Chapter 7
Gage had never claimed to be the coolest cat on the block, but he definitely lost some of his mojo every time Carly was near. Had he really just come right out and asked if she was dating anyone? And was it possible she was buying into his cool facade?
Carly had frozen in place, a ketchup-dipped fry hovering between her plate and her lips.
Maybe he should say something else. “I, um, just think that if I were dating you, I’d want a guy to ask before he tried making any moves.” Shut. Up. Gage!
Carly’s eyes went wide. A smile pulled at both corners of her mouth, revealing that dimple in her cheek. His pulse revved.
“You’re thinking about making a move?” Her tone was playful.
He hadn’t taken a bite of his jalapeno burger yet, but already heat was rising off the top of his head. “That’s not exactly what I meant to say.” He snatched his glass and sucked down half of his drink in one long gulp.
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” she said.
Relief washed over him. Yes! Now shut up and don’t ruin it.
“I was in a relationship a long time ago.” Carly dipped another fry and brought it to her lips.
“Was it serious?” He took a bite of his burger. It was delicious, his taste buds were aware of that fact, but the other ninety-nine percent of him was enjoying the taste of potential. Carly was available. And it seemed as if she were warming up to him already.
“Yeah, it was. But he’s not able to commit, I guess. I mean, I wanted him to and he said he wanted to, but he never could so…” She shrugged, reached for another fry, and dunked it.
Gage got stuck on what she’d said. “Never could, or never would?”
“What was that?” Carly asked.
He probably shouldn’t challenge her on it—heck, she’d said herself it was a long time ago.
But still, he wanted to know. “You said that he couldn’t commit, which I found interesting, since making a commitment is something most of us are capable of.
It’s just a matter of whether we will or we won’t. ”
Carly held his gaze. Gage’s pulse spiked as he waited for her reply. He sensed—by the small crease in her forehead— that she was angry, but as she tipped her chin up, seeming to consider what he’d said, she nodded softly.
Gage leaned in, his chest tightening as he held his breath, unwilling to miss a thing.
At last, she straightened and sighed. “I guess you’re right,” she said. “Mostly.”
The satisfaction he felt at her reply vanished as she added that last part. “Why mostly?” And just why did he care?
“Mostly, because sometimes things happen to us in life. Things that make it hard to do anything but…but try to fix ourselves.”
The energy at the table shifted. Gone was the magnetic vibe filled with all the chemistry and hope of a high school prom.
In its place were hints of something so dark and deep he didn’t know how to proceed.
He’d thought earlier that Carly had a Mona Lisa smile, a secret hidden behind her hard-to-read grin.
The sadness in the ocean depths of her eyes promised that very thing.
She pulled her gaze from his, glanced toward the view at their side, then looked down at her plate. “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t really want to go there.”
Gage wasn’t exactly sure where she had gone, but it was definitely some place.
“Can I get either of you another drink?” The waiter was back, an empty tray tucked beneath his arm.
“Yes,” Gage blurted. “We’ll both take a refill. Thank you.”
Carly picked up her burger with both hands and inspected it for a blink.
A smile brightened her face. It didn’t exactly put those dimples into action, but it was convincing enough.
“I want you to take a bite of this,” she said.
“It’s seriously a life changer.” She took an impressive bite of it then, smiling as she dabbed her lips with a napkin.
Christian’s word suddenly shot back to his mind.
“Carly’s been through a lot.” It seemed that she had.
But she was adjusting too. It was plain to see that whatever she’d been through hadn’t held her back too much.
And there were those dimples, sinking right into her cheeks as she reached for her drink.
She took a few pulls of her straw before speaking. “I might have bit off a little more than I could chew, but now it’s your turn.”
“Okay,” he agreed, sliding his plate toward hers. “But only if you try mine.”
“I’m not a fan of spicy food.”
“And I’m not a fan of blue cheese…” He tipped his head to one side, enjoying the light in her eyes as she considered.
“Fine.” She pushed her plate toward him and pulled his closer. The burger looked much bigger in her small hands as she lifted it off the plate. “Count of three?”
He grinned. He couldn’t help it. She was a lot of fun. “One. Two. Three.” He took a nice sized bite of the burger, enjoying the taste of bacon mixed with the charred patty. He didn’t love the hints of blue cheese he detected, but he didn’t hate them either.
“That’s not bad,” he said after wiping his mouth with a napkin.
Carly waved a hand in front of her pinched-up face and reached for her drink. She didn’t stop drinking until the straw gurgled amidst the cubes at the base. She set the glass down with wide eyes. “I can’t believe you can eat that.”
Gage glanced down at the burger to see where she’d taken a bite. “That’s tiny,” he said. “You took the teeniest bite.”
She waved her face some more and shoved the plate back toward him. “Good thing. I’d be dumping this ice on my head if I ate any more.”
He chuckled. “Some like it bland, I guess.” He wiggled his brows. “Some like it spicy.”
“This is not bland. It’s amazing.” She took another bite of her own burger, and Gage did the same, realizing that things had shifted right back to the magnetic energy between them.
“So,” she said after their refills came. “Tell me why you don’t have a girlfriend.”
Gage lifted a brow. “I never said I didn’t.”
Carly didn’t even blink. “You wouldn’t have asked if I was dating someone if you had a girlfriend. Or invited me to lunch.” She glanced up at him while dunking a fry. “I hope.”
“You’re right.” He was grateful that—while his dating history wasn’t filled with success stories—it wasn’t as dark as Carly’s seemed to be. “Having Mark Craven as your dad, it um… affects things like the kind of women who are attracted to you and why.”
She lifted her chin and made a noise of enlightenment. “Ah, I see. So you attract women who just want to use you to get to your dad.”
“Basically. And it seems to scare off all the normal ones in the process. I try to give women the benefit of the doubt. But then they’ll start asking when they can meet my father.
Or if we can go see him on the set of his current movie, which isn’t always in Hollywood, despite what they might think. ”
Carly’s shoulders fell. “That sucks.”
He nodded. “Yep. That’s why I kind of keep women at arms length lately. LA is filled with a lot of Hollywood hopefuls. I look forward to working toward my graduate degree. I’ll be going to Berkley for that.”
“Hmm.” Carly lifted her legs onto her chair and tucked them crisscross beneath her. “So you really do want to finish school after your acting stint?”
He nodded, glad she was taking him more seriously than she had yesterday.
“Very much. Architecture is where my passion is. I go to a concert hall to see my favorite rock band, and half the time I’m more fascinated with the structure or the way the acoustics resonate in places so massive.
Not that I want to design arenas like that. ”
“What do you want to do? Homes?”
“My own home one day, yes, but I really want to design medical facilities that incorporate a lot of light and nature. I plan to team up with a skilled set of landscapers and turn some of those cold and sterile buildings into places that offer beauty in those dark, difficult times.”
Carly grinned. “That’s awesome,” she said. “What made you want to do that?”
“I think it goes back to when my grandmother was dying. I went with my mother quite a bit, and we went from one facility to the next. Most were hideous, from my perspective anyway, as a child.
“My grandma was dying, my mother was miserable, and it seems like most places offered the same greenish-gray, florescent lighting with windowless walls, scuffed floors, and thick, drab curtains. One place we went to though, it was really nice. It was a specialty clinic outside of town. I’ve since discovered who designed it, but anyway, it was bright in there since the structure let in so much light.
And it was surrounded by tall green trees with a ton of unique birds.
My mom and I, we even took a walk through the garden and it was really peaceful.
It countered my mom’s anxiety a lot and just helped her to calm down. ”
“Wow,” Carly said softly. She reached across the table and rested a hand over his. “I’m sorry for teasing you about not following through with your degree. I can see that you have a real love for what you’re doing. I admire that.”
“Thank you.” A new surge of warmth pulsed through him at her touch.
But even more affecting were the words she’d shared.
He hadn’t realized how much he’d needed the encouragement.
After all the doubts and jeers he’d received from his old man about getting that degree, it felt nice to have someone say they believed in him. Someone besides his mother.
He flipped his hand over so they were palm to palm, and gave her a squeeze. “Christian told me that you’re an elementary school teacher, right?”
She grinned. “Right.”
“He also told me you’re from California, like me. What part?”
“Walnut Creek.”
He scrunched his head. “Where is that close to?”
“It’s actually kind of close to Berkeley.” She pulled her hand back and reached for her drink.
The stars were aligning, weren’t they? “That is a very nice thing to hear. Maybe I can drive on over to your place so you can feed me dinner every once and while.”