Page 13 of Carlos: Trilogy: Part Two

Zoe looked away, her chin quaking slightly. “I’m being silly.”

“You’re reacting to what you know,” Carlos defended. “I’m guessing your husband flirted with other women in front of you.” She nodded slowly. “I would never do that, Zoe. You’re the first woman to ever touch my heart. I’ve vowed to protect you. That includes from me too. I’d never hurt you.”

She wiped her eyes with her free hand. “I know that. I never would have agreed to move in with you if I didn’t trust you, Carlos.”

“You’ve had a rough couple of years. Topped with moving twice and the fear of discovery, I can understand your reaction.” Carlos waited for Zoe to look at him again. “All I ask is that you talk to me. Don’t keep anything in, sunshine. If you have a concern, a worry, a thought—hell, a plot for world domination, I want to hear about it.”

Zoe cracked a smile. “World domination?”

He shrugged. “You never know.”

She squeezed his hand back. “I promise. I’ll get better at this. I just need some time.”

“I can give you all the time you need,” he promised. Leaning closer, he added, “But there is one thing that I need from you right now.”

Zoe swallowed nervously. “What’s that?”

“Your pizza order,” he said straight-faced. “My stomach is about to gnaw its way out of my belly.”

Zoe watched him for a bewildered second and then started laughing.

Zoe felt so foolish for her reaction in the pizzeria. The rest of their meal felt light and Kyle started peppering Carlos with his knowledge of dinosaurs. Carlos even made a promise to look into some dinosaur-themed parks or kid museums for Kyle, which gifted him a large, pizza-sauce covered kiss on the cheek.

Their night ended with Zoe tucking Kyle into the king sized bed. Kyle’s new bed wouldn’t be arriving until the next day. Zoe laid down beside Kyle and started reading him a book warning him not to turn the pages, because there was a monster at the end of the book. Kyle giggled each time the monster Grover appeared on the last page and demanded she read the book again.

During their third reading, Kyle’s eyes started to droop. During their fourth, he was passed out against her chest.

Zoe gently placed the book on the large mattress beside her hip. She dipped her head and pressed a kiss to her son’s brunette curls. But she made no move to separate herself from him, even though she knew that Carlos was waiting for her in the living room.

She kept having to remind herself that she trusted Carlos, that she wouldn’t have moved in with him if she hadn’t. Twice in the same day. Laying quietly in a giant bed listening to her son’s light snores, she felt like she trusted Carlos. Her heart thrummed at the picture of him in her head and anticipation seared her veins at the thought of what sexy fun they could get up to tonight.

But…

But what if that was all it was? Lust? What if she was mistaking trust for lust?

She’d moved herself and her son in with a man, slept with a man, she barely knew. There was no denying that she was falling for Carlos. He was everything and more that she’d ever dreamed of. He was the sort of man she’d thought Davis to be.

But did she actually trust him?

Zoe did not like her current line of thinking. It saddened and frightened her that she didn’t know her own thoughts and heart. The conflicting feelings made her wonder if she was moving too fast, if it had been a mistake to take Carlos up on his offer…

Sunlight woke her. Zoe blinked, and it took her a moment to realize she was in bed with Kyle, still dressed in her clothes from the day before.

Kyle had rolled over in his sleep and was now star-fished beside her on his belly. Stifling a yawn, Zoe adjusted the blankets over her son’s small body and scooted herself out of the bed.

Zoe carefully peeked into Carlos’s bedroom. He hadn’t hesitated to call it theirs, but Zoe still struggled with the word. Shame washed through her. Was she truly second-guessing her decision to move into Carlos’s house after only three nights? Two of which, they’d spent making passionate love and the third… Well, she could argue she’d just fallen asleep reading to Kyle, but she doubted Carlos would believe the lie.

And she didn’t want to lie to him. Not after everything he’d done for her.

The bedroom was empty, despite the early hour. For a moment, Zoe wondered if Carlos had fallen asleep on the living room couch waiting for her. The bed, though, looked slept in, so Zoe doubted that theory.

Still in her outfit from the day before, Zoe hurried over to the closet for some new clothes. She would worry about showering later. She needed to speak with Carlos first. She owed him the honesty of her fears.

She found him in the kitchen. Coffee was already brewing in the large pot. He was standing at the stovetop in his plaid pajama bottoms and nothing else. Her eyes freely roamed over the hard muscles of his back.

He must have sensed her presence because he turned his head over his shoulder. “Morning, sunshine.”

Though his tone was light, she could see the hurt in his green eyes. Guilt gripped her heart tightly. “Good morning.”

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