He was so damned beautiful I wanted to cry. But not nearly as much as I wanted to scream at him for showing up out of the blue without giving me time to prepare, to figure out how I felt about it.
Charlie’s voice, when it came, washed over me like the familiar sea breeze that blew across the cliffs near his home. “I’m here to protect what’s left of my family’s reputation, you lying piece of…” He caught sight of Pippa and stopped before adding the curse word. “The question is, why are you here? I thought you lived in Dallas?”
My family watched the proceedings like a tennis match. I didn’t care. As far as I was concerned, the only people in the room were me and the man who held my most terrifying secret. One of us needed to go, and it wasn’t me.
“You should go,” I ground out, pointing toward the door.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest, and I noticed for the first time he was wearing the same loose-necked fisherman’s sweater he’d been wearing the first time I’d seen him. Only this time he had a T-shirt on under it, covering what I now knew to be the most delicious shoulders on earth.
I swallowed.
Charlie’s nostrils flared. “I’m not leaving, but don’t let me keep you here, Hudson. Feel free to go back to the city and your big corporate job of stealing people’s family businesses.” His voice lowered to an angry growl at the end, and I knew right away he blamed me for everything.
“I’m not stealing your business,” I said. “And you’re definitely leaving. If you think I’m spending the next few months working with you, you’re mistaken. Go back home, Charlie.” I turned around to find some napkins to begin wiping the coffee drips off my shoes.
“Why should I leave?” he asked, clearly exasperated with me.
I turned back around and let it fly before my brain could kick in and save me from making a huge mistake.
“Because leaving is your thing, isn’t it? That’s all you seem to do when I’m around anyway.” My heart was already in a million pieces just seeing his face and hearing his voice, but when I let those angry words fly, I realized just how hurt I still was after waking up to an empty bed that morning in Cork. I’d thought we’d shared something special that night. Waking up alone had proven I’d been the only one who’d felt that way.
It was then that I noticed his eyes weren’t sparkling with anger, they were sparkling with unshed tears. Oh god.
“Charlie,” I breathed, taking a step toward him as he swiveled away from me and brushed past Sassy toward the door. I wanted to touch him, to hold him, to run up to him and throw myself at his damned feet to beg his forgiveness. But my entire family was watching. I cleared my throat. “Charlie, wait.”
He turned to me, his gorgeous red hair following around in an arc. My fingers itched to touch it, to feel the familiar silky thickness against my skin.
Charlie’s anger was gone, and he looked… lost.
“I won’t…” He looked around, seeming to acknowledge the rest of my huge family for the first time before looking back at me with pleading eyes. “I’m sorry. You know I won’t…” He sighed. “You’re right. I’ll go. It’s best if I go. This clearly isn’t going to work.”
He turned back the way he came, Sassy running after him begging him to wait up for her.
I stood there in shock, lips numbing quickly and hands beginning to tremble. “I have to go,” I whispered.
But before I could move toward the direction they’d gone, my brother West stopped me with hands on both my shoulders. “Woah. Dude, hang on. Let Sassy go after him. She’s not going to let him go anywhere until he calms down anyway. Now sit down and tell us what the hell that was all about. You have never, in my entire lifetime, lost your shit at someone like that. Not even me.”
I glanced toward the front door. “No, I need to go talk to him. I was just surprised, that’s all.”
“Who the hell is that guy?” Otto asked. “I thought he was a chick. One of Sassy’s friends or something. He’s fucking gorgeous. The kid looks like a model for Christ’s sake.”
His husband smacked his man in the stomach. “Ass,” he muttered.
Otto looked at Walker with a sheepish smile. “Tell me you didn’t think the same thing and I’ll apologize.”
“Shut up. That’s beside the point,” Walker grumbled, unable to meet Otto’s eye. Otto laughed and kissed Walker’s temple before putting his arm around the guy and pulling him in close.
My brother Saint adjusted the front of his sweats like a horny teenaged punk. “I wouldn’t mind a few minutes alone with that gorgeous boy. Those lips. Did you see how full they—”