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He tutted and closed the door. “Not only did you sleep with her but you’re in love with her.”
I jumped up from where I sat on the arm of the sofa. I was going through the barrage of emails I couldn’t check while I was stuck in the woods. Slamming my phone down, I scoffed. “I can’t deny sleeping with her but love? I’ve known her for a week.”
He snorted. “Yet you wanted to murder one of your closest friends for touching her. I saw the way you looked at Lincoln when he hugged her.”
My gaze lowered to the floor. I wasn’t proud of that.
“And you went into straight-up demon mode to protect her job.”
Folding my arms over my chest, I muttered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I followed you to the recreation office.”
“Seriously?”
“I thought you were taking off to see Charlotte, so I followed to talk some sense into you.” Alex shrugged. “You know, to tell you to back off and end whatever you’ve got going on with her because you can’t hurt Lincoln like that.”
My jaw tightened but I stayed quiet.
“I saw you go into the supervisor's office. You came out wearing your stone-cold mask. He came out looking as if he’d seen a monster. I’m guessing he did… you. You must have gone into ruthless CEO mode. I can only imagine what you said to that poor man to have him look so terrified.”
I illustrated how I’d destroy his very existence and orchestrate the ruin of this resort, that’s what I did. And I never made empty threats. The Winchesters’ reach was extensive. Mark saw the error of his ways… for the way he dealt with Charlotte today.
“Charlotte doesn’t deserve to lose her job. She loves it here.”
Alex’s scrutiny of me made me uneasy. Was he judging? Categorizing me as a betrayer?
Combing my fingers through my hair, I walked over to the table where a bottle of my go-to poison, Stroh, sat. I poured some into a glass and threw it back.
Alex grunted and joined me. With his glass in hand, he flopped onto a chair and said, “Well, clearly the guilt is killing you.” He lifted his eyebrows when I took another shot.
“I don’t feel guilty for liking Charlotte, but I am an asshole for not telling Lincoln about us,” I acknowledged.
“Like her?” He snorted. “You’ve fallen for her. How could you do that to Linc?”
“I did not fall?—”
“I know the look, Jamie.” His features darkened. It was like I was looking at a different person. Gone was the laid-back jokester. Pain flickered in his eyes but then it was gone and his expression softened again. It was as if he stomped down on the emotions that had been dredged up and buried them even deeper. “You know out of the five of us, the one who knows that look well is me.”
I didn’t comment on that because I knew what thinking about her did to him. “Fuck, Alex, I don’t know if I’m in love, okay? Because I don’t know how it feels.” I threw my arms up. “Maybe that’s sad. The whole lot of us are goddam pathetic when it comes to matters of the heart.”
He chuckled and lifted the glass in agreement. “I suppose that’s why we make such great friends.” His amusement vanished, replaced by a scowl. “And I’d like for it to stay that way, so don’t fuck around with Charlotte when you know Lincoln wants her back.”
My molars clamped together. “We weren’t fucking around.”
“Jeezus.” Alex massaged the bridge of his nose. He got up and pointed at me. “Fix this, Jamie.”
Before I could tell him that I had no idea how to fix it, he stormed out. Blowing out a breath, I eyed the bottle of liquor. I ditched the glass and went for the bottle, turning it to my head. Maybe if I got drunk enough, I'd somehow find clarity to deal with my current situation.
Michael’s face flashed in my mind. He wore his usual bored expression. The ever-cynical man would say something like, “Clarity in the bottom of a liquor bottle? That’s a hell of an oxymoron… you moron.”
I laughed because I knew my friends well. I knew their likely responses to things, so I knew Lincoln would be hurt when I told him about Charlotte and me.
Shit.
23
CHARLOTTE
