“And I’m super lucky to not only have found you but for you to take a chance on letting me into your life and Isla’s. Thank you for trusting me.”
“Thank you for being worth it. Now, we need to get inside before I do something stupid,” I told her, ignoring the weight building on my chest knowing I’d laid my heart on the line and told her I loved her, and she hadn’t said it back.
“Something stupid like tell me you love me in the hallway.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I felt my cheeks burn. It was one thing for me to have said it, it was completely another to have her call me out on it.
“Yeah, like that. Come on. I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on the food anyway.”
Picking up her overnight bag, I pushed open the door and went inside.
“Charlotte! You’re here!” Isla called out as we stepped inside. Leaving Charlotte with Isla, I carried her bag into the bedroom and set it down on the end of the bed before ducking into the bathroom and washing my face.
“I love your dress,” Charlotte told Isla as Isla spun in a circle showing off happily.
“Your boots are pretty,” Isla replied, pointing at Charlotte’s brown cowboy boots. I’d never seen someone look so effortlessly sexy. From the scuffed brown cowboy boots that clung to her legs and reached halfway up her calves, to the sexy white sundress with bright yellow flowers all over it and the casual denim jacket thrown over the top. She was beautiful. But it wasn’t the clothes she was wearing or the skin she was showing that had me completely captivated. It was the smile on her face as she sang and danced with Isla, not caring what she looked like or who was watching.
“You look like a boy in love!”
“Geez!” I hadn’t even heard Mrs. Neal come back in, but she was standing beside me, watching the same magical scene as I was. The girls’ giggles were music to my ears.
“Shame she doesn’t feel the same,” I replied unable to shake off my misery. There was no point denying how I felt, I just had to get past the hurt of knowing this could all be one-sided.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”
“Well, she didn’t say it.”
“Did you give her a chance?” Mrs. Neal tossed out casually before leaving me standing there and heading back into the kitchen, sticking her head in the oven, no doubt to check the turkey she’d been obsessing about for days.
“I’m just going to go and get changed,” I announced in case anyone was looking for me as I headed into the bedroom and opened the closet.
The bedroom door creaked open as I finished buttoning my shirt.
“You’re hiding from me.” Charlotte called me out.
“No I’m not. I’m getting changed,” I lied. I was hiding and obviously not doing a very good job of it either.
“Bullshit, Luke. You promised me honesty. Remember?”
Shit! I had promised that. “Yeah, I remember.”
“And …”
Why couldn’t she let it go? “I’m not hiding from you exactly. I’m just …”
“Hiding from me because you said you loved me and then ran away before I had a chance to reply.”
“No.” She shot a look at me which had me changing my answer. “Okay fine. Yes. I feel like an idiot.”
“Luke,” her voice was soft and annoyed me. The last thing I wanted was her pity. “Luke! Stop being a pain in the ass and look at me.”
“Pain in the ass, huh?”
“Would you stop and listen for two damn seconds? You got to say what you want, I want my turn.” Seeing Charlotte being bossy and speaking her mind was a turn on. But she didn’t look like she wanted to hear what she was doing to my body right now.
Shifting her overnight bag, I sat on the end of the bed and gave her my full attention.
“Right. You know my last relationship was a mess. Actually, that’s an understatement really. It was a disaster. It made Titanic look like a leaky dinghy. I mean, I came home from a conference to find the woman my fiancé was fucking in my bed, strutting around my living room wearing my wedding dress.”
