I shrugged. “It’s been a week.”
“It has. But you’ve dealt with it amazingly. You’re so strong.”
“I had good help.” I nudged him with my shoulder. “Come on, walk with me, otherwise you’ll seize up and I’ll have to carry you back.”
I let out a contented sigh as Charlie slipped his hand in mine, pulling it to his lips and kissing my fingers before letting our entwined hands fall between us again.
“I hope you don’t mind the hand holding. My legs are like jelly. I need you to hold me up.”
“Well, if you need me, then I’m happy to be of assistance.”
“Take off your sunglasses, Princess.”
“Why?” I asked, turning to face him.
“Because I want to ask you something, and I want to look at you when I do.”
“Just so you know, if you propose, the answer will be no.”
His hand flew to his chest as he pretended to be wounded. “Okay, I’ll save that for another day, but can we be serious for a second?”
“If we must,” I said as I slipped my glasses off, wincing because my face still hurt when I touched it.
It’s New Year’s Eve tomorrow, and the plan was we go home and spend it doing… well, our own thing. Is that what you want?”
My heart hammered at the thought of going back. At the thought of having to tell people what happened. At the thought of making a decision about how I wanted to deal with James. Even though the tears had stopped, the fear, the memories, the shame… that was all still very real.
“There isn’t a right answer,” Charlie reassured me, cupping my cheek gently, his eyes fixed on mine, making me feel safe. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I don’t want to leave. Not yet. I mean, I know I need to, but I was thinking of staying a few more days. Maybe until the 2nd or 3rd. I know you have things to get back for, so you go back like we planned. I totally understand that—”
“Hey, stop right there. I’m not going anywhere. You want to stay, we stay.” He paused. “Honestly, I like being here with just you. I can see why Addi and Mav go away for three months a year. I used to think it was weird. I mean, what did they do on a tiny island for three months, but now I can see the benefits.”
“She always comes back smiling.” I grinned.
“I bet. I’ve heard about Mav being more than your average man.”
I laughed. “Are you looking for me to bolster your ego, Myth Maker, because you know you’re no average size? I’m not sure I’ll ever walk properly again.”
“Well, the way you were running, I obviously need to do more.” He wiggled his eyebrows as we started walking toward the end of the trail before we turned and made our way back.
“If we stay though, it’s on one condition… that we call Neo and tell him what happened.”
I froze.
“If we don’t go back tomorrow, he’ll know something is wrong. There is no way you would voluntarily stay longer with your family, and he knows that. You need to tell him, Princess.”
“I can’t…”
“I’ll be right there with you. You don’t have to make any decisions, you just need to let him know. He cares about you. He’s going to want to help any way he can.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Okay, one more awkward question and then I think we should go back because I’m exhausted and I’m missing your naked body way too much, but have you thought about what you want when you get home?”
“You mean in terms of James? Pressing charges?”
“No, actually, I meant with us.” Charlie took a breath before he continued. “I mean, I know we’ve not talked about this or what’s going on and it might just be a fling. You needed me to wipe away a memory. I understand that, but well, this feels different for me. I’m normally a one night man and then I move on. Or I start out with someone with both of us knowing it’s nothing serious, but…” He glanced over at me, the peak of his cap hiding his eyes from me, his face looking more like a nervous child than the famous rock star who had women falling at his feet. “Things with you feel different. I just wondered if you’d thought about what you want from this when we get home.”
