Page 74 of Above All Else

A smile broke my lips, and I tossed her onto the bed. She squealed as I unzipped my pants, and I buried myself between her legs in one rough thrust, riding her scent into oblivion.

Chapter 19

June

The eight-hour drive to Carter’s place felt like it stretched for days, yet somehow slipped by in the blink of an eye—time playing a cruel trick.

He’d walked a woman through paperwork and lab data entries at least a dozen times during the drive—his voice strained with exhaustion. Each call ended with the same weary sigh, followed by another apology that seemed to drain what little patience he had left.

“She’s a bit much but does a good job.”

I shrugged. “I bet. She sounds like she’shopped up on caffeine.”

He reached for his phone, unlocked it as the car slowed, and pressed a button. “She’s not supposed to be, but she has a problem. We’ve addressed it in the past.”

“It’s that bad?”

“Sometimes.” He brought the car to a crawl, the garage door of a sprawling house on the hillside grabbing my attention.

“We’re home.”

“You...” I hunched down and looked up through the windshield. “You live here?”

He chuckled and stared back at me as he parked in the driveway. “Yeah.”

“Wow.” I removed my buckle and stepped out of the car, my breath caught in my throat.

The house was a stunning blend of contemporary and natural beauty, the type of place you might see in a magazine but never expected to encounter in real life. The entire design cascaded down the hillside, each level integrated into the landscape as if it had been there since the dawn of time. Earthy, warm walls meshed with sleek, coal-framed windows, reflecting the surrounding forest.

“This is...” I swallowed, my eyes tracing the wide staircase lined with soft, golden lights, brightening each step as it wound up the side of the house.

Lush greenery surrounded the house and the curvy driveway leading to the hidden garage beneath the house. Tall trees stood like sentinels around it, their branches swaying in the breeze.

This is more than just a house—it’s a work of art.

A house like that was never in the cards for a kindergarten teacher like me, and yet here it was, in all its glory, with Carter offering it up on a platter.

“Are you coming?”

“Huh?“ I tore my eyes away from the mansion called a home to Carter, who walked through the opened garaged doors.

“I have to take a shower and get ready for work.” He waved me forward. “Let me show you around really quick.”

I glanced back at the car, then followed Carter into the house, my mouth running dry as we stepped inside.

“Your home is stunning, Carter.”

“Our home.”

I gave him a sideways glance. “You live here with someone else?”

He dropped the bags and cupped my cheeks, turning my focus toward him. “It’sourhome... You and me. We’ve waited so long for this moment, and nothing is going to change that.”

“We shared a kiss when I was eighteen. That doesn’t really equal moving in with you a decade later, does it?”

But what else did I expect when I arrived here?

He bopped my nose with his index finger. “It’s more than that. I promise you.” He turned, his hand falling into mine, and dragged me along. “This is the kitchen.”

---