“For what? Taking care of your drunk ass?”
“For refusing to sleep with me.”
“That’s a first, isn’t it?” I smile.
Charlie reaches her hand out and takes mine. “It is.”
I suck in a breath and lace my fingers through Charlie’s. “I meant what I said last night.”
Charlie takes her other hand and runs it through my hair. “I know.” She pulls her lips over her teeth and snuggles a little closer. “And I did too.”
“You want to have sex?”
She laughs. “I do—”
I pull her onto me and put my lips to hers. Charlie laughs and moves so she’s on top of me, head resting on my chest.
“Not right now. I kind of feel like I might puke if I move too fast. Oh, shit!” She sits back up again. “What time is it?”
I look past her at the time on the cable box. “Seven-thirty.”
She lays back down and groans. “I have to be at work in less than an hour.”
“I don’t need that much time.”
“Owen,” she starts and sits up again, running her fingers down my chest. Her touch sends tingles through me, and my dick starts to rise. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“If you’re taking back wanting to have sex, then you need to stop touching me. You have no idea how hard it is to resist you, Char.”
She smirks. “I do know how hard it is.”
“Ohhh, a dick joke. Nice.”
“I learned from the best.” She lies down next to me again and I take her in my arms.
“Then what did you mean?”
“I don’t really know,” she admits. “But I do know you make me happy and being with you feels…feels good.”
“I can make it feel better.”
“Can we just start with this?” She pats my chest.
“Snuggling and keeping it all above the waist?” I raise my eyebrows. “You’re not going to make me wait three years to get into your pants again, are you?”
“Make it four.” She sits up again and rubs her eyes. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Maybe you’re still a little drunk. Or sexually frustrated. I can help you with that.”
Laughing, she grabs the water bottle from the nightstand and twists off the cap. “Do you work today?”
“I do.”
“All night?”
“No, I’m opening this morning and I’ll be home by five or six.”
“That’s a long day.” She takes a big drink of water.
“It is. But I own the place. Co-own, sorry. Logan gets his panties in a bunch if I leave the co out of it.”
“I’m going to take you out on a date tonight.”
“Where are we going?” I push up on my elbows.
“It’ll be a surprise.”
I bring my hand to my chest in fake shock. “How will I know what to wear?”
She laughs. “I’ll buy you a fancy suit and send it to you in an overly ostentatious gift box.”
“If it doesn’t have a big red bow, I’m going to be disappointed.”
“And then my driver will pick you up at seven.” Still smiling, she leans in and puts her lips to mine. It’s a quick kiss, and she gets up and goes into the bathroom right after that. But hey…I’ll take whatever I can get.
Because this is all I need. My second chance to prove to Charlie that I’m serious this time around. She’s all I’ve ever wanted, and now she’ll know it.Chapter 28Charlie“You’re in a good mood today.” Amy opens the box of donuts I brought into the office.
“I am,” I agree. “Which is surprising since I didn’t get much sleep last night. I get a little cranky when I’m tired.”
“Were you getting a little something else?” She wiggles her eyebrows, and I laugh. Before I can tell her no, my dad comes into the office and we both stop talking about where I was last night. I don’t know Amy well, and the fact that she’s slept with Owen weirds me out, but she’s nice and I get along with her just fine.
Though it seems like Owen has slept with most of the women in this town, so if his ex-lovers weird me out, I’m going to be limited to talking to only those he’s related to. But the past is in the past, and I can’t hold that against him.
He asked me what changed my mind about being together and I couldn’t give him a clear answer. Because I don’t really know, and when I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.
I thought things would only work if he changed and wasn’t the same Owen Dawson that he used to be. But after last night, I realized he was the same Owen Dawson that he used to be…and that’s the man I loved back then.
Can’t it be the man I love now?
Owen was thoughtful, kind, caring, and devoted back then. Well, until he wasn’t and broke up with me. And this is as far as I get in my logic without being tripped up. But last night wasn’t the first time he stopped me from taking things further in the bedroom. It would have been all too easy to sleep together last night, especially with the way I was throwing myself at him.