4

The cold breeze hits my skin as Karter and I exit the building, immediately goosebumps appear on my arms and legs. The parking lot was empty except for one sporty black parked car, safe to assume that was Karter's.

Karter opens the passenger door for me and smiles luminously making me feel all giddy as I sit in the car. Karter closes the door behind me and gets into the driver's seat. His car reeked of cologne as if he drenches himself in it every time he's in the car, I'm not complaining though I quite like the scent it's sensual almost, very manly just the way commercials describe men's cologne.

We both buckle our seatbelts and suddenly Karter turns to me, "Do you want to go somewhere and get a drink?" Karter asks abruptly.

"What?" I furrow my eyebrows.

Karter lifts up his wrist looking at his watch, "Or dinner it's almost 8:30"

"Right now?" I sit up in my seat and fix my dress.

Karter grins, "Do you have other plans you need to cater to?"

I chuckle, "Not really"

"So?" Karter asks raising a brow.

I shrug, "Sure why not" and a huge smile appears on Karter's lips as he starts the car, "I know this great bar downtown,".

"Is this a date?" I humor him.

Karter was still reversing his car, he looks into my eyes for a second before turning his head yet again, "Of course this is" His lips curling into a sly grin as he pulls us out of the parking lot.

Am I really going on a date with this man I met 2 hours ago? I guess I am.

Karter was driving us down the street when unexpectedly I felt my heart start beating out of my chest. Simultaneously, I felt my stomach tightening. Fuck not right now. No, no, no, no. One of the major reasons I'm an almost 22-year-old grown adult who doesn't know how to drive is because nearly every time I'm in a car, I have severe panic attacks. I've never been in a car crash yet my brain can't handle all the potential life-altering complications that can take place in a car. I can't comprehend traffic, taking turns, cars driving so close to you, bystanders on the road, people speeding and not stopping at stoplights, bikes, and cyclists showing up out of the blue, it's all so frightening for me. At times even sitting in the passenger seat is too much for me to apprehend, right now is one of those times.

My hands start shaking so I immediately shove them to my sides hiding them under the material of my dress and grip the seat hoping Karter won't notice, my vision starts to become slightly blurry as I could literally hear and feel how hard and fast my heart was beating. I gulp as I felt air filling up my lungs making it harder and harder to breathe. My legs started to shake slowly and I immediately cross them, putting one over the other trying to calm myself down. During these moments, I forget where I am or who I'm with, the deadly thoughts that consume my mind are all I can focus on and I can't seem to control them. I close my eyes and try to divert my mind to a safe place in my head, I breathe softly and slowly trying to calm my nerves. The driver doesn't even have to be a reckless or speedy driver for them to trigger these panic attacks, they happen on their own. Come on Maria, just breathe. I take a deep breath as my heart started to leisurely relax and my legs stopped shaking. I open my eyes, finally snapping back into reality, and see that we are on an empty road with no cars anywhere near us, I'm good, we're good, nothing is going to happen. I grip the seat tighter as I take in another deep breath, my hands go numb for a second which means I'm reaching the end of this episode. I lick my lips as I try to relax.

"Jesus am I that boring?" I hear Karter laugh and I turn my head finally recovering and being able to recognize my surroundings completely.

"I'm sorry, no I just zoned out" I laugh nervously, to a person who has no idea what I just went through, it just seems as if I'm ignoring them or zoned out. Media and books and everything depict panic attacks to be this huge scene-causing thing when in real life it can actually be a pretty small minute experience. Obviously, everyone has different circumstances but I would be mortified if everyone in a room knew when I was having a panic attack every time I was having a panic attack.

"I was asking when you got back to LA," Karter says looking over at me momentarily as his fingers were flexing on the steering wheel.

"Oh literally this morning, so I'm a bit jetlagged." I pause, "I had planned to go home and have an early night, definitely did not plan to go on a randevu with a man I met 2 hours ago but here we are" I shrug and I see a smirk appear in the corner of his mouth but he doesn't look over at me.

"The real question is did I think I would be in a car with Maria Reed" Karter raises an eyebrow.

I roll my eyes, "Stop it" I mumble.

Karter smiles looking over at me, "What? This is a huge deal for me"

"Well I guess this is your make a wish"

Karter laughs out loud, "Funnily enough, I had leukemia when I was a child and I never got my "make a wish" so I guess this is them finally making up for that"

"Oh I'm sorry," My features soften as I look over at him.

Karter looks at me from the corner of his eye, "What for? Cancer or not getting my make a wish?"

I smile then shrug, "Both?"

"I'm fine now love, don't worry about it" Karter slows to a stop and looks at my mouth then my legs before turning his gaze on the road yet again.

....

Karter stops at this cute bar downtown called Rowdy's, It was in the basement and it instantly gave me very MacClaren's Pub from How I Met your Mother vibes. Karter and I walk inside and the bar was actually way bigger than it seemed from the outside, however, it didn't feel crowded either as people were sprawled all across the place.

"Let's go to the back," Karter says pointing to a booth in a secluded part of the bar, I simply nod and follow behind him keeping my head down not wanting to get recognized at this very moment. We reach the booth and I slide right in, Karter following behind me on the same side.

"What are you doing?" I raise my hands questioning him.

"What?" Karter looked at me puzzled.

"Why are you sitting next to me instead of opposite me? It's only the two of us here"

Karter grins, "I just like this better, closer to you."

I roll my eyes turning my body so I'm facing him and lean against the wall, "Are you this cheesy with all the girls?" I ask setting my purse on the table.

"Only the beautiful pop stars" Karter smiles at me, I roll my eyes trying to hide my smile.

"So what's your story, Reed?" Karter rests his left elbow on the table.

"I don't think you deserve to know that just yet." I purse my lips and tilt my head.

Karter's smile grows bigger, "Fair enough." He pauses, "How is someone as gorgeous and talented as you single? Isn't every dude obsessed with you?" Karter asks as a waiter drops by our booth and sets down two menus.

"Firstly, stop with the flattery but thank you" I smile at him, "Secondly, no don't oversell me like that, sure there are some guys who have the "hots" for me" I quote using air quotes, "or whatever, but they just want to fuck that's all," I state picking up the menu.

"When was the last time a guy took you on a date?" I look up from the menu to see Karter staring at me keenly.

"Hmm let's see" I squint my eyes trying to think, "Oh Lord" I chuckle, "About 11 months ago?" I say and Karter looks surprised, "yeah as you can tell I clearly don't get around very much"

"Has it been 11 months since you last got fucked?" Karter asks. My eyes go wide and I start to blush profusely. Karter simply smirks at me.

"Shut up" I mumble, flustered by his comment and divert my attention to the menu.

We ended up ordering nachos and fries, both of us decided to go for non-alcoholic beverages, Karter as he was driving and I just wasn't in the mood so we both ordered a coke.

"How old are you?" I ask Karter shoving a french fry into my mouth.

"How old do you think I am?" Karter wiggles his brows at me.

"Honestly, you don't look a day over 25 tops, which is why I was so shocked when Ryan told me you were the new CEO"

Karter laughs taking a sip of his drink, "25? I'm flattered. I'm actually 33"

"Wow, you need to tell me your skincare" I joke causing Karter to chuckle.

"Not to sound like a creep but obviously since you worked with my company I have researched you, you're 21, does it bother you? Our age difference?" Karter asks.

"Not that it's applicable to you because we are never going to see each other again" I start off and Karter nods with an amused look on his face, "But I've always preferred older men" Sheesh am I flirting?

"Is that right?" Karter's tongue brush against his teeth.

"Yeah, they're just hotter innit?" I shrug plainly grabbing another french fry.

"What about you? You prefer your girls young and barely legal you pedo?" I smirk causing Karter's head to fall back as he laughs.

It's strange how sociable I'm being and how well I'm holding a conversation without making it awkward. I'm usually not like this, I usually take a while to open up to new people especially when I'm alone in their company without any familiar faces. 1 point to Maria for not embarrassing herself in front of the cute older guy.

"It's all about who I have a connection with," Karter says, "However if they happen to be hot alluring brunettes who may or may not be my celebrity crush, that's always a bonus" Karter smirks.

"So you're a fan?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Oh, I'm a stan," Karter says making me chuckle.

"I'm honestly surprised you know that word considering how old you are" I joke staring at Karter.

"Might be old but will always be hip" Karter grins making me roll my eyes at him yet again.

"When was the last time you went on a date?" I ask as I finish my food and clean my hands with a napkin.

"A few weeks ago" Karter states simply.

"Wasn't the one?" I ask.

Karter stares at me intently, "Nah didn't get that feeling" He pauses and rests his hand on my naked thigh, "the feeling I'm getting tonight" Karter's eyes sparkle as they stare into mine, his touch sending shivers down my spine.

Karter and I left the bar around 1 am, we had completely lost track of time. We swapped stories, I watched the expressions slide across his face like clouds. We hung out for hours laughing like old friends, as comfortable as an old shoe.

....

Karter parks his car in my driveway and insists on opening the door for me. I smile to myself as we walk inside the gate towards the front door.

"Nice house" Karter nods looking around as we step inside the gate.

"Thank you," I say flatly.

"Thanks for the ride and for the fun night" I smile at Karter as we're facing each other standing outside my front door, "Oh, and for not killing me" I joke causing him to chuckle.

Karter takes two steps towards me and slides his hand on my side and inside my bag reaching for my phone, he puts my phone to my face unlocking it, and started typing in his number. The way he was taking authority right now was so remarkably hot.

"I'll be waiting for your call," Karter says taking another step towards me and putting my phone back in my bag, his hand rests on my waist squeezing it ever so gently. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest.

"Why would I call?" I play it as cool as possible and raise an eyebrow at him.

Karter takes another step towards me and wraps his other hand on my waist and pulls my body closer to his making me gasp softly, his eyes had now turned darker than before as they linger at my lips.

"Because of this", he whispers, his voice dirty and rough as he smashes his lips onto mine. I immediately found myself kissing him back as Karter pulls me even closer to his body and I wrap my arms around his neck. Our teeth clink together as I bite Karter's lower lip causing him to groan and slide his tongue inside my mouth. I pull at Karter's neck, bending his head further to match my height deepening the kiss. Karter's hand falls from my waist to my ass and he gently squeezes it making me moan into his mouth.

We pull away after we both needed to come up for air, Karter bites his lip still holding me, staring at me with hungry eyes and suddenly I feel my cheeks getting red. Karter notices and smiles. He unwraps his arms from my body and takes a step backward, I whimper in my head already missing his touch.

"Good night Ms. Reed" Karter smiles at me.

"Goodnight Mr. Alan" I bite my lower lip and wave at him as he walks away from me.

God, am I whore??? I just made out with a guy I met less than 7 hours ago. Karter probably thinks I'm so easy, if he didn't pull away from me, I might've let him have his way with me right here, outside my front door. I sigh, yes indeed I am a whore.