Page 5 of Just One Promise (The Carter Brothers 3)
“Let me get out of this, then we’ll have breakfast and talk,” not wanting to let her go, but needing to. Audrey needs time to process this, she needs time to process us.
“Okay,” she backs away and I walk to my outside shower, it’s surrounded by fencing to give some privacy. Swinging the door closed and peeling myself out of my wetsuit, I turn the water on to rinse the saltwater off. I grab the towel that’s hanging up, hastily dry myself off, wrap the towel around my waist, and head back to Audrey.
She’s still standing by the railing, looking at the waves crashing against the surf. I slowly walk back towards her, my hands finding her shoulders, not letting her go, but holding her while she gets her thoughts together.
Audrey wears her heart on her sleeve, every emotion, every thought. You can see it cycle through. I don’t want her to question this, I want her to know she’s already becoming my everything.
I let her know my thoughts right away, not wanting her to have to wait and have even more doubts plaguing her. “This wasn’t a one-night stand, Audrey. I know you can feel what we have between us, and I’m not just talking about the sexual chemistry.”
“But, I’m only here for another week. Then I leave, what happens then? Do we go our separate ways, do we try a long-distance relationship? There are so many what-ifs, Heath,” she blows out a puff of air.
“Take this week, see where things go. If it’s anything like it has been these past twelve hours, I’ll fight for us, even if you don’t,” I kiss the top of her head, leaving her to go and start breakfast. I’m taking a risk, laying it all out and leaving her out there on her own.
Audrey could leave and not look back. I’m hoping like fuck she doesn’t.
8
Audrey
Heath laid it all out on the table, so to speak. I wasn’t expecting him to say what he said, I figured we’d go our separate ways and I’d be left with the memories of what we made together.
Honestly, if I only had one night with him, I wouldn’t have been okay, but I would have cherished those memories for the rest of my life. The way he touched me, the way he tasted me, and the way he looked at me. It was as if I was the only person in his world.
With one last deep breath, I whisper out, “Life gives you one chance, take it.”
Turning on my heel, feeling awkward with wearing last night’s dress, and no panties on, my one saving grace with this dress though, the built-in bra. I march my way into Heath’s place, feeling more determined than ever.
I open the back door and hear, “Babe,” my head whips up. Heath is now dressed in a pair of board shorts sans shirt.
“Yeah,” I breathe out.
“I’m not much of a cook, so options are simple, eggs however you want them cooked, a bagel with some fruit?” he asks.
My stomach growls in response and we both laugh, “That sounds wonderful, can I help?”
“Sure, if you can cut up some fruit while I get the eggs on. That would be good.”
“I can do that, point me in the right direction for the knives, a bowl, and a cutting board.” He tells me where everything is, I get started, and he makes the eggs. His tongue is out, as if he’s biting on it to keep his concentration, something tells me Heath was being truthful when he said he wasn’t much of a cook. He doesn’t take his eyes off the eggs the whole time he’s cooking.
Once he’s done with the eggs and bagels, we get everything plated and move to the couch in the living room.
I pull my dress to the side, while sitting down, trying not to flash Heath. He saw exactly what I was doing, a smirk plastered on his face when he says, “Audrey, baby, you gotta know I’m going to be taking that dress off you as soon as we’re done. I have something to kiss and make better.”
“Are you always this forward?” I find my voice, it’s a dumb question, I know it. Hell, Heath knows it, but he doesn’t call me out on it.
“Pretty sure you like how forward I am,” he croons.
“I walked right into that,” I grumble and dive into my food to keep my own mouth shut. Heath chuckles and does the same.
9
Heath
I didn’t take Audrey back to bed, as much as I wanted to, I knew she was tender. I noticed it in the way she sat down earlier, but by tonight, I’m hoping she’s feeling better because I need my mouth on every inch of her skin.
“Ready?” I ask Audrey. We decided I’ll take her back to her hotel, she’d check out, and stay with me for the duration of her vacation. When I asked her to stay with me, she was hesitant at first, but when I mentioned my brothers and their wives live all around us, Audrey’s shoulders eased, and she said yes.
