Suddenly completely uncomfortable and wanting to curl up somewhere, replaying that look on his face for awhile, I crossed my arms across my chest and looked away.
�You think I�m beautiful?�
I heard him snort. He actually snorted.
And when I turned to look back at him, a look of total disbelief had taken over his features.
�Uh� yeah!�
Covering the distance between us in two steps, he cupped his hand under my jaw and forced me to look at him, his thumb running back and forth over my cheek.
�Jeez, Kara� you� yeah! You�re absolutely gorgeous.�
I felt the stupid tears fill my eyes. Don�t cry. Goddamn it Kara, if you cry� I�m gonna kick your ass.
And now I�m threatening myself.
�Why are you looking at me like no one has ever told you that before?�
Sigh.
�Because� no one ever has. Well, besides Xander and my family� but� for some reason, I actually� believe you mean it.�
He laughed, then pulled me with him out of the way of all the people walking down the sidewalks. Leaning against the wall, me standing in front of him, he cupped my face with both hands.
�Because I do.�
Nick brushed his lips across my forehead, letting go of my face, and for some reason it seemed like the most romantic thing I�d ever experienced.
Granted, I have experienced much� but�
Breathe Kara. That�s the important thing to remember here.
Why do I have to remind myself of that so often when he�s around?
Oh yeah, because he�s amazing.
�What were you arguing about?�
*
I couldn�t help but laugh.
�You�re not going to let up on that, are you?�
Biting her lip, she shook her head no.
Grinning, I slipped both my arms into her jacket and around her waist, pulling her as close to me as possible. Leaning over, I rested my chin on her shoulder so my voice would remain in her ear. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she pulled me closer, absentmindedly playing with the hairs on the back of my neck.
Okay, I�m gonna fall asleep now.
�Now, what were we arguing about?�
Kara bopped me on the back of the head lightly, making me laugh. She�s so easy to tease.
�Okay, okay. Don�t hurt me.�
I felt her giggle in my arms, blowing my mind at how all these simple things could turn me on so badly.
�You were arguing about me. But what about me?�
�I was sent to buy clothes for odd reason. Mine, I guess, aren�t �suitable� or something. Marcus was dragging me to clothing stores to buy me stuff because I supposedly have no fashion sense.�
She choked down a laugh, her shoulders shaking slightly.
*
No shit he doesn�t have any fashion sense. Stupid fugly shirts.
While I tried to control my laughter, not wanting to have to explain, I felt one of his hands slip beneath the back of my shirt, two fingers lazily drawing circles over a tattoo that Nick didn�t even knew existed.
As much as I�m enjoying this, it better end soon or� This would just be much better if we weren�t in public.
�So anyway, I�d already planned to spend my entire day online��
Online?
�Why?�
�That�s where you come in. Now let me finish.�
He nipped at the soft flesh under my ear to punctuate his point, making me draw in a quick breath.
Warn a girl before you do that, Carter!
And then� he chuckled in my ear.
Oh.
My.
God.
That�s a deadly combination. My knees have officially gone weak. I�m going to faint in his arms.
�Anyway, I planned on staying online all day in hopes of doing a search that would help me locate this amazing woman I met last summer. Figured that since I was back in town� I could find where she lives, play stalker, and hope she doesn�t freak out.�
*
And now she�s shaking in my arms. I�m so hoping that�s laughter.
�You were going to stalk me?�
Yep, that�s laughter. She pulled away a little so we looked face to face.
�Well, what else was I supposed to do? You didn�t give me anything to go by, and I really wanted to find you again. Do some name searches, see if I could find anything on Ryan� your basic fanatic stalker fan thing.�
And I know waaaay too much about that from it being done with me being the object of� obsession.
I am obsessed with her, so I guess that�s the right word.
�So you were arguing about� what you were going to do with your afternoon - buy clothes or stalk me.�
�Yes.�
She cracked up, burying her face in my chest. Given her moment of preoccupation, I slipped my other hand in the back of her shirt, sighing at the contact of her soft flesh against mine.
God� I�m really trying to drive myself insane.
Looking back up at me, she couldn�t stop laughing.
�I�m not sure I can believe that� that�s just� weird. Why would you want to do that?�
Here�s where I get sappy.
�Because I would have had a hard time living with myself knowing that I�d been in the same state, much less the same city, and didn�t attempt to see you again. I� I�ve missed you that much.�
Her laughter had faded, changing into that doe-eyed innocence that just made me want to protect her and corrupt her at the same time.
�I realize we were only together for a day� not even that� but I - this is going to sound insane but - I feel like I connect with you more than anyone I�ve ever met. I just had to see you again.�
Without warning, she tightened her grip around my neck, standing on her toes to rest her head on my shoulder.
And I keep talking, sharing my soul with this magical girl.
�I�ve been driving everyone crazy because you�re� I talk about you too much. Wondering what you�re do��
�Shut up.�
It was soft, barely a whisper, but I heard it.
�But� I��
�Shut up.�
And so I did.
Especially when I felt one of her tears soak through my shirt.
Pulling her closer to me, forgetting the skin-to-skin contact, I just held her, letting her cry for some unknown reason. Not asking questions, not demanding answers, just� letting her take her time.
Three
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