Josh nodded. “Believe me, he deserved it.”
“Confirms his reputation.” Gherring stepped back to let them inside and then spoke in a low voice to Josh. “I’m sorry, but we’ll have to file a police report. Take care of her. She’ll have to swear a statement.”
Josh led her out the ballroom door and found a settee in the hallway alcove. He sat her down and knelt on the floor in front of her. He lifted her chin with his hand, which he was annoyed to notice was trembling from the lingering adrenaline rush. “He hurt you?”
She took a deep shuddering breath and vainly attempted to stick her dress back onto the tape that had secured it in place. Josh felt the blood pounding in his head at the image of Arrington pulling at her dress. He took off his tuxedo jacket, and this time she accepted it with grateful eyes when he placed it over her shoulders.
“H-he... he pressed against my chest... so hard... I couldn’t br... breathe... It hurt so much.”
“I should’ve killed him.”
“I’m s-sorry. It’s my f-fault. This s-stupid dress.”
“Arrington is a pig. It’s not your fault.”
“Gram made me wear it. I would never—”
“I know, baby. It’s okay. You can’t
help being beautiful.” He reached out to caress a stray lock of hair that had escaped its confines during the tussle. She shivered at his touch.
“Th-thank you. For saving me.”
“Charlie, don’t you understand? You’re mine. I was out of my mind just because you were dancing with him. When I saw him hurting you, I went crazy. Please. Do you believe me now? Do you know that I love you?”
“I want to, but you came with that woman...”
“I only wanted to have a date in case you had one. Only to make you jealous. She’s nobody—we’ve never dated. I’ve never kissed her. I’ve never even held her hand.”
“Have you really not... not been with anybody for two years?”
“Really. I promise, I haven’t. Charlie, you ruined me for other women. I haven’t even wanted anyone else. Only you. Only you, Charlie. Do you believe me now? Do you know I want to marry you? Only you? Even if I wasn’t adopting Jace and Chloe, I would still want to marry you.”
“I don’t know, Josh. You don’t know. It could just be physical.” Her eyes dropped to her lap. “You know... lust instead of love.”
“Charlie,” he held her hand between his and bent his head until he caught her eyes. “I know what lust is. I’ve had plenty of it. That’s all I ever had before I met you. You may not know the difference, but believe me, I do. This is not lust. This is love.”
“Eh-hem,” a voice came from behind Josh. “Excuse me. Ms. Best? I’m officer Garrison. I need to take your statement.”
CHARLIE WALKED BACK to the table like a zombie, still wearing Josh’s tuxedo coat, while he was giving his statement. Emily and Grace jumped up to hug her.
“Sister, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”
“Does everyone in the place know what happened? I’m so mortified.”
“Everyone doesn’t know,” Grace assured her. “But Steven told us what happened. They’re trying to keep it under wraps, but the social reporters know something happened.”
“That guy was a creep, but this dress didn’t help things.”
“I know. I guess you should’ve refused to wear it, but you having on that dress doesn’t excuse him for what he did. Mom says he’ll lose his job for sure. I’ve never seen Dad that angry.”
“But Josh saved you, right? Now do you believe he loves you?” asked Grace.
Charlie’s attention was drawn to Collin’s laughter.
“Give it back, Collin!” Derek grabbed for something Collin was holding over his head.
“What is this? You’ve got some phone porn here?” asked Collin. “Charlie, did you know your date’s got a picture of some topless woman on his phone?”