Page 52 of I Think He Knows
I blow out of the side of my mouth. “Yeah, I think you got that right.”
Annie gives me a sympathetic look. “That’s a tough one.”
I nod. “The last thing I want is for her to be confused.”
“So just marry him for real then,” Mindy says easily, licking the back of her fork and peering out the window to where the men are hard at work.
“Ha. If only it was that simple.” I follow Mindy’s gaze and find Carter’s athletic form all the way at the end of the yard. He’s stepped away from my brothers and is now pacing back and forth while speaking on the phone. He’s still in a t-shirt, and despite the sweaty temperature and late hour, he looks fresh as a daisy.
Who’s he talking to at this hour? Elena? Anthony? Some other bigshot celebrity?
Mindy clocks what I’m staring at and smirks. “I’d say ‘just look at him’ but there’s no point, is there?”
“Heiseasy on the eyes.” Annie shakes her head in wonder. “The whole thing is a bit surreal.”
As the newest member of our family, Annie has spent by far the least time with Carter. She’s still getting used to being around someone whose picture she once admitted to cutting out of magazines.
“I’ll say—I’m the one who’s fake engaged to one of the biggest stars on this planet.”
“But like I said,” Mindy insists with a twinkle. “Does it have to be afakeengagement?”
“He’s not looking for commitment. The reason we ended up in this mess in the first place is because he didn’t even want to be in afakeserious relationship with an actual romantic prospect. He’s my best friend, but he’s also a total ladies’ man. I’d bet it’ll be years before he settles down.”
And when hedoesfind the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with, he’ll need someone who can keep up with his jetsetting lifestyle. Not a single mom whose roots run deep in suburban Atlanta.
“I dunno about that.” Mindy winks theatrically at me. “Maybe he was just waiting for the right person to have a romance with.”
“Well, if that’s the case, he’s going to be waiting awhile longer.”
“Waiting for what?” Luke asks, suddenly appearing in the kitchen with his arms piled high with white paper plates. He immediately dumps them into the recycling.
“Waiting for me to call you guys an Uber so you can get your drunken asses home and leave me alone to go to bed,” I say.
“I already ordered an Uber.” Liam comes in next. “I need to be at work early tomorrow for a call with London.”
“What call with London?” Luke—who is also Liam’s business partner—frowns in confusion.
“The one I didn’t tell you about because I knew you’d be sleeping off a hangover.”
Luke looks like he’s about to be pissed off at this revelation. Then, he apparently thinks better of it and smiles. “How responsible of you. Thanks. I will enjoy my sleep in, then.”
Ten minutes later, after I’ve managed to shoo my brothers and their wives out the front door, Carter walks in through the back, his face a little tense.
“Sorry about that,” he says quietly, glancing around the kitchen. “Has everyone left?”
“Yup. Here’s hoping that Liam doesn’t care about his Uber rating. Last I heard, Luke and Mindy were getting a little handsy in the backseat.”
Carter chuckles and his eyes return to me. Move slowly over me, in fact. I’m wearing the same thing I’ve been wearing all night—an old, oversized Braves sweatshirt over Nike running shorts (i.e. the least sexy outfit ever)—but something feels different now. Somehow, the very feel of his eyes on my bare legs draws a huge, hot shiver out of me that I disguise by pretending I’m having a sudden leg spasm.
He cocks an eyebrow at me. “You okay there?”
“Restless leg syndrome.” I hop up and down a bit to punctuate my lie. “Comes out of nowhere at times.”
“Oh yeah?” He grins, and I know I’m not fooling anybody. “At the same time as your hypoglycemia, or at other times?”
I glower at him. “That depends.”
“Sure it does.”