“Did you drive here to get a thank you from me? I bet you did.” I walk over to the counter, putting my hands down on it. I don’t like him thinking he has any kind of claim to my woman. Boss or not, he can go fuck himself. I do my best to keep my manners though. “Well, thank you for forcing Charlotte to come here so that I can convince her that this is where she belongs. If it wasn’t for you ignoring her emails, texts and calls she would never have come here. She sure as fuck wouldn’t be lying in my bed right now. There’s your thanks, now hit the road, Weston. I have a woman to tend to.”
I push off the counter, having made myself crystal clear. To be honest, as well as it had worked in my favor I was mad he’d let me do it to begin with. What if I wasn’t a man that had good intentions? What if it hadn’t been me? “Make sure you don’t say a word of this to Delilah either,” I add, turning to get back to cooking. I don’t need Delilah showing up and adding her two cents. I have one job to do today and that is to make Charlotte fall in love with me. I don’t need anyone getting in my way.
I hear his chair push across the floor, his heavy steps moving toward the door. “I would think you of all people would understand why I did what I did,” he throws at me before I hear the door close shut. A few beats later his truck starts, taking off down my driveway. I feel more like a bastard. He was right. I had him over a barrel when I called for my favor on Charlotte. I do understand. I think my real anger is with myself. I need to come clean to my girl about what I did. I put extra bacon on the stove. Everything always sounds better with bacon. Maybe my confession will too.
13
Charlotte
There’s a slight brush to my face that is as light as a feather. It pulls me from my sleep. A big smile breaks out on my face, knowing that I must have fallen asleep and Colt is back with my breakfast. A girl could get used to this. Normally it’s me up and getting things done for others. I keep my eyes closed, wanting to stay in this moment forever. I’ve never felt more at home than I do at this moment in this bed. The smell of Colt all around me. I can even still feel him on my skin. It’s almost as though he branded himself on me last night.
“You better have my breakfast,” I tease. I’m greeted with a warm lick to my face. My eyes spring open to see Gambit sitting right in front of me. He scares the crap out of me but I laugh and pet his little head. My body is sore from last night but in a good way. I pull myself from the bed stretching as I go. I grab my pajamas from off the floor. As much as I want to stay in bed I want to see Colt more. Pulling on my clothes, I pause when I hear a familiar voice drift down the hall. Mr. Weston is here.
I smile, almost laughing, because for once I’d forgotten about work. It wasn’t a thought in my mind. All I could think about was Colt and it felt good. So good that I’m going to tell Drake I’ll talk to him Monday. Hell, I have so much vacation time I might call it all in.
I pause when I hear my name, my body going stiff as I hear Colt admit that he tricked me to get me here. He had Mr. Weston make sure that I would come here. My boss deliberately ignored me because he knew that I would get on a plane and hunt him down to get my work done. I will deal with him later. Right now I am struggling with myself about how I feel about what Colt did. On one hand I am pissed because he tricked me, but on the other hand I am warmed that he went to such great lengths just to have me.
All of it makes sense now. I am going to rip into Colt about what he did but I’m not going anywhere. I know in my heart that he didn’t do it to be malicious. It’s a little crazy but also flattering thinking about how he orchestrated this entire thing so he could have me. I don’t think a man would do that for a one-night thing.
Thoughts of the men that my mom used to be with drift in and try to take over. They try to play on my insecurities but I won’t let them. I’ve let them rule my life for too long. I know that Colt isn’t that sort of man. This wasn’t about sex. He must have been desperate for me. That’s the only reason he would ever do something like this. While I’m not okay with him deceiving me, I still want him. I love him. It all seems so fast but when you know, you know. In saying that, maybe I should let him have a little taste of what it’s like to be tricked.