round for the table.”
The waitress nodded and moved away. She turned to look at Carter, who wore an Oxford shirt with some sort of graffiti-style art on the left side of a snowboarder doing a “crippler”—an inverted 540 spin. He hadn’t shaved, but that little bit of stubble on his jaw made him look roguish, and his hair was styled in that messy, casual way he always wore it.
“We have to show the sponsors some love,” he said.
“I’m not drinking an energy drink and vodka. That kind of thing makes me feel weird. I mean inside.”
He leaned in close to her. In his eyes she saw a hint of the guy who’d sat in her kitchen and played cards with her, but it was just a glimpse. “Don’t tell, but me, too. I just order them and then leave mine on the table.”
“Why?” she asked.
He tugged her to him as he leaned back from the table. It was as if they were cocooned together with the cacophony of noise around them.
“I have to order them. It’s my image.”
“But kids might buy into it. And they think you love those drinks, so they try it...”
“Damn. You’re right.” He winced. “But I can’t change who I am now.”
“Why not?”
“Because Stan and his company pay me a lot of money to do what I do. And I like it.”
“So money makes it okay?” She was pushing because she was uncomfortable, she knew that. Maybe she should just let it go. Smile and be like the scantily clad energy drink girls, but she couldn’t.
“Do you get off on being a buzz kill?” he asked.
“No. Sorry if my pointing out the truth is messing with your fun.” She huffed.
“It’s not,” he said. “I’m just having a hard time being my usual self tonight.”
She rubbed her finger over his stubble, liking the way it abraded her skin. She sat there thinking about her life and this year. Three weeks into January and already it felt as though things were changing.
“Maybe that’s not a bad thing,” she murmured. “I wasn’t trying to slam your choices, Carter. Lord knows I’ve made a few of them that haven’t been the best. I guess I’m feeling out of place so I’m not being my nicest.”
He had the prettiest eyes, she thought. Especially when he leaned even closer and she noticed those little blue flecks in his irises.
“I like it when you’re not all nicey-nice,” he admitted. “And when have you ever made a bad choice? My entire amateur career I’ve heard how perfect Lindsey Collins is.”
She doubted that. Her coach had pointed out every little flaw she had on every run she’d ever taken. Her mother thought her hair was too long. Her sponsor—a manufacturer of a beeswax-based lip balm—thought she needed to look Nordic and had asked her to wear blue contacts for her last photo shoot.
“Well, I’m far from perfect,” she informed him. “And I have many regrets.”
“Like what? Name one.”
She sighed. “The things I regret most are maybe not living as much as I should have. I mean, I’m almost thirty, and my twenties were spent training every day.”
“I can’t believe you regret that. Maybe because of the way your career ended you think you should have done something different...” Carter said.
Their conversation was just starting to get interesting, but their drinks arrived and he got pulled into a conversation with a Thunderbolt energy drink representative.
“Carter Shaw is hot, isn’t he?” a tall, svelte redhead said as she sat next to her at the table.
“Yeah, he is. He knows it, too,” Lindsey replied, turning toward the other woman. “You’re Georgina Poirier, right? Stan’s wife? I’m Lindsey, by the way. I saw you with Stan earlier but you and I haven’t had a chance to meet.”
They shook hands. “Nice to finally meet you,” Georgina said. “And you’re right—Carter does know how good-looking he is. I think that’s part of his appeal.”
Lindsey had to agree. Confidence was very attractive.
The rest of their group filed in, and Georgina left to chat with one of the Hollywood starlets who’d had the lead in the film screened at the film festival earlier today.
Lindsey slowly sipped her cocktail, feeling oddly out of sorts. Truth was, she wasn’t enjoying this party as much as she had the one on New Year’s Eve. It suddenly dawned on her that the reason was that she didn’t have Carter’s undivided attention. Then the band started playing, and the song was that catchy Pharrell Williams’ tune “Happy.”
She grabbed Carter’s hand before she could think twice about it. “Dance with me.”
He smiled at her and followed her out onto the dance floor. Moments later, when he pulled her close and they swayed to the music, moving their bodies together, Lindsey finally knew why she was here tonight. Finally, she admitted to herself that this was what she’d missed and what she craved.
She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and told herself that it was the only the music and the nighttime influencing her, but she had a feeling that she was lying to herself. Knew that she wanted Carter all the time, not just after midnight.
* * *
CARTER WAS FLYING HIGH on energy, and not the kind supplied by the Thunderbolt energy drink company. Stan and Georgina had left and he was free to do whatever he wanted. Lindsey was in his arms, the club was jumping and, as far as he was concerned, life was about as good as it could be.
He thought of what she’d said earlier about missing out on her twenties. In a way he’d done the same thing, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything. Without that decade of really hard work he wouldn’t know Lindsey and wouldn’t be holding her tantalizingly close at this moment.
And she felt so good.
The music played on, and the two of them stayed on the dance floor for most of the night. She seemed lost in the music, and the moment they gyrated to the hip-hop beat until he couldn’t resist her for another second. He pulled her off the dance floor and into the first quiet corner he could find.
He trapped her between the wall and his body. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her until they were pressed together. Her breasts rubbed his chest; her thigh twisted around his leg. Her mouth under his, she kissed him in a way that made every other high he’d experienced in his life pale in comparison.
There was magic in her kiss, and he felt caught under her spell. She was tall, so he didn’t have to bend to meet her mouth, and she never left any doubt that this embrace was hers. To the world it might seem as though he was surrounding her, but she’d been invading him body and soul. She’d taken up residence in those empty places inside him and he didn’t question it.
Only wanted to let her have her way with him. Not just physically but emotionally,
