glare at him. “Come sit with me,” he says softly. We grab the plates from the table and go eat on the couch. By the time we land, I think we’ve only seen Keira twice more. Getting into the car, he heads to my condo where he parks, then walks in with me. “This is nice,” he says of the apartment, and I nod at him. “Go pack a bag.” I walk into my bedroom, and he follows me, sitting on the bed while I grab some things for his house. I grab the two dresses hanging in the covered black bag and the matching shoes that go with them.
“If at any time it isn’t safe, I want you to promise me you will bring me back home,” I tell him from the closet.
“Baby, I promise you that no one will know,” he tells me, and when I walk to him, he opens his legs, so I stand in the middle of them and his hands go to my ass. “I promise you.”
“Fine, it’s just it’s both our asses on the line,” I say, turning around and locking up my house once again.
“Are you almost done?” I hear him knock on the closed door. Spending the night in the house with him last night was amazing. We sat outside listening to the waves while we talked about everything. We then came inside and fell asleep in each other’s arms, and I woke with his face between my legs. Of course, once fully awake, I returned the favor. “Erin.” I look up while I tie the strap around my ankle.
I get up from the bed and take one last look at myself in the mirror. I snuck off to the guest room to get ready. My hair is loose, and I added some waves. My makeup is natural with just some black mascara. The light gold eyeshadow with a light bronze liner make my blue eyes pop. The light pink on my lips makes them just a touch more plump. I take a deep breath and smooth down the sleeveless gown. And what a gown it is. It has a rounded neck and rose gold sequins that goes to a burgundy ombre at the bottom. It fits me like a glove with the bottom going just a touch looser so it sashays as I walk.
I grab my little rose gold satin clutch and walk to the door. Opening it, I stand here looking at him. He is wearing a black on black tux, making his green blue eyes stand out even more. His hair is combed back, but what I really like the most is the scruff on his face. I smile, reaching out and touching it. “This is going to give me razor burn,” I joke with him, but his eyes are bright and blue, and he doesn’t say anything. “What’s the matter?”
“You,” he says softly. “You take my breath away each time.” He comes close to me and puts his hand on my hip. He does that often to bring me closer to him. “I don’t want to leave this house.” He comes down, rubbing his nose on my cheek. “I don’t want anything to touch what we have.”
“Carter,” I whisper, “we have to go.”
“Will you be by my side the whole night?” he asks me. “I don’t know how to explain it, but when you’re there, I feel like everything is aligned. My heart beats normally, I can breathe, and I can smile, and it not hurt.”
“I’ll be right by your side the whole night,” I tell him. “I promise.” Holding out my hand, he grabs it and links our fingers together. We walk down the stairs, and I stop. “We should take a picture.”
He grabs his phone and raises his hand, taking one of the both of us smiling at the camera. “Okay, now one for us,” he says and puts his arm around my waist, bringing me to him. One of my hands go around his waist and the other one goes on his chest. Our smiles match, and you can tell from the picture that we are together. “That one is for me,” he says as he looks at the picture. I watch him walk ahead of me and call his name. He turns and looks over his shoulder where he winks with his smirk on full display. “I want you to caption that with “his eye is always on the prize.””
I shake my head