It’s not the same as being seen by everyone, but at least her stupid ex knows we’re actually together. At least, he seemed to believe it. “Sure. Your house or mine?”
The phone line is silent one, two, three seconds before she finally answers. “Mine? I can send you, my address.”
Shock doesn’t even begin to explain what I’m feeling. For someone who is so adamant we can't be a real thing, she’s letting me into her space. Another chance to get a peek into her life and get to know her better. “Sounds good.” Now I don’t need that shirt. “Also, how do you like your steak?”
“You don’t have to bring anything like that. I’m perfectly fine with fast food.”
“Humor me.” She sounds like she’s had a hard day, and the last thing I want to feed her is a greasy frozen burger from a drive thru.
She laughs softly, and I’m glad she’s not going to fight me on this. “Medium or medium well.”
“Okay. I can be there in an hour or less.”
“Okay. I’ll text you, my address. See you in a bit.”
“Bye.” I press the end button and immediately search the phone number for the restaurant. I hope like hell they do takeout.
A message flashes across the top of my screen with her address, and I swipe it away. I call and place the order. There’s one more place I need to swing by before I head to her house. We may be doing dinner in, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make it special.
15
Caroline
I can’t believeI invited him to come to my house. His would have been better. I haven’t been home in two days and it’s a disaster area. Even though every bone in my body is yelling at me to sit down, I rush through the house grabbing anything and everything sitting out in the open.
The most damning being the clothes I pulled off as soon as I walked in the front door last night. I can’t believe I went into Out of the Ashes wearing these. With all the dirty clothes in hand, I open the laundry room door and throw them in the first empty basket I see.
One more sweep through the living room and kitchen. My arms are full of toys and books. Normally, I’d make David clean them up when he gets home, but not with Carlos coming over. I hurry down the hall and put his things on his bed. He can handle that when he gets home. I close the door as I exit the room to keep his mess out of sight.
Walking past my bedroom, I notice all the laundry in there. Not all of it is dirty. There are two baskets of clean laundry I haven’t had a chance to get to yet. I pull out the nicest and most comfortable pair of yoga pants I own, a shirt, a pair of socks, and set them on the bed.
Stacking the baskets, I set them on the floor of my closet and close the door. Now for the dirty laundry, I walk through and pick up each item. The laundry basket in the bathroom is full and I set the clothes on top before taking the entire basket to the laundry room. I guess I know what I’m doing tomorrow.
Heading back to my room, I check anything else I may have missed in the hallway. A quick check of David’s bathroom, and I breathe a sigh of relief I don’t have to clean it. Mom must have taken care of it when she was here the other night watching him.
I glance at the alarm clock and it’s been thirty minutes since I pulled in the driveway and got off the phone with Carlos. He’ll be here soon and I’m still wearing this itchy dress I put on for the wedding. These need to go. The only plus side of him coming to my house is I’m in my element here, and I can be comfortable.
I pull off the dress and set it on my dresser. It has to be washed separately from everything else and I don’t want it to get mixed up. Quickly, I put my comfy clothes on and head to the kitchen. I’m not sure if I left out any wine glasses from last night, and I want to make sure they are put away.
Stopping by the TV, I turn it on and pull up a music app. My cleaning playlist includes music from Panic! At the Disco, and they are the first band that plays. Upbeat tunes make everything go by faster.
The empty bottle of wine sits on the counter and I grab it and put it in the trash. The glass goes in the dishwasher and I make sure there’s another bottle of wine in the fridge. I may need it to calm my nerves when Carlos is here.
I still don’t understand what it is about him that makes me nervous. Aside from the fact he’s hot, caring, and even though he’s agreed this is fake, he seems interested knowing full well I come with a kid and baggage from the past.
The song switches to another upbeat one, and I dance around the kitchen as I put things away and pull down a couple of plates. Regardless of what he gets, it calls for actual plates and not the paper ones David and I usually eat off.
I debate on getting the silverware out, but wait to see what he decides on for dinner. Shaking my ass, I pull down two glasses and turn, dropping both of them to the floor. Glass shards skitter across the wood floor.
“So, you’re a Panic fan.” Carlos is standing between the kitchen and living room with two bags and a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a pack of my favorite beer in the other.
“Shit.” It’s the only thing I can think to say. I can’t believe he just walked in. Who does that?
I lift my foot to step over the glass, but he sets everything on the table. “Don’t move. Where is your broom?”
“In the pantry.” I point to the left. He hurries over, opens the door and pulls out the broom and dust pan. His steps are slow as he does his best to avoid the glass and bends down in front of me sweeping up the mess I made. Talk about memorable first dates.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.” He looks up at me, and his dark brown eyes are full of sincerity. “I knocked and you didn’t answer, so I tried the door and it was open.”