“Of course.”
I stood and made my way to the back, looking over my shoulder at Carter and Tina who seemed to be engrossed in a deep conversation. Regardless of what he’d texted me, I knew he was going to sleep with her, and I couldn’t believe I was feeling slightly jealous; that was something I’d never felt when it came to him and whom he dated.
Sighing, I walked into the restroom and reapplied my lipstick. I added a bit more mascara and blush, and hoped that Chris had something else up his sleeve for our date tonight before he asked about sex.
I made sure I didn’t leave anything on the sink and stepped out into the hallway, noticing Carter heading in my direction.
“Are you following me?” I crossed my arms.
“Unless you’re coming from the men’s restroom, I don’t think so.”
An elderly couple walked between us, and he grabbed my hand—pulling me toward a set of windows.
“Is your date not going well?” he asked. “Do you need me to call your phone and fake an emergency for you?”
“What? No…I actually need for you to leave. You’re distracting me…”
“Come again?”
“You knew I was coming here on my date, Carter.” I said. “We have an unwritten rule.”
“And what unwritten rule is that?”
“That everyone who knows us, or everyone who has ever been around us, thinks we’re screwing each other when we’re not, so the less time we spend at the same places when we’re dating other people, the better.”
“First of all, I’m not dating Tina. Second of all, she picked this restaurant. You never actually told me where your date was going to be tonight…” He raised his eyebrow, looking concerned. “What is going on with you? Did you drink too much alcohol today, too?”
“Maybe.” I sighed, silently counting the four glasses I’d just had with my dinner. “I just…I just thought you were here because….”
“Because what?”
“It’s nothing.” I took a deep breath. “I’m very sorry. I thought you were purposely showing up here to distract me.”
“And why would I ever do something like that?” He looked completely confused.
“You wouldn’t; hence the apology I just gave you.” I started to move around him, but he stepped in front of me, gently pushing me against the wall.
“Are you sleeping with him tonight?” he asked. “Does he live up to everything on your spreadsheet?”
“I don’t have a spreadsheet anymore,” I said. “I’ll have to find the time to start a new one because after the ‘Epic’ party, someone found a way to delete it from my phone.”
“Hmmm. That’s such a shame….”
“It is.” I laughed. “I also hope that whoever that person is, knows that I could possibly charge them with a crime because even though it was just a cell phone, logging into someone’s personal data cloud is—” I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence. My intended last word ended on his lips once his mouth covered mine and he kissed me again—taking complete control, making me feel everything I felt at that party all over again.
“Carter…” I panted, slowly pulling away. “What are you…What are you doing?”
“Now I’m purposely distracting you.” He looked into my eyes. “I’m also trying to determine whether or not I’d feel the same thing if I kissed you while I was completely sober.”
“So, what’s the verdict on that?”
“Jury’s still out.” He walked away from me without another word, and returned to his table—leaving me completely speechless.
I leaned against the wall for several minutes, struggling to compose myself. I waited until the butterflies in my stomach stopped fluttering, until my heart stopped beating abnormally, and took a few deep breaths before returning to my table.
“You okay?” Chris asked as I took my seat. “I was about to come looking for you.”
“I’m more than fine.” I smiled. “You ordered us five different samples of wine?”
“Yeah.” He moved to my side of the table and put his arm around my shoulder. “I want us to try them all together...You ready to focus?”
“Absolutely…”
I tried, but I honestly couldn’t focus for the rest of dinner. No matter how many times Chris gave me a compliment or told me a joke I’d normally find hilarious, my mind wandered back to Carter, back to both of us kissing each other senselessly at that party. To him kissing me again in that hallway.
When the restaurant manager informed us that he’d be closing the place early tonight, we left the restaurant and headed to Sandy Park.
Chris found a spot that was secluded by overgrown trees and turned off his car. He looked over at me, possibly gauging my reaction and I smiled.
With that he climbed into the backseat and pulled me back there with him.