AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He stopped chewing, feeling his ears prick up, and looked to where Nick stared at an incoming golf cart. Up ahead, the cart made a stop in front of a snack machine.
A man came out and went around to help the woman inside.
Charlie. Itwasher.
What the hell was she doinghere? This wasn’t her usual stomping ground.
She wore a light-colored knitted polo and a golf skirt, showing off long legs in pink cleats. Her hair was clipped to the back, but escaped strands fell to her cheeks. Flushed, she looked like she was enjoying herself. The smile pulling her lips pulled his insides like hooks on organs.
The man offered her his hand, as if she couldn’t step out of the fucking cart on her own. Such pretentious chivalry. But he couldn’t deny that they looked…fitting.
And he hated admitting to it.
“Nice, she moved on fast,” Nick commented, prompting Rick to want to punch him. “Looks like there are no problems for her, huh?”
His hunger died, and the burrito in his mouth rotted. Rick stilled, watching as his lungs caved in.
Her expressions were nothing like the ones she gave him at Alex’s apartment. The hurt and resentment was nonexistent in this Charlie. She actually laughed at what the guy was saying. Rick felt his organs burn, the discomfort stabbing him most viciously.
The primal urge to barge in there, smash the guy in his smug face, and drag Charlie away was scary. This wasn’t the Stone Age, and they’d evolved since then. Or so Rick thought.
He didn’t have any right to feel this way, but he did. It was illogical and fucking irritating.
Charlie and the douche talked while she took a sip of the water bottle he bought her from the vending machine. Then they went back into the cart and rode away, with him sitting a little too close. Their cart disappeared from the path, and Rick didn’t realize he was scraping his nails against the railing.
“Let’s head back.” With no real recourse, he turned aroundand tried erasing the images from his head. Things were just working as they should. Everyone was moving on.
“Hey, wait up,” Nick called from behind when Rick took off.
Rick threw the leftover burrito into a nearby trash bin and strode to the entrance. He made it as far as pulling the door handle when someone called for his attention.
The same champagne whining guest stood too close next to him, face shadowed with impatience.
“Buddy. My wife asked for a cocktail like, a long time ago, how long are you going to have us wait?” the cunt demanded.
Rick’s instincts picked up, his shoulders squaring into a predatory stance, hands balling into tight fists. The guy noticed the change at Rick’s scowl and even took a step back in alarm.
Restraint broken, Rick was about to give the guy a piece of his mind before Nick stepped in.
“Sir, sorry about that.” Nick stood in front of him and played moderator. “We’ll see what we can do.”
The arrogant son of a bitch nodded before straightening his suit jacket, gave one look at Rick, and left.
“Dude, chill out or I’ll have to fire you,” Nick said with a lace of sternness in his voice. “Go take a longer break and only come out when you’re calmed down.”
Rick went to his car instead, thinking the barrier of the vehicle would help prevent people from coming up to him. Reclined in his seat, he rested his eyes, but still couldn’t fight off the weight on his chest.
Seeing Charlie,again, went from a punch to the guts to a kick in the nuts.
He hadn’t felt this hollow in a while, standing at a tug-of-war line where doing what he should do and what he wanted were of equal force. He wanted Charlie, that was certain, but it wouldn’t be fair if he didn’t go all in.
She deserved better than that.
Eighteen
“Dr. Alanna is takinga vacation starting next week, so we won’t have a physician’s consultation service for two weeks,” Aera said, reading through the notes on the computer. Hair in a loose braid and looking sharp in a Chanel pantsuit, she exuded thebig bossaura.
“That’s fine. We haven’t been getting many clients asking for that. A lot of them already know what they want,” Charlie said, scribbling on the whiteboard nailed to her office wall.
