Page 51 of The Charade

And then he pulled me into his arms and pressed me against him, the dirt from his shirt rubbing off on my new, red crop top and getting me all dirty and wet.

"You're going to ruin my new shirt!" I squealed when he hugged me closer to him.

"What?" he asked, clamping his strong arms around my torso, locking me against him. "You don't like this? You don't like it when someone covers you in mud?"

"Carter!" I squealed again. Though this time, it didn't sound nearly as annoyed, because now that I was in his arms, I kind of didn't care what happened to my shirt anymore.

He felt good. Those abs and chest of his that I'd drooled over earlier felt really, really nice against me, and I kind of wanted him to ruin my shirt a little longer.

"You know what I think?" Carter asked, seemingly wrapped up in the moment as well. "I think I might need to throw you in the pool for payback."

I stopped struggling and went still in his arms. "You wouldn't."

He looked me straight in the eyes and said, "I would."

He was just squatting down to throw me over his shoulder when the silence around us was suddenly filled with two voices coming from the opposite end of the path.

Carter must have recognized the voices because he instantly stopped trying to abduct me. Instead, he pushed me against the tree with his body as if attempting to blend in.

"Who is it?" I whispered into his chest since his tall body was blocking my view of whoever was coming our way.

He narrowed his eyes for a second as he checked the area. Then he whispered breathlessly, "It's Sofia and Simon."

We stood there for a few moments. I tried to get my breathing in control, sure they'd hear my panting since I was still out of breath from my jaunt through the woods, but my breathing wasn't cooperating because I was all too aware of how I was trapped between a tree and Carter.

I guess I wasn't exactly "trapped" trapped; I could probably slide away to freedom if I wanted to.

But as I let myself get drunk on his delicious scent and the feel of his strong body flushed with mine, there was no place on earth I'd rather be.

Carter was breathing hard too, his chest heaving with the movement, but he didn't seem to be nearly as aware of me as I was of him since he was still watching Simon and Sofia's approach.

So, deciding to just make myself comfortable, I turned my head to face the same direction that Carter was looking. He adjusted his footing, stepping so his feet were splitting mine, and then leaned even closer so that my ear was to his chest. I listened to his heartbeat as we waited, liking the sound. It was strong and steady, and thanks to our race through the woods, probably pounding faster than its usual tempo.

Hearing someone's heartbeat was such an intimate thing. I'd maybe only listened to a few heartbeats in my life—like when I played doctor as a little kid—so it was kind of nice to have this little insight into the part of Carter that literally made him tick.

"What are they doing now?" I whispered, so it wouldn't be so obvious how much I liked being so close to him.

"It looks like they were just coming from the pond," he said. After a short pause, he said, "And now they're sitting on the bench over there."

Oh, darn it. Looks like I might be stuck basically hugging Carter for a little longer.

I smiled to myself at the thought.

"I'm sorry I'm so annoyed right now," Sofia's voice traveled over to us. "I just expected tonight—this week—to go differently."

"Yeah?" Simon's deep voice answered.

"I've been trying to fix things with Carter all week to explain everything," Sofia continued. "But every time I try to, he's with that new girl." She paused for a moment, and then added, "And I can't believe they think that we cheated on Carter. I know we got together quickly after I broke things off, but it's not like I knew I was going to meet you at the London fashion show."

"I know, honey," Simon said, and I imagined him rubbing her back in a soothing way. "We did nothing wrong."

I shifted my footing a little, hoping if I just moved a little, I would actually be able to see the couple through the bush blocking them from my view.

"Yeah, and I just—" Sofia started to say before I stepped on a stick, which snapped loudly, startling her.

Carter and I both held our breath, waiting for them to continue their conversation. But then I heard Sofia say, "Someone's spying on us."

I looked up at Carter with wide eyes at the same time he looked at me and whispered, "What do we do?"

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