Page 27 of After All

He rinses my hair, but I draw the line at him washing the rest of me. I shoo him to the end of the shower as I take care of the more in-depth parts of showering, and when I finish, I slip out.

“I’ll be the one in your bed, wearing nothing,” I say with a wink.

“I’ll be quick.”

As I walk to his bed and drop the towel on the floor, I marvel at the way I flirt with a man I barely know. I know how to flirt, I know what flirting looks and sounds like, but I’ve never been all that interested in participating in the activity before.

You’re certainly interested now, huh?

I pull the covers back on the bed we rumpled a short while before and slide between the cool sheets. God, there’s nothing like cold sheets in the summertime.

Silence echoes through the room as the shower stops running and I have mere seconds to prepare myself for Carter to come back into the room. I feel like a sixties housewife as I primp and preen and straighten my wet hair as best I can.

Carter doesn’t waste time or energy with a towel around his waist. Hell, he looks like he barely used one, walking towards the bed with beads of water running down his body.

Good God, this man is gorgeous.

The heritage we share — me only on my mom’s side, and his very likely from both — has been very kind to him, lending its typical bronze skin and jet-black hair, and my mind goes all the way back to my middle school years when my babysitter watched old episodes of Saved by the Bell, and I drooled over Mario Lopez.

Carter has a swagger, but there’s very little arrogance. That’s a big part of what’s kept pulling me in all night long. I love confidence, but most men who try to pull it off go too far in the cocky direction. The man in front of me knows exactly who he is and what he’s working with, and he knows I like it.

Surprisingly enough, I’m perfectly fine with that.

Chapter 21

Amelie

He walks towards me and sits on the edge of the bed, resting his hand on my sheet-covered thigh. “It’s extremely important for you to know that I don’t typically do this.”

I smirk, knowing that he’s working hard to make me comfortable, but he doesn’t have to do it. “That’s not necessary, Carter. I’m not naive enough to believe you don’t have flings and one-night stands. You’re extremely attractive, and you’re in a band, and the security at the club calls you ‘Mr. Ortiz’. I can only imagine the attention that garners for you.”

He shakes his head, tiny droplets of water falling from his hair to his shoulders and the sheets. “You misunderstand. Yes. I’ve had the single-night encounters and week-long flings. But I’ve never brought anyone here before. Nobody that I haven’t known for a while, anyway.”

“Oh,” I say. Just because I know it doesn’t mean I’m overjoyed hearing that my intuition was true. And, once I stop to think about it, it makes sense that he’d be protective of his space. It’s a beautiful place in an affluent neighborhood. He apparently does very well for himself.

“It’s swanky.”

He smiles and looks relieved that I dropped the current line of conversation. Glancing around, he nods. “Yeah. I guess it is.” He nudges me until I slide over in the bed and pulls the sheets back to climb underneath with me.

“I grew up in the heart of downtown Atlanta. When I was a kid, the roof of our building looked out over Fulton County Stadium before they tore it down. I loved watching the games, but all I cared about when I got ready to buy a place was having space to move around and not sharing a wall with anybody else.”

“I can’t imagine growing up in the thick of a big city like that.”

“You grew up in a small town?”

“Well, sorta. My parents live in a little suburban neighborhood of San Diego. We moved there when I was in first grade. I don’t really remember any other house or school or neighborhood.”

“That sounds like the childhood I wished I’d had growing up. I don’t hate the way I grew up at all, I just wished sometimes it was more … I don’t know, peaceful?”

I nod. “Yeah. I can see that.”

He stares at me for a few moments and pushes a wet hank of hair behind my ear. “You’re beautiful, Amelie. Just, absolutely gorgeous.”

The blush starts at my hairline and warms my skin down to my belly. I feel every single wave of it. Every goosebump. “Thank you.”

“We started off pretty hot and heavy, but it seems like you’ve simmered a little. Are you still … do you still want to …”

I smile at him. Ever the gentleman, or at least I assume he is, since I literally just met him. “I do. I still very much want everything you’re willing to give me.”

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