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God. They freaked her out. Walker had no idea what kind of gift he had.
But if Walker’s dad had treated him badly because of the dyslexia, she understood why he wouldn’t want to deal with it. Why throwing himself back into the challenge of it would be too much.
She should let it go, but Walker was so damn amazing. And his problems seemed so much easier to solve than hers. Charlie’s problems were legion and lingering and hard to even wrap her head around.
Like that thing with Keith Taggert tonight. What the hell had that been?
She eased off Walker’s arm and lay on her back to stare up at the ceiling. Someone’s porch light shone through the backyard trees and made shadows dance against the white room. It was a perfect, peaceful night in a wonderful man’s arms, and she was thinking about the Taggerts.
Something about the situation—everything about the situation—niggled at her brain.
The conversation with Dawn at the party had slipped a couple of puzzle pieces into place, but those pieces had dislodged others. Dawn’s behavior made much more sense now that Charlie knew Keith had been the one lobbying for her employment. But why would he really have wanted her?
She came at a discount. That was one good reason. Charlie had taken a steep cut in pay from her last job. In fact, she’d be embarrassed to tell anyone about the package she’d accepted. But considering the resort’s budget, those numbers couldn’t be the sole motivator.
So maybe his loyalty speech was the key. He’d scraped her off the bottom of the barrel, and now he thought she’d be a valuable, tireless advocate for his business. That could be it. It was a pretty solid theory. She was inclined to feel damn generous toward him.
And maybe, just maybe, it was because of her brother. Sure, he hadn’t been the kind of big brother Walker clearly was. He hadn’t protected her in childhood. He hadn’t looked out for her. But maybe losing their father had changed something for him.
She brushed her hand against Walker’s fingers and thought of the way he’d spoken of his brother. She couldn’t quite understand that kind of sibling love, but maybe she could have a part of that. Her bro
ther would never be her hero, but he could be something like a friend if she tried.
She’d call him today. For sure. She wouldn’t forget this time.
Charlie closed her eyes and told herself she could go back to sleep. She’d thought through all of her problems. There was nothing to be done right now. But her brain kept turning.
Crap. She opened her eyes. There wasn’t going to be any more sleep for her tonight. And she couldn’t wake Walker this early. He didn’t sit behind a desk all day. He had real work to do.
Before doing anything drastic, she looked at him. She could just make out his profile in the darkness. The black swirls of his messy hair stood out against the white pillow. He needed a haircut, but she was glad he hadn’t gotten it yet. She liked the way it made him look wild and vulnerable at the same time, like a careless little boy.
She wanted to touch him. Wanted to wind her fingers into his hair and snuggle close and breathe in his scent. She wanted to wake him with her hands and her mouth until he covered her and filled her with his body. They could fall back to sleep together, limbs tangled and heartbeats keeping pace. In the morning, he’d tease her and kiss her and then she’d use his shampoo and smell him all day, as if she were still wrapped up in him.
But that would be one of those memories that would hurt when he’d moved on to someone else. She’d see some cute girl sneaking out of his apartment in the morning. Someone prettier and smaller and younger, and Charlie would hate that girl and hate him and hate herself and all her memories.
No. She couldn’t do that. Her last lover had made her feel like a fool. She never wanted that again.
Charlie slipped out of bed and pulled on her clothes and made her escape. She meant to shower and go for a run, but as she dried her hair, she realized she had an opportunity. If she got into work before everyone else, she could check out those security tapes in private. If Keith had been trying to spy on someone, she wanted to know who it was. His wife? An employee? Someone else?
Yeah. This was an opportunity she couldn’t miss. She stuffed her running gear into a bag and dressed for work instead. If it was nothing, she’d still have time to run before she needed to be in her office. Heck, she could even take a nap. This having-two-apartments gig was starting to work out. She should take advantage of it before they gave her room away.
A moment of guilt stabbed her when she quietly closed her apartment door and tiptoed down the stairs. She should’ve left at least a note for Walker, but even that assumed too much. It assumed he’d care that she was gone and why she’d left. No. Better to just pretend last night had meant nothing more to her than it did to him.
But good Lord, that man was hot. She was starting to worry that she’d be willing to sacrifice a lot for the chance to have him whenever she wanted. Her pride, certainly. Because even when the day came that she saw another woman sneaking down these stairs, Charlie wouldn’t stop wanting him. God, maybe she actually would share him with someone else if it meant feeling his hands on her the way she had last night. Rough and needy and demanding.
Wow. Just...
Charlie shook her head as she stepped into the icy night air.
That had been so good and filthy and hot. Not just what he’d said and done, but the fact that it was Walker, who’d always been so sweet to her.
All the most sensitive nerves in her body woke to immediate arousal when she thought of tasting him. Sucking him. Pushing him so far that he’d growled filthy things at her.
Chuckling, she got into her car and started for work.
Oh, she was going to do that again. As many times as she could before it was over. She’d loved him in her mouth, loved the power of it getting all twisted up with the submissiveness of the act.
Yes.
