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“You have to eat, right?”
“It’s too early to be thinking about dinner.”
“Not if I know it’s going to be shared with you.”
“I can’t. Audrey and I are ordering in and watching a movie tonight.” She pushes her chair back, putting distance between us.
“Tomorrow night? The next night? The night after that? You tell me when. I’ll be there.”
“I don’t know this side of you.”
“You’re going to.” There’s confidence in my words.
“We should keep going.” She places Brenda’s file on top of Anne’s and grabs the next one.
“Charlie.” I wait for her to look at me. “Saturday night happened. It was hot as fuck, and we”—I point to her and then back to me—“are going to happen. You need time to let that settle in that beautiful mind of yours. I can agree to that, but I’m the type of man who learns from his mistakes, and I won’t make the same one twice.”
She opens her mouth to speak as a knock sounds at the door, and Dr. Phillips enters the conference room with a wide smile on his face. We make small talk, and I bullshit my way through looking at the staff files. He invites me to lunch, and although I want to decline and steal Charlotte away, I know I can’t. As I agree, I see her shoulders relax out of the corner of my eye.
She thinks I’ll let this go.
She’s wrong.
Charlotte Krause is going to be spending a lot more time kissing this rival.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Charlotte
This week has been the longest week in history. I haven’t seen Spencer since Monday. We spent the entire day going over staffing for the Charleston office, and he took every chance he had to touch me. From his hand on my arm, the small of my back, and brushing my hair out of my eyes. He’s not acting like the Spencer I’ve come to know, and that worries me.
Not because I’m afraid of him, but because I know if he keeps this up, I won’t be able to resist him. It will be a week tomorrow since our tryst at High Tide, and I can still feel his hands on me. In fact, it’s pretty much all I’ve been thinking about.
Well, I’ve also been thinking about the talk we had on Monday. I had no idea he thought the things that he did. I was so closed off to my grief that I didn’t even notice until it was too late, and our relationship had been formed. I’ve never hated him. He always annoyed me with the way he thought he was so damn charming and constantly tossed his grades in my face. I never stopped to think that there might be another reason.
I never thought I would admit this, but Spencer Pennington is a nice guy. He’s also the sexiest man I’ve ever laid eyes on. Those two are bad enough, add in his tenacity and the sincerity in his eyes, and I’m a roller coaster of emotions.
He called me earlier asking me to go to dinner, and I told him that I had plans with my sister. It’s not a lie. Audrey and I planned to stay in and watch movies all night. Then she got a call from Amara asking her to grab dinner. They invited me, but I insisted on staying home. I need some time for myself to think about this week. I also want to start looking for jobs but don’t want Audrey to find out. Not until I know for sure that I’ve found something. I don’t want her to worry. Not only that, I haven’t told her yet that Spencer is going to be my new boss. I don’t know why I’ve kept that information to myself, but I have. I planned on telling her tonight, but thanks to Amara, I have a little more time.
I know I’m the only one making a big deal out of this. Even now, when I know he’s not the guy I thought he was, I still can’t let him be my boss. Not when a simple look from him sets my body on fire. Not when his kisses are the best I’ve ever had, despite what I tell him his rating is. He knows I’m lying, and I know I’m lying. It’s a game we’re playing, and I can’t play that game with my boss.
That brings me to my exciting Friday night. I’m curled up on the couch. My hair is in a messy knot on the top of my head, my face is wiped clean of all makeup. I’m in a pair of sleep shorts and a tank, sans bra because those things are torture devices, and my laptop is on my lap as I scroll through job postings.
When my phone rings, I assume it’s my sister or my best friend, Cala. They’re really the only two to ever call me unless it’s one of my employees calling in sick, which is why I don’t look at the screen. “Hello.”
“You lied to me.”
Spencer’s deep voice fills my ears. He doesn’t sound mad, irritated, maybe? “What are you talking about? How did I lie to you?”
“You said you were having a night in with your sister.”
“That was the plan. Plans change.”
“That means we can grab dinner.”
“Sorry, I already ate,” I say, looking at the empty pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream I devoured once I learned that Audrey was going out to dinner with Amara.
“Ice cream doesn’t count, Charlie,” he grumbles as there’s a knock at the door.
