After she held my gaze for another half a heartbeat, she dropped the stare down. “I know. Or, at least, I figured.”
“What? Then why—”
“Because Nick! What else was I supposed to think? Alesha’s been throwing herself at you since the moment she saw you. She’s not in the right state of mind right now! It was late. She was drunk. I don’t know!”
Anger built up inside me. I wasn’t used to my character being called into question. Especially not by someone like Carly. She should know better. She should know me better.
Carly shook her head to herself. “The whole thing is stupid.”
“It’s not,” I growled. “How could you even think I’d have done something like that? First of all, I have never shown so much as one ounce of interest in your sister. To be honest, she annoys the shit out of me! Secondly, she’s what, ten, eleven years younger than me? The last time I was interested in teenage girls was when I was a fuckin’ teenager! And lastly—this is the part that really pisses me off— is that I’ve done nothing but bust my ass trying to get your attention. Why the hell would I throw that all away by not only going for your sister, but under your roof, and mere hours after you’d been assaulted?”
I threw my hands up when Carly didn’t immediately back off her argument and concede my points. “Fuck, Carly! You really don’t get me at all, do you? You think I’m some piece of shit guy like your ex, who’s just gonna fuck you over, huh? Is that it? I can’t even believe you’d think I’d do something so goddamned stupid!”
As soon as the words left my lips, I regretted them. And when my eyes flashed to Carly and watched her face crumple, I wanted to throw myself off a bridge.
“Shit, Carly. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
“No,” she interrupted, wiping at her eyes. “You’re right. I don’t trust you because I don’t know you. At least not enough to know what you’re capable of. So yeah, there was a part of my heart that told me there was no way in hell what Alesha said was true, but I held onto that sliver of doubt. And do you know why? Because I will never be someone’s bitch again. The kind of girl who gets pushed around, walked all over, and taken for granted. If—and when—I ever decide to let my guard down, it will only be for a man who I have no questions about. That I know—without a shadow of a doubt—that he would never do anything to hurt me.”
“And you think I would?” my voice dropped an octave. “You think I’d hurt you?”
Carly’s eyes locked on mine, her lips protruded in a defiant pout.
“Carly, answer me.”
She blinked and her eyes dropped to the counter. “No. No, I don’t.”
I reached over and tucked a finger under her chin, bringing her face back up to mine, our eyes locking back together. “I would never do anything to hurt you. I hate that you’d think that.”
“I’m sorry, Nick. I’m sorry that I didn’t give you a chance to explain,” she replied, her voice barely higher than a whisper.
“I get it. You’re right about the part where we don’t really know each other. Not as well as I’d like to in any case.” My fingers started to slide up her jaw, desperate to weave into her hair and bring her lips to mine, but she stiffened and I pulled away. I was just reeling her back in. I couldn’t risk a bold move. Not yet.
“What do you say we fix that?” I continued, pocketing my hands.
A flicker of a smile lit her face. “Back to the random trivia game?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Nah. Not unless you want to do that over dinner sometime. I know you don’t want to get tangled up with someone you just met right now because of Alesha and your fears and all that, but come on, we didn’t do so bad the other night at the bar. I still don’t know my way around here all that well. What do ya say? You say where, I’ll drive?”
Her lower lip disappeared in between her teeth for a moment and my entire body pulsed with heat. Her eyes lit up, and I wondered if she’d spotted my skin flush. Not that I’d care.
“All right. Tomorrow? After I finish up here?”
“It’s a non-date, date,” I agreed quickly.
Carly’s eyes sparkled with the smile that grew across her face. “Or…”
“Or?”
“It could be a date, date.”
I leaned in closer and grinned down at her. “Is that so?”
She looked at me and then nodded slowly. “If the offer is still open.”
“Oh, it’s open. Tomorrow night.”
“Okay.” She shifted her weight back into her heels, putting a fraction of an inch more space between us and my heart slammed into my chest, wondering what she’d been thinking before deciding to put some distance between the two of us. “I’ll see you then.”