She barely glanced at him. “I know.”
Jack suspected thisI knowwasn’t because she trusted him not to hurt her but because she was determined not to let him get close enough to do so. “Charlie—”
“Look, Jack,” she said as she turned toward him, “let’s not pretend this was anything more than what it was.”
“And what was it?”
“A one-time thing, a way to pass the time. It was good”—it was freakingfantastic,but she wouldn’t let him know that—“but nothing more.”
Jack’s teeth ground together as he resisted the urge to shake the infuriating woman. “And what if I said that, to me, it was more than just a way topass time?”
Charlie buried the surge of hope his words brought with them. Words were easy to say; she’d learned that from Chad. “What more could it possibly be?”
“I don’t know, but I’d like to find out,” Jack replied.
He didn’t think telling her about being mates would go over well right now. Charlie was not the type of woman who would become excited about vampire soul mates. She was more likely to laugh in his face.
Charlie debated how to respond to him. Part of her was curious to explore what this was between them too. If it were just her, she’d take the risk, but she also had to worry about Dylan’s heart, and it was far more fragile than hers. Before he was born, his father and grandparents turned their back on him; she’d never let a stranger toss him aside too.
“I have a son, Jack. I don’t have time to play ‘let’s explore things’ with anyone,” she said. “He comes first, and I won’t risk him getting hurt.”
“I’d never hurt Dylan or any child.” There had been a few times when he contemplated choking a Byrne kid or two, but he didn’t think she’d appreciate hearing that, even if they were immortal and he couldn’t kill them. “I like kids.”
“Maybe you wouldn’t hurt him on purpose, but I won’t have anyone flitting in and out of his life because I need a good fucking. He’s been through too much already.”
“And are you often in need of a goodfucking?” he bit out. He knew he had to take it easy with Charlie, but her words sent his blood pressure through the roof.
“What business is that of yours?”
“Charlie,” he growled, unable to stop himself.
“Are you a saint, Jack? I’m assuming you weren’t a virgin until today. Do you plan to tell me you’ve never gone out and hooked up with some random person to scratch an itch?”
“I’m no saint, and you’re not somerandomperson, not to me.”
Charlie’s breath caught as a vein appeared in his forehead. She hadn’t been trying to upset him, but clearly, she had.
“I’ve been with plenty of women whose names I didn’t know and others whose names I forgot as soon as I left them behind,” Jack said.
“I’m sure they appreciated that.”
“They knew what it was,” he bit out. “But that’s not what I want with you.”
“And what do you want with me?” she demanded.
Eternity.But he didn’t say it. He would drive her out of this cave if he did. “A chance for something more.”
Unexpected tears burned Charlie’s eyes; unwilling to let Jack see them, she focused on the ocean again.
“I won’t treat you like the other men you’ve been with, and I’m going to prove it to you.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Man,” she murmured.
“What?”
She turned to look at him. “Man. I’ve only ever been with Dylan’s father. Being a teen mom, who’s working while going to school, doesn’t exactly leave a whole lot of time for dating.” She’d been content with her core group of Miss Dodd and Dylan. “Besides, I didn’t want any more people in my life.”
Her eyes were defiant as they held his, but he sensed the sadness behind her words. She acted tough, but she’d been through a lot, and beneath her remorseless exterior, she was still a vulnerable, frightened girl, and that fear was creating a wedge between them. He couldn’t let it happen.
