Page 63 of Falling into Place
“Sure, I’d love to.”
Chapter Sixteen
Carly
Hey. I just wanted to check in and make sure you’re really fine with what we talked about yesterday. Give me a call later if you want.
—Text message from Benjamin Wheeler to Carly Porter
Carly’s week started off incredible and then went straight to hell.
At least her one win was a big one:She got the job.
As in, Mai and Kyle agreed that on top of her stellar style instincts and customer relationships, her work withLiveOKCand connections for future media collaborations were proof she was a strong, well-rounded investment for the company. They’d called her into Kyle’s office on Monday and made the formal offer, and she’d been so happy she hugged them both and cried.
She’d even successfully negotiated the salary, something her younger self never would have been able to do. She didn’t even wait an hour after arriving at Bailey Accounting later that morning before submitting her two weeks’ notice.
She rode that high for a good twenty-four hours before things started going downhill, and as the hits kept coming, Pepper seemed more and more concerned.
“Would you stop looking at me like that? I’m fine.”
Her cat blinked slowly, flicking his tail once, his black-and-yellow gaze giving Carly a blandYeah, rightlook.
Carly sighed. “Okay. I’m not fine. I mean, I am, but I could be better. Are you happy?”
Cat-blink.
“This week hasn’t been the best, I’ll give you that. But you know what? I’ve got my dream job, I have a roof over my head, and I have great friends. So my love life isn’t in great shape, but that’s not the end of the world.”
And really, the job thing was huge. Amazing. Everything she’d been working toward at Mode. She sort of hated that she let completely different issues dim the light of that accomplishment, but she couldn’t seem to help it.
Pepper jumped off the side table, pushing a copy of Kennedy Ryan’s latest romance onto the floor as she went.
“You did that on purpose,” Carly muttered, picking up the book and centering it back onto the stack where it belonged. She slipped on her shoes and tucked her phone into her purse with a sigh.
It had been seven days since Sasha’s birthday party. Three weeks since the night Brooks had come over after his failed date and watchedThe Notebookwith her. Both nights had led her to two very important realizations.
One: She liked Brooks. Like, a lot. Which was unfortunate, since there wasn’t a single thing she could do about it, both because it could risk her job and because he was maybe falling in love with one of her closest friends.
Which led her to number two: She didnotlike seeing him with Kendall. And not because it was Kendall—her friend was lovely and great and deserved an incredible man like Brooks. No, it was just that(1) Kendall wasn’t Brooks’s type at all, and (2) Carly wouldn’t like seeing his arms wrapped around another woman no matter who it was (except Sasha, of course).
She’d given more thought to how she might approach Brooks after theLiveOKCthing was finished, because even if she wasn’t one to take big risks, she also didn’t particularly enjoy living in regret. The more time that passed without him connecting with someone, the more likely she was to have an actual shot. If she could wait until he wasn’t her client and they were both single, there’d be nothing holding her back.
But then Kendall came into the picture and excitedly informed Carly a few days after the birthday party that she and Brooks had made plans.
Date plans.
Which, of course, was the whole point for Brooks and being part of this whole Bachelor series.
So, yeah. That sucked.
He’d tried his hand at dressing himself last night and had sent her a picture to make sure she approved. She had, and how. The man pulled off flat-front shorts and leather sneakers like a damn Ralph Lauren model. An assessment Kendall was sure to agree with.
That also sucked.
The final event topping off the shitty parts of her week was yesterday’s phone call with Benjamin. They hadn’t been in touch for a few weeks, and with the whole Brooks/Kendall thing sending her into a rare state of loneliness, she’d taken a chance Benjamin wasn’t busy and called him. He’d answered, and during their conversation she blurted out a question she’d had for months but never could bring herself to ask.
“Have you dated anyone since you’ve been gone?”
