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“Shut up!” I cried, astonished. “No way! Why? Why would he do that?”
“Because he isn’t going to let this stupid media circus ruin what he has with you.”
Tears started to come. I pushed my hair back from my face and spun in a circle, completely uncertain what to do with myself and my body. I couldn’t believe what Carter had done. It was making my heart sing and my hopes soar. I turned and then turned again, back to Maggie. “This will be my dream come true. He’s making my dream come true.”
“He knows you’re worth investing it.” Maggie grinned and held my hands and twirled us in a circle around in front of the building.
I twirled with her, laughing, letting myself be a silly girl for once, just dancing on the sidewalk unmindful of the way it made passersby stare at us.
Maggie released my hands and spun away, flopping on Effervesce’s wall. “He wants you to stick around.”
The world came grinding to a halt. I cried, “Maggie, wait! I didn’t have time to prepare. I don’t have an apartment. Once I sign over the house, I won’t have anywhere to go!”
CHAPTER29
CARTER
Iwaited outside my house on the balcony, sipping a hot cider cocktail and flipping through the pages of a home decorating magazine. I was supposed to be picking out a new end table, but I couldn’t stay focused. I was looking at high-quality printed color samples now, each with a fancy name attached. Lavender summer for pale purple. Caribbean sunset for a deep orange that looked nice in theory but would never work on the walls in any room. What would a person even do in an orange room? How did you decorate with such a loud shade?
I sighed and set the magazine down on my lap, picking up my cocktail. The cider and rum mixture was the only thing keeping me warm, in every sense of the word. I had cold feet.
Megyn was coming to spend the evening with me. She had agreed, though she hadseemedreluctant somehow in her texts. I couldn’t put my finger on the reason; maybe it was all in my mind.
I mean I had bought her house. She had to know by now that I was the buyer. Maggie texted me, dropping strong hints that she’d told Megyn about my plans, but even if I was reading too much into it and she hadn’t said a thing, the agent handling everything would have told her my name. I could almost hear the librarian-looking woman, speaking to Megyn in her dry and humorless voice, saying how she was disappointed in me for not being as money savvy as I should—and how fortunate that was for Megyn, for them both.
I heard an approaching motor and looked up, setting my cocktail down on the table at my side. A little car came bumbling down the road, trails of hot vapor misting in the air behind it.
I stood up fast, knocking my magazine on the floor.
It’s Megyn.
Megyn parked and climbed out of her car and came to me, looking at me with such skepticism and hope I could have cried. As it was, a lump rose in my throat.
I met her on the balcony and pulled her in for a hug, pressing her body against mine where she belonged. She held still against me for a moment, too long, sending fear lancing through my chest. Then, she slowly unfolded, her body blossoming against mine. Megyn wrapped her arms around my chest and held tight, like she would never let go of me again.
And I held her and pressed kisses to the top of her head, my soul complete at having her here with me where she belonged. All my inner turmoil fell away for this, peace washing over me.
I love this woman more than I could ever dare put into words.
I opened my mouth to try, nevertheless.
Megyn stirred against my body and I swallowed back what I’d been about to say, not wanting to dissuade her from also saying something. She brought her lips to my cheek, a kiss that skimmed and danced along to my ear. “Thank you,” she whispered, her breath warm.
Having this beautiful woman in my arms, against my body, with her breath on my ear, stirred heat in my loins. I felt myself getting erect. I ignored my hardening manhood and brought my lips to hers, kissing her and kissing her.
Megyn pressed her hips to mine, rubbing on my erection. She held my face in her hands and kissed me back. Our tongues danced together, our lips colliding again and again until we both ran out of breath and collapsed inward into each other.
I ran my hands down her back and then up into her hair. The silky strands slid so softly through my fingers. “Megyn,” I said. “Megyn, please stay. You have to stay. I can’t bear to let you go.”
Megyn smiled in a confused sort of way and tilted her head. “Carter, you bought my house. I don’t have anywhere to stay.”
I stroked her chin and brought my lips to hers again. “Of course, you do. You always will. With me. Stay here on Staten Island—with me.”
Megyn’s lips wavered back and forth between a smile and a frown. She understood, but she was too afraid to admit that she did.
I kissed her sweet lips and smiled against them, and she smiled back. I spoke, our lips rubbing. “Move in with me, Megyn. The sewing shop is yours. Quit your job and run it like you’ve always dreamed of. I’ll support you however I can. I just can’t lose you.”
Megyn held onto me tighter and tucked her head to mine. “Oh, Carter. You sweet, crazy man. Of course I’ll stay with you. I don’t want to lose you either.”