Chapter 6
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Charlotte woke witha start. Not from a horrible dream, like before. In fact, she’d been having a good dream for a change. One involving her and the sweet man currently sleeping in the chair not far from where she lay.
Unfortunately, some sort of knocking sound had woken her before they could get to the really good parts.There it is again.
More awake, now, Charlotte realized someone was pounding on the door. She looked over at Derek, who hadn’t budged. He looked uncomfortable as hell but was out cold.
Maybe I should answer the door for him.
It was bad enough she’d woken him last night. Hard telling how long it took him to go back to sleep after dealing with her embarrassing nightmare.
When whoever was knocking began to yell, Charlotte immediately recognized the voice.
Oh, God. It’s Caleb.
Her heart flew into her throat, and she swung her head to Derek. He still hadn’t moved.
Fearing Derek’s neighbors would hear—or worse, Derek would wake up and do something he could never take back—Charlotte jumped from the bed and rushed to the door.
“I know my wife’s in there, West. Now, open the damn door!”
Nausea churned in her stomach as she began to disengage the locks. Her hand shook, but she had to at least try to get him to quiet down before someone called the cops.
All Derek had tried to do was help her. He didn’t deserve her problems to start interfering with his life.
With one final, trembling breath, Charlotte opened the door and faced her husband. Rage brewed behind cool eyes as his lips curled into a sickening sneer.
“I knew you’d be here.”
“H-how’d you find me?”
“You think I wouldn’t be able to find out where your boyfriend lives? You’re so fucking stupid.”
Charlie looked behind her and stepped out onto the porch so they wouldn’t wake Derek. Keeping the door cracked behind her, she whispered loudly, “He’s not my boyfriend and keep your voice down. He has neighbors.”
“You’re shacking up with another man, and you think I give a shit about his neighbors?”
“I didn’tshack upwith him.” She kept her voice hushed. “He just brought me here to keep me safe.”
Caleb chuckled in that arrogant way of his but thankfully dropped his volume to a more normal level. “Right. That’s why you’re standing there, dressed like a whore with just-been-fucked hair.”
Her blood began to boil as she glared back at him. “I’ve worn this to bed with you a hundred times before. My hair’s messy because I just woke up.”
“Right. Next to him.”
“We slept in separate beds.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
