“I love you too.” The words escaped quietly.
He nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
“So, you’ll do it? Move in with me?”
His fingertips grazed her exposed upper back. “We’ll talk when I return, and we can discuss all the ways you’ll make things up to me. When we’ve both had time to think on it. No offense but you’re a little bit—” he tilted his head to regard her “—desperate right now.”
She whapped his chest. “Hey!”
He caught her hand and smiled. “To be honest with you, I can’t afford this huge house any longer. It’s going up for sale. Maybe the Porsche too.”
She gave him a sideways look. “Seems that the universe is telling us something.” Then she nestled her head against his chest, breathing in deep the familiar scent. “I’ll wait. Whatever it takes. But, Carter...who is that woman? She’s not your girlfriend?”
Carter squinted, confused. “Joanne? My sister-in-law. Joanne, Michael, and their kids are staying in the house while I’m away.”
Perdie’s hand slapped her forehead. “Of course it’s your sister-in-law! It’s always a sister of some kind... You’d think I’d learned a thing or two by now.”
“Carter?” As if on cue, Joanne’s voice came from behind the door. Had she been eavesdropping the whole time? “Do we finally get to meet your girlfriend or is she another one of your stalkers?”
The door opened and Michael stood with Joanne. They looked an awful lot like Carter and Perdie but...better.
OMG Carter and Perdie were the knockoff Michael and Joanne.
“Jesus, let her come inside, get her dried off. Mom would kill you if she knew you let her stand outside in the rain.”
Perdie pushed away from Carter, sadly attempting to straighten herself. “No, I can’t... I have to be somewhere first thing tomorrow. And besides, I’m completely mortified.”
Carter gave them a pointed look. “Sorry, guys, private matter.”
Michael went to protest but Joanne grabbed him by the biceps. “Michael, leave them alone. They want privacy.”
“Fine, fine, but at least I didn’t tell her she was running out of time like Mom,” Michael grumbled.
“Sorry for showing up in the middle of the night!” Perdie called after them as the door shut again.
Then it was just her and Carter and the silence that fell after the storm.
His hand sneaked inside her coat and he hooked a finger into the waistband of her shorts, drawing her close. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
“Okay, yep, I’m ready...” But she wasn’t, she would never be ready for big love like the kind Carter had to give. But being ready didn’t matter a damn bit. Because she wanted it anyway. All of it.
Carter’s lips met hers in a gentle caress, making her eyes flutter like butterflies.
He squeezed her wet, puffy, sopping body against his dry one.
“If you die on that mountain, I’ll kill you.”
He smiled, and kissed her again. “Fair enough.”
Chapter Thirty-One
“We are crackin’ bottles tonight, baby!” Pop! The cork sailed through the air. Perdie rushed the overflow to the sink, then doled out glasses. “This is the good stuff, y’all. The twelve ninety-nine shit, not that three ninety-nine swill.”
They originally planned to hit the town for the evening, but Sophia, Jennifer, Perdie, and Noah were all too tired and too deeply into their thirties to muster up the will. Instead they decided on getting drunk and ordering pizza.
With their powers combined and a little bit (a lot) of good fortune, the three women had settled Noah’s patent case against Zelen Corp. Normally these cases would go on for years, wringing so much money out of a small firm that they’d simply give up, but the pharma company was in a tenuous place after the acquisition by the Fletcher Group so they wanted to wash their hands of the case. The millions they settled for was peanuts to the corporation, but a hell of a lot for Perdie, Sophia, Jennifer, and Noah.
So, after all that, the acquisition that had lost her the case at Joy and Schulz had ultimately won her the case with Stone, Stein, and Steele. She should send Joy and Schulz a fruit basket.
Perdie couldn’t wait to tell Carter, who was returning tomorrow. She was also sick to her stomach with nerves. They hadn’t been able to speak while he was on the mountain, and for all she knew, he might’ve totally changed his mind while gone. Summits could do strange things to a person. Offer clarity where there was none. Perdie could only hope the kind of clarity that came to Carter meant he’d missed her as much as she missed him. In the meantime, she’d take her wins where she could get them.
As a settlement, the win was symbolic only. Well, and monetary. But they were still going to party like it was 1999. Perdie had, indeed, turned Noah into a rich man. “A person of her word,” Noah called her.
“To many more wins.” Sophia lifted her flute. The light reflected the gold wrapped into her long balayage locs. After leaving Joy and Schulz, Sophia had changed her hair for easier upkeep with her baby, Winter (Lucille had generously offered up the name). Sophia, Jennifer, and Perdie were the bosses now so they could dictate the terms of employment. Fuck the boys’ club. The glasses tinked as they cheers-ed.
“Don’t drink too much, you’re a lightweight now.” Jennifer fussed over Sophia. “You have to ease back into these things.”
“This is my first full night off without the baby in months. Momma is going to town...” She took a big gulp from her glass. “Metaphorically at least.”
The front door burst open and Lucille rushed in, a boat bouquet of flowers in her arms, a suspicious glint in her eye. She placed the flowers on the counter. “Hey, P. Hi, Soph, Jenny, uh, Noah. No time to chat. P, you’re gonna wanna change into something real nice.” She paused at Perdie. “Here, fix this and that...and that berry lip stain too. Wait, no, I take it back, you don’t need the lip stain, it’ll make a mess. Okay, mwuah. Love you. Be right back.”
Perdie gave the others a nod. “One sec...” she said, following Lucille up the stairs. She stopped Lucille in front of her bedroom. “Why are you acting suspicious?”
Lucille bit her lip. “I don’t know anything, I am but a humble shopgirl selling her wares in the village.”
Perdie eyed her, but this was typical Lucille behavior. “Mmm-kay. You’re ’fessing up at some point.”
“That’s what you think.” Lucille’s door shut.
