Carter
"How was your first day?" Grant asked as they sat in the car on the way back to the penthouse.
"Fine," Carter mumbled. He thought about Allie. He still couldn't believe that she had justappeared, back in his life.
"Eric Davenport's sister is cute," Grant said.
"You're already married," Carter said in mock indignation. "What would your wife think?"
Kate smirked. She was writing an email on her tablet.
"Not for me, dummy… for you!" Grant said.
"Liz is nice, isn’t she?" Kate said, looking up from her tablet.
"What is this? An intervention?" Carter said with a scowl.
"Just trying to hint that you should put yourself out there. Liz is a great young woman. She's well educated, comes from a good family. She was in Ginny’s wedding party, remember?"
"Yes, I remember," Carter said, leaning against the glass and staring out of the car window. They were stuck in traffic, and he was feeling antsy. Maybe he should have walked.
"You should ask her out," Grant said. Carter didn't really want to ask Liz out, but his family sure was pushing for them to be a couple.
Carter ignored Grant and opened the dating app he had downloaded and swiped through the images. There was one girl with dark hair and a tattoo. His heart skipped. He wanted it to be Allie.
His phone beeped with a text message from Vance.
El Club 10 pm
Carter hesitated a moment then replied.
Sure
When Carter returned to the penthouse, he showered and changed.
"Out again?" Kate asked when she saw him.
"On a Monday, Carter? Really?" Grant said disapprovingly.
"Don't wait up for me," Carter responded, running out the door.
Vance and Digby were out in front of the club, waiting for Carter.
"I told you," Vance said to the bouncer, "Carter Holbrook."
The bouncer looked him over. Carter was immediately reminded of his NCOs in the military who would lord their authority over him. He decided if the bouncer said anything to him, he was just going to leave.
"Right this way, Mr. Holbrook," said a well-dressed man who appeared in the doorway. "I am the club manager. Please don't feel like you have to stand outside and wait like everyone else. Follow me. I have your table ready."
Vance and Digby fist-bumped, and Vance rubbed Carter's shoulders as they walked through the club to a VIP booth.
"Order whatever you all want," Carter said. "It's on me."
They were immediately set upon by beautiful women. Carter couldn't help but compare them all to Allie. He wondered what she would say. Actually, he thought he had a pretty good idea. At the Wildcat, she never had a high opinion of the women that hung around the marines there. Carter looked at the menu and started to sweat a little bit. He was not in North Carolina anymore.
"Do you have apricot sours?" he asked the waitress. She looked slightly alarmed.
"I don't believe so, but I can ask."
