Dropping The Ball - A New Year’s Billionaire Romance - Weston Parker Page 0,27

have gone a little crazy with shopping for your visit.”

He slid the plastic container into the fridge and smiled at me. “Thank you. I’m starving. All that looks amazing.”

While he pointed out stuff he really liked, I started cutting into the fresh Panini I’d bought. I ended up making him three sandwiches in an attempt overcompensate for my awkwardness and stupidity over not having thought about making him something to eat.

Carter sat down on a stool after getting himself a glass of water. “You doing okay?”

“I’m fine. You?” I didn’t know what the etiquette was here. I’d done some research and I knew that becoming what was known as a “buddy-guard” wasn’t great in their profession, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t be friendly at all. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” He held my gaze steadily, seeming relaxed but alert all at the same time.

What’s it like being that way all the time?

“You’ve obviously done this before,” I said. “Moving in with a perfect stranger, I mean.”

He nodded, waiting patiently for me to continue. “Is it weird for you to have to leave your house to live with someone you don’t know?”

“It’s not weird. It just… is. Kind of like how I imagine going up onstage is for you. I don’t think I’d be able to perform in front of so many people night after night, but you obviously don’t think that’s weird. This is the same for me.”

I turned over what he’d said in my head. “Do you get a choice about the clients you do this kind of job for?”

“You mean did I choose you?” His eyes softened and he smiled in a way that made my stomach clench. “I get assigned clients, but I can say no as long as there’s an actual reason. I can’t just turn down a job because I want to have a beer and binge-watch a TV show, but no one forced me to be here.”

“That’s good to know.” I sliced through a tomato, placing it on the bread carefully so there wasn’t any overlap. No one liked tomato sogginess in their sandwiches. “Is it worth it?”

“Leaving my house for a job?” he asked with that same smile still on his face. It was surprisingly fond for someone who’d known me for little over a day. “It can be challenging sometimes, and it’s not my favorite thing to do, but yes, it’s worth it.”

“Is that why you do it?” I asked, sliding the first sandwich over to him. He pulled the plate closer before looking up at me again.

“It ties into why I started, sure. I like being there for people who need me.”

Something warm stirred inside me again. “For such a big guy, you’re surprisingly soft and forthcoming.”

He chuckled quietly into the dimly lit room. Only the ambient lighting under the cabinets was on. Maybe that was why it was so much easier to make a comment that I’d usually have kept to myself.

“I’ve never been accused of either of those things before, but thanks, I guess?” He picked up the sandwich. “This looks great, by the way. Thanks for stocking up and for saving me from the gluggy pasta I cooked last night.”

“How did you manage to make pasta gluggy?” I wasn’t the best cook, but even I could chuck a handful of raw noodles into a pot and pull them out before anything too bad happened.

Carter chuckled again, and the rich sound coated my insides in comfort like it was an old, favorite coat I’d just rediscovered. “Max needed to go out for a walk, so I might have left my food in the microwave without resetting the timer.”

I winced. “You’re lucky it didn’t explode.”

“It was set for fifteen minutes. If you saw what the pasta and the bowl looked like when I got back, you might not have agreed to let me move in here.”

I laughed. “Should we just agree right now that I should operate the microwave?”

Our eyes locked, and suddenly, the moment didn’t seem so light anymore. He was giving me the look. The one that said he really wanted to kiss me right now, and I was pretty sure I was giving it right back to him.

I jerked my gaze away from his to finish his last sandwich before turning away to wash my hands. “I need to go to bed.”

The stool barely made a sound when he stood up too. “Yeah. I should go with you.” My eyes widened before he rushed to finish