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“Saturday night was movie night when I was a kid. We watched all of the classics with our grandparents.”
“Such as?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” He looked up at the puffy white clouds dotting the bright-blue sky as if they held the answers.
“Just tell me your favorites.”
“Okay then... Gone in 60 Seconds, Vanishing Point, Smokey and the Bandit, and possibly American Graffiti. Oh, and you can’t forget The Fast and the Furious.”
“I see a pattern here—cars, cars, cars, cars, and cars.” She counted off on her fingers. “Makes sense.”
“You’ve got me figured out.” He touched her shoulder. “How about you?”
She rested her elbow on the back of the bench. “My mom loves John Hughes’s movies, and that has rubbed off on me. My favorite is Pretty in Pink.”
“That’s a good movie.”
Her eyes narrowed with a mock dirty look. “You’re just teasing me.”
“I’m not,” he insisted. “My sister loves it too.”
Darcy placed a hand over her heart. “The best movie kiss is when he kisses her in the headlights of his Beamer.” She sighed. “It gets me every time.”
His gaze locked on her pink lips, and he leaned forward as if an invisible cord connected them. While she stared up at him, his mouth yearned to taste hers.
“Did you two want to join us for dessert?”
Carter sat back and turned to see Derek leaning over the gate, smirking at him.
“Yeah. Sounds good.” Carter hopped up from the bench and balanced their plates and cups in one hand. Then he held his free hand out to Darcy.
She took it, and as he lifted her up from the bench, he thought he saw disappointment reflected in her eyes. Maybe it was the same disappointment he felt.
As they started toward the gate, Carter knew one thing for sure: He wasn’t going to be able to stay away from Darcy Larsen now.
Chapter8
Darcy was sure Carter was going to kiss her before Derek interrupted them. And she had wanted him to.
A fresh buzz of excitement zapped through Darcy as Carter passed through the gate and held it open for her. She tried to stop her hands from trembling as they made their way into the backyard, where the guests were gathered around tables to eat cookies and continue their lively conversations.
Above them, the sun had begun to set, sending a kaleidoscope of colors across the sky. Derek moved from table to table lighting citronella candles.
“Darcy! Carter!” Haven called from a far table. “Come join us.”
Carter dropped their plates and empty cups into a trash can, and Darcy followed him to the table. They sat in the two empty seats across from Derek and Haven.
Darcy picked out a chocolate chip cookie from a platter. Nearby, one of Derek’s friends was sharing a story about his camping mishaps in the mountains last fall, but Darcy couldn’t concentrate on his words. Her mind was whirring, replaying her time with Carter by the pond.
A tingle went straight to her toes as she recollected the spark in his dark eyes when they leveled on her lips. When he held her hand, she’d become so lightheaded that she thought she might pass out. He’d been a breath away from kissing her. Why on earth had Derek chosen that moment to pipe up?
She focused on the blue tablecloth and tried to slow her pulse. When she’d first seen Carter tonight, she’d been certain he wasn’t interested in her. In fact, she had convinced herself he had a girlfriend, but now she was certain he did like her.
Beyond attraction, she felt a strange, special connection with him. She trusted Carter for some reason, which was why she found herself opening up to him and telling him her deepest secrets about her adoptive parents and her biological mother. She had the feeling he truly cared about her. It didn’t make sense that a man she’d just met had become so important to her so quickly.
Surely she was setting herself up for heartache.
“You okay?” Carter had leaned close to whisper into her ear, sending a shockwave of heat rolling through her.
