A Pound of Flesh (A Pound of Flesh #1)(64)

Kat noticed his face was softer, more vulnerable. She frowned. “What happened?”

Carter sat back, looking surprised. “What?”

“Why were you late? What happened?”

He inhaled deeply and rubbed his neck. “There was a … family issue I had to deal with and I lost track of time.”

Family? That was the last thing she thought he was going to say. She knew nothing about his family. “Is everything all right?”

“Um … yeah, everything’s fine.” His eyes darted away. “Can we start now?”

Kat saw the tension creep back into his jaw. The truth was, she barely knew the man sitting before her, and it was cause for concern. She was lusting after him, yet all she knew for sure was that he’d done time, he had a good education, and he worked in a body shop with his best friend. The fact that he made smoking look sexy as all hell and looked f*cking amazing in jeans and Ray-Bans was inconsequential.

Although …

Damn.

“I see you came straight from work again,” she noted with a tip of her head toward his red White Stripes T-shirt smothered in oil.

“Yeah, I get covered in the stuff.” He glanced at her from under his lashes, his gaze like a hot finger pressed to her skin. “Sorry for being late.” He rubbed his hands down his face. “Christ, I need a cigarette.”

Kat stood, scraping her chair across the linoleum floor. “If you need a smoke, let’s go outside and have a smoke.”

“But you don’t smoke.”

Kat put her hands on her hips and took two steps toward the door. “I like to watch,” she sassed. “Come on.”

*

Carter watched her for a moment, then followed. Outside of the library, in the warm sunshine, they went to the smoking area.

She gestured with her hand for him to spark up. He smiled and did as she suggested, pulling on the thing for all it was worth. Leaning back against the wall, he caught a waft of her perfume, and closed his eyes briefly at the sweetness of it.

The top of her head only came to his shoulder; how had he not noticed that before? Maybe it was because her confidence, her no-bullshit attitude, made her seem taller. Her hair caught the sun, causing the red and gold to shine. His desire for her grew exponentially every time he saw her and, as he watched her gaze out at the traffic, the stirring she always caused began deep in his stomach.

“Why did you want to become a teacher?” he asked, needing a distraction from his rising libido.

Her head snapped toward him, her big green eyes wary.

“Sorry,” he mumbled around his cigarette. “I didn’t mean to pry. It’s none of my business.” He stared at his feet until she answered.

“My dad. Before he died, I made a promise to him.” She lifted her face toward the sky. “He always taught me that it was important to give back, to not take anything for granted. I loved reading and writing, and becoming a teacher just seemed to … ignite something in me.” She glanced at him. “Sounds corny as shit, right?”

He shook his head. “There’s nothing wrong with passion, Peaches.”

“Did you want to be anything, before prison?”

Carter crossed his legs at the ankles. “There was a time when I wanted to be a doctor.” He’d never told anyone that.

“A doctor?”

“Yeah, a surgeon, actually. Don’t look so surprised. I’m good with my hands.” He wiggled his fingers.

“Is that why you work in the body shop?”

“Nah. Apart from doing it to help Max, I do that because I love engines. Taking it all apart, seeing how it works, and then putting it all back together.” He closed his eyes. “The sound they make is pretty awesome, too.”