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Christ. How long has it been since I’d touched her? My whole body reacts with a need. My senses intensify at her sweet scent. Her soft cool hands press against my abs with a groan as she struggles to shimmy off me like she’d just walked into a spider web.
“Oh God. What the—who does that? Who just pulls the door open like that?”
“I saw you coming. What, is it a thing to wait for the knock? Also, not my fault you attempted to break this door with your huffing and puffing.”
“I don’t puff,” she huffs, looking at my chest. “Put a shirt on, Jesus.”
“It’s my house and it’s not like I invited you in. I plan on seeing myself back to bed once you say what you came here to say.”
“Bullshit. You never sleep past seven.”
I scratch my head—which is still a mess from my restless night thinking about some bucket list. “Did you need something?” I’ve become eerily good at hiding my amusement because this is exactly what I expected her to do.
Her cheeks flush beautifully in the sunlight as she struggles to avoid my bare chest. Her green eyes sparkle with either horror or…appreciation. God, has it been that long that I can’t even tell anymore?
She blinks and closes her mouth, swallowing. “I’ll do it…the wedding. With you. All the things.”
As usual, forming a sentence is not her forte, but I get her. “What changed?”
She tilts her head. “I’m leaving. After the wedding. And… I don’t want to leave holding onto this.” She glances down at the foot of space between us.
I dip my eyes to the bags of groceries at my welcome mat. The items I had delivered to her apartment this morning. I reach in and pull out a bag of organic instant coffee. Charlie’s always running late so I knew traditional brewed coffee wouldn’t get anywhere in her kitchen so instant was the optimal choice.
I step aside to let her in but she doesn’t move. Her petite frame stands stubbornly outside the threshold, her arms folded, her face turned toward the mountains.
“Are you going to come in?”
Charlie shakes her head. “No. I just wanted to return these and let you know that I can be adult about all this.”
I scoff and turn toward the kitchen. “So far so good.”
My house isn’t glamorous in the least. It’s a one-story, two-bedroom A-frame ranch with large windows. The walls are off-white but the rest of my space contains dark, rustic furniture. A black L-shape sofa with white pillows, a matching cowhide rug, and an oak coffee table. That’s it. No useless console tables, end tables, or ottomans. I keep my home free of useless clutter collecting garbage.
I tear open the package of coffee and watch Charlie press the sole of one foot over the threshold like she’s going to set off an infrared laser sensor.
I turn to hide my smirk and pull two glass mugs from the overhead cabinet.
“What else?” I ask, my back turned to her as she steps in.
“How do you know there’s something else?”
I give her a pointed glare. “There’s always something else you hold back on telling me, Charli—Charlotte.”
She winces. “That, for one. You can call me Charlie again if you want. It was a little…childish of me to ask you not to.”
She had taken that privilege away from me last fall after I had her fired from the library. When Pepper’s politician fiancé found out she’d been hiding out in Hideaway Springs, he had her followed. Photographs of her and Charlie at the library were taken and there was a million-dollar reward posted for whoever found his missing bride.
Which meant Charlie was in danger. I knew she’d never stay away from the library willingly, so I made sure she couldn’t go back.
I drop two sugar cubes into her cup. “Thanks, I prefer it,” I say, handing it to her.
She takes it as a peace offering.
“So how do we do this?” I ask with a sigh.
Her eyes widen appreciatively when she takes a sip. A sliver of foam on her lip draws my attention. She takes another one, practically moaning as she does. Christ, is that really necessary? Why can’t people just drink coffee silently?
“Civilly.” She blinks and sets the cup down. “Like, we could plan the bachelorette and bachelor parties together. It should be the same day…and we should decide if it’s an evening-only thing or a full-day event.”
