Honeysuckle Summer (The Sweet Magnolias #7)(59)
“I’ll let you know if something’s too much,” he promised. “This seems like the perfect next step.”
He sat at the end of the sofa and Raylene rested her head on his shoulder. His arms came around her oh so carefully, surrounding her with his warmth. Something in his relaxed embrace reassured her that she could get free if she wanted to. After a few hesitant moments, she felt the last of the night’s tension flowing out of her.
When her eyes eventually drifted closed, for the first time ever she felt a hundred percent safe in a man’s arms.
Carter’s arms had fallen asleep and his legs were cramped, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. Holding Raylene meant too much to shatter the intimacy by trying to get more comfortable. His heart ached with the understanding of just how much faith she’d put in him by letting him be this close.
She stirred. Her eyes opened slightly, then blinked.
“Carter? You’re still here?” She sat up straight, looking suddenly disconcerted as she realized sun was streaming in the windows. “It’s morning. You were here all night?”
“I didn’t want to leave you alone. Besides, you seemed so comfortable, I didn’t want to risk waking you.”
“What about you? Did you sleep at all?”
“A little,” he said, but he didn’t meet her eyes.
“Meaning you closed your eyes for about five seconds,” she guessed. “You should go home and get some real sleep before you go back on duty.”
“To be honest, I never sleep all that well during the day. I’ll just drink plenty of coffee today. I’ll be fine.”
She stood up. “Let me put the coffee on and then take a quick shower. After that, I can fix you a decent breakfast.”
“I should go home and check on things.”
“Will the girls be up at this hour? It’s barely seven.”
“No,” he admitted. “They’re slugs once school is out. They won’t be up for hours.”
“Then please stay.”
It sounded so important to her—and he wanted so badly to grab every minute he could to be with her—he didn’t resist. “Okay, but let me get the coffee started while you get dressed.” He risked looking directly at her. “You are planning to get dressed, right?”
She smiled at the question. “You scared I’m going to come back in here wearing some kind of sexy negligee?”
“Actually, I’m already a little turned on just by you in that robe. I keep trying to imagine what’s under it.”
“I think maybe I’d better not answer that,” she said in a way that hinted she might be wearing very little. She tightened the belt self-consciously.
Just his luck, he thought. He’d been holding a half-dressed woman in his arms all night long and he hadn’t done a thing about it. Maybe he had some saintly attributes, after all.
“I don’t suppose you want some company in the shower?” he asked, a hopeful note in his voice.
She laughed. “Nice try, but we agreed to keep things casual and friendly.”
“There’s nothing friendlier than showering together,” he retorted.
“What am I going to do with you?” she murmured.
“Nothing, apparently,” he said with not entirely exaggerated dismay.
He watched her walk out of the room, hips swaying provocatively. He wondered if she was deliberately taunting him, but he doubted it. Because of her past, he thought she’d be very careful about risking him making a move for which she wasn’t entirely ready. He couldn’t help wondering, though, if he was crazy for thinking that she’d ever be ready for the kind of relationship he was wanting more and more every time he saw her.
With her cheeks still pink every time she thought about the heat in Carter’s eyes and the desire she’d heard in his voice, Raylene had to resist the urge to dress in the most sedate outfit in her closet. Not that she had all that many. Her preferences had always run to clothes that emphasized her curves without being slutty. Lately, though, she’d been living in the same old jeans—designer label though they were—and whatever blouse she grabbed out of her closet. Now that she was living on the modest income awarded to her by the court from Paul’s savings, she was embarrassed to think how casually she’d thrown away money on expensive clothes.
Today she took the time to find a pair of linen slacks and a pale pink sleeveless shell that had cost more than her current monthly income. She even added a touch of lipstick and fluffed her hair before going back downstairs to join Carter.
He studied her intently when she walked into the kitchen. “You look different.”
“Different how?”
“Lady of the manor?” he suggested, his expression quizzical. “Like someone in that fancy magazine, what’s it called, Town and Country.”
“Do you spend a lot of time looking at Town and Country?” she asked, amused.
“No, but my mother did. I think she secretly aspired to be one of those women who went to polo matches and lived on a country estate.”
“Mine certainly did,” Raylene admitted. “She wasn’t happy being in Serenity. I think she got all caught up in the romance when she met my dad. It helped that her parents hated him. She was obviously in her rebellious phase and nothing would do but marrying him. Then reality set in. It was kind of sad for both of them, I think. My dad was a great guy and smart enough to know he could never make her completely happy.”