Chapter 6

Dinner was the starting point for Mike and Carrie.

“This is delicious.” Carrie told Mike on his fish tacos. “I never had fish tacos before.”

“You never had fish tacos?!” Mike replied. “Fish tacos are my specialty.”

“Well, it shows, because despite never having had them, they are so good.” Carrie said with a mouthful of the fish taco and wiping her mouth with the napkin beside her plate. “Please pardon my manners.”

“It’s quite alright.” Mike said as he leaned over to wipe some sauce from the taco off Carrie’s mouth she still had left.

The closeness between them was too much for each of them. Carrie didn’t know if it was champagne, but when Mike kissed her again, she gave into the kiss.

That one kiss was a temptation that led to more kisses. The fire between them was rising as the tension between got too much to bear. But this time, Mike stopped things between them before they did something they would regret.

To curb the sexual tension between him and Carrie, Mike brought out a chess game. As Mike set up the game to play, Carrie thought to herself, “This guy doesn’t know what he’s getting into,” for Carrie was a chess champion in high school.

Mike was surprised by the way the game was going. He sure didn’t expect Carrie to be such a chess wizard.

“Wow! You sure amazed me with that game!” Mike said after Carrie put his king in checkmate.

“I was in the Chess Club back in high school.” Carrie explained. “My father taught me everything I know about playing chess.”

“Well, he taught you well.” Mike said in awe of Carrie’s ability. “I was blown away by your talent.”

Carrie was yawning after the game ended, as Mike could see. As he helped Carrie to her room, she closed the door to get into her pajamas. But as Carrie was getting dressed, she screamed as she saw a mouse scurry across the floor.

Mike ran into Carrie’s room worried that something might have happened.

“What’s wrong?”

“I saw a mouse!” Carrie exclaimed.

Mike looked around the room, but didn’t see any mouse, “I don’t think he’s in here anymore? I think the screaming scared it off?”

Carrie clung to Mike after the ordeal, “The sight of that mouse got to me.” Carrie said as she remembered being trapped in a room as a child with a roomful of mice.

The terror on Carrie’s face got to Mike as he comforted her, not knowing why a tiny mouse would frighten her so much. He just held her in his arms. He kissed her on the lips as she lay in his arms.

The two fell asleep in each other’s arms…to the sound of someone knocking on the front door.

Chapter 7

The Next morning, Mike woke in Carrie’s bed to knocking on the front door. He got up and went to see who it was. A police officer said that he was there to rescue them when a friend of Carrie’s got worried about her safety when she didn’t report to work the day before and called the police to search.

Happy to be rescued, Mike was a little disappointed. He hoped they would have a little more time together to figure out what was happening between them. The mouse scare that Carrie suffered weighed heavily on Mike. He was glad that it gave them the moment to be together, even though it didn’t lead to romance…it did create a bond between them…one Mike hoped to develop further.

But Carrie had other plans when she came out to find that they had been rescued. The only thing on her mind was getting out of this cabin and getting back to work. Mike was hurt that Carrie seemed to disregard the moments between them during the last few days.

As the police officer was escorting Carrie and Mike to the squad car, Carrie was happy she was getting back to work, but Mike wasn’t. He wanted some more time with Carrie. But it looked as if things were over between them. So Mike decided he would just go back to work and put everything in his job.

Everyone at the office welcomed Carrie back, especially her friend, Terrie, who had given Carrie permission to use her cabin for a quick getaway. Terrie had no idea that her husband, Jim had already lent his friend, Mike, the use of the cabin as well.

“Carrie, I’m so glad you’re back, safe and sound!” Terrie gave Carrie her sympathy with a hug.

“That’s okay.” Carrie told her friend.

“And I’m so sorry for Mike being at the cabin too. I had no idea that Jim had also gave him permission to be there.” Terrie apologized.

“You don’t have to apologize.” Carrie told her. “Things happen.”

“So how did things go at the cabin, considering the situation?”

Carrie was so happy to be back after the long weekend, she told Terrie everything that happened…how she thought Mike was at first a selfish person who only cared about football with his buddies. Then she went into how things changed after he got worried after she took off for a walk and got lost, finding herself in some abandoned shack and Mike came looking for her.

Carrie told Terrie how things changed between her and Mike after that moment. The wonderful dinner of fish tacos he made for her that led to a spark between them. Even the scare she had when she saw the mouse scurry across her bedroom floor. Mike was so tender with her. And although she thought Mike would take advantage of that moment, he was tender as they cuddled in bed until they both fell asleep.

Then, Carrie told Terrie the most shocking thing of all. That all though she was glad to be out of that cabin and back at work, she wished that she had more time with Mike. Carrie revealed that being rescued may have ruined their chance to be together, as Mike seemed to have no interest when they were rescued.

But that was far from what Mike intended. Little did Carrie know, but Mike assumed that Carrie wanted nothing to do with him once they were rescued and backed off. He decided it was best to just get back into work since that’s what he assumed that Carrie was doing.

Carrie and Mike each went home alone, but with their thoughts on each other.