Carter

Everything was quiet in the black of the night. The barn was dark and the only sound was the gentle breaths of breathing creatures. Moonlight softly filtered through an open window and the electric lantern was turned down as low as possible while they waited. Carter was sure that he was the only one awake in the entire world, and right now, that was okay with him.

Mia was sleeping on his shoulder. He didn't dare move, despite the fact that his nose itched, his right foot was asleep, and there was a piece of straw poking at his left ankle. The last thing in the entire world that he wanted was to wake her up and have her move away from him. The way her body pressed against his, even just platonically, was heaven.

He smiled at her as she slept. They'd been sitting on the bench, talking about the kids and cars and various other topics. The conversation had drifted back to his cars, and she'd asked him some questions that took a while to explain. He'd started talking and realized she hadn't said anything for awhile. He'd looked over to see that she'd closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep on him. He hadn't dared to move since.

One of the kids murmured something in their sleep. Carter stretched his neck out as far as he could to see if they were still okay. He couldn't see anything and no other sounds came from the dark. All three of the kids were asleep in the hay of an empty stall. They'd fallen asleep hours ago since nothing was happening yet.

Mia shifted slightly and Carter held his breath. She settled further on his shoulder with a small, contented sigh. It made his stomach do funny things and his heart speed up. She was the last person he would have picked for himself to fall for. She wasn't in his social circle, she didn't know anything about cars or horses, and she didn't want him for his money. Yet, she made him happy.

He was falling for her and falling hard. He reached over and brushed a strand of rich brown hair from her face. She was beautiful in a fairy-like way. She would never grace the cover of a magazine or strut down a runway, but she was stunning nonetheless.

Not to mention she was funny and smart. He smiled more in the time since he'd met her than he thought he'd smiled his whole life. His cheeks hurt after their days together from simply smiling. She made him happier than he'd felt in years, and she did it without even realizing she was doing it.

He loved that the connection between them was so mental and not just physical. Although, dear lord, did he want her physically too. Those “almost” kisses were devastating. They were all he could think about. The cold showers were getting out of hand, but it was all he could do to stop himself.

He took a deep, steadying breath. The last thing he needed to be thinking about with her touching him was her kisses. Or what her skin felt like. Or how her eyes darkened when she looked at him. He was already imagining her in his bed and how her hair would splay across his pillow...

“Did I fall asleep?” Mia mumbled, sitting up and shaking her head slowly. “I'm sorry.”

Now that she was sitting up, she wasn't touching him anymore. He hated it.

“Don't worry about it,” he replied. He reached down and moved the poking piece of straw and scratched his nose. “It's past midnight and we've all had a busy day.”

“Anything with the mare yet?” she asked, looking around at the dark stall.

He shook his head. “Nothing yet.”

She stood up and stretched. He tried not to stare at the sliver of skin on her belly that showed when she raised her arms and curved her back. It brought back the thoughts of what her hair would look like on his pillow and he didn't want to take a cold shower right now. He stood up, trying to shake some feeling back into his legs.

“The kids are totally out,” she whispered, peeking over at them. “Alexander is snoring and Grayson is curled up against Lily.”

“They passed out about an hour ago,” he replied, focusing his gaze on the children and away from her. How was it that moonlight somehow made her more beautiful? Now, he was thinking of the moonlight on her hair on his pillow. He shook his leg, forcing himself to focus on the pins and needles sensation instead of thinking about her naked body glowing in the moonlight. It was a struggle.

“Is there anything to drink?” Mia asked, glancing around the barn. “I'm parched.”

“Other than the watering troughs?” Carter joked. She stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed. “There's a pot of coffee at the house. I'll come with you.”

She grinned at him and stretched once more, making his thoughts go back to moonlight and bare skin. It took all his willpower not to just push her up against the barn wall and kiss those perfect, smiling, red lips of hers. By the time he focused, she was already halfway out the door.

He grabbed the walkie-talkie and followed after her. He managed to only check out her ass a little as they walked in the moonlight. He was only human after all.