Page 18 of After All

I stare down at his fingers on my body, the next words out of my mouth contradicting the current situation like the ultimate hypocrisy. “So, it’s like that. I don’t like to be touched, but it isn’t going to institutionalize me.”

“Mm-hmm, I see.” We ride in silence for a mile or so, and the lights of downtown Nashville through the back glass fade more and more. After he thinks about that for longer than I’d like, he squeezes my thigh and asks, “So what about the sex part? The physical stuff?”

“Ah, yes. The good stuff,” I say with a self-deprecating scowl. “Well, there have been two men in my life who I thought I was comfortable enough with to give it a try, and both of them proved me very, very wrong.”

I’ve never heard a human being properly growl before that moment, and the shockwave it sends to my libido is wholly terrifying and invigorating all at the same time. “Fuckers,” he murmurs under his breath.

“They were indeed fuckers, but they didn’t fuck me, so…” I lift one hand in a “what are ya gonna do” motion and force out a laugh.

“Amelie…” Carter chastises me and laughs in the same breath. “You’re funny, you know that?”

“I don’t try to be, but for some reason, everybody says I am.” I shrug and smile.

“So what happened, and do you need bail money after giving me their current locations?” He shoots a quick look at me that would have knocked me over if I’d been standing.

“They both moved on long ago. No bail money needed. Nobody tried anything without consent, and everybody stopped when asked. It just wasn’t the right match, either time.”

“Hell, I love to touch and be touched, and I’ve had a few of those myself.” He winks at me and keeps driving.

I don’t want to go into any more detail about the nights I failed to successfully have sex with two acceptably good-looking, intelligent, enthusiastic men.

“Okay, I don’t want you to think I’m an idiot when it comes to sex. I mean, for crying out loud, it’s my day job in many ways.”

“So you treat people with sexual issues?” he asks.

“Yeah. Couples only, though. No single patients. That needs to be done inpatient for propriety’s sake. I’ve studied extensively and conducted research at a few very prestigious universities. I wanted to be somewhere warm for my fellowship, and Vandy had a spot open up. It was really lucky.”

“So, you’re telling me that you help couples fix their sex problems and their relationship problems, and you’re entirely inexperienced?”

“Not entirely,” I say, my head dropping so low that my chin hits my chest. “I’ve fooled around a little. Both times, the foreplay was fairly successful.”

“These euphemisms you use, woman. ‘Fairly successful’ foreplay? What does that even mean?”

“It means I know my body can get aroused, okay?” My voice rises in volume as I answer. “It means I’ve felt the beginning twinges of an orgasm from someone else other than myself. It means, it means… Hell, I don’t know what it means, but I know I’m tired of not knowing.”

Either my outburst shocks him, or he’s officially weirded out by me, because the driver’s seat is completely silent. I refuse to look at him, frozen in fear he’ll sit there, staring at me like I have three heads growing out of my neck.

The truck slows ever so slightly as he turns onto a gravel drive. Looking up then, I see he’s pulling into a subdivision full of unfinished houses.

“What are you?—?”

“Do you trust me?”

My eyes snap to his face. Do I? Do I trust this man I met less than an hour ago?

Well, hell. I do.

“Yes.”

Chapter 13

Carter

“Okay.” I throw my door open. “Wait right there. Please?” I pause between the sentences when I remember my manners at the last second.

She smiles. “I’ll wait.”

I open the back door and rifle around for a few minutes, but it’s so dark, hopefully she can’t see anything until I finish.

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