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I didn’t like this.
“She said some things this morning that—don’t let yourguard down around her, okay? She’s my sister and all, but so are you.”
I’d been about to demand to know exactly what Pris had said, but Charlotte’s last words threw me for a moment.
“You think I’m your sister?” I asked.
She blinked. “Well, aren’t you?”
“I—yeah, I guess so.”
I’d never felt included by any of the Maluses or even my own father since they’d joined our family. To hear Charlotte involve me like that was both touching—and alarming.
She’d never included me like that before. Why was she now?
“In any case, be careful with Hawk.”
“What did Pris tell you?” I asked.
“She just—she’s jealous of anything you have. You know that. And to have the attention of a man like that? I wouldn’t put it past her to try and target him and take him away from you, you know?”
I scoffed, thinking of how true this threat actually was.
“If Hawk is idiot enough to fall for Pris, then he can have her.” I pushed the cart toward the closet. “But thank you for the warning. It means a lot.”
I didn’t like it, though. I’d had the same misgivings since she’d overheard him ask me out this morning.
Pris was as nasty as they came. I needed to warn Hawk that if he wanted anything to do with me, he was going to have to face all the nasty, too.
That might push him away.
Despite my cavalier response to Charlotte’s warnings, my heart pinched at the thought. I didn’t want to lose his attention. Not now that I was finally opening up to it.
Besides, I wasn’t going to let Pris bully me—not again.
This was Hawk Danielson. A good-looking, one-of-a-kind-charming Hawk Danielson. I mean, who came to meet someone at fourin the morningjust to ask her out?
It was the sweetest thing any guy had ever done to get to me, and I wasn’t going to turn my back on that, not for any threats my stuck-up stepsister could make.
“You know, I’m kind of looking forward to this Christmas Eve ball,” Charlotte said.
Rag in hand, I wheeled the large, gray can the rest of the way down the hall and into the custodial closet. I pushed it back to make room for Charlotte to empty her mop water into the floor-tub.
The garbage wasn’t yet full enough to empty, so I left it for tomorrow.
“You’re going then?” I asked.
“Why not? Mom’s party is during the afternoon. We’ll have the evening to ourselves. She’s cleared everything so we can go.”
We. I hadn’t been included in family anything in so long, the word had a sparkle to it.
“I hadn’t heard. She said she had me scheduled to clean Highland Heights.”
Charlotte hung the mop on its peg and dusted her hands. “On Christmas Eve? Mom isn’t that heartless. Anyway, I can’t believe some of these dress prices. I’m going to head over and see if I can get in on this sale. You should come.”
I was stunned. “You’re inviting me?”
“Shouldn’t I? Why do you act so surprised?”
