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Shit.
“Get out of here!”
Lifting my hands, I shook my head. “She’s not my girlfriend, an
d she hasn’t been for months. She said she was only kidding when she said that to you.”
Charlie laughed. “Oh, yeah, right. Bullshit. She said she was your girlfriend … who kids about stuff like that?”
I shook my head and walked over to her, desperately wanting to pick up where we had left off. This woman drove me insane.
“She’s not.”
Charlie was pressed against the large window that overlooked downtown Austin. She looked sexy as hell, and I wanted to crawl back into her. She’d opened a door I thought had been closed and there was no fucking way I was going to let her slam it shut on me again. Right now, I didn’t really give two shits that she was using me. I’d use her right back—and enjoy every minute of the abuse.
“We need to talk,” I finally said.
She pushed off the window and headed into her kitchen. “About?”
“This morning.”
“What about it?” she casually said, glancing over her shoulder at me. I saw it in her eyes though. She wanted me as much as I wanted her. Fuck any plans she had, I knew Charlie wanted me. A small part of me was glad I was the one she was trying to trick into marrying her. It meant she had feelings for me.
“If Gina hadn’t walked in on us, I’m pretty sure we would have fucked.”
She stilled for a moment, and I wished I had used a different word.
“I guess it’s a good thing she walked in then, isn’t it?”
“Is it?”
Turning toward me, she had a mixed look on her face. Half hope and half fear.
“Are you asking me if I thought it would have been a mistake to sleep together?”
“Yes. You seem to like making that accusation when it comes to us.”
Her lips pressed together, and I realized I held my breath while waiting for her to answer.
“Yes and no.”
My head jerked back. “What the hell kind of answer is that, Charlie?”
“An honest one.”
I stared at her, waiting for someone to jump out and tell me this was all a joke. That the woman I had pined over all these years, the one who had consumed my every dream it seemed like, the one I had jacked off to more times than I wanted to admit to, was actually standing here possibly going to give us a shot. However, I knew that wasn’t reality. Reality was she needed a man to marry, and that man was me. Maybe I should have been flattered. Maybe deep down inside she truly did want a relationship with me, but then the truth of seven years ago hit me.
Charlie only wanted me to help save her own ass. She needed my help in becoming a successful businesswoman and holding onto her father’s company. I was a pawn in the game she played.
“Explain it to me, Charlie.”
She sighed. “Can I at least make myself a drink? It’s been a hell of a few days.”
My heart ached for her. I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for her to lose both of her parents and then find out she had to marry some dude in order to run the company she had given up everything for. My feeling of sorrow for her quickly turned when I forced myself to remember what I had heard on the tape from my office. Charlie’s plans to seduce me were for one reason only.
“Want something?” she asked, pulling me away from my thoughts.
“Bottled water, please.”
