Page 108 of I Think He Knows
Carter gives me a teasing smirk as his thumbs move on my hips, making dizzying little circles that make me want to lock the door and cancel all other plans for the evening. “Yup. But we have a few minutes. Last I heard, Annie and Liam were swinging by the grocery store for dessert, and Luke and Mindy were on their way to pick up Legs from dance.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” I eagerly reach for the hem of his t-shirt, but he wraps his hands around mine, stopping me.
My face is a question mark as I turn incredulous eyes on him, and his smirk grows. “I changed my mind…” He leans forward and gently nips my skin with his teeth a second time. his breath labored as he brings his lips to my ear and hoarsely says, ”I think I want to make you wait until later, when we can savor every single second.”
As if on cue, downstairs, the doorbell rings.
I do not get up.
I am officially a puddle.
CARTER
I spend all of dinner giving my wife furtive glances and playing footsie with her under the table.
Over the past year, I’ve realized I love teasing her.
Love when those cheeks redden and I know she’s thinking aboutme.
“Carter, this is actually really good?” Mindy says as she loads up her fork with more papaya salad, momentarily pulling me out of my what’s-definitely-happening-later fantasy. Beside her, Luke grumbles in agreement, his mouth full of penang curry, and his forehead covered in a light sheen of sweat from the spice.
I give Lana Mae a final glance before turning to Mindy. “Thanks. But why did you say that like it was a question?”
“Because, Daddy, your Thai food used to royally suck,” Allegra helpfully pipes up. She’s sitting at the head of the table—the spot she claimed when she and her mom moved in for good—and is holding court over the rest of the family. She’s even wearing a freaking tiara for the occasion.
Mindy shrugs and grins. “What she said.”
I laugh, then look over at my daughter and smile softly. “I guess I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Since quitting acting, I’ve upped my cooking game spectacularly. And when I say spectacularly, I mean, I’ve spent many hours in the kitchen each evening, wearing Lan’s “Kiss the Cook” apron and experimenting wildly. For a while, everyone had to endure some very questionable culinary creations. Making edible Thai food was my first achievement…
No, second achievement, actually.
The first was learning how to use my coffee machine, so that every morning, I can bring my wife coffee in bed.
“It wasn’t really a proper compliment, but that’s okay because Auntie Mindy’s right, it is really good.” Allegra smiles back sweetly, and I swear, that little girl looks more and more like her beautiful mama every day. I’m so freaking proud of the person she is becoming. So honored to get to step into this role in her life.
Liam wipes his mouth with a napkin and props his elbows on the table as he addresses me. “So I was thinking I’d stop by around ten in the morning. Get everything wrapped up on the internships before Annie and I head out.”
“Works for me,” I reply easily.
Annie bounces in her chair. “I’m so freaking excited!”
“I’m already jealous. The surfing out there is meant to be unreal.”
Annie and Liam leave for a three-month backpacking trip to Central America tomorrow—Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. And while I cannot, for the life of me, picture Liam Donovan—the eternal suit—tenting it up, and riding overnight buses with no air conditioning, and trekking through the jungle, and dancing on the beach at night, I think it’s all the more awesome that they’re going for this very reason.
The guy’s life used to revolve around work, and being married to Annie has clearly broadened his horizons. Made him see life differently. Right now, they’re just enjoying spending time together as a couple in love.
Lana smiles at me warmly. “You should talk to Jared about doing a surf trip with some of your boys. Take them down to Cocoa Beach or something.”
Oh yeah, did I mention that I finally found a job that I feel passionate and excited about?
Work, these days, involves no cameras or agents or Hollywood glamor, but working side by side with my new friend Jared at his foundation. After our first hike together last year, my mind wouldn’t stop turning over the information he’d given me about the work he does. I kept thinking about all the teenage kids out there who were experiencing the same things Lana Mae and I went through at that age—absent parents, an accidental pregnancy, struggling with what to do with their lives and who they want to be…
And so, I gave Jared a call. A few calls, actually. Because while my first intention was simply to donate to the program and fund Jared’s charity with the means that I had, as I talked to him, I realized that I could do more than simply give money. I could make myself useful by getting involved and meeting these kids face to face, helping them with their needs.
Now, it’s my full time job, and I couldn’t love it more. And Jared and I have become close friends and confidants, as well as colleagues. We have joint family hangouts all the time—Lana and Imani, and Legs and Keisha, are close as ever. And the two of us still go hiking together frequently. Often with matching milkshakes in hand, like the manly men we are.