Stacking the Deck (A Betting on Romance Novel Book 2)(69)

“Good. I don’t want to hurt you.” His lips tilted. “I can do that sometimes without meaning to.” He brushed the hair from her temple.

She sucked in a breath and forced herself to keep breathing. “I’m a big girl, Carter. You don’t have to tiptoe around the fact that we’re having a fling.”

His hand stilled. “A fling?”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Hook-up. Friends with Benefits. Whatever you want to call it. I get it. You don’t have to give me ‘the talk.’” And she’d repeat that message over and over until her heart heard it loud and clear.

“A fling,” he said again, pulling away to put on his shorts.

“Yes, well, what I mean is... nothing serious. Just casual sex.”

“Nothing serious,” he repeated, zipping his fly with a yank.

“Absolutely. I mean, we both know I’m only here a few more days, and then I’m headed back to Chicago. I have a job—a life—there.”

“Right.” He stared at her, and she swallowed, wishing he’d contradict her, praying he’d stop and tell her she was wrong, that it wasn’t just sex.

But then his lips titled in a half smile. “I’m glad we’re on the same page. Okay, I suppose I should get that pizza.” And then he was tugging his T-shirt over his head, slipping on his sneakers and striding to the door as if her heart weren’t breaking into a million, shattering pieces.

But at the last moment he stopped, turned and flashed a wide smile. “I suppose I should thank you. Because as cheap, casual, nothing-serious sex goes… I’ll never forget it.”





CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

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ON THE SAME PAGE?!

Liz stopped, groaned, and turned to pace in the other direction.

She was such a fool! How could she be so careless as to fall in love with a heartbreaker like Carter?

It’s not as if he meant to be hurtful, but she’d watched him roll through enough relationships to recognize the pattern. He’d start dating someone, they’d inevitably fall for him, and the next thing you knew, he’d given the old ‘it’s not you it’s me’ speech. What made Liz think she’d end up any differently? At least he was honest from the beginning about it.

But he was right. This thing between them couldn’t be anything more than a fling. Practically speaking, they were too far apart. They lived in different states, for heaven’s sake! They led different lives. Not to mention, they were completely ill-suited. She was punctual and orderly. He was habitually late and...

“I hope plain cheese works for you.”

Carter’s voice cut off any further thought. He hadn’t knocked. Or maybe he had and she hadn’t heard.

“You’re back.”

“I’m not going to let you starve,” he said, setting the pizza on the table. He winked at her. “We need to keep our strength up.”

For some reason she found it hard to look at the pizza sitting on the table. It seemed wrong to have something so ordinary and normal in the place where something extraordinary and carnal had just occurred. Something life-changing. Except what had really changed? She still harbored go-nowhere fantasies about a future with a guy who only saw her as a good lay.

Damn. This was becoming a pattern.

“Let me wipe that off before we eat,” she blurted.

Carter stared at her, his eyes saying that her lips had already touched whatever had touched the table, and what did it matter? But she went to the sink anyway and squeezed the sponge under the water until it ran so hot she had to yank her fingers from the spray.

“Liz.”

“It’ll just take a moment. Plates are in the cupboard by the sink.” She knew he knew where the plates were. The plates were in the same damn cupboard they’d been in forever.

“Liz.”

“Do you want an apple with it?” she asked as she wiped the table in long, measured strokes. “A salad?”

“Liz.”

She set the sponge by the sink and turned to face him. “I’m having iced tea. Can I pour you some?”

He was in front of her now, his cheekbones sharp angles over his taut mouth. “You mind telling me what’s going on?” He stepped a little closer, and she could smell the scent of something earthy, forbidden lingering on his skin. His thumb stroked her cheek and she closed her eyes.

Gah! It was her own fault. She’d willingly participated—no, invited—what had happened between them. She’d opened herself up—again—to heartbreak at the hands of Carter McIntyre. But, continuing to be intimate with him when she knew the inevitable outcome would be like pouring salt in her own wound.

Her lips were suddenly dry and she darted her tongue out to moisten them. She took a quick breath and forced herself to look at him. “What happened earlier was… amazing,” she said. Amazing? How about earth-shattering? Soul-searing? A memory I’ll take to my grave? “And you are… incredible. But, I’m leaving in a week. I think it makes sense… to not let this happen again.”

He stepped even closer and she could feel the heat of his body through her shirt. His eyes turned dark, and his gaze fell to her mouth. “To hell with what makes sense.” Then he dipped his head for a kiss that left her clinging to him, breathless. He smiled as he pulled back. “I never gave a damn for what made sense before,” he said as he abruptly let her go and turned toward the table. “And I don’t intend to start now.”