29. Chapter 28
Siobhan
A fter unlocking the door and disarming the alarm so Natalie could get into Carter’s place, I opened up a bottle of pinot noir.
“Where are you?” Natalie called out from the front door.
As I poured the wine into a couple of goblets, I replied, “Kitchen.”
By the time the magical liquid was poured, Natalie had bounded into the kitchen with a ton of grocery bags. She dumped all the bags onto the island.
Instead of drinking the wine, I went to the island to help unload all the goodies she had bought. Most of it would be Carter’s prepared meals, but I’d been indulging in them too, since it was damn convenient to just warm something up after a long day at set.
The first bag made me smile. It was six of my favorite meals: beef bourguignon. Something completely unnecessary since we both knew that wasn’t on Carter’s food plan while he was in season.
I held up one of the pre-packed meals. “You shouldn’t have.”
Natalie smiled. After months of bouncing between hotels and houses, she never batted an eye. Instead, she always made sure we were comfortable and well fed. Hell, she even helped to book an Airbnb or two to help keep my stalker off our trail.
“Yes, I did. We all know you’re living here now. That means you get some of your favorite meals too. On top of that, and I’m not saying this to be rude since we all know the reason, you’re losing weight, so you get to eat the good stuff.”
I put three of the meals in the fridge and the other three in the freezer.
I sighed since she wasn’t wrong. I’d lost a few pounds, and even the wardrobe team noticed.
If it got much worse, they would have to tell the execs since it was part of my contract to maintain my weight.
In the past, it had never been a problem, but I hadn’t been this stressed out since Russell and I broke up.
So when I did have the urge to eat, having one of my favorite meals at my fingertips would be nice.
“Well, thank you," I said.
Natalie put several meals into the fridge. “That’s not all. Carter also got you some of the orange salmon. It’s one of his favorite off-season meals, but he refuses to touch it during the season.”
That seemed like such an innocuous meal to cut out. Salmon was normally a healthy protein. But who was I to decide what was healthy and what wasn’t? For all I knew, it was one of his unlucky meals since that man had his rituals and superstitions.
After we got all the things put away into the fridge and freezer, we grabbed our glasses of wine and one of the packets of sweets and walked over to the sofa.
“You’ll be glad to know that Suzie Q has gotten off your trail. You’re only being mentioned in the soap magazines with the speculation if you’re going to be leaving Shady Oaks .”
That was a relief. Suzie Q got on my nerves.
Probably because she kept trying to tell the world that I still wanted Russell.
I didn’t want my ex whatsoever. If anyone wanted to try to work things out, it was him, and even then, he still had a wandering eye.
Her insinuations were particularly grating since Carter was a wonderful man, and she kept trying to break us up by always mentioning my ex as if Russell were some prize.
The speculation about my status on Shady Oaks was constant right now. It had been months, and Celia had been in and out of the hospital because of the poisoning, and her twin sister now had custody of her daughter. I couldn’t blame the viewers for thinking this might be my last storyline.
“Thank god. Some days, I don’t know if she’s getting paid by Russell’s camp to plant some of these stories, or if she’s into Carter, and that’s why she’s trying to break us up.”
Natalie’s eyes went skyward, and she took a sip of wine. “I will never understand what people see in my brother.”
It was such a sibling thing to say, but I couldn’t blame her. He wasn’t her type. “That’s because you’re into bad boys. But you wouldn’t be calling him Captain America if he were dog ugly."
She just shot me a look that said she wasn’t even going to entertain the idea that her brother could be attractive.
Knowing her, she wanted to change the subject as quickly as possible.
Sure enough, she said, “So, without talking about having sex with Carter, are things going okay? Or do I need to talk some sense into him?”
I folded my legs under me and bobbed my head. “No need to scold him. We may have moved in together rather quickly, but I feel incredibly bonded with him.”
She looked a bit concerned. “Not that I think either of you would do this on purpose, but make sure it’s not just a trauma bond.”
The mere thought of seeking out issues just so we could lean on each other seemed insane. Yet I could understand how it could seem like what we had was a trauma bond.
“Give me simple evenings together with him over any evening where I end up in a tabloid. Anyway, time to catch me up with your love life since Carter is a total spoil sport and won’t tell me anything.”
“That’s because he’s a big baby who doesn’t want to admit I’m having sex. Let alone sex with his best friend.”
That got me giggling. Carter still didn’t love the idea of Natalie and Spencer as a couple, but he wasn’t a dick about it. If you really pressed him, he would admit they were a good couple together, but he refused to tell me any details. He would just say he didn’t kiss and tell.
“How about you? Did you and Suzuki end up moving in together?” I asked Natalie.
She gave me a coy smile to let me know that, yes, she moved into Spencer’s place. Thankfully, we both knew it wasn’t the room that Carter and I used to share together.