Page 62 of The Other Plan

“What?” He peeked down at me and laughed. “A coma?”

I shrugged. “I figured it was the only way I could avoid you... and avoid this happening.”

His laugh deepened. “Wow. I don’t know whether to be hurt or proud. You were gonna fake a coma to keep out of my grasp?”

He tightened his grip.

“It crossed my mind.”

“I’d have found you anyway. Nothing, not even a little coma, was going to come between us again.” He kissed the top of my head. “And now that you’re here? Do you wish you’d faked that coma, or are you glad it happened?”

With a sigh, I admitted the truth. “I’m glad it happened. I’m still scared, and I have no idea how this will work, but it was pointless trying to avoid it. You and I seem to be like a couple of magnets. No sense in avoiding the inevitable.”

“M.F.O.E.”

I grinned. “Made for each other. I said that about us a decade ago!”

“I remember. And I’ve never stopped thinking it. We are, you know.”

I smiled as I started to settle into the idea of having Carter in my life, and being the planner I was, I started going over every conceivable option in my head. Would I move there? No. I hated big cities. He moves here? No. He had a thriving company there. That panic started churning up inside of me again, but I squashed it back down. We would just have to rack up a lot of miles until we figured something out.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“Liar. I can pretty much see the wheels turning in your mind. You’re planning something. What is it?”

“Just trying to figure out how this is going to work.”

“Ah,” he sighed. “Yeah. That.”

“Yeah. That is right.” I sat up and looked at him. “How are we—”

The front door opened and slammed, stopping me mid-sentence. “Jenna?” Jo called. “Where you at?”

My eyes went big. “Shit! It’s my sister!”

Arnold launched off the bed, nearly falling as he hit the ground. His deep, gruff barks shook the house as he bounded down the stairs.

Carter sat up and stretched. “Oh, good. I like her. Now that she’s not trying to kill me, anyway.”

My eyes darted around the room, then I pointed to my closet. “Quick. Hide!”

He furrowed his brow and scoffed. “Why the hell would I hide?”

“Because she’ll see you!”

“So?” With a shrug, he stood up.

My eyes raked his naked body, my heart pounding in my chest as I soaked in the sight of him again.

“Jenna! You up?” Jo called again.

I glanced at Carter as he pulled on his shorts.

“Seriously. We can’t let her see you here.”

He rolled his eyes then disappeared beneath his tank top when he pulled it over his head. “Why would we hide from your sister? Are you ashamed of me or something?” he said, then his head popped back out.