He blinked at me. “Aren’t you going to get the cook to make me a coffee or something? I took a night flight and I’m knackered.”
“No, she's not here. What is it?”
Phil grinned his sharkish grin at me. “They are nearly doubling the money if you follow their schedule. Nearly double, Lars. You could buy a private island if you want, somewhere far away from this shitty little Podunk nothing of a place,” Phil said gleefully.
“Nearly double?” I repeated, in shock.
“That’s right. Once the real estate developer takes this place off your hands and turns it into a nice little neighborhood, you can walk away and never look back.”
The sound of a glass falling broke me from my amazement, and dread clamped my insides. I knew what I was going to see even before I turned around.
Charlie stood on the bottom step of the staircase, with only my black, ripped t-shirt on. It hung halfway down her thighs, and her dark hair hung in loose ripples across her shoulders. I took in every single thing in her appearance before daring to meet her gaze. Her dark eyes pinned me to the spot.
“Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had company,” Phil said in a smarmy tone that annoyed the fuck out of me. He peered up and down at Charlie and flashed me an indiscreet thumbs-up.
“Get out,” I heard myself say, all without being able to tear my eyes from Charlie’s.
“Sorry?”
“I said get out or you’re fired,” I snapped at Phil, who must have heard the serious as-hell tone in my voice. He turned and left without another word. Phil hadn’t lasted as a rep for temperamental musicians as long as he had without knowing when to get lost.
The door slammed and silence fell over the hallway. Charlie stared at me, unflinching as she crossed her arms. A barrier between us, after the intimacy of last night.
“So, this was the grand plan? Sell Ivy House to some soulless redeveloper? Why bother with the concert, or the donation? You clearly don’t care about Sunshine Home or Briar Vale. Was it just to get laid? You wanted to pop the cherry of the only twenty-three-year-old virgin in town?” Her scathing tone raked across my nerves. She forced out a brittle laugh. “I’m not one to undersell myself, but a million dollars is a bit steep for the dubious, archaic honor.”
“I hardly knew it was your first time before last night, did I?” I pointed out, trying to organize my thoughts into something coherent.
Charlie laughed again. “Wow, yeah, I guess you’re right. You didn’t know. I guess you just saw something you wanted and found a way to get it no matter what-,”
“You wanted me too, and I never lied to you. I’ve been honest every step of the way. Are you seriously regretting what happened between us last night?” The offended feeling rang in my tone. I couldn’t believe she’d belittle the single most intimate moment of my life.
She shook her head. “You’re right. I did want you. I wanted you to be first, and I knew you wouldn’t be staying around. I knew all of it upfront, so I can’t blame you for that – but selling Ivy House to a developer, who’ll tear it down and build condos? I can’t forgive you for that. It’s soulless, Lars. It’s beneath you. You don’t even need the money!” The last came out in a pained cry.
“It’s not about the money!” I heard myself retort roughly. “It’s about this place, and him – Soren. He broke my mother’s heart, and never once wavered about rejecting his family. Why would I care what happens to his house?”
“Because he clearly regretted it. He clearly wanted to share Ivy House with you, and the only way he had to do it was to leave it to you. Can’t you try and understand him? Give him a little grace-,”
“That is something I’ll never do,” I told her firmly, in a tone that brokered no argument. “I might have rolled over like a lonely, lovesick pup for you, but I can’t forget the past with a snap of my fingers. The scars are too deep. That’s not who I am.”
I had gotten close to Charlie now, and she was staring up at me, her green eyes blazing with anger and frustration. She was so close, I wanted to haul her to me and kiss her, stopping all the terrible words being slung between us. I wanted to carry her upstairs back to my room and pretend that Phil had never arrived and dropped a bomb in the middle of the best morning of my life.
“So who are you then?”
“I’m Lars Nilsen and I don’t get close to people. I don’t care about orphans, or local causes, because I used to be one, and I’m never going back there again, not even in my mind. I’m a millionaire many times over, and after this deal, I’ll be untouchable.” My voice was hollow, ringing round and round in my head. I felt like I’d been handed a script to read that wasn’t mine, but it was too late to change it.
“Wow, that’s a lot of things to be.”
Charlie’s soft whisper was full of something I couldn’t consider too closely, or I’d lose my composure.
It was pity. She pitied me.
“I just have one thing to ask you – when you leave here, and this place is demolished, and Briar Vale curses your name, and the memory of you and your uncle fades; will you be happy? Were you happy before you came here?”
I stared at her, words I couldn’t admit building and breaking behind my lips. Was I happy before I came here? I couldn’t answer it. The words wouldn’t come.
Charlie shocked me then, reaching up and cupping my jaw. Her touch was feather light, and her skin so soft I wanted to melt into it. But there was also strength there, silk-wrapped steel. “I don’t regret last night, so I don’t want you to think that, but it’s time for me to go.”
She pulled her hand from my face, and before I could say anything, turned on her heel and went upstairs. I followed her slowly, as if in a dream. What could I say to stop her? What right had I? I was going to sell Ivy House, and leave Briar Vale, wasn’t I? It was what I had always planned. My obsession with Charlie had driven reality out of my mind and now it was pushing back in, unwanted.