Love Me: The Complete Series by Wall Shelley K

Author:Wall, Shelley K. [Wall, Shelley K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: F+W Media
Published: 2015-09-21T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Carter kissed Amanda at the door. It was nothing new since they’d kissed more than a few times since they started dating. She liked the kisses too. Why did it disappoint her that she didn’t feel more? What was her issue?

She didn’t crave them. That was the problem.

“It’s almost ready. Want a glass of wine?” Amanda followed Carter into his apartment dining room where he’d set a beautiful table. Or at least as beautiful as a guy can set. There wasn’t a tablecloth or fancy dishes but everything matched. A couple of candles flickered in the middle of the table while tendrils of smoke rose from their soft light. He’d muted the lighting a little too. Nice and very romantic.

Amanda suddenly felt a huge lump forming in her throat. She looked around in confusion. “I’m sorry … what did you say?”

Carter smiled. “You must have had a rough day. I asked if you wanted a glass of wine.”

She followed him to the kitchen counter where he held up a bottle of chardonnay. “Oh, sure. That sounds nice.”

While he worked the corkscrew, she inhaled the warm buttery chocolate scent of—brownies. Gulp. The lump in her throat plummeted to her stomach. Was she ready for this? Did she even want it?

She wasn’t sure.

Carter’s cell broke the awkwardness and he set the bottle and cork down to answer. There were a lot of monotone yeses and noes, then he made an excuse and hung up. “Sorry about that. Jackson wanted to check up on me.”

Yeah, right. “How’s his dad?” She had completely forgotten to ask when she saw him earlier which made it easy to show concern.

“Struggling but better than the alternative.” Carter’s voice was distant and Amanda felt a crushing guilt for asking since the alternative was to be in Carter’s shoes—without a father.

“Oh, I guess that’s good.”

“He can’t speak very well but the doctor thinks it will come back in time … at least enough to understand him. He has the use of one hand and leg but the other is useless. They’re forcing him through a lot of rehab exercises which, despite not talking, he’s able to protest in a way that only he could manage. Jackson goes in for dinner every other night and helps him eat. His mother alternates.”

Amanda tried to picture Jackson spooning soup into his Dad’s mouth. The thought was too strange to conjure up and she questioned whether he really helped or just sat while the nurse did the work. “How sad.” She sighed.

Carter poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Amanda. “So, you want to start with dessert?” He motioned to a stack of brownies. Hmmm. Clever. “The lasagna has about ten more minutes.”

She turned and carried her glass to the living area and stood to stare out the window at the traffic below. Carter’s apartment, while very modern, was definitely a man-cave. Stark, mismatched furniture with very little adornment on the walls. No plants, no knickknacks, a few piles of sports paraphernalia placed with little thought.

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