Charlotte’s expression turns remorseful. “I’m so sorry.”
I clarify for Dad. “She’s not dead. Not that we know of anyway. She just… left a couple of years ago.”
“Oh.”
I turn to Dad. “I’m going to drop Charlotte off at her car and head home. Call me if Aleah says anything.”
He nods.
“It was nice meeting you. I only wish it were under different circumstances.”
“Me too, Charlotte,” Dad responds.
As I lead Charlotte out of the kitchen, Dad’s eyes meet mine. He doesn’t have to say it for me to know what he’s thinking.
“Go after what you want.” I hear his voice in my head.
The car ride back to Whiskey’s doesn’t take long and it’s made in silence. The parking lot is only half-full compared to what it was when we left. Spotting Charlotte’s car, I pull up behind it. It’s not until I put my car in park that I realize I shouldn’t know what vehicle she drives. I do know because every Monday and Saturday, after I watch her in the park, I follow her back to her car to make sure no asshole fucks with her. Luckily, Charlotte doesn’t call me out on it.
“I wanted to thank you for coming with me tonight. I’m sure having you there helped Aleah.”
She smiles, and the light from the nearby streetlamp has her eyes sparkling. “I’m glad I was able to help. I only wish she would have opened up to me.”
“Dad’s a detective. He and I will find out who did that to her and take care of it.”
She nods. “Does your sister go to Silver Falls High? My sister and her family recently moved to Silver Falls. I have a niece about her age, and I wonder if they know each other.”
“Aleah is my step-sister. Her mom and my dad married six years ago. She left with the mailman a couple years ago and we haven’t heard from her since. Aleah has no other family, so Dad said she could stay with him.”
“The mailman? Seriously?” she asks incredulously.
“As a heart attack.”
“Wow. I thought that stuff only happened in movies and books.”
My lips twist. “Apparently not.” I clear my throat. “And Aleah does go to Silver Falls.”
“I’ll ask Luna if she knows Aleah.”
The car turns silent. Charlotte chews on her bottom lip, taunting me to pull it from between her teeth and take a nibble myself. This is dangerous territory. I need her out of my car before I do something I’ll regret.
Then she does something that damn near has me snapping. Her tongue peeks out and runs across her bottom lip, leaving a glistening sheen behind. I groan—not sure if it was out loud or just in my head—and my cock turns to granite.
She does it again, as if she knows damn well what she’s doing, and drops her eyes to my lips.
“Charlotte,” I grit out between my teeth. “You need to stop. This can’t happen.”
“I agree,” she says, and for a moment, disappointment hits. I didn’t expect her to readily agree with me. “It can’t happen.” Then she adds, “Tonight. But it will, Dr. Erikson. You can’t deny the chemistry we share. I feel it radiating off of you in scorching waves, and I see it in your eyes every time you look at me, no matter how hard you try to hide it. I know you see and feel it from me too. It’s there and it’s not going away. I don’t want it to go away. I want you.”
My jaw clenches because every word she says is true. The chemistry we share is off the charts and stronger than anything I’ve ever felt before. And I get the feeling it won’t fade any time soon. I ball my hands into fists on my thighs to keep from reaching for her.
“I’ll see you Monday,” she says, then quickly gets out of the car.
She’s already closed herself inside her car before I realize what day she said she would see me. Thursday is our regular appointment day. Not Monday. Monday is one of the two days a week I watch her in the park.
Fuck me.
She knows I watch her. She fucking knows I stand across from her in the park as she parts her legs and shows herself to any man who wants to see.