Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
17
JAMESON
I’m not sure what time it is, but it’s well into the dark hours of early morning, thunder rumbles outside my windows, and Charli is in my kitchen.
It would be perfect if not for the elephant hiding in the fucking room. Every passing hour, I’m more tempted to blurt out the truth to her, but doing that would feel like betraying Nolan. I press the thoughts back down into the depths again, hoping to distract myself with how good she looks.
She’s still wearing most of her costume, though she has ditched the jacket and now she’s just in the skimpy little one-piece that looks sinfully good on her. She let her hair down and I can barely look at her without scooping her up and dragging her straight to my bedroom. But I’m trying to be a gentleman. Charli makes me want to be a little less of my usual, irreverent self. I like that about her.
I push a plate with a PB&J toward her. She thanks me and takes a big bite.
“I’ve always been a terrible cook,” I admit. “I used to make millions of these for myself and my sisters growing up. My parents were notorious when it came to forgetting to make sure we were fed. Sometimes they’d go out and weren’t even home when we got off the bus from school.”
“Wow,” she says softly. “I can’t really imagine that. I got really lucky with my parents. I”m sorry you had to take so much on yourself.”
I shake my head. “It’s not a big deal. Some people aren’t cut out to be parents. But kids are resilient, right? I survived. My sisters are fine.”
“Yeah, but… I’m sad for you. I mean, I still have dinner with my family every Sunday. I run almost everything by them. Life is just easier with a support system.”
“So they know about me?” I ask, suddenly interested to hear her response.
She counters with a question of her own. “Do your sisters know about me?”
“Sort of. I told them there’s a girl I am obsessed with. I said she’s been through a lot, so it’s hard for her to open up and trust another guy to take care of her. So we’re pretending all the time we’re spending together is just about getting revenge on Vaughn for both our sakes, but that I’m completely head over heels for her.”
I wait, watching Charli’s mouth hang open. “Oh,” she says quietly. “I just told my family you’re older and it wasn’t anything serious.”
I laugh.
Her cheeks go red and she takes a few moments in silence, running her fingertips along the crust of her still untouched sandwich. “Do you mean all those things you told your sisters?”
“I do.”
She swallows. “When I first met you, I thought you were the kind of man who probably plays with women’s emotions all the time. Says what he needs to say to get in their pants, then moves on when he gets bored. I didn’t expect you to be… so much more than that.”
“Neither did I. You had me pegged pretty accurately, to be honest. Except that I’ve always put work first. It has never been toying with people to toy with them. It’s that some point comes and I always have to choose. The women or the work. It’s hard to be really good at both, and I know work is all Nolan has. If I choose a woman over work, I’m letting my friend down, too.” I can feel a little desperation in my words. I know what I’m doing to Charli. Every moment I don’t tell her what I know from the legal team, I’m choosing work over her. I’m being the same old me, no matter what I tell her. But maybe if she understands where I’m coming from, the truth won’t hurt as much if she finds out. Or maybe it’s not the same, because I think there’s a way it will all work out well for her in the end, even if Landmark publishes her book first.
She looks down. “I don’t think that sounds like a healthy outlook.”
“What do you mean?”
“No thing or person deserves every bit of you. I mean, yes, be monogamous and exclusive in a romantic relationship if that’s the expectation. Be loyal and hardworking at your job. But there should still be something left over. It shouldn’t feel like you can’t have both a job you care about and a person you care about. They should give you the space to do what’s important at work and still be there to support you when it’s all over.”
And my plan is failing faster and harder than I expected. Not only does she disagree with my sentiment, she’s making a damn good point to counter it. Now I feel like even more of an asshole.