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“I’m really into every idea I have. I’m terminally excited about life,” I laughed.
He raised his eyebrows, staring at me like I was some rare species he’d never encountered before.
“Charlie! Who’s your friend?” Lily’s loud voice demanded behind me, only moments before she bumped me gently, coming to a graceful stop beside me. She narrowed her eyes at my handsome stranger, and I felt a sudden streak of possessiveness. Mr new to town, sexy Santa was mine. Luckily, Will joined us, following Lily, as always, and bracketed my other side, peering at my stranger with a far more challenging look.
“Hi, I’m Will, Charlie’s brother and you are?”
“Will, don’t be rude,” I warned him, just as Lily drew in a loud, dramatic breath, clapping a hand over her mouth.
“Oh my god, I don’t believe it. Is this real? I’m a huge fan,” Lily rambled, as I watched her cheeks stain pink with excitement.
“Holy shit, man, I didn’t recognize you with the small-town, snow gear.” Even Will’s voice had changed, turning respectful with a touch of awe.
I turned my attention to my stranger, and tilted my head to the side, waiting for his face to click. How did everyone know him?
“Can I get your autograph?” Lily was saying, searching in her parka pockets madly.
“His autograph? Why? Who is he?” I wondered aloud and both Lily and Will turned disbelieving looks at me.
“Who is he? Are you joking? God, Charlie, live in the world outside of Briar Vale for one second, or have some kind of appreciation for the man who put us on the map,” Will grunted at me, as Lily found a piece of paper in her pocket and brandished it. She passed it over and turned to me.
“He’s Lars Nilsen, the rockstar who just happens to be from Briar Vale. Our one claim to fame,” she muttered, her words ricocheting around my head. Lars Nilsen. My eyes rose slowly to his. His grey orbs were fastened to mine, with something like an apology in them.
He’d been a rich and famous rockstar this entire time, and not said anything? Come to think of it, he hadn’t even told me his name. Had that been on purpose? My brain stuttered, unable to form a single thought.
“Charlie I -,” Lars trailed off, awkwardly clearing his throat. “I was going to tell you,” he finally finished.
I laughed, but the cheerful sound was jarring and false. “When? I think the window for introductions has kinda passed. You never even said anything while I was prattling on about the famous local musician, and how I wanted to get him to play at the concert.”
Humiliation blazed in my cheeks. “Were you having a laugh at my expense?”
Lar’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “No, of course, not, you just seemed so excited and I didn’t want to ruin it by being – me.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that cryptic statement, so just settled for stepping back, needing to run away somewhere and hide my glowing face. My foot slipped on the ice, as I forgot I was standing in ice skates. I went down on my ass hard, and Lily gasped. She and Will immediately moved to help me up.
“Christ, Charlie, seeing how it’s you who insists we all go skating every year, you’d think you’d be better at it,” Will rumbled. I gained my feet and saw how Lars had moved toward the ice, his sneaker stepping onto the frozen pond.
“Are you alright?” he pressed.
I dusted myself off and shook my head. “No, I’m not! I’m embarrassed and if this ice could open up right now and swallow me, I’d be fine with that,” I admitted, and dragged together the tattered ends of my dignity. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and die somewhere,” I muttered and nodded my head in a farewell to the three people watching me. “No one follow. That would be great.”
I turned and skated toward the other side of the pond on shaky legs. My face was hot, my ass was throbbing and my pride was bruised. Why was I so upset that he’d lied to me? It was too embarrassing to admit the truth. I didn’t care that he’d lied, or kept it from me. I cared that I’d liked him, I’d felt a spark with him, for the first time in my life, but he wasn’t some ordinary guy I could fall for and have a life with. He was a millionaire rockstar and I was no one. I’d allowed myself to develop the tiniest crush on someone from a different world, and that was embarrassing as hell. Most of all, it was disappointing.
I put my head down, and skated as hard as I could without falling, toward my shoes. My embarrassment and disappointment turned hot in my chest, as I focused on a different and far more bearable emotion. Anger. How dare he pretend to be someone else? How dare he lie to me! I turned my upset into righteous fury and kept it inside my chest like a little hot, misplaced coal that could keep me warm.
CHAPTER6
Lars
So, sure, yesterday hadn’t gone the way I’d imagined, and I’d certainly not planned on telling Charlie who I was in that way. However, now the cat was out of the bag, I didn’t mean to wait around for her to forgive me, and give me a chance at her again. I texted her early in the morning, reminding her of the appointment we’d set up. Then I paced the house and waited impatiently for her to come and see me.
I was nervous, I realized, which seemed mad, considering the things I’d done in my life, but here we were. I was nervous as hell for the first time in a long time.
Finally, the buzzer from the front gate sounded, echoing around the cavernous Ivy House foyer. I bypassed Alfred as he shuffled slowly toward it.
“I’ve got it! Hello?” I spoke quickly into the receiver.
“It’s Charlie Winter, here for my meeting,” Charlie said stiffly. Her voice sounded all wrong, without any of her former ease and it rankled to hear. She should always be carefree and full of laughter, my own personal ball of sunshine. Anything else felt wrong.
