her body. “You’re more than welcome, if you want. Not that you have to. But she’d probably like to meet you.” She paused for a moment before she admitted, “I told her the truth. About us. I hope that’s all right. But she was getting too excited about it, and I didn’t want her to be disappointed when it... it didn’t work out. She’s not going to tell anyone. I promise.”
“That’s fine,” Carter murmured without any hesitation. “It makes sense. The truth is I’d feel kind of guilty about lying to an innocent teenage girl.”
“I was feeling guilty too. And now she thinks it’s the best fun she’s ever heard of, so she’d love it if you want to come with us.”
“I will.” He glanced over at her car, which they’d been standing beside the whole time. “You want to drive? Or should I?”
“She’d probably prefer your car since it’s so much fancier than mine. It would give her a treat.”
Carter chuckled at that, and he was still smiling as they got into his expensive SUV and drove away.
TWO HOURS LATER, THEY were sitting in a booth at Miller’s. They were the only ones at the local diner, and the cook had given them each a free piece of pie after they’d finished their cheese fries.
Kayla was obviously having a great time. Her pale skin was flushed with pleasure, and she seemed to have bloomed under the attention she was getting. Carter was kind and funny, and he kept asking her questions about herself in such a mild way that she opened up easily and naturally.
Kayla had a very different personality than Ruth, but she was just as guarded as Ruth had been at her age. She didn’t expect dreams to come true. She assumed people would disappoint her. She trusted very few people, just like Ruth. So it felt like a miracle that she’d let down her guard with Carter. Ruth kept watching in awe. She had no idea how it was even happening.
Carter was obviously making an effort with Kayla, but he wasn’t playing a role or pretending to be something he wasn’t. Kayla would have recognized that immediately, exactly as Ruth would have. He was being himself. And evidently he genuinely wanted to get to know Kayla and make sure she had a good time tonight.
It went to Ruth’s head like too much wine.
She kept telling herself that Carter was truly a nice guy. A rare breed. He would have done this for anyone. It wasn’t about her. By the time they finished their pie and coffee, she was having to mentally scream at herself to remember that fact.
She couldn’t start hoping for something that would never happen. She’d been down that road far too many times before, and she wasn’t going to do it again.
She wasn’t going to fool herself into believing a relationship that wasn’t real. She wasn’t going to get needy or clingy. She was going to remain who she really was. Independent. Strong. Mature.
Despite her mental gymnastics, she was feeling far too soft and tender when they got up to leave, and no self-warnings about the danger of those feelings were making a dent in them. Carter casually put his hand on the small of her back as they walked through the parking lot to his car. The move surprised her, but a quick glance at his face proved he wasn’t even aware of doing it.
He wasn’t intentionally touching her. It must just be natural to him, which meant it didn’t mean what she might want it to mean. It still felt nice. Protective. She didn’t like how her back felt without his hand when he walked around to the other side of the car.
When they returned to the house, he got out and walked Kayla to her front door, a gesture that obviously thrilled the girl. Ruth was smiling like a sap—like a dope—when he came back and climbed behind the steering wheel.
He arched his eyebrows. “What?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being so good to Kayla. It meant a lot to her.”
A slow frown lowered on his face. “What did I do?”
“Are you serious? You talked to her. Listened to her. Treated her special. Acted like she was a human being with value. She hasn’t had a lot of that in her life.”
Carter was still frowning, but it was different now. More dangerous. He hadn’t yet taken the car out of park, and his eyes were focused on the small house in the dark