Love, Chloe - Alessandra Torre Page 0,78

then a lanky teenager, put into place by a bossy mother. “I wish my mom had been more like that. Maybe then…” Maybe then I’d be a lot different. Maybe then I wouldn’t have struggled so much when the rug was yanked out from beneath me.

He shrugged. “It’s one of those things that you hate as a kid but learn to appreciate the benefits of later. I think they did a pretty good job of raising me.”

“Was your Dad strict too?”

He nodded, scooping out some noodles and holding them out for me. “Do you want kids?”

Kids? That wasn’t something I had ever thought about. Literally. I had always assumed I’d have them, just hadn’t ever really thought if I had wanted them. Vic had wanted five boys. So that had always been that. Discussion over, damn whatever sperm or Chloe had to say about the matter. “I don’t know,” I said, taking a sip of my tea.

“I think you’d make a great mom.” I almost asked him to repeat himself, wanted to hear the words one more time.

“Really?” I scrunched up my face. “I can’t even handle myself.”

“The best parents are those that try. And that can admit their mistakes.”

Well, wasn’t that the truth. Maybe, if my parents admitted their own shortgivings, I would have seen more of my own. “So…” I said slowly, setting down the box of food and sitting back in my chair. “You’re saying that because I’m a train wreck, I’ll be a great mom?” I narrowed my eyes at him and he smiled.

“I’m saying that Chloe Madison doesn’t seem to do anything half ass.” He stood and walked around the table, leaning over and resting his weight on the arms of my chair.

“That sounds like a challenge,” I mused, grinning wickedly up at him.

He laughed and pressed his lips to mine. “You up for it?”

I was up for it. And as it turned out, so was he.

72. Closure: Is it Really Necessary?

The alarm blared, jerking me out of sleep, an insistent beep that was impossible to ignore, especially not at five in the morning.

I rolled over, pulling a pillow over my head and listened to him silence it. I fell asleep around the time that his shower started and woke up again when he whispered my name, his mouth kissing my neck. He asked if my alarm was set, and I grunted out a yes. Then he was gone.

My meeting with Vic loomed, just one day away. I dreaded it. I had always done better with Vic when I didn’t see him. There was something about us being face-to-face … it had, in the past, weakened all of my barriers. This time needed to be different.

“You know, you don’t need Carter as a reason to say goodbye to Vic.” Benta reached over, stabbing her fork into one of my grapes and stealing it. “Cutting ties with Vic has been overdue, regardless of anything else.”

“I know.” Benta caught the eye of the waiter, and I snuck a glance at my watch. Our lunch had been impromptu, the stars aligning to give us a forty-five minute window of time to inhale salads and pregame my meeting with Vic.

“You broke up with him for a reason,” Cammie added.

“I know,” I repeated, pulling my plate closer and warding off a second attempt by Benta.

“You know what I think?” Cammie mused, taking a long and dramatic sip of ice water.

“I think … you better hurry up because I have to get back to work?” Benta drawled.

“I think,” Cammie said, shooting Benta a glare, “that Chloe’s a saboteur.” She looked at me. “You know you have a good thing with Carter, and it scares you. So you’re tempted by Vic purely because you want an excuse for your relationship to fail.”

“But she’s not tempted by Vic,” Benta argued. “Right?” She looked at me.

“It’s Vic’s money,” Cammie interrupted me before I could speak. “That’s what she’s struggling with.”

“I’m not tempted by Vic.” I swallowed. “And I’m over his money.” I looked down at my plate, thinking of every horrible thought that had crossed my mind, back when I’d first met Carter. How much money and future lifestyles had ruled my decisions back then.

Benta laughed. “Really? The same Chloe Madison who balked at our Spring Break trip because she was too fancy for Carnival Cruise lines?”

Cammie leaned forward with a smile, because it was apparently Make Fun of Chloe Day. “The same Chloe Madison who had daily maid service at your old apartment?”

“That