Chapter 38
TRENT
By the time we finally made it home, the night had gone quiet with only the sound of crickets chirping in the air. Charlotte kicked off her heels in the foyer like she’d been doing it her whole life and I didn’t know why it affected me the way it did, but it did.
Suddenly, all I wanted was to pull her into my arms and hold her there forever. I almost did it too, but then she glanced at me, her head tilting. “Are Jameson and Sadie staying here tonight?”
“No,” I said, locking the door behind us. “Mom insisted they stay at the lodge. Something about them needing space with the kids and Jameson needing a real bed or he’d be useless as a bull with no horns tomorrow.”
Charlotte laughed, the sound quiet and warm. God, I love that sound.
She shook her head as we headed toward the stairs, her hands already at the side of her face to slide one earring out of her lobe. “Like there’s not enough space here for the kids. Or real beds, but I get it. She wants her grandchildren with her, under her roof while they’re here.”
“Yeah, I know. I almost pointed out that our beds are newer than hers, but she was so excited about the possibility that Hailey and Briar might come climb in bed with her in the morning that I just let it go.”
We drifted into the bedroom like we’d done it a thousand times before, even though we hadn’t done any sort of nighttime routine together yet. So far, we’d managed to keep missing each other when it came to this part of the night.
She gathered her hair up, pins clicking softly as she pulled them free. Then she sat at my bathroom counter, opening a little travel pouch that had been sitting on the vanity.
She glanced at me over her shoulder. “You don’t mind if I…?”
“Not at all.” I shook my head. “It’s your house too, Charlotte. While you’re at it, you should unpack that thing. You’re not living out of suitcases in your own home.”
Her eyes softened like she didn’t quite believe it but wanted to. I leaned against the doorway and watched her take off the other earring, then her makeup. Each swipe took her a little closer to the bare-faced version of her I was starting to crave seeing.
I brushed my teeth beside her while she washed her face, and the domesticity of it blindsided me. It was stupid, sinks side by side, her toothbrush next to mine, but it hit deep in a place I didn’t talk about. Not with anyone.
“How did you feel about today?” I asked, drying my hands and trying to sound casual. “Did you enjoy your first Shepard Labor Day barbecue?”
“I survived,” she said, smiling at me in the mirror. “That feels like an achievement.”
“You handled it really well.”
She snorted. “I was mostly introduced to people whose names I’ll never remember.”
“No,” I said, gently nudging her hip with my own so she’d look at me. “You handled it well. Better than I honestly expected. Don’t sell yourself short.”
She paused, the towel in her hands going still. “Is that a compliment?”
“Yeah, it is. I’m…” Proud of you. So damn proud, I can’t count the number of times I looked at you today and thought, that’s my wife. “I’m impressed.”
A flush crept up her chest and she turned away for a moment, like she wasn’t sure what to do with that. I cleared my throat, trying to break the weight of the moment. “So, how many charities signed you up for committees and events you’d never have volunteered for?”
“They’re not after me.” She rolled her eyes. “If anything, they’re after your money.”
“Our money,” I corrected, grabbing a T-shirt from my dresser, but she shook her head, her mouth firm.
“No, Trent. Yours. I plan on getting my inheritance. It’s rightfully mine. I’m married now. That was the deal.”
I let out a slow breath. Here we go.
“That’s part of the problem,” I said. “According to Alex.”
She stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not entirely sure.” I sat on the edge of the bed with my elbows on my knees. “Jameson just said that your inheritance is somehow in the mix and that there’s a possibility you might not get it even though you’re married.”
She blinked at me like I’d slapped her with a sentence she couldn’t process. “That’s ridiculous. Our grandfather made the rules. We get married, we get access. I’m married.”
“I know,” I said gently.
“No, I mean, it’s absurd.” She paced a small circle at the foot of the bed, bare feet silent on the rug. “Oh, God. This is crazy. So you have to go to Chicago with your lawyer because of me?”
“Gregory,” I said firmly. “Not you. Let’s just get some sleep, okay? It’s been a long day. We can talk about this more tomorrow.”
Charlotte exhaled a long, harsh breath, then jerked the covers back and slipped beneath them like she was trying to disappear, and I hated that. I hated the way her shoulders curled in on themselves and how she was staring at the ceiling instead of at me.
Mostly, I hated that I recognized the look on her face right now. I’d worn it a hundred times myself, so I knew it really fucking well.
She felt like a burden. Hell no. Not on my watch, you won’t.
I slid across the mattress and wrapped an arm around her waist before she could get lost in whatever spiral she’d been sucked into. She drew in a sharp breath as I pulled her against my chest.
“Hey,” I murmured into her hair. She didn’t answer, but she didn’t pull away either. I tucked my chin near her temple. “You think you’re causing trouble for me.”
She breathed out, barely a whisper of air. “Aren’t I?”
“No,” I said, immediately and firmly. “Not even close.”
She didn’t argue, but she didn’t believe me either. I could feel it in the tension along her spine. Charlotte was so damn tough, so quick with those sharp eyebrows and sharper comments, but when it came to her own worth, she was glass. Clear. Transparent. Delicate.
Like a single wrong word could crack something she’d spent her whole life trying to glue together. I couldn’t let this break her. I fucking refused. She was worth more than all the money in her inheritance combined with all the money in mine. So much more.
“You’re not a burden,” I murmured, my voice quieter now. “I swear to you, you’re not.”
“I didn’t want…” she trailed off, letting out a deep sigh. “I didn’t want all of this to blow back on you.”
“You think I can’t handle Chicago?” I teased lightly, brushing my thumb over her hip. “I grew up meditating with goats and shoveling manure every summer. I can handle your family.”
She produced a weak little exhale that was probably supposed to have been a laugh. “You did not meditate with goats.”
“Maybe not regularly. I mean, Mom made me try it once and it was fucking terrible, but the point is that I did sign up for this.”
Her body stilled, like she was bracing for the worst still to come. “Not for—”
“All of this,” I said emphatically, tightening my arm around her. “You. Us. Stop acting like you’re something I accidentally tripped over.”
Silence stretched between us for a long minute before she whispered, “I didn’t mean to make your life harder.”
“You didn’t.” I pressed my mouth to the side of her head. “You made it interesting.”
She finally turned a little, just enough to look at me fully. Her eyes were shimmering in the dark. “Interesting, huh?”
“And better.” I traced the soft line of her jaw. “God, Charlotte. You make my life so much better.”
That did it. Her shoulders finally dropped, her breathing stopped for a moment, and her weight melted back into me. She rolled toward me slowly, almost cautiously, like she wasn’t sure if she was allowed.
I moved with her, bringing her close enough that she’d feel every inhale I took. When her hand slipped onto my chest, my heart kicked hard against her fingers.
“Trent,” she whispered. “I’m trying. I really am.”
I didn’t know what she meant exactly, if she was trying to trust me, trying to believe she wasn’t dragging me into a mess, or trying to see herself the way I saw her, but I knew it was true. Every part of her was trying.
“I know you are,” I said. “I see it every fucking day.”
She leaned into my hand like she needed the contact. Leftover tension from my conversation with Jameson eased in the nicest damn way, slow and happy, and when I pressed my mouth to hers, the kiss wasn’t fast, or hard, or hungry.
I brushed hair behind her ear and savored every moment of having her soft lips against my own. I gave her all the time in the world to pull back if she wasn’t ready, but she didn’t.
She lifted her chin, meeting my mouth with a soft, searching pressure that caught me completely off guard. After the day we’d had, I’d expected hesitation. Maybe even outright rejection, but she kissed me like someone who’d rather have been doing this all along.
Her fingers slid to the back of my neck, tentative and warm, and my whole chest tripped over itself. I deepened the kiss just a little, letting her set the pace instead of demanding the way my body was trying to insist. It was killing me, but she wasn’t just a fuck or a one-night stand.
I’d had plenty of those over the years and it’d conditioned me to move fast. Take control. Fuck hard.
Charlotte pulled back for a second as if she’d sensed I was handing her the reins, her breathing suddenly shaky and eyes wide in the dark. “I don’t, uh, I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Yes, you do,” I said quietly. “You’re doing exactly what you want to do.”
“But—”
I shook my head, brushing my thumb over her bottom lip. “Stop thinking.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s not really in my skill set.”
I laughed softly and her smile broke through. She moved her head closer to mine again, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Whatever I want?”
“Whatever you want, baby.”
“What if what I want is for you to, uh, well, you know.”
“Say it.”
She let out a soft groan. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.” I took her face in my hands and made her look into my eyes. “Let’s set some new ground rules.”
“Now?”
“Yep.”
She sighed. “Like what?”
“Like when it’s just me and you,” I murmured, my voice getting husky as I dragged her closer to me.
A soft hiss escaped before I could bite it back when her soft warmth brushed against my rapidly hardening cock, but I exhaled through it.
“You get to say exactly what you want to say, no matter what it is. It can be filthy, offensive, mean, or whatever else. Just say it.”
“What else?”
I felt a smirk sliding across my lips. “I want to hear you. Your pleasure. Your opinion. Doesn’t matter. As long you’re there.”
“I think I’m starting to get the drift,” she whispered, snaking her palm down the length of my abdomen to the waistband of my boxer briefs. “Fine. I’ll play. I don’t want to be the one thinking tonight. I don’t want to have to decide what’s going to happen. I just want to feel. To be with you.”
“I can do that.” I kissed her again and I didn’t hold back.
Her body pressed closer to mine, her knee brushing my hip when she hooked her leg around me. I slid my hand down her spine, but our movements weren’t rushed or frantic. She fitted herself against me, her warmth against my rigid cock, the sounds of our ragged breathing and moans filling the air.
I rolled us gently, hovering above her and her hands slipped under my shirt, her fingertips skating over my ribs, and I felt every point of contact like she’d drawn lines of heat across my skin.
Her voice was a whisper against my mouth. “Trent.”
Hearing her say my name like that undid me completely. I kissed her deeply, desperately trying and failing to control the rocking of my hips. She arched into me, her breath merging with mine and her hands sliding to my shoulders like she wanted me closer. Wanted more. Wanted me.
I reached for her shirt and pulled it off over her head, taking her panties and her pajama shorts next. In the back of my mind, pounding like a second heartbeat, was a truth I wasn’t ready to say out loud yet.
I’m yours. I don’t know when it happened, but I’m yours.
She pulled me down again when she was naked and I kissed her like I’d been saving every ounce of my need just for tonight. Her hands started working on my clothes, stripping me down without saying a word and, more importantly, without stopping to ask for permission or if it was okay.
It was like she was finally accepting that I wanted her. Always. And the knowledge made everything else, Chicago, Gregory, her inheritance, and the expectations, vanish from my mind.
Tonight, the only thing that mattered was the woman in my arms and the way she finally stopped trying to shrink herself down to something small and forgettable, because she was neither of those things. She never had been, and I wouldn’t stop until she realized that she was everything.