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“You don’t have to do that.”
“Come on. I know you’re a kick-ass security specialist, but you’re not that strong.”
She punched him solidly on the shoulder, but he didn’t even wince. Yeah, she wasn’t that strong. Or kick-ass. Her specialty was really observation. Surveillance. Intelligence. Or it had been. Before.
Feeling her smile go stiff and strange, Charlie turned away from her cousin, pretending to check out the apartment a little more closely. “Okay, I’ll call you when I need a hand.”
“Perfect. You’ve got the key. Don’t forget to go see Jenny for the lease.”
“Oh, the new girlfriend, huh?”
Her cousin’s cheeks actually went a little pink. “Not so new, actually. We’ve been together since February.”
Charlie grinned. “Wow. Your mother must be over the moon. I can’t wait to meet this woman.”
“Want to come over to the saloon with me right now?”
Aw, he was so cute. It must be nice to be one of those people who believed in love. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll meet you there.”
As soon as Nate left, Charlie let her smile vanish and moved purposefully through the apartment. Though their entrances were separated by the landing, she noticed that she and Walker would be sharing a wall along the living room, bathroom and bedroom. She hoped the walls were thick. The Walker she’d known hadn’t looked like a boy who’d inspired silence in the bedroom.
Chuckling at the thought, Charlie checked off a mental list of things she’d need to make this place comfortable. Her boots knocked against the wood floors and echoed off the ceiling, reminding her of exactly how empty the rooms were.
Her studio at the resort was fully furnished, so everything except her clothing and some knickknacks was in storage, but she had plenty of nice furniture from her old place in Tahoe. Some of it she could even move without help. She could rent a truck and have all her kitchen stuff by tonight, plus a table and chairs. Her lamps. Maybe even her bed. Hell, she’d sleep on the floor if she couldn’t move the bed. The resort was unbearable. Just the idea of spending another night there made her break out in goose bumps.
Bad enough she had to work in that place. Bad enough that she couldn’t quit.
Charlie shut off the lights she’d turned on and locked the apartment behind her. She wanted to get this part over with. Lying to her cousin made her stomach hurt, but she didn’t have any choice. She wasn’t going to admit another defeat. There’d been so many this year.
Charlie blinked back the tears of frustration that sprang to her eyes. The worst was behind her. There was no question of that.
All those years of living in Vegas and Tahoe, those years of building a career and a reputation, and it was all trashed, but it was going to be different now. She wasn’t going backward. Not back to who she’d been in Tahoe, and not back to high school, either. No, she was going forward.
Charlie walked down the stairs of the Stud Farm, opened the front door and pasted a big smile on her face. If she wanted to be a new woman, it was time for the debut.
