“If you won’t do it for yourself, then do it for me. Don’t I deserve at least one do-over to state my case for not being a one-hit wonder?”
I stifle a laugh; he has a point.
“Strictly casual.”
Carter nods, a faint twitch in his cheek as he speaks. “Strictly casual.”
A rush of adrenaline courses through me at my decision. “Deal.”
Carter doesn’t speak. Instead, he flashes me that beautiful smile and slides the car into drive, taking off once more.
I’m still not convinced this is a great idea, but it’s about time I let loose a little and did something for me. A few good orgasms never hurt anybody. As long as my heart stays out of it, I’ve got nothing to lose.
Chapter 30
Lara / Carter
Lara
“Start at the beginning, and don’t you dare leave a single detail out.”
Typically I’d at least get a ‘hello’ from Harper, but the second she picks up the call, it’s straight down to business.?
She and Mia spent the weekend in Mallorca for an old high school friend’s bachelorette party, or ‘hen do’ as it’s better known over here, so we’ve barely spoken since Thursday night. They landed back in Heathrow this morning, and I’ve been dying to tell Harper, if only to stop the constant state of overthinking I’ve been in since Carter dropped me home two mornings ago.
“The beginning? Well, he greeted me with a coffee, exactly how I like it, and a snide comment.”
“How strangely thoughtful. The coffee, of course,” she adds, “not the snide comment. Men really are peculiar, aren’t they?”
“You’re telling me.”
“Anyway, back to the play-by-play, please.”
“My lunch break isn’t long enough for that, but to cut a long story short—we spent the night in Norcaster. Together.” Anxiety skyrocketing, I repeatedly click and unclick a pen. But it’s no use—the constant clicking sound only makes me feel worse. I really should eat something, given I’m on my break, and some food might help the gnawing feeling, but I stay seated at my desk.
“Lara! Oh my god. You fucked him, didn’t you?”
I cringe at the volume increase of Harper’s tone. If she were anyone else, I’d be secretly praying she’s not surrounded by people right now. The pen I’d been fiddling with drops to my notebook with a dull thud.
“Uh, not quite.”
“Not quite? Sex isn’t really something you can half do, honey.”
“Please tell me you’re not with Mia right now.”
Harper lets out a partly suppressed laugh. “No, she’s out for coffee. This is all you; you couldn’t pay me to tell her you ‘not quite fucked’ her brother.”?
The way she says it so matter-of-factly has a wave of unease washing over me. I certainly wasn’t thinking about his siblings when giving the best oral sex performance of my life.
“We didn’t have full-blown sex, we just went down on each other.”
Harper laughs lightly. “I’m not sure the distinction will matter too much to Mia.”
“Shit, do you think she’s going to react badly? She is, isn’t she? Oh god.”
The answering silence results in a dropping sensation in my stomach, and not the good kind. The tip of my heel taps rhythmically against the underside of my desk.
“Lara, honey, take a breath.”
