Rebel With A Cause by Ashleigh Neame Page A

by Carter, who seemed to be able to stay up all night and not be tired. After they’d made love not once, but   twice , she’d fallen asleep before they could go for a third time.
    Carter found it amusing when that happened.
    “What?” she scowled, walking into the lounge with the duvet wrapped around her.
    He looked up and grinned when he saw her appearance.
    “You don’t have to hide from me you know,” he said cheekily. “I’ve seen it all before many,   many   times.”
    She just huffed and sat down next to him on their battered old sofa.
    “What?” she snapped.
    Carter pointed to his laptop. “Look.”
    She looked. On the screen was a real estate website, and on that website was a house. It was an extremely quaint house from the seventies with white weatherboards and a grey, corrugated iron roof.
    “It’s pretty,” she said, noticing the yellow flowers in the garden.
    Carter smiled and wrapped his arm around her. “Just like you,” he whispered.
    She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. “Whatever. So, you like this place?”
    He shrugged. “It’s ok. I like the exterior. The   interior   could use a lot of work, but I thought you’d want to do that. You seemed to like doing it to this place.”
    Simultaneously they looked around the room, where Kaitlyn had attempted to turn the flat into a home. She’d added paintings, floor lamps, rugs and end tables to make it feel homier. She’d also replaced the thin drapes with thick thermal ones.
    “Sure,” she said. “I can re-do the interior. Just show me how bad it is first.”
    Carter opened up the pictures of the interior and she grimaced. She grabbed his smartphone and began making a to-do list for the house.
    “So we’re buying it?” he asked, amused.
    She nodded. “I can’t wait to fix it up,” she said eagerly. “Make an offer. Buy it.”
    He laughed but dropped his laptop on her lap, and got up from the sofa. He grabbed the cordless home phone and rang the estate agents. He walked into a different room, leaving Kaitlyn feverishly flipping through the photos, and noting what needed doing.
    A short while later, Carter walked back into the room with a grin on his face.
    “Well?” she demanded.
    He sat next to her and pulled her face towards his, passionately kissing her, hard.
    “We got it?” she asked when the kiss was over.
    He grinned. “Yeah, for ninety grand. That leaves us seventy to buy you a car, do up the house, and extra to race with.”
    “Wow,” she said. “How’d you get it so low?”
    He grinned. “Someone inherited it, and they don’t want or need the money so I got it dirt cheap.”
    She sighed and handed him his phone. “I guess I better get dressed,” she said. Carter grabbed her as she tried to move and wrapped his arms around her waist.
    “Carter!” she whined playfully, trying to slap his hands away.
    “That’s no way to talk to your fiancé, is it?” he breathed in her ear. He was delighted to see her blush when he mentioned the word   fiancé .
    “No,” she whispered, slightly embarrassed.
    He grinned and kissed her hot cheek. “Go and get dressed,” he instructed. “We’re going out ring shopping, and then to the real estate agents on the way home.”
    She nodded and slipped away, secretly dancing on cloud nine.
     
    “Pick whatever you like,” Carter said, gesturing to the large amount of engagement rings at the jewellers.
    “Whatever I like?” she asked teasingly. “Are you sure?”
    He looked at her and grinned. “Of course.”
    “What if I want the most expensive one?” She smirked at him, thinking he’d be shocked.
    “How about a designer one?” he suggested, shocking her.
    “Are you serious?”
    He grinned. “Swarovski?”
    She grinned and flung her arms around Carter. “Yes!”
    He laughed and got the sales assistant to unlock the cabinet housing the Swarovski range.
    “Now, this here is the limited edition crystal collaboration range,” the assistant told them.