Chapter 4
Chapter Four
CHARLOTTE
My blood was still spiked with adrenaline as I stripped out of my costume after my last set.
Grabbing a handful of makeup wipes, I scrubbed at the mess caked on my face until I could mostly see myself through a tiny remainder of eyeliner and mascara.
I threw my hair up into a messy knot at the top of my head and slipped into a pair of yoga pants and a super soft cropped tee with a picture of a glammed-out David Bowie stretched across my chest.
I slid my feet into a pair of flip-flops, and after securing a promise from Marin that she’d be at my place after she was finished for the night, I offered up waves and hugs to the other girls as I headed out.
Letting out a huge exhale, I put my hands on the metal bar of the door and pushed it open.
I jerked to a stop after only a few steps when I turned to look at the spot where Dalton’s truck was usually parked on the nights he came.
It was empty, and as I scanned the rest of the parking lot, I felt my heart sink to the pit of my stomach as my lips tilted into a frown.
“Lookin’ for someone?”
I sucked in a breath at the sound of the deep, husky timbre and spun around, spotting Dalton standing a few yards away, his big truck parked in a different spot than usual. My mouth opened and the words started falling past my lips before I could pull them back. “I . . . I thought you’d left.”
He did something then that he hadn’t done in all the times he’d come to Whiskey Dolls.
Pushing off his truck, he moved across the lot on his dusty, beat-up cowboy boots, closing the distance until there was less than a foot of space between us.
My gaze trailed from those boots, up his long, thick thighs encased in faded denim that looked like it had been washed so many times it would be soft to the touch.
I took in the way his off-white tee formed beautifully to his muscles, lingering just a second longer on the solid wall of his chest before finally looking up at his gorgeous face.
It was the first time in more than six months he’d been so close, and my whole body reacted to his presence in a very big way.
My breathing escalated and my heart began beating a staccato rat-a-tat-tat against my ribs. My skin grew tight and tingly over my muscles as my nipples pinched into stiff, sensitive peaks. A breeze blew by, causing his spicy, woodsy scent to invade my senses.
I couldn’t have looked away from him if I wanted to. Dalton Prescott was the kind of man who demanded your full attention simply by existing. He was like something out of this world. When he walked into a room, you couldn’t help but immediately take notice.
Built like a Spartan warrior, his frame screamed power, all the way from his broad shoulders and wide chest to his taut stomach and trim waist.
When he looked at you with those intense dark eyes the color of swollen rainclouds, it was impossible not to lose your train of thought. Trust me I knew too well from extensive experience.
He wore his beard trimmed short but thick, like he was attempting to hide part of his face, but it did nothing to detract from his dangerously full lips or the hard square cut of his jaw.
With his sharp cheekbones and strong Roman nose, he was a sculptor’s wet dream, a man whose entire being deserved to be captured in stone.
“And that bothered you.” It wasn’t a question.
Dalton had an uncanny ability to see right through me and, it seemed, read my every thought and feeling before I could hide them.
It had been a big point of contention between the two of us back when he’d been assigned bodyguard duty after things with Greg Cormack started to heat up.
Schooling my features, I tipped my chin and squared my shoulders, stating, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His beard twitched, but I couldn’t tell if it was because he was fighting back a grin or because his jaw was ticking in agitation. If I were to base that twitch on our past interactions, it was more than likely the latter.
“That’s bullshit and you know it, Thumbelina,” he rumbled, deep and gravelly.
“Saw you walk out that door, and your eyes immediately shot to where you expected me to be. I watched as your whole face fell when you figured out I wasn’t there.
” His voice lowered, heating up like rich melted chocolate.
“You can lie to yourself, but you aren’t foolin’ me.
” He reached out then, taking a lock of loose hair that rested against my neck and giving it a gentle tug.
Those rough callused fingers brushed the sensitive skin at the side of my throat, causing a shiver I couldn’t suppress to skate along my spine.
I instantly saw that he’d caught my reaction in the way his eyes heated as he stared at me, that gaze holding me captive. “What are you doing?” I asked in a small, tremulous voice.
“Proving a point,” he declared, taking that last step and erasing the rest of the space between us.
The man towered over me by nearly a foot, so I had to tip my head way back.
“When I touch you, you tremble.” He palmed the side of my neck, his thumb coming to rest beneath my jaw, right over my pulse.
“Your breath quickens and your heart starts to race.” He cocked his head to the side in curiosity.
“What do you think would happen if I kissed you again?”
My mind flashed back to the one and only kiss we’d shared, and my mouth grew so dry it felt like I’d swallowed a handful of cotton balls.
Saying that kiss was good would have been like saying chocolate was only okay.
That kiss wasn’t good; it had been utterly devastating to every single one of my senses.
When his lips pressed against mine and his tongue invaded, everything else floated away.
Nothing existed in those seconds but us.
It was as if the rest of the world had melted away.
In that tiny handful of time, I’d forgotten everything and everyone but him.
And it had scared me half to death. I knew without a doubt that if a kiss could rock me to the core like that, I wouldn’t have been able to withstand anything more. And that was what he wanted. He’d made that perfectly clear. He wanted more, and he wanted it with me.
That couldn’t happen.
Micah and Hayden might not have believed it, but I was toxic.
There was no happily ever after for a woman like me who’d made one shitty choice after another.
I couldn’t risk my poisonous life leaching in and infecting Dalton.
He was a good man, one of the best I’d ever met, and he deserved so much more than me.
I couldn’t be what he wanted, but he refused to see it that way, so I’d done the only thing I could think of to save him from the misery I’d undoubtedly inflict on him.
I walked away, making sure I burned the bridge between us until there was nothing left, and I’d done it spectacularly. Or so I thought.
He tipped his head, his face coming closer, and I’d have given anything to feel his lips against mine again. But I couldn’t.
“Dalton,” I whispered, that one word laced with panic. “Please don’t.”
“Why?” he demanded, keeping his face so close I could feel his breath fan across my cheeks. His eyes glinted with determination, and I knew he was trying to read me. “Why don’t you want me to kiss you, Charlotte?”
Because I wouldn’t be able to walk away again if you did, I thought, but I couldn’t say that out loud. Instead, I gave him a lie that left a harsh, bitter taste on my tongue. “Because I don’t feel that way about you.”
He didn’t move away, but his head jerked like I’d just slapped him, and a piece of me shriveled up at the sight of it. I hated myself for hurting him.
He shook his head. The disappointment that bled into his hard expression felt like a hot knife stabbing into my skin.
“Knew you were a liar, but I never took you for a coward.” He finally took a step back, and the pain at the loss of his body heat was damn near tangible. “Guess I read you all wrong.”
With that, he turned on his boots, his long-legged strides carrying him back to his truck quickly.
This time he didn’t wait for me before climbing in and starting the engine, and as he peeled out of the lot without a backward glance, I stood immobile, watching his taillights disappear.
A feeling of sadness crept over me, as if I’d just let something important slip right through my fingers.
I was so damn glad to be getting out of here today, I could hardly see straight.
The hospital was cold and sterile, reeking of antiseptic.
I hadn’t had more than a handful of minutes to myself.
If it wasn’t Micah coming by to check on me what felt like every hour, it was his woman, Hayden pulling a helicopter routine.
Or it was a constant barrage of nurses and doctors coming to run tests or check vitals.
However, while all these people came and went, there was one person who never left my room for longer than it took him to take a phone call or go to the bathroom.
Dalton was a constant looming presence, and the longer he stuck around, the harder it was to maintain those walls that would keep him out.
I’d done the worst possible thing a woman who was in danger and being protected by a tall, broad, sexy security professional could do; I’d gone and fallen for my bodyguard.
A man I’d never be with because there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d ever be good enough for him.
To make matters worse, it had become clear over the past several days of constant contact that I hadn’t been the only one to slip into my feelings. Dalton had made it clear that he wanted me too. With every long, intense look and soft, lingering touch, he was determined to knock those walls down.