Open Case File [COMPLETED]

Honeymoon (Part 2)

"You don't trust me?"

Letting out a breath, Donovan closed his eyes. "I had a stuffed teddy bear named Sargent Major that I slept with until I was eight."

To Donovan's surprise, Carter kissed him.

"Adorable," she said. "Now I have blackmail material."

"You can't tell my brothers. It's a miracle James never found him. I hid him in my pillow."

Carter cupped his face. "Of course I'm going to tell them, this is amazing!"

Donovan reached for Carter but she slipped away, running along the beach, laughing as he chased her. Eventually, he caught her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She was breathless, her hair a wild mess.

"This stays between us," Donovan said. "That's how the secrets shared on the beach work."

"Fine. I won't tell them. Besides I had a green stuff dinosaur named Thompson until I was ten."

"Cute," Donovan said, kissing her cheek. "But not a good enough secret, try harder."

He set her down and took her hand, continuing their walk along the shore. Waves skidded up to them before shying away.

"A secret," Carter murmured.

"A good secret."

"Yes, a good secret."

After a stretch of silence, Carter spoke, her voice quiet.

"When I was little," she said. "I hated the sound of thunder."

Donovan edged closer, her tone telling him this was not an embarrassing secret but a vulnerable one.

"So during thunderstorms, I would sleep between my parents," she said. "When my father would be away, I made a habit of sleeping with my mother. I would use my father's pillow and the smell of it reminded me of him and I felt safe."

Carter swallowed and didn't look up at Donovan, though he watched her, seeing the little crease in her brow, the downward twitch of her mouth.

"After my mother left...when my father was traveling...I would steal his pillow and sleep with it. It made me believe he would come home." She paused. "To this day he doesn't know I did that."

Donovan pulled Carter into his arms, holding her. "That's a good secret."

She held on to him, her cheek resting against his shoulder.

"Yeah, better than your lame teddy bear one."

He laughed and kissed her. He didn't say anything more about what she shared, knowing that her joke was her way of saying she didn't want to talk about it. He didn't push, understanding that the fear she used to always live with was hard to express.

"So," she said, leaning her head back. "We shared our secrets, do we get to go back to sleep now?"

"Well, we have to end the night as we did most of the time."

"How?"

Before Carter could run away, Donovan scooped her up and sprinted towards the water. Carter screamed and clung to his neck.

"Donovan don't you dare!"

But Donovan was already racing into the waves. He jumped and they both crashed into the water. Donovan came up laughing and Carter sputtering. Once she could breathe again but before she could curse him, Donovan gave her a salty kiss.

"See, I told you tonight would be an adventure."

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...yeah I got nothing threatening 🤦🏽‍♀️ Dang!

Any who! I what did you think of the chapter and the most cliché setting possible? 💭💬🗯

I gotta say writing the more romantic chapters is not my strong suit, mostly because I'm an action girl or a making-it-super-depressing-so-everyone-cries girl!

Also I don't have a ton to say. Oh! There is one thing! I finished my book Nothing Super! So if you like heroes, characters like Carter, and wild rides you might want to check it out!

Vote, comment, follow because I gave you something cute!