AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I didn’t mean in the boardroom.”
I furrowed my brow. “I don’t understand.”
“Do you want to go out with him?” I’d never heard him sound so strained.
“What? No, of course not.” My stomach knotted, wondering where exactly this conversation was going. We hadn’t explicitly set boundaries, but I had to know exactly where we stood... I couldn’t make the mistake of assuming again.
He cupped one side of my face, tilting my head back, running his thumb over my lower lip. “I don’t want you to go out with anyone else.”
I let out a breath of relief. “I won’t. I ditched the guy who was supposed to be my date for the charity event because I discovered he hadn’t wanted us to be exclusive but didn’t bother to tell me.”
“I’m sorry.” Carter pulled back a notch, taking my hands in his and kissing each cheek before looking back up at me.
He smiled lazily, feathering his lips over mine. “But I want to make one thing clear, Val. You’re the only woman I even think about.”
I didn’t think he knew how much those words meant to me. They made me feel valued and important, not like an afterthought. He smiled, bringing our interlaced hands up to the sides of my face. Next thing I knew, he kissed me so heatedly that I nearly climbed him right there in the restaurant.
“Carter, what if someone comes in?” I admonished.
“They’ll look the other way.”
“Isn’t your party waiting for you outside?”
“I don’t really give a fuck.” He spoke in a raw voice. “Blow off the rest of your day.”
“I can’t. You can’t.”
“Try me.” He rained kisses on my cheek, moving to my ear. “I want to prove to you how much you’ve been on my mind. To show you exactly what I want to do to you.”
Oh, God. I was so close to saying yes and forgetting everything on my to-do list. But I somehow managed to gather my wits.
“Nope. You, sir, have distracted me enough today. Go back to work and stop corrupting me.”
“I’ll see you at six, then.”
We hadn’t made any plans beyond catching up, so I tilted my head, deciding to play with him. “I have a meeting starting late in the afternoon, so I need a rain check.”
“Are you fucking with me?” The words came out on a growl, which made me giggle. “You are.”
“Yes, yes, I am. About the rain check. I do have a meeting late in the afternoon.”
He trained that scorching hot gaze on me.
“Don’t let it go overtime too much, or I’m going to barge in and throw you over my shoulder before it’s over.”
Chapter Eighteen
Val
I arrived back in the office and scowled as soon as I peeked at my agenda. My lawyer was coming in again to discuss the litigation.
“I’ve got everything prepared,” he summed up after we went back and forth over the details for an hour.
“Good. Thank you for everything.”
After he left, I took out the pink notebook I used for brainstorming catchphrases for marketing copy, but I couldn’t concentrate. Instead, I found myself drawing a lilac plant—the key ingredient in the skincare line that Beauty SkinEssence wanted me to drop.
I was glad that I had the date with Carter to look forward to because otherwise I’d drive myself crazy with worry again. As the afternoon went by, though, I went into a bit of a frenzy.
