Page 9 of Cuddling Carly

“I would love to do the haunted house,” he replied.

Her smile that followed was amazing.

But when Carly grabbed his arm and held on tight—all while she held her new stuffie in her other hand—it was even better.

Chapter Five

“That was so much fun!” Carly said as they came out of the haunted house.

“I’m glad you liked it. And glad I didn’t fall down when you jumped on me,” Wade replied.

“Yeah. Sorry about that. The chainsaw man really got me.”

Wade laughed. “I didn’t mind one bit.”

Did he mean he didn’t mind the chainsaw man? That wasn’t right. He probably meant he didn’t mind her jumping into his arms, Carly figured after a quick moment of reflection.

Her mind raced for a flirty comeback but couldn’t grasp one. She wasn’t very good at stuff like that, so she just let the moment pass, hoping he didn’t mistake her silence for disinterest.

“Thanks for going through there with me,” she said as they walked past a corral with goats that folks were inside petting. One of the animals was trying to nose in a woman’s purse while her family took video of it on their phones. Another one of the mini goats was just standing on a bale of hay, chilling, making its head extend past the metal fencing. Carly reached over and scratched behind his ears as they walked by.

“You like animals?”

“I love them!”

“Well, you should drop by the ranch sometime,” Wade suggested. “We have a few goats.”

“Ooh, I’d love that!”

Before she could finalize those plans and set a time, Kelly appeared ahead, looking annoyed as her eyes landed on Carly and Wade.

Was she jealous?

“Oh, hey,” Kelly said, obviously trying to appear casual but not pulling it off very well.

“Hey,” Carly said in her usual friendly tone. “How are sales going?”

“Great. I’m about to sell out.”

“That’s wonderful,” Carly said sincerely.

Kelly’s eyes were on Wade. “You should drop by and get a cupcake or something. I have more than she does. Cakes by-the-slice, pies, and breads. I’m a full-service bakery.”

“Yeah, and her stuff is really good,” Carly added. “You should try her banana nut bread. It’s amazing!”

“I’ll have to remember that,” Wade said.

“I’m Kelly, by the way.”

“Wade. Nice to meet you.”

His tone was cordial, but he wasn’t as friendly as he’d been when he’d met Carly. Or so she thought.

That might just be my imagination, too.

“You should find me on Tik Tok and Insta. I have over ten thousand followers.”

“That’s cool. But I’m not on social media,” Wade responded. “It was nice meeting you. Good luck here.”