter said, circling back to the thoughts that plagued him.
"She'll come around," Grant said.
"After the way she blew up at me, I don't know if she actually wants to be around me anymore."
