He kisses my hand again. “I may look good on the outside …” He looks more than good, but go on. “But my insides, they are messed up, and you deserve me whole.” He seems whole to me, but if he doesn’t feel like he is I’m not going to push it, because honestly, it’s fucking mature of him to realize that he’s not ready. “Know this, I’m not interested in anyone else. No one, and I mean no one, can compare to you.”Fuck. This man is killing me with his words.
“I’m not interested in anyone else either,” I tell him, which makes him smile, and my heart thuds in my chest. Those puffy pink lips and unshaven square jaw, I’m so fricken lucky.
“We making this official then?” He smirks.
“Officially what?”
“Dating. Boyfriends. Whatever you want to call it,” he mentions.
“You wanna be my boyfriend?” I look up at him.
“Desperately.” He grins, kissing my hand again. I’ve never had someone tell me they are desperate to be my man. I don’t know what to do. “Am I freaking you out? Shit. I wasn’t meaning to come on strong. Everly told me to chill out, and of course, I didn’t listen.”
“Hey,” I say, tugging his hand and getting his attention back on me. “You’re not freaking me out. I’ve never had anyone want me like this before. I always felt like I was like this with others, and I guess I don’t understand why me. You could literally have anyone you want.”
“I don’t want anyone else, D. But I could say the same thing about you. Fuck, you’re so fucking hot. You could have any person in this world, and that is what I’m working on. I don’t feel like I’m good enough for you, because look at you,” he confesses. I’m stunned by his words, then the next thing I know, I burst out laughing. “What?” he asks, confused by my reaction.
“We both don’t think we are good enough for each other, yet we also feel like we are the best thing for each other.”
This makes him chuckle. “Facts. We’re both a right mess.”
“I’m all in, Charlie. You and me, let’s build a future together, we can sort out the rest along the way. You do what you need to do to feel the best version of yourself, and I’ll do the same. If we must live apart for a bit,not forever …” I warn. “Us being apart is temporary.”
“Yes.” He smirks.
“I want to make us work, Charlie. I like you so much, and I know we’re moving fast, but I think because we’ve been talking over the phone for months, it’s built a deeper connection than I’ve ever had before.”
“I would like to take you on a date, though.” Charlie smirks.
“Wine, dine, and sixty-nine me all you want,” I tease back.
“Now that sounds like a great first date.” He grins, kissing my hand again.
“Don’t break my heart, Charlie, please.”
“Never,” he tells me seriously. And I believe him.
We continue driving, and the scenery is stunning, postcard perfect, but there are definitely bears here and for sure other predators that are going to eat me,I’m too pretty to eat.It’s so beautiful here, the snowy cap mountains, the endless pine forests, and then the prairies, it’s so breathtaking.
“This is us,” he says, driving through massive wooden gates.
“Did you surprise me with a hotel stay?” Is he embarrassed about where he lives?
Charlie bursts out laughing. “No, this is my home.”
“Don’t lie to me, this is a fricken resort.” We drive up the long winding road to the huge wooden house. There are barns and horse yards.
“Derrick, this is my family’s home.”
My mouth falls open. He’s serious. “Um … this is your home. Who the hell is your family?”
“Yeah, my family is well off, my dad is in tech, he commutes between here and the Bay Area,” Charlie explains.
“Is your dad Bill Gates?”
This makes him laugh. “No, but he does know him.”
“Charlie, what the fuck. You’re like rich, rich.”
