Page 37 of Sweet Caroline
You sure?
Me
I’m sure. Promise.
For a moment, I consider calling Jude, but I can almost see the frown on my brother’s face. The unspokentold you so.The silentdon’t fuck it up.
I can’t fuck this up.Won’tfuck this up. I’ve worked too hard to get this far only to throw it all away. And I couldn’t stomach the disappointment from Jude if I did. We both know he has every right to doubt my promises. My track record hasn’t been great. But, over the last ten months, I’ve been working to change that. To be a better fucking human.
Pocketing my phone, I head back into the crowd and spot Caroline with her dad and a woman about his age who must be her mother. Their expressions are solemn—serious.
When I finally get closer and she spots me, Caroline looks relieved. And the way she lights up? She’s fucking gorgeous.
God, I wanna touch her. Maybe, if I can’t have a drink, I can let myself have this one small indulgence at least.
I’m supposed to be the boyfriend, I remind myself.Act like the boyfriend.
“Hey, baby.” The endearment falls from my mouth without a second thought, and I slip my hand over the bare skin of her lower back, dropping a quick kiss to her cheek. This time, I don’t pull away.
Her startled “Oh!” is too quiet for anyone else to hear over the din of the room, and something inside me hums with satisfaction knowing that little sound was just for me.
I let my thumb linger, slipping it over the dip of her spine as I draw back to meet her eyes.
Caroline seems to catch herself and shifts her attention back to her father, whose focus, in turn, is fixed squarely on me.
I glance at her mother, returning the slightly strained yet polite smile she’s got plastered on her face.
“Mom, Dad, this is…” she starts, pausing as she touches my arm before awkwardly trying again. “Miles, these are my parents, Valerie and?—”
“Quick photo, Senator Brennan? Mrs. Brennan?” A photographer to my left croons, interrupting us. Her camera is already poised at the ready, and she must get some kind of nod of approval, because she gets right to it.
Flash. Flash.
“And let’s get one with Caroline too.”
I move to step out of the shot, but Caroline snags my hand and tugs me back to her side, whispering, “You too.”
Right. This was the whole point.
I can’t say no to this woman. Not with those blue-green eyes locked on mine, and certainly not when she slips her arms around my waist and presses against me in that fucking dress. When I catch sight of Fletcher watching us, I take the time to brush a stray curl back from her temple, my gaze locked on her mouth.
Flash.
I dip down to skim my lips over her cheek and whisper, “This okay?”
Flash.
“Yes.” The word is nothing more than a breath. Her fingers tense against my back and she lifts her chin.
I shift just enough that my lips graze hers.
Flash. Flash. Flash.
“Caroline! Over here!” The photographer’s call pulls us apart before we’ve really kissed—but tell that to the charge running through my veins when the heat of her mouth leaves mine. Remembering myself, I turn toward the camera, sliding an arm around her waist.
“You two look amazing; thanks so much.”
Photos apparently complete, the photographer moves on while Pete and Valerie get drawn into another conversation—right as a man about our age approaches us. He’s a couple inchesshorter than Caroline, a clean-shaven, put-together type who clearly belongs here. And he’s grinning.
