I laughed. “I don’t know. But you were so cute! And chubby, too.”

The next page had pictures of two girls who were probably about six or seven and a boy of maybe four who was most definitely Carter. The chin dimple was a dead giveaway even if it hadn’t looked exactly like him. “Are those your sisters?”

He nodded. “Catherine and Camille.”

They looked about the same age. “Are they twins?”

“They are. Fraternal. My mother is a twin, too.”

Carter, Catherine, Camille. “What are your parents’ names?”

“Mom is Calliope and dad is Carter.”

“So you’re one of those families, huh?” I bumped shoulders with him. “All your names begin with the same letter?”

“Five people, all our initials are double C. Hated it when I was a kid for some reason.”

He flipped a few more pages, and I watched Carter grow up before my eyes. He was a cute baby and an even cuter little boy, but God, did he grow into his looks in his teens. We laughed at the progression of his hairstyles over the years. The last few pages of photos looked like they were recent, in the last few years. I slipped a photo of Carter holding a little girl who was probably about two out of the slot. They were sitting in front of a Christmas tree. “Who’s this? She’s adorable.” She had platinum blonde pigtails, and Carter’s captain’s hat was covering half her eyes. Her toothy smile was outlined in chocolate and she held a squished chocolate covered éclair in one fist.

“That’s Corinne, Camille’s daughter. Don’t let the face fool you. She’s a holy terror.”

“I bet she’s sweet. Wait…Another C name?”

“Yep. Catherine has a son. Wanna take a guess?”

“Charlie? Chance? Cash? Christopher?”

He pointed at me. “Christopher.”

“Will you keep up the tradition someday? Maybe a little Carter or Claire?”

His entire demeanor changed. Carter’s eyes held a seriousness that I hadn’t previously seen from him. “I don’t know. I never really gave it any thought before.” He seemed to be contemplating something for the longest time. Eventually, he said, “Wasn’t even sure I wanted kids. I’m gone twelve days out of the month. But now, I’m starting to wonder if maybe that is something I want. I think the right woman can change what a man thinks he wants out of life. I guess it depends on her. On us.”

I swallowed. “That makes sense.”

He looked down at the photo album. The last picture was of him, his parents, and his two sisters. They were all smiling broadly and had their arms around each other’s shoulders. He brushed his fingers over the page. “My sisters like to bust my balls about having kids. They act like I’m pushing fifty instead of thirty. For years, my mother has been saying this thing that I thought was just something she read on a Hallmark card somewhere.”

“What’s that?”

“She said I’d have a family when I was ready to stop traveling all over the world searching for something and realized what I was looking for was already at home.” He continued looking straight into my eyes. Since the first time my gaze landed on Carter Clynes in that airport lounge, my heart had been beating a million miles an hour. But in that moment, I felt it happen. My heart slowed, took a deep breath, and let out a giant sigh. Just like that, it gave in, unable to fight it anymore. I had no idea how long we had or how things were going to play out, but I knew without a doubt that I was in love with Carter.

THINGS LIGHTENED UP between us in the late afternoon. Carter went to check on Gordon and then when he came back, we had sex in the shower, followed by sex on the bedroom floor. I got the feeling that my ass print was going to be all over the man’s apartment by the time we left in a few days. Even though my body felt like I’d just taken a strenuous yoga class followed by running a marathon, Carter apparently was no worse for the wear.

“How about if we head over to the gym for an hour and then I take you out to a nice dinner tonight?”

I was lying on the bed with my head dangling upside down off the edge watching a rerun of That 70’s Show. “Seriously? You want to go exercise after all that sex?”

Carter chuckled, walked over to the bed, flipped me over, and swatted my ass hard. That seemed to be a thing for him. “Oww….” I rubbed at it.

“Come on, lazy. I still have a lot of energy to burn off. We don’t go to the gym, you won’t be able to walk for a month.”

We decided to walk to the fitness center, even though it was on the other side of the development. The lake from last night was on the way, and Carter wanted to see if his uniform pants turned up in the daylight.

“Where the heck could they have disappeared to?” I asked. Scouring the lake, there was no sign of his pants anywhere. It was the most bizarre thing.

“No idea.” Carter shrugged. “But I’m glad I’m due to pick up my annual replacements next month. I’ve lost half my uniforms over the last year.”

“Lost? Do you leave them behind at hotels when you’re traveling?”

“That’s the strange thing. I lose them at home. Last month, I could have sworn I had a hat at Bingo, but I couldn’t find it afterward. Think the forgetfulness of some of the residents is starting to rub off on me.”

I DECIDED TO GO ALL out for dinner. I slipped into a tight, little black dress and a pair of the tallest, sexiest high heel shoes I had with me. They were open-toed and had silk ribbons that wrapped half way up my calves. A good push-up bra gave me an abundance of faux cleavage that strained from the low V of my dress. Remembering how much Carter had liked the slutty look when I’d styled myself in Dubai, I blew my blonde hair with some extra body, lined my blue eyes with thick black and painted my lips blood red.

The extra effort paid off when I walked out of the bedroom.

“Jesus Christ.”

I circled. “You like?”

“You look like every wet dream I had growing up.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or creepy.”

“It’s a compliment. Any boy or man would love to jerk off to you.” He winked, and I laughed.

Outside, Carter opened the door to his SUV and helped me inside. Before shutting the door, I said to him, “You know, I think you get away with saying anything you want just because you’re so good looking.”