He turns to face me. “I can’t. I’ve got some work I need to finish before bed.” He shrugs. “Deadlines.”
“Oh.” I had visions of us eating tea together, then going to bed. It hadn’t occurred to me that Charlie would want to go back to the annexe, and disappointment hits me hard. I do my best not to show it.
I obviously do a shit job, though, because he slides his hands along my jaw and whispers, “It’s not that I don’t want to.”
He draws his bottom lip between his teeth, and I wonder if there’s something else going on here. Maybe this is too much, too couply? So I don’t push. “No problem.” I find a smile from somewhere. “Go finish your book?—”
“Chapter.” He huffs. “I wish I was close to finishing the whole thing.”
“Chapter, then.” I reach for the light switch, turning up the dimmer until the brightness chases away some of the romantic atmosphere we had going on. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Night, Pete.”
“Night.”
I walk him to the door, and then it gets awkward because we’re under that stupid mistletoe again. I don’t know whether I’m allowed to kiss him without it leading anywhere, so I half reach for him, then think better of it.
Charlie frowns, then his gaze drifts slowly up.
He purses his lips, and I have no idea what that means. Then his gaze meets mine and we stare at each other for a long, drawn-out second. “I’m not a fan of bad luck,” he whispers, glancing up again, like I don’t know what he’s implying.
“Me neither.” My lips curve into a smile I can’t stop.
Charlie matches it and steps closer.
I meet him halfway.
Our mouths meet and it’s like muscle memory, so easy to fall into a familiar rhythm. He clutches my shirt, I cradle his jaw,and what start out slow and easy quickly morphs into deep and heated.
We’re both out of breath by the time we pull apart.
I’m half-hard.
Charlie is too, by the looks of him.
I don’t ask him to stay, though. My gut tells me he needs space to gain some perspective. Maybe I do too, even though it doesn’t feel like it at the minute. He doesn’t look like he’s moving any time soon though, so I do it for him.
“Night, Charlie,” I say, letting go of him and stepping back.
“Night.”
I watch him go, standing in my doorway until I see the lights go on in the annexe. Only then do I close the door and lean against it.
I let out a strangled laugh and bury my face in my hands.
This has been one of the best nights of my life.
I’m so fucked.
I seeCharlie after work on Tuesday.
He invites me to the annexe this time.
Turns out Sadie left him a surprise over his door too, which we take advantage of, naturally. We eat dinner and fool around, but he doesn’t ask me to stay, and I don’t bring it up.
Same on Wednesday.
It’s become this unspoken rule between us, but I’m not sure why. We’ve seen each other naked. Come all over each other. Would it really make much difference if we fell asleep and woke up together?
