He held out his hand. “What’s this?”
“A key.” She placed it in his palm and clasped it to hers. Then she pressed his hand against her soaking chest, against her wildly thumping heart. Suddenly, she understood all those times when he’d done this to her. She understood what he meant. “Move in with me.”
She squeezed his hand. “I don’t want things to go back to the way things were. I want to move forward. With you. I want to wake up and see you every morning. I want to make up for the absolute mess I’ve made of the two of us.” This time, soreness tightened in her throat. Oh, fuck, she really loved him.
“Perdie...”
“Good risks, you know?”
Gently, he lowered their hands, near their waists between them. “Perdie. I can’t.”
Her brain searched for the right thing to say. “I’ll beg if I have to.”
She went to drop to her knees, but Carter caught her fast by the elbow, drawing her up. “Please don’t do that. I can’t stand to see you do that.”
Perdie sniffled, blankly staring up at him, her vision cleared. His hand fell away from her elbow. The loud rainstorm reduced to a quiet, misty drizzle.
Her head hung low. “Because I’m too late? Because you’re with someone else now?”
“Because I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“Back home, I know,” she mumbled, defeated. “Where you belong.”
“Well...” He shook his head. “It’s complicated.”
“Oh god, I’ve really fucked up, haven’t I?”
“You’re not exactly batting a thousand.”
Her lip quivered a bit. “I don’t know what that means. I don’t watch sports.”
Then he reached out and curled his finger under her chin. “Hey, look at me.” His eyes had softened, not steeled as they had been before. “I quit the firm. Right after you, actually, the whole place went up in arms. Never thought I’d see Frank so scandalized. Considered moving back to San Francisco...lick my wounds somewhere comfortable...but then something strange happened.”
“You dreamt about me?”
“I ran into Aisha Wakely.”
“Not where I thought you were going with that. Aisha from Lowcountry Pro Bono Access? Tom’s wife?”
He nodded. “She offered me a job. Associate position. Terrible pay, tough work, lotta prostrating in front of donors...but a chance to contribute to the community. Use my skills for good.”
“Yeah, but what kind of person takes a downgrade like—”
“I accepted her offer.”
“You...you did?” Oh. Oh! “You’re staying here?”
“Well, almost. I told her there’s one thing I have to do first before I start work again.”
“Which is...”
“Climb Denali.”
Perdie shook her head, a bit amazed. “Wow, you’re actually going to climb that fucking mountain.”
“Been training for months. Had energy to burn without you around. Look, I figure now is as good as time as any. Instead of following the yellow brick road, I do what I actually want to do. For no one but myself.” That explained the extra muscles.
“But—but...what if you die? What if you don’t come back?”
“I won’t.”
“You won’t come back?”
“I won’t die.”
“How could you possibly know that?”
“I have something important to return to.”
Perdie gazed up from beneath her lashes. “Your new job?”
Carter shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants and shrugged. “Well, there happens to be this woman who walked out on me and ruined my life not so long ago. She gave me the runaround and broke my heart and then showed up at the worst possible time on my doorstep soaking wet... I thought I’d give her another chance to ruin my life.”
Perdie’s throat tightened when his words registered. She couldn’t believe it. That her risk could pay off. That she was someone worth taking a risk on too.
A smile curled on her lips. “You’re a masochist. She sounds like a real bitch.”
“Understatement.” He pulled Perdie in beneath the overhang and smoothed the wet hair from her forehead. Her sagging wet coat clung to her shoulders. “But that’s what I love about her.”
