A Pound of Flesh (A Pound of Flesh #1)(160)

“No.” Carter sent a quick text to Cam and Paul, telling them to go to the shop and make sure Max hadn’t choked on his own vomit or some shit. In irritation, he began fiddling with the radio, playing station commando for a good five minutes, appreciative of the fact that Kat didn’t push further.

“Don’t forget you have to call Diane when we cross the state line,” Kat said instead.

“Yeah, I know,” he replied, settling back in the leather seat of the Jag XJ and letting the sounds of Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” relax into his bones. Carter hummed along and played the invisible chords of the song against the blue vein in Kat’s wrist. He brought Kat’s hand to his lips and kissed her knuckle.

She hummed. “Tell me what it is you’re worried about.”

He replied with a peevish shrug, like that shit would discourage her from asking questions. Truth was, there was no escaping Kat and anything she asked him. His ass remained trapped in a cream leather bucket seat traveling across the country at seventy miles an hour.

Awesome.

“Tell me.”

Carter clasped the bridge of his nose. “I’m worried about a lot of things. I can’t think of just one.”

“Okay,” she soothed. “But you should know there really is no need to—”

His patience snapped, his words bursting from him in a sharp rush. “For Christ’s sake, I’m a criminal, Peaches. Of course there’s reason to worry.”

He didn’t mean to bite, but he was beyond edgy. His spine was wired and his stomach was in knots, twisting frequently between fear and panic. Yeah, he was a f*cking mess.

Kat remained silent.

He was instantly contrite. “Look, shit, I’m sorry, baby—”

“No, it’s all right,” Kat interrupted. “This is a big deal for you. I’m sorry I’ve not addressed that properly, I really am.” Her sincerity made his chest tight. “Just say the word and I’ll turn the car around. If this is too much for you, I don’t want you to feel this uncomfortable.”

What the hell had he done to deserve her?

“I don’t want you to turn the car around.” He breathed deeply, turning in his seat to see her better. “Not that I don’t appreciate the gesture, but I want to be with you this weekend.” Carter ran his free hand across his head. “I just want your grandmother to see I’m not just a …” He swirled his fingers toward his chest, thinking of a list of not-too-nice adjectives. “You know, and that I care about you.”

Kat slowed the car as they approached a junction. “She will. My grandmother is the very best person I know. She doesn’t judge.”

She laid her palm against Carter’s neck, running her thumb along his jaw. “We can just be us. You and me.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

*

They were only twenty minutes from the house when Carter’s gut began to do backflips. His back was also all kinds of f*cking sweaty, which was ridiculous considering it was colder than a witch’s tit outside the car. It’d even snowed a little.

“You feel okay?”

Carter rested his head back, watching Kat drive. “I’ll be fine,” he murmured, pressing his cheek against the headrest. “I’m just gonna watch you until we get there.”

She smiled with her eyes still on the road. “Like when you have a flu shot, huh?”

Carter frowned. “What?”

Kat glanced in the rearview, changing lanes. “When I was a little girl, my dad took me for my shots, and he’d always say that if I didn’t look, it wouldn’t hurt as bad. It wasn’t as scary if you couldn’t see it comin’.” She smiled again, her eyes wistful. “I’d hide in his neck and pray for it to be over.”