I’m kicking you out.”
Carrie’s eyes flashed open, and she turned on her side to face him. He was clearly expecting just that response, as a lazy smile waited for her, spread across his face. “I don’t snore.”
“Are you sure?”
“Are you offering to find out?” Carrie regretted the words even as she spoke them. Nate’s smile slipped, just a bit, and the inch of space he managed to create between them just by shifting his muscles felt like miles. “I’m sorry. I didn’t...”
“You’re drunk,” Nate said, looking away.
Carrie rolled her eyes. “I’ve had one and a half glasses of wine. I was drunker last time you kissed me. And anyway, that’s not the point.”
He seemed to have relaxed a bit at her words, Carrie realised. He even managed a small smile as he asked, “Do you remember the point?”
“I was joking.” Carrie poked him in the chest to emphasize her point. “Don’t worry, I didn’t drag you up here to sully your virtue or lead you astray.”
Nate shifted onto his side until he faced her, and when Carrie caught his gaze in the moonlight, she started to wonder if that wasn’t exactly why she’d brought him up there.
“So, why am I here?” Nate asked, so close now she could feel his breath on her face, warm and sweet from wine.
Downstairs, the pounding of the speakers had stopped, and Carrie could hear singing. No one would miss them any time soon, she was sure.
So she took her time, and considered her answer carefully, before finally admitting, “I’m not sure.”
Nate didn’t push her, didn’t ask more, and somehow his silence gave her the confidence to go on. “I just... I felt strange down there at the party. Not really a part of it, I suppose.”
“Peril of being the boss,” Nate suggested softly.
Carrie wrinkled her nose. “Maybe. But...I think it’s more than that.”
“You don’t think you belong here.” And, as simple as that, Nate expressed the secret fear Carrie had been trying to ignore, ever since Nancy left her the Avalon Inn.
“This is Nancy’s place. You’re all Nancy’s friends.”
“We’re your friends, too.” Nate rested his hand on her waist, his fingers long enough to almost reach around to her spine. The heat from his palm through the thin silk of her dress mesmerised her. “If you’ll have us.”
Carrie focused on the warmth spreading across her torso, and answered without over-thinking, for once. “Because I’m Nancy’s granddaughter? Because I’m your boss? Or...”
“Because we like you.” Nate squeezed her waist, and the warmth spread farther. Her chest was probably flushed, Carrie realised, and gave silent thanks for the dim lighting in the room. “Because you’re trying to save our home. And we want to help you.”
Which made sense, she supposed. It was just... “This was going to be my big chance to do something by myself. To prove myself.” To Anna, to her father. To herself.
“And even better than that, you get to do it with friends.” Nate nudged closer, just a few centimetres, but enough to bring his lips within her reach if she just bent her neck forward. “Seriously, though. Why does it matter to you so much that you do this alone?”
“Because no one believes that I can,” Carrie said, wishing that didn’t sound so stubborn and belligerent.
“So you’re in this to prove people wrong?” Nate’s eyebrows rose, crinkling up his forehead.
“More to prove myself right. I’ve never really done that before.” It felt almost embarrassing to admit.
“Proved yourself right, or done something alone?” Nate asked.
“Both, really.” She sighed, and Nate’s arm came a little further around her, holding her almost against his chest. The few centimetres between them were ceasing to matter altogether. “Uncle Patrick got me my first job, with Anna. Ruth got me my first—and only—real long-term boyfriend. And Dad… Dad just smoothed my way through life, ever since I was five and my mum walked out on us and never looked back. It was like he thought I shouldn’t have to suffer anything else, ever.”
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