“Black Magic Woman”

I could hear my alarm ringing, but I didn’t want to wake up. I was enclosed in Carter’s warm strong arms and it felt like heaven. I didn’t want to have to face reality and go to the firm, but I couldn’t ignore the alarm any longer.

“I’ve got a gig later tonight.” Carter kissed my cheek as soon as I opened my eyes. I blinked at him sleepily. He was staring down at me with a strange expression on his face and I wondered how long he’d been awake.

“Is that your way of telling me you need to leave so you can go and practice?”

“No.” He grinned and kissed me on the lips this time. “It’s my way of telling you I have a gig tonight.”

“How long have you been awake?” I asked him suspiciously as I noticed he was surprisingly lucid for someone that had just woken up. I felt slightly self-conscious as my naked body pressed into his. My breasts were crushed against his chest and I could feel his manhood pressing into my belly intimately. I thought of all the things I’d done to his manhood the evening before and I blushed. I had given him a blow job as soon as I’d put the baguettes on the table and then he put me on all floors and entered me from behind so slowly and tantalizingly that I’d begged him to fuck me hard. I’d never used that kind of language before, but he just brought it out in me.

“About an hour,” he said lazily as if it were no big deal and ran his hands through my wild mane.

“And you’re still in bed?” My eyes widened in surprise. Had he been staring at me this whole time? And if so, what did that mean? “Don’t you always practice in the morning? Do you need to go?”

“I wanted to look at your beautiful face, and I didn’t want to disturb you from your beauty sleep.” He reached over and touched my naked breast and played with my nipple. “Plus, I was hoping I’d get a reward for being a good boy.”

“A reward?” I bit down on my lower lip and I could feel myself growing wet. For heaven’s sake, I’d just woken up. I wasn’t sure what had come over me.

“I want to feel myself inside of you again.”

“Carter.” I blushed. In the light of the cold sober day, I felt a little shy to hear his words. I still secretly loved how dirty he was, but the words still took me aback.

“What Lila?” He leaned forward and took my nipple in his mouth and tugged on it gently. “Don’t you want a morning quickie?”

“I have to go to work, Carter.” I moaned as I half-heartedly pushed him away and covered myself.

“Boo. It sucks that you have to rush to work.” He made a face.

“Life of an attorney.” I sighed, once again regretting my career choice.

“So are you going to come to my gig tonight?” he asked hopefully, his face resembling that of a little boy’s asking Santa for a gift.

“You want me to?” I asked surprised. We’d already seen each other two nights in a row, I didn’t think he’d want to see me again tonight. He’d made it dreadfully clear that he wasn’t looking for a relationship or anything serious. In fact, he’d gone on and on about women becoming too attached to him too quickly. Hadn’t he said that he liked to see a girl once a week and no more than that.

“Yeah, I want you to come.” He sat up in the bed then and brushed back his hair. It was growing out and was slightly too long at the front now. It covered his eyes every time it fell forward, and it made him look younger somehow. “So will you?” he asked again softly and if I hadn’t known him better, I would have thought there was uncertainty in his tone. But there was no way that Carter Stevens was uncertain about anything.

“I’ll try,” I said. “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make it. What time do you guys go on?”

“Eight.” He pulled the sheet down so that it was no longer covering my breasts or any part of my body. “You’re so damn sexy, you know that, right?” His words warmed me, but a part of me wanted to hear more than that. I wanted our conversations to be more in-depth, though I wasn’t sure that that would ever happen.

“Do you have time to listen to the new song that I wrote?” He stretched, and I watched as his muscles rippled. I smiled at the dark tan of his arms as they contrasted against his much fairer and paler chest. “What’s so funny?” His eyes narrowed as he gazed at me. “You don’t want to hear it?”

“No, I’d love to hear it,” I said and sat up. I leaned over and gave him a kiss. “Play it for me.”

“Go and shower,” he said after he kissed me back. “I’ll get some breakfast together and walk Frosty quickly. Then I’ll grab my guitar and you can eat while I play.”

“Yes, boss,” I said, and he laughed.

“You can call me boss any day.” He jumped out of the bed and I watched as he walked across the room, his naked butt firm and delicious. I couldn’t stop my eyes from devouring him as he turned around and came back toward the bed. “Why are you still in bed?” He stood there in front of me and I looked down and saw his member saluting me, already somewhat hard.

“Um just watching you,” I said, loving the way his eyes were staring at my breasts intently. I watched as he swallowed and then shifted his weight.

“Out of bed.” He reached for my hands and pulled me up.

“I’m not ready yet.” I yawned but got out at his insistence. “Just because you’re ready doesn’t mean I am.”

“If you’re going to get your work done and have time to watch me tonight, you need to make sure you get into work on time,” he said in a stern voice and I tried not to roll my eyes at him. Since when had he become so responsible? And since when did he care? He pulled me toward him so that I was standing with my body pressed up against him. I looked up at his handsome face and my heart melted slightly. He was just so good looking. It wasn’t even fair.

“Fine, fine,” I said and ran my fingers down his chest. “I’m going to go in the shower now and I’m going to try to make it tonight, okay?”

“Okay.” He nodded. “I’d really love it if you came,” he said, his blue eyes bright. “It would mean a lot to me.”

“Okay,” I said and pulled away from him and walked over to my closet. I wanted to ask him why it would mean a lot to him. I wanted to ask him what he meant by that. Why did he care if I came or not? Did it mean he was falling for me? Or did he just like to have a lot of groupies around? I tried to remember what Danielle had told me about him, but I couldn’t remember. I wanted to ask her more about him, but she was in England, plus he was her brother. The brother she’d warned me about. I wasn’t sure what she would think if I called her and started giving her the fifth degree about his dating history.

I couldn’t believe that I was falling for him. It wasn’t that he was perfect. He was far from perfect, but there was a vulnerability about him that drew me to him in a way I’d never been drawn into any other guy. It was unexpected because he was so handsome and so talented. He was a frigging rock musician for heaven’s sake, he could have any girl he wanted. He could be the cockiest most arrogant bastard and still get away with it, but there was a softness and a kindness behind his mask. He was a good guy even though he desperately tried to portray a different persona.

“Dante, hurry up, we’re going to be late.” I tugged on his shirt as he stood looking at his phone. I stared at my watch, and I sighed. We were already thirty minutes late. I didn’t want to miss Carter’s whole set.

“I’m just texting Kate and Sarah to let them know where we’re going to be. They want to meet lover boy as well.”

“Dante.” I made a face at him. “Do not say anything like that around him!”

“Would I dare?” He laughed. “That guy is an asshole if I ever saw one.”

“He’s not an asshole.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re sleeping with him but trust me. I know an asshole when I see one.” He smirked at me. “I would know one because I am one.”

“Uh-huh.” I rolled my eyes at him. “One day you’re going to meet Ms. Right and she’s going to knock you off of your feet and you’re not going to know what happened.”

“I’d like to see that.” His hazel-green eyes looked at mine with a devious look. “Never going to happen.”

“Where are they? We’re so late.”

“Lover boy going to be upset?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I told him that I wasn’t sure if I could come . . .” I pulled out my phone to check my texts. I smiled when I saw Carter’s name on the top of the screen. Going on now, hope to see you. It had also made me smile when I’d received it, and it made me smile now. I hadn’t responded because I’d wanted to surprise him, but now I was nervous that I was going to be so late that I wouldn’t get to see him perform at all.

“They will be here in five minutes,” he said and put his phone in his pocket. He then looked into my eyes for a few seconds with a very pensive look, and I could tell that he wanted to tell me something.

“What’s up?”

“I don’t know whether or not I should say this. It’s not really my place, but . . .” His voice trailed off as he looked at me thoughtfully.

“What, Dante?”

“I’d be careful around this guy,” he said finally. “I don’t know his intentions or where he’s coming from, but he seems like he’s all over the place and I think you can do better.”

“Oh my God, he’s just a hookup.” I sighed, my face turning red as I knew in my heart that it was becoming more than just a hookup for me. “He doesn’t have any intentions because he’s told me that he only likes to have fun and that’s fine because that’s what I’m after as well.”

“So why are we going to his show? And why are you worried we’ll be late?”

“Well, I’m not worried we’ll be late, because we’re already late. I’m worried we’ll miss the entire show.”

“Who cares?” He made a face. “None of my hookups have invited me to come to see anything.”

“Really? They haven’t invited you or you haven’t wanted to go.”

“Touché.” He laughed and put his hands up. “I’m just saying you’re awfully defensive for someone in a no-strings attached relationship. I’d just be careful. I don’t want to see you getting hurt.” He put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. “You’re a beautiful girl inside and out and I want to make sure you meet the right guy. Because honestly, if I really thought you were the sort of girl that was interested in a hookup I would have set you up with one of my cousins.”

“Which one? Blake or Steele?” I pretended like I was considering it and we both laughed.

“Oh Lila,” he said. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Hurry into the show with me?” I asked hopefully, and he laughed and then pulled out his phone again.

“Okay, they have two more minutes. If they’re not here, we will just head in.”

“I don’t see why we had to wait on them before we could go inside.” I moaned. “I mean they’re grown adults. They’re lawyers for frigging sake. They can’t go to a rock show by themselves.”

“Now, now, Lila,” Dante said, but I just rolled my eyes. He had to know I was right. I knew that the other reason we were waiting was because Dante was hoping to hook up with one of them tonight, but he didn’t want to be alone with either one of them. He wasn’t that interested in making it a one-on-one date but interested enough to make it a “we stumble back to my place after the show” kinda night. He could talk about Carter all he wanted, but he was just as big a player. “Here they are.” He pointed to two women walking toward us and I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

“Finally, oh my God. Let’s go.” And with that I started walking toward the bar, reaching into my handbag while I walked so that I could have my ID ready as soon as I hit the front entrance. My heart started racing with excitement as we got closer to the bar. I didn’t even say hello to my friends or wait for them to catch up with us before I started heading toward the door. I was about five yards away when I started to feel guilty and stopped. I looked back and saw that they were all running to catch up with me, Dante leading the pack with a huge grin on his face. As they reached me, Dante gave me a wink.

“Not interested in this guy at all, are you?” he said, and before I could answer he had walked in front of me and was handing his ID to the bouncer and walking into the bar.

“Hey, Lila,” the girls chorused in unison.

“Hey, Kate, hey, Sarah. Sorry for the rush, I just didn’t want us to miss the show.”

“New boyfriend?” Kate asked me with keen eyes.

“No, just a friend,” I said. A friend I’m boinking, I thought to myself. And really could I even call him a friend? Were we friends? We’d known each other less than a week. I mean I guess we were kinda friends. I think we both liked spending time with each other outside of the sex. We laughed a lot, and I really felt like he was interested in getting to know me as a person. I don’t know why he cared or if he really did, but it felt nice to have someone ask me questions about myself. That hadn’t happened in a while. Most of the guys that I met only talked about themselves.

“Oh, okay.” Kate looked disappointed. She was most probably hoping that she could go back to the office and gossip about me with the other associates.

“Their band is great. You’ll love them,” I said as I handed my ID to the bouncer and hurried inside. The room was darkly lit, but my eyes soon adjusted to the light. The stage was dead center at the front of the room and there stood Carter, tall, dark, and handsome singing his heart out to some song I’d never heard before. I stood next to Dante as we waited for the girls to make it in, and I grinned at Carter and gave him a huge wave as his eyes made his way toward me. He looked at me for a few seconds, then at Dante and then continued surveying the room without acknowledging my smile or wave at all. Maybe he hadn’t seen me? He continued to sing, and I grabbed Dante’s arm and dragged him to the front of the crowd so that we could be dead and center in front of Carter.

“Can we get a drink first?” Dante said as he looked around the room. The place was packed with people that looked like they were all in their early twenties. “I’m going to need it to get through the night.”

“Fine, come on.” I looked around for the bar and started walking to the side of the room.

“Shall we do shots?” Kate said as she and Sarah caught up to us.

“No,” I said as soon as Dante said, “Yes.”

“Fine.” I groaned. “But I’m only doing one shot.”

“I’m ordering double shots of tequila and vodka and Sprites for everyone,” Dante said as he called the bartender over. And of course, she came right away. I guess that was the power of being a tall, handsome man when it came to female bartenders.

“Fine,” I said, but I wasn’t really paying attention. I looked toward the front of the stage again, and my eyes met Carter’s, but he looked away as soon as we made contact. What was up with him? I looked over to Sarah, who was dancing along to the song playing and grinning.

“Thanks for inviting me tonight,” Sarah said. “This is awesome.”

“I’m glad you could make it. The band is great.”

“What’s their name?”

“The Bedroom Rockers,” I said and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. It was such a suitable name for a band Carter was in. He certainly rocked my world in the bedroom.

“Okay, don’t look now, but the lead singer is totally checking you out,” Sarah said with a huge grin. I could hear Carter singing Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” through the speakers. “Got a black magic woman, Got me so blind I can’t see . . .” The words were raspy as he sang and I wondered if he had chosen the song on purpose.

“Oh, yeah?” I said and looked toward the stage again because I had absolutely no chill. As soon as I looked toward the stage, I saw Carter singing to some girl standing in the front of the crowd. My eyes narrowed as I looked to see what she looked like. My breath caught as I saw her face, she was beautiful, with long black hair, and deep red lips. She was wearing a very revealing red dress and I could feel myself flushing with something akin to jealousy. I looked away and back toward the bar. I was not going to let Carter make me feel jealous.

“Ready for a shot?” Dante asked, his eyes watching me carefully. He could sense that my mood had changed slightly.

“Yes!” I almost shouted. “Bring it on.” I waited for Dante to hand me my shot and I heard Carter speaking to the crowd.

“We’re going to be taking a small break, folks, enjoy the music and our next set will start up again in fifteen minutes.” I didn’t look back to the stage to watch him getting off. I didn’t want to see him flirting with that girl. And I didn’t want him to think that I’d come here for him. Well, it was obvious I had come to the show to see him, but I didn’t need him to know how upset I was feeling right now. He didn’t owe me anything. I wasn’t his girlfriend. He didn’t need to acknowledge me.

“Can I get a whiskey on the rocks?” I heard Carter’s voice behind me before I saw him. I looked over my shoulder and saw he was standing at the bar. I looked away, my skin feeling hot and bothered as I realized he had gone to the bar instead of coming to say hi to me. Had he not seen me? Was he mad at me? Why had he texted me to come if he wasn’t going to say hi? “Lila?” I felt a hand tapping on my shoulder and turned around and saw Carter was now directly behind me. He had a small smile on his face but it didn’t reach his eyes. His blue eyes looked slightly angry and annoyed, and I wondered what had happened to him.

“Hey, how’s it going?” I said as I smiled at him widely. I didn’t want him to think he had affected me in any way. “You guys rock.”

“You didn’t really hear much though, did you?” He looked at Dante, Kate, and Sarah. “You guys just got here. Where were you before this?”

“Oh, Dante and I just got a drink at this cute Italian place and then we were waiting for Kate and Sarah.” I gestured to the two women who were staring at us in interest. “Kate and Sarah, meet Carter, the lead singer of the band.”

“Hi, Carter.” Kate grinned at him, but he just gave her a slight nod of his head.

“Had fun getting your drink?” he asked, his eyes accusing.

“Sorry, what?” I blinked up at him.

“I assume you had fun getting your drink with Dante?” He nodded toward Dante who was standing at the bar gazing at us with narrowed eyes. He gave me a look to ask if I was okay, and I nodded slightly.

“Yeah, we had fun. He’s my friend, Carter.”

“Friend, yeah right.” Carter looked pissed. “I already told you what I think.”

“We just wanted to come out and support you tonight.”

“Does he know you were in my bed last night?” He hissed.

“Well, technically you were in my bed,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood, but Carter didn’t laugh. “Frosty ate the quiche we left on the table, by the way. I noticed the whole dish was empty this morning. Hopefully, he didn’t get sick.” I tried to change the subject, but Carter wasn’t having any of it.

“Well, I have to start getting ready to go back on stage again,” he said as he took a long gulp of his whiskey. “I’ll talk to you after the show.”

“This is really ridiculous, Carter,” I said with a frown. I really didn’t appreciate him treating me so coldly for reasons that made no sense, given our situation. “You’re really just a totally moody, grumpy, asshole, aren’t you?”

“Who are you to call me moody and grumpy?” His eyes bore into mine and he looked like a petulant little boy.

“Carter, listen to yourself.”

“I don’t have time for this right now. We’ll talk after the show.” And with that he headed back to the stage, his black jeans clinging to his muscular legs in ways that made him look even sexier than ever. I tried to ignore the fact that I still found him to be the most gorgeous and compelling man I’d ever met. I hated his mood swings, and I hated how he just jumped to conclusions. A fling shouldn’t be so complicated. It should be fun, but maybe I was slowly coming to realize that I didn’t want a fling with him. I’d never really wanted one and now I remembered why.

“The show was, absolutely, amazing,” I praised Carter as he packed his guitar into a case in the backroom of the bar. “You really are so talented.”

“Thanks.” He nodded his back to me. “I see your friends left before we ended the last set.”

“They needed to get up early tomorrow.” I walked over to him. “Are you mad at me?”

“Why would I be mad at you?” He shook his head as he glimpsed at me briefly. “If you want to go have drinks and gallivant around town with some douchebag that obviously wants to fuck you, then that’s up to you.”

“Really, Carter?”

“My piece of advice though?” He paused and stood up straight to look at me. “I’d make sure to do an STD test first to make sure he’s clean. He looks like the sort to have all sorts of diseases.”

“Really, Carter?” My jaw dropped. “You’re such a bloody asshole. How dare you? I have already told you that Dante and I are just friends. He actually was warning me about seeing you.”

“Surprise, surprise.” He snorted. “Of course he was.”

“It’s not like that. He just wanted to make sure I wasn’t hooking up with a douchebag, turns out he had reason to be concerned.”

“You weren’t so concerned when I was going down on you last night. In fact, I seem to remember you begging me not to stop.”

I just stared at him as he spoke, his mouth thin and his nostrils flaring. His eyes looked slightly cold, and I took a step back from him.

“I don’t like you right now,” I said as I shook my head. “I came out to your show to support you and have some fun, but you’re being an absolute dick and I’m not going to let you talk to me that way.”

“Am I lying though?” he asked, but he looked taken aback. “That’s just really unprofessional of you to be hanging out with workmates wearing skimpy clothes and flirting and stuff. He is going to think you’re up for the taking, even if you’re not interested in that. Just because you’re just being friendly doesn’t mean he’s going to see it that way.” His voice was softer. “You have to understand where I’m coming from. I’m not trying to be a dick.”

“Carter.” I just shook my head. “If you listened to yourself, you would realize that you’re making no sense, and, in fact, I find you to be very insulting right now. I think I’m just going to leave.”

“I can get us an Uber back,” he said hopefully as he tried to reach out to touch my hair.

“No thanks. I think I just want to go home by myself tonight.”

“Okay,” he said. “I’m sorry if I hurt you or said something I shouldn’t have. I just like to be honest though I know most people can’t handle the brutal truth.”

“Carter Stevens, you do not know me at all.” I sighed. “Look, what we had was fun, but maybe we should just leave it at the two nights and both of us can just move on.”

“Is that what you want?” His mouth thinned and his eyes darted back and forth on my face. “Fine,” he said as he turned away from me. He hadn’t even waited for me to respond. “Fine, have a great night, Lila. Thanks for coming to the show. I hope you and your friends had a good night.”

And with that, he turned back to his guitar and started fiddling around. I wanted to ask him what his problem was. I wanted to ask him why he was the way he was. It just didn’t make sense to me. All this drama and jealousy, well, I assumed it was jealousy, and he didn’t even want a relationship. I was so confused and upset I didn’t know what to think. I walked out of the room without saying anything and left the bar with my head high. I wanted to cry, but I was not going to allow myself to give in to the feeling. Instead, I decided to walk a little while and just think.

I pulled out my phone and checked the world clock to see what time it was in London. I knew I shouldn’t, but I had to speak to Danielle. She was the only one that would be able to give me some sort of clarity as to what was going on with Carter, because even if we never hooked up again, we would be living next door to each other for the next month, and I didn’t want it to be awkward.

“Oh, Lila.” Danielle’s voice was warm as she spoke to me. “I did try to warn you.”

“I know.” I groaned. “I didn’t expect this to happen. He’s just so confusing.”

“My brother is a doofus.” She groaned. “I’m going to be honest here, it sounds like he’s reeking of jealousy.” And then she laughed. “Sorry, I know it’s not funny, but I’ve never seen him jealous before. Good on you.”

“I wasn’t trying to make him jealous though. Dante really is just my friend. We like to hang out after work.” I sighed. “And anyway, Carter is the one that made it plain to me that he was only interested in a hookup because he needs to concentrate on his career as a musician.”

“He takes himself way too seriously.” Danielle’s voice was dry. “I’m not sure who he thinks he is. Yes, he can sing, but he’s no Freddy Mercury.”

“Oh, Danielle.” I laughed. “That’s horrible.”

“It’s true. I have no idea why he thinks it’s a good idea to quit his job, but that’s on him. He better not try to move in with me. Trust me, he’s just acting like a jealous fool.”

“Why would he be jealous though?” I kind of wanted him to be jealous, but not if it was for the wrong reasons. “Do you think he likes me or do you think he’s just scared he’ll lose the attention that I give him?”

“Girl, if I knew how to understand men I would be a millionaire. Scratch that, I’d be a billionaire,” Danielle said, and I laughed. “Look, here’s what I can tell you about Carter, he’s not a bad guy. He’s my brother, and I love him, and he has his faults, but he’s not a bad guy. He’s not one of those guys that’s a jerk because he had his heart broken either. He’s been in relationships before but none of them were ever that serious. He’s really always been about having fun and jamming. I suppose he’s seen friends getting their hearts broken by girls in college and stuff, but I don’t think he’s ever gone through it himself.”

“Really?” I was surprised by her statement. I’d totally assumed that he was an asshole because he’d been hurt in the past. “Never?”

“Look he’s been in shitty relationships. I remember this one girl he dated, Elizabeth was her name. She was a huge bitch and totally played him, but he didn’t love her. His ego was hurt, but he wasn’t lying around the house crying, if you know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I didn’t know what to think of that. I didn’t feel like I was any closer to getting to know or understanding Carter than I had been before the call.

“My brother is an enigma that even I don’t understand. He’s the reason I know that the saying men are from Venus and women are from Mars is true.”

“Ugh, I just wish I could figure him out. I mean if he only wants a hookup why would he care if I was flirting with or sleeping with Dante?”

“Because men are weird.” She sighed. “Look I don’t mean to say this, but maybe try to talk to him and see how he feels.”

“No way, we don’t even know each other. This is all so weird.”

“Sometimes people have instant chemistry and a connection that can’t be explained. Maybe the love spell has hit him and he doesn’t know what to do or feel.”

“Oh, Danielle, who knew you were such a romantic. There’s no way he’s in love with me.”

“You like him though, don’t you?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Maybe not, but you never would have called me in England if you weren’t pining for him in some way.”

“I’m sorry to bother you. I know it’s early.”

“It’s no bother, Lila. You can call me at any time even if it’s about my obnoxious brother.”

“He’s a nice guy underneath it all.” I laughed. “He is obnoxious and easily angered, but he can also be sweet.”

“And this is when I say I have to go,” she said quickly. “I don’t want you to start telling me how good he is in bed.”

“I wouldn’t talk about that,” I lied. I would totally tell her how much of an expert he was with all parts of his body if I thought she’d be interested in hearing about it.

“I’ll let you go.”

“Keep me updated, Lila,” she said before we hung up and I stood there standing in the middle of the street with my phone in my hand wondering what to do next. I wanted to go home, but I didn’t want to be close to Carter. I was nervous I’d knock on his door and demand to know what was up. He couldn’t just talk to me like that and get away with it. It was so totally uncool. And he hadn’t even apologized. It was like he didn’t even get it. I sighed as I realized I couldn’t just stand in the street thinking and decided to hail an Uber. I had to go home. I’d just have to have some self-control.

I walked up the stairs slowly and my heart stopped when I saw Carter standing outside my door.

“You’re home,” he said with a sheepish smile and some yellow sunflowers in his hand.

“I’m home.” I nodded as I headed toward my door.

“I was worried about you.”

“Why?”

“I knocked, and you didn’t answer, and I listened at the door, and I didn’t hear any sounds from inside.”

“You’re such a creeper.” I glared at him, but I couldn’t stop a warm feeling from growing inside of me. He had been worried. That meant he cared a little bit, at least.

“These are for you.” He handed me the flowers with a small smile.

“Where did you get those at this hour?”

“The bodega down the street. I got you a bottle of wine as well. It’s in my apartment still.”

“Wow.” I licked my suddenly dry lips. “Thank you.”

“Can I come inside?” He nodded at my door, and I hesitated. I didn’t know if it was smart to let him in. I was still mad at him.

“I don’t have to the stay the night. I’d just like to talk.”

“It’s late, Carter.”

“I know it’s late but just for a bit. I really would like to apologize and explain.”

“Fine,” I said as I reached for my keys and opened the front door. “Come in.”

“Hold on, let me get the wine and my guitar.” He hurried toward his door and I watched as he opened it and grabbed a bottle of wine and his guitar that had been sitting there. I also saw Frosty’s nose peeking out the door.

“Come on, Frosty. You can come as well,” I called out to the dog, and he came running toward me with his tongue hanging out. “Hey there, boy,” I said and rubbed his neck and behind his ears. “Who’s a good boy?”

“Me,” Carter said, and I looked up to see him standing right in front of me again.

“You’re not a good boy.” I gave him my sternest look and gestured him inside. “Come on, let’s go inside before I change my mind.”

“Come on, Frosty,” he said as he pushed past me and ran into my apt. “We don’t want to get locked out.”

“Carter,” I said in a slow drawl as I walked inside and then shut the door. “Open the wine already.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’m going to change into my pj’s,” I said as I walked to my bedroom. “You can make yourself comfortable in the living room.”

“Okay.” He nodded, and he walked toward the kitchen. “Wait,” he said as he headed back toward me and then gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I didn’t greet you properly.”

“Take these and put them in water,” I told him as I handed him the flowers, my cheek hot from his kiss. This was all starting to feel all too comfortable and familiar, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

I was in the bathroom washing my face when I heard a noise behind. I turned around and saw Frosty on the ground behind me.

“Hey, sorry, I hope you don’t mind.” Carter walked into the bathroom behind Frosty. “We just wanted to see what you were up to.”

“I was just about to put a face mask on, actually.”

“Cool.” He paused. “Like a mud mask? My sister always puts them on.”

“No, a collagen mask. I buy them online. They’re from Korea. Meant to help me keep my youthful appearance.” I laughed.

“You’re beautiful just as you are.”

“Uh-huh,” I said. “Come on.” I grabbed a packet from the drawer and walked into the bedroom. “We can hang out in here.”

“Can I get my guitar? I learned a new song.”

“Sure,” I said as I sat on the bed and undid the packet to my mask. I peeled off the plastic and stuck the wet side onto my face.

“Oh, my word, you look like a weird ghost.” Carter started laughing as he walked back into the bedroom. “Hold on a minute,” he said, and I watched as he drew his phone out of his pocket and then put it up in the air.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m taking a photo of you,” he said and then I heard click.

“Carter, no,” I screeched. “That’s not right.”

“Why not? Now, anytime I want to see you and you’re not around I can just look at this photo.”

“You’re horrible.” I glared at him, but I wasn’t sure if he could tell behind my face mask. I wanted to ask him if he thought about me a lot, but I couldn’t bring myself to start such a serious conversation.

“So what’s the song that you learned?” I crawled up the bed and leaned back against the headboard. “Are you comfortable, by the way,” I said as I noticed that he was still wearing his black jeans and a black shirt. “Do you want to change?”

“Do you mind if I just go down to my boxers?” he asked as he started unbuttoning his shirt. I wanted to jump off of the bed and finish unbuttoning it for him, but I refused to sleep with him tonight. Not after how he’d talked to me. He wasn’t out of the doghouse just because he’d given me some sunflowers. “That’s fine but keep the boxers on,” I said and he grinned. “Yes, ma’am.” He took off his clothes quickly, and before I knew what was happening, he was sitting on the edge of the bed with his guitar in just a pair of tight white briefs. Hot!

“So, let me play the song I learned tonight,” he said as he started strumming the strings. “When your legs don’t work like they used to before,” he sang and my jaw dropped.

“Ed Sheeran?” I gasped as he continued singing with a huge smile on his face. “You learned Ed Sheeran for me?” My heart melted as he continued to sing. He got some of the words wrong, but I didn’t care. He had done this because he wanted to get on my good side again. He cared about me in his own way. I didn’t know what that meant exactly, but it was a start. When he finished singing, I gestured to him to put the guitar down and come farther up the bed.

“I want you to stay tonight,” I said with a small smile. “No sex, but we can make out.”

“You think I’m going to stay just for a make out?” He pouted, and I slapped him in the shoulder. “Of course, I’ll stay.” He reached for my hand and kissed it. “It will be my honor.”

“You’re so smooth, aren’t you,” I said as he pulled me into his arms and held me to his chest. I gazed up at his face and he leaned down to peel my face mask off and then he kissed me. His lips were warm and gentle, almost teasing, and I kissed him back softly, enjoying the feel of him against my body. My hands found their way to his hair and I could feel him growing hard against me. I wanted to take his briefs off, but I stopped myself and peeled away from him.

“Too hot and heavy, big boy,” I teased him as I reached down to squeeze his manhood for a few seconds. I felt pretty powerful when his body stilled, and his gaze turned to one of lust and desire. I moved my hand away and settled against his chest.

“I really am sorry about tonight,” he whispered against my ear. “I believe you if you say Dante is just a friend. Maybe I can get to know him better to overcome my dislike of him?”

“Why do you care?” I asked him softly, gazing up at him. “I thought this was just a two-night stand for you?”

“I’d like to make it a three-night stand?” His hand moved to my breast and cupped it, and I sighed. “No, but seriously,” he stammered. “I don’t know what I want or where this is going, but I know I have a lot of fun with you, and I enjoy being with you, and maybe we can just see . . .” His voice trailed off, and I tried not to roll my eyes. What a typical guy response. What he meant was he still wanted to have sex but didn’t want a commitment.

“I don’t really know what that means, Carter.” I shook my head at him.

“It means I have a lot to think about right now. I’m quitting my job. I’m trying to pursue my music. I don’t have time for a girlfriend.” He made a face. “I can’t do anything serious right now. I like you. I think you’re a great girl, but I just can’t be tied down right now.”

“Okay,” I said and looked away from him. What else could I say to that? It wasn’t like he’d ever led me to believe anything different.

“Hey, look at me.” His voice was husky, and I looked up into his deep soulful blue eyes. “You’re special to me, Lila. I’ve not met a girl like you before. I want to get to know you better. I want to be the only man you fuck. I want to just take things slowly, okay?”

“Okay,” I said, and I leaned up to kiss him. I felt like his words were genuine and even though they weren’t the exact words I wanted to hear, they were good enough for now.

“I have another show tomorrow night. Maybe you can come?” he asked hopefully. “I can take you out to dinner beforehand?”

“You want to take me to dinner?” I feigned shock, but inside I was jumping for joy. This was a good step.

“Yes, goof,” he said as he gave me a deep kiss. “Now, we better go to sleep or I’m going to have your panties off soon and we both know what would happen next.”

“Night, Carter,” I whispered, and we got under the covers with him spooning me from behind. His arms were wrapped around my waist and his head rested on mine. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep feeling warm and content as it hit me that we hadn’t spent one night apart since we’d met.