Page 85 of Pink and Country

“April, we need to talk.”

She frowned and tightened the towel wrapped around her. “Is everything okay? Why are you dead serious right now?” I pulled her in my lap, and her arms looped around my neck. “Did something happen?”

I rubbed my brows, hoping she wouldn’t overreact. “No. But promise me you won’t freak out, okay?” She nodded. Stop being a chicken, Carter . “Riley called me. He booked me an appearance at a fundraiser. Tonight.”

“Oh.” April’s hold on me slackened.

“I’m aware I promised you a date. What if you came with me?” I arched an eyebrow, my fingers fidgeting with the hem of the towel. “You could be my date. What do you think?”

April’s eyes flared. “Will there be like media and all these other people we’re trying to hide from?”

I nodded. “Yeah. And actors and professional athletes. And Savannah Prince too.” I wouldn’t hide anything from her. “We won’t say anything about the status of our relationship. I’ll stay by your side the whole time and be a perfect gentleman.”

April eyed me sideways. “Carter, I’m not sure I can do this. Look at me, I’m not cut out for your world. I’ll never fit in, and I don’t even have something chic enough to wear. I’m a simple girl, Carter, not a model.” April looked adorable with her unjustified self-doubts.

“Babe, do you trust me?” April locked her eyes on mine and nodded. “Then believe me when I say I’ll take care of everything. I don’t care about anybody else. I want you. If you’re not sure, I’ll opt out. You’re the most amazing woman I know. Don’t ever sell yourself short.”

She blinked. “You’d opt out for me?”

“Yeah. Anytime.”

April pondered the idea for a moment, her teeth chewing her bottom lip.

“You’re sure I’ll fit in?”

“Pixie, you’ll be perfect. Every guy will envy me. I’m telling you.” My lips found hers, and she dissolved in my mouth. I grabbed a fistful of her hair and deepened the kiss. “Does this mean you’re in?”

“I’d be a snob to refuse the opportunity to show up on Carter Hills’s arm,” she said against my mouth. I leaned back to make sure I heard her right, and she winked. My hands cupped her cheeks, and I swallowed her laugher. “What’s the fundraiser about?”

“Some disease. The organizers throw it once a year. It’s kind of personal to them.”

“One more reason to go then.” April dropped a chaste kiss on my lips, and heat rippled through me.

“Let’s get ready, woman.” We sprang to our feet, and my hand connected with her ass. “Pack a bag and meet me downstairs in fifteen minutes. I’ll get Dahlia to meet us at the shop. She’ll find the perfect gown for you to wear.” I exited the room to run upstairs to pack my own things and send a quick message to Ry to arrange all the details about the flight but stopped halfway there. “April, pack the Nashville dress while you’re at it.” My grin threatened to tear my face in two.

19

April

W hen did I become a princess in a fairytale? Dahlia opened her store early for us after Carter asked her help to find me a gown for tonight’s fundraiser. A gown. I never wore one of those. This would be the fanciest night of my life. How would I ever fit in? Me. April Simmons. The girl who rarely spent over fifty bucks on a piece of clothing and had owned the same pairs of shoes for years. Me. The girl who dyed her own hair and spent her Friday nights at home instead of bar-hopping with her friends. Saunders was right. I’d be a full-time cat-lady before turning thirty. Was twenty-four the new fifty? I sighed. Travis’s death had changed me. Deeply. I should go out more and meet new people. Only it seemed meaningless now. I enjoyed my old-lady quiet life. Far away from any possible heartache.

Until Carter.

He disrupted everything I’d spent years perfecting.

He came into my life like a tsunami and took over my heart and soul with a single look at me.

I loved how he challenged me.

How alive I felt beside him.

We entered Dahlia’s shop, our fingers intertwined. My heart danced in my chest, and my jaw slackened. I didn’t have enough eyes to take everything in. Silk. Rhinestones. Shoes. Tulle. Mannequins wearing designer wedding dresses. The bridal-and-evening-gowns paradise was everything I dreamed about as a little girl. Carter’s squeeze on my hand tightened.

“Have fun, okay?” he whispered in my ear, before dropping a kiss on my cheek. I nodded, my mouth open, fish-style, the words stuck in my throat. Carter looked at me, amusement dancing in his eyes, and snickered. “Hey, buddy, ready to go?” he asked Jack.

“Yes,” the little boy said, jumping in our direction. “Is April okay?”

Carter let out a loud chuckle. “Sure. All this glitter. She’s like in fairies’ heaven right now.”