“Get away from me, Damon.”
“You’re a piece of work,” Damon seethes at her.
I take a picture on my phone, and a second for good measure, and remind myself I can’t hit him or touch him or I’ll lose my job. “Step back from her,” I angrily tell him as I step right next to him.
Charlotte’s head jerks toward me. Damon turns his head but keeps his hands in place. He has a cocky sneer on his face.
A group of four interns come into the locker room, and he takes a step back. “To be continued,” he threatens Charlotte and then scowls at me. “You, too.”
“What’s your deal, man?” I ask him.
He doesn’t reply, gives me another look as if he knows something I don’t, then picks his bag off the bench and leaves.
“You okay?” I ask Charlotte.
“I’m fine,” she mutters and opens her locker, but her hand is shaking.
I put my hand on her back. “Hey.”
“I’m fine.”
“We should report him. I have a picture of him harassing you.”
She shakes her head. “Let it go. He’s just mad and hurt.”
“Charlotte—”
“Xander, just drop it.” She pulls her bag out of her locker and goes into the women’s shower area.
There’s no way I’m leaving Charlotte here. He could come back, and I’m not taking any chances. I sit down in the lounge area near the door. The TV is on, but I don’t hear any of it.
My mind is racing, and I pull up the picture of Damon harassing Charlotte. I want to kill him.
Why is he doing this?
It’s a good wait until Charlotte comes out. She’s so hot wearing leggings, black boots, and a long-sleeved hot-pink tunic. It’s the first time, outside of my dreams, that I’ve seen her long, blonde hair not pulled up. She’s beautiful, and my body hardens. My pulse increases, beating hard in my neck.
She doesn’t seem to notice me, goes to her locker and throws her stuff back in it, then grabs her bag and puts her coat on. When she turns to leave, she stops. “Xander. What are you still doing here?”
“Waiting for you.”
She shifts on her feet. “You didn’t have to wait for me.”
“I know I didn’t have to. I did it because I wanted to.”
She takes a deep breath, and I’m not sure what is going through her mind, but I sense she is grappling with something.
I pull the muffins out of my gym bag. “Plus, I got you these, and you don’t want them to go to waste.”
A small grin forms on her face. “What is it?”
“Open it.”
She cautiously opens the bag then one side of her luscious mouth curves up. “You bought me blueberry muffins?”
“Yep. Are those the ones you love?”
She nods. “Yes. Thank you.”
