The hitch in her voice was heartbreaking. “You seem pretty hinged to me. I just want to make sure you’re all right.”
“I am. It’s just…” She paused, as if getting a hold of herself. “Randolph and I broke up three years ago. I’m completely over it, but my parents keep hoping we’ll get back together. And because they’re good friends withhisparents, I can’t avoid him. If we hadn’t hightailed it out of there, I would have been forced to make small talk with them, and I just…couldn’t.” She groaned. “Sorry. That was more information than you needed.”
It wasn’t too much. Now that he’d gotten a glimpse of the real Charlie—the woman behind the sunny front office manager he’d only known at a surface level—he wanted more. “It’s fine. Did you have a destination in mind, or should I drive around?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t want to keep you up too late.”
“No worries. I have Monday off, so I can sleep in.”
“Thanks, Knox.”
Her voice still held a slight wobble. Like she was trying to keep everything under control. He wished he could give her a hug, but he wanted to respect her boundaries. “There’s a little cove not far from here if you’d like to get some fresh air.”
“That sounds great.”
They drove in silence until he reached a stretch of road with access to a public beach. One of the things he loved about living on the southern tip of Vancouver Island was the abundance of coves and beaches. Most of them were small and rocky, the water frigid and filled with seaweed, but they were rarely crowded.
After he parked his truck, he went around and opened Charlie’s door. “There’s a stone stairway going down to the beach just past those bushes.”
She eased out of his truck and shut the passenger door behind her, then followed him toward the steps. “I had no idea this place existed.”
“It’s kind of hidden, but I like coming here.” He led her down to the shoreline.
The ground underfoot was made up of small pebbles, with chunks of driftwood scattered around, some pieces the size of tree trunks. It wasn’t a beach meant for swimming and sunbathing, but it possessed a quiet beauty, the waves gleaming under the moonlight.
He found his favorite place to sit—a hollow log worn smooth by the wind and water—and gestured for her to join him. She sat beside him, so close their bodies were almost touching. Allowing himself to relax, he inhaled deeply, relishing the briny tang of the ocean.
When she released a drawn-out sigh, he spoke up. “If you want to talk about it, I’ll listen.”
“Really? You once told me you hated it when people unloaded their sob stories on you.”
While she wasn’t wrong, he didn’t want her to think he was an uncaring jerk. “One of the downsides of being a bartender is that everyone wants to share their woes. Including people you don’t give a shit about. So, I make it clear I’m not interested. With you, it’s different because…we’re friends.”
Was it presumptuous to call her a friend? Up until tonight, they’d never hung out after work. But of all the people he knew at the Duchess, she was the one he trusted the most. The one who stopped by the bar to chat with him when she worked the evening shift. Who left him an extra donut every time she brought in a box for one of her meetings. And the only one who’d been able to coerce him into helping with the hotel’s seasonal events last Christmas. Just seeing her always brightened his day.
When she didn’t respond, he sat quietly, listening to the shush of the waves. As someone with secrets of his own, he would never force her to reveal anything she didn’t want to. But the question tumbled out before he could stop it. “Okay, I’ve got to know. I can understand why you’d date the guy. But to get engaged? He seems like a dick.”
Charlie let out a bubbly laugh. “Don’t go easy on him or anything.”
“I wasn’t. I could have called him an asshole, but I toned it down.”
Her laughter spilled over, so infectious he couldn’t help but smile. “Like I said, I started dating him because our parents spent so much time together. When he asked me out, saying yes seemed like a no-brainer. For once, it was nice to have my parents’ approval. They weren’t exactly thrilled when I decided to go into hospitality.”
“Are you kidding? You’re a manager.” Fuck these rich jerks who didn’t appreciate her.
“Yeah, but I’m in customer service, which they consider demeaning. Dating Randolph was a great way to make them happy. On my twenty-fifth birthday, they threw me a big surprise party, which would have been nice if they’d invited the Damsels, but it was filled with their rich friends. In the middle of it, Randolph got down on one knee and proposed, in full view of everyone. There was no way I could turn him down without humiliating him.”
Knox picked up a pebble and smoothed it between his fingers. “So, what happened? Why’d you call it off?”
“As soon as I moved in with him, I realized what a huge mistake I’d made. He’d always been kind of judgmental, but once I was his fiancée, he tried to control every aspect of my life.”
Knox’s fingers coiled into fists at the thought of anyone mistreating Charlie. He strained to keep his voice even. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“Nothing like that. It was more subtle.” She looked away, as if too ashamed to face him. “Commenting on what I wore. The kind of food I ate. How often I worked out. Once, when I was sick with the flu, I didn’t go to the gym for an entire week. He hounded me about it, telling me I’d get out of shape if I kept skipping my workouts. Or, sometimes, when we were going out for the evening, he’d say, ‘Is that what you’re wearing?’ and I’d get so self-conscious I’d have to change. Then he’d hover over me and insist on choosing my outfit.”
“Jesus, Charlie. That’s not okay.”
She rubbed her hands over her bare arms. “I know that now. But he got into my head, so much that I started feeling physically ill before we went anywhere. And when I told my mom how anxious he made me, she said I was overreacting.”
