Free Road to Absolution by Piper Davenport Page A

some point.”
    He groaned. “You
seriously sayin’ shit like that while tellin’ me I gotta wait?”
    “Sorry,” I
grumbled. “You’re right.”
    “We can wait,
baby, but I’m not leavin’.”
    “What do we tell
Mav?”
    “We tell him I’m
home from the Air Force now, I’ve served my time and I’m gonna be a permanent
feature in your lives. You’ve already established me in your home with all the
photos.”
    I bit my lip.
“That’s actually really good.”
    “I know it’s
good. Shit, Cass, give me some credit.”
    “No.” I giggled.
“You already have the upper hand.”
    “Good to know.”
Carter grinned. “You gonna confess now?”
    “Confess?” I
asked. “Oh, that.”
    “Yes, that.”
    “Um…well, I have
your cologne.”
    “Come again?”
    I felt the heat
crawl up my neck. “I was having a particularly bad day a few years ago, so I
bought your cologne… it doesn’t quite smell like you, but I have that
old Harley T-shirt of yours, so every now and then I spray it and sleep with
it.” I covered my face with my hands. “Ohmigod, I can’t believe I’m telling you
this.”
    “You spray my
shirt?”
    I nodded, my
hands still over my face.
    He tugged my
hands down and stroked my cheek. “I love you.”
    “You don’t think
I’m weird?”
    “No,” he said,
but his head bobbed up and down.
    “Dork.”
    He laughed. “You are weird, but not because of that.”
    “Well, that’s a
relief,” I droned, sarcastically.
    “I wondered
where that damn shirt went.”
    I giggled. “I
kind of stole it.”
    “I’m pickin’ up
on that.” He cocked his head. “When?”
    “The day before
I left for Paris. I took it with me.”
    “You did?”
    I nodded. “I’m
sorry, Carter. I wish… I wish…”
    “Huh-uh. Not
going there, baby.”
    “Okay.” I
swallowed.
    He smiled. “Go
to bed, Cassidy. I’ll sleep out here.”
    “I’ll get you a
blanket and pillow.”
    Carter kissed me
again and then slid off me. “Thanks.”
    I rose to my
feet and grabbed the bedding from the hall closet, forcing myself not to let
down my guard. I wanted nothing more than to spend the night with Carter, but
we needed to ease Maverick into things and I was grateful Carter understood
that.
    When I walked
back into the living room, Carter had removed his boots and vest, and set his
wallet and keys on the coffee table. I saw the old Ford key chain, now worn a
little, but still as I remembered. “Do you still have the truck?”
    “Yeah,” he said.
“You’re surprised?”
    I shrugged. “A
little, I guess.”
    “We restored it
together, Cass. Won’t ever let it go.”
    I felt my stomach
flip and I smiled. “Did you ever fix the door lock?”
    He chuckled.
“Yeah. I’ll take you and Maverick out tomorrow.”
    Handing him the
pillow and blanket, I nodded. My emotions were all over the map, but I was too
tired to analyze and figure them out. Carter dropped the bedding onto the sofa
and reached out to pull me close. “Hey.”
    I blinked up at
him.
    “There is no
pressure, yeah? We’ve done the hard part.”
    “I wish I
believed you.”
    “What don’t you
believe?”
    “That this is
the hard part. We have so much baggage and I’m afraid it’ll weigh us down
moving forward.”
    “We have a
couple of carry-ons, Cassidy.” He stroked my pulse, his eyes boring into me. “I
know there have been a few shitty circumstances that have kept us apart, but
deep down, we’re the same people, right?”
    “I hope so.”
    “I’m here. I’m
not going anywhere. We’re gonna figure this out together and it’s gonna be
better than we ever expected.”
    I dropped my
head to his chest. “You’re still the eternal optimist I see.”
    “And you’re
still a worrywart.”
    “Promise me
we’re going to be okay.”
    He lifted my
chin and nodded. “I’ll make sure it is. Trust me, yeah?”
    “I’ll try.”
    Carter chuckled.
“There’s my girl.”
    “Okay, I’m
leaving you now or it will never