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The extra effort paid off when I walked out of the bedroom.
“Jesus Christ.”
I circled. “You like?”
“You look like every wet dream I had growing up.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or creepy.”
“It’s a compliment. Any boy or man would love to jerk off to you.” He winked, and I laughed.
Outside, Carter opened the door to his SUV and helped me inside. Before shutting the door, I said to him, “You know, I think you get away with saying anything you want just because you’re so good looking.”
“Is that so?”
“It is. I think you make people delusional with your looks and charm, and we start to think that things like ‘any boy or man would love to jerk off to you’ is normal.”
“It is normal. It’s only natural. Any man who doesn’t think of what you look like tonight as future whack off material is full of shit. I just tell it to you straight.”
I laughed. “Again. That sounded charming, but I’m pretty sure if someone else said it…totally creepy.”
Carter drove through the development slowly, although it’s not like he had much of a choice. There were a hell of a lot of speed bumps in his retirement community. As we made our way toward the front gate, we passed at least a half dozen couples power walking in tracksuits. They all waved, and Carter called a greeting out the window to each by name. I still couldn’t get over how entrenched he was in this retirement village.
The exit of the development was next to the clubhouse where Bingo had been held, and the parking lot was packed again. “What’s going on tonight?”
“Singles square dancing night.”
“Are you kidding me?”
Carter smiled and shook his head. “Nope. A lot of widows and widowers in the area so they try to mix things up a bit in activities.”
“That’s awesome.”
We pulled up at the gate, and Carter dug his keycard out of his pocket to scan so that we could exit. While we were waiting, a small car pulled into the last handicapped spot in front of the clubhouse. “Isn’t that your old car?”
Sure enough, George, the old timer Carter had traded cars with, was getting out of a little red Porsche. We both watched him walk around the car and open the passenger door. Extending a hand, he helped a lady out of the car. “What the…” Carter trailed off.
“Is that…is that what I think it is?”
Carter looked stunned, his mouth was literally hanging open. “I think it fucking is.”
The two of us watched, completely speechless, as George got out of Carter’s car and walked his date into square dancing…dressed in a full pilot’s uniform. Carter’s pilot uniform.
I WISHED FOR A STORM as I watched the news on the small TV in the kitchen. A hurricane, tropical storm, tornado, cyclone, whatever the hell would cancel my flight tonight. Since the day they pinned my wings, I never wanted to be grounded. Not once. Yet this morning, I hated being a damn pilot. The thought of leaving her for the start of a seven-day trip was making me feel physically sick. Knowing what was looming, an ache in my chest had been building since yesterday.
I was pretty sure Kendall felt the same way. We’d decided to stay in today, rather than go out again. For five days, we’d both danced around the elephant in the room without any direct conversation about what she was going to do. We needed to have the talk. Yet I was scared shitless of what the end game might be.
Inside my heart, I knew I was in love with her. I think my mind even had begun to accept it. What I feared had nothing to do with what might happen to me if I admitted it. My fear was what my love could do to her. What if I told her I loved her, but then I realized it was something other than love a year down the road? Or I fell out of love?
Lucy.
I couldn’t fuck up Kendall’s life unless I was sure. More than sure. I’d done enough damage throwing false promises around.
And what if I told her, and it influenced her decision?
Money or love? Sounds easy, doesn’t it?
It’s not.
