Chapter Eighteen
Lucas
Icouldn't seem to shake the knot in my chest.
Was it anger? Fear?
Fuck that. I don't get scared.
There was no denying we'd all been lulled into a false sense of security over the last few weeks. Charlie's stalker had backed off and we were all relieved. Me, most of all.
This thing with Charlie would run its course, likely sooner than later. As long as the stalker was out there, I had an excuse to stick close.
We'd moved way beyond friends with benefits. I didn’t know what we were, but whatever it was, I liked it.
I liked being with Charlie.
Not just in bed, though that was fucking spectacular. Before Charlie, I'd never been a guy to go back for seconds. Honestly, I'd expected the whole thing with her would be over before it started.
In a million years, I never would've imagined she'd be this good. It wasn't that she was skilled. I'd been with women who had way more experience.
For the first time, sex wasn't about experience. It wasn't about tricks and skills. It was all about Charlie. Not the way her pussy gripped my cock or how well she used her hot mouth. All of that would've been enough.
No, it was her. The way she smelled underneath her lotions and sprays, her natural musky sweetness. The silk of her hair. The way she never took my shit or let me boss her around.
It was everything. I was totally fucked. I knew it. Everyone who saw us knew it. As soon as we caught the stalker and she was safe, I'd be out of excuses.
I was turning down work every day. I picked up a few small jobs I could do from my laptop, but I turned down everything that would take me out of town.
Leaving Charlie unprotected was out of the question.
Never mind that Sinclair would have a guy on her the second I stepped away. No one could keep her safe the way I could.
No one.
Sinclair Security only hired the best. I didn't doubt that whoever they assigned to Charlie would be technically proficient. Considering that they thought of her as family, whoever it was wouldn't just be proficient, they'd be exceptional. But no one knew her like I did.
To them, she'd be just another client. They wouldn't get that she was precious. And it wasn't just about keeping her safe, it was about making sure she wasn't afraid. That she never had to be afraid again.
Fuck.
The look on her face when I ripped open the door to her shit heap of a truck left me sick with rage. Her ocean blue eyes had been wide with shock, her skin blue-white it was so pale.
She'd been so fucking proud of her front porch, the new planking, the patches on the siding. It looked like a mess, but anyone who'd renovated a house could see the progress. Now, some asshole had destroyed it and stolen her peace.
When we finally managed to pin this on Hayward, I was going to fucking kill him.
Aiden had called a family meeting for dinner even though Holden and Tate were out of town at a gaming conference.
After announcing the dinner, he left, taking Charlie with him.
Letting Evers lead her out to the car, he stopped at the door to say to me, "You'll move her stuff over? And be at dinner tonight?"
I nodded. Aiden lifted his chin in goodbye and left. I kept waiting for him, for any of them, to object to Charlie sleeping with me.
The Winters clan was surprisingly laid-back. I didn't get it, because they were bossy as hell with every other aspect of Charlie's life. Aiden had fucking fired her from a job she excelled at because he didn't think she was happy, but they didn't mind her shacking up with me.
If I had a little sister, I sure as hell wouldn't want her shacked up with a guy like me.
Shaking it off, I locked my house and headed next door to get Charlie's things. I went in through the back door, winding my way through the crew working on her kitchen. It would be a while, but the room was starting to take shape.
Her design was the complete opposite of mine, but I liked it. Where my kitchen was dark, with bold colors and dense concrete countertops, hers was all light.
Custom white cabinets with glass doors on the top, all the appliances covered in the same white woodwork. Beautiful white marble on the counters and island, deep farmhouse sinks like mine and a huge gas range, also like mine.
It was smart, considering that the big window in the kitchen looked out onto the covered porch. The view was pretty, but without direct sunlight, the room could've been too dim.
Charlie had chosen a funky black iron and crystal chandelier to hang over the island. It was an offbeat choice, but I could see, looking at the rest of the room, that it would be perfect. A spark of Charlie in an otherwise too-perfect kitchen.
She was good at this. If she decided to flip the house, she'd probably make a decent profit even considering how much she was using contractors.
She was planning on keeping this place, but I caught her checking out listings in the neighborhood on her tablet. I'd wondered if she was being so stingy about the truck because she wanted to keep her cash handy to invest in another house.
I hated that truck. I knew I'd been a dick at the dealership. And I respected that she wasn't wasting money. I did.
But Charlie was too good for a piece of shit truck. She deserved something better. If she'd let me, I would've bought her a new one.
Stupid, I know.
I was never reckless with my savings, but the second I'd offered, I knew I meant it. I wanted her to have something from me. Something I'd given her, something that she needed.
I didn't try to justify the impulse. I was afraid if I thought about it too much, I wouldn't like what it said about my feelings for Charlie. I should have been relieved she turned me down. I wasn't.
If she wouldn't let me buy her a truck, at least she was letting me keep her safe. I packed up her things with quick efficiency. She'd only brought a duffel bag from Winters House, but in the weeks since, her belongings had expanded.
It took two trips, but I managed to get her moved in, making space on the other side of my dresser for her stuff. I was not going to think about the jolt in my chest at seeing her clothes neatly folded in her own drawer in my bedroom.
I was not going to think about the way they looked right, her T-shirts, her lace underwear and practical athletic bras. I wasn't going to take a deep breath, absorbing the flowery fruity scent of her lotion.
It didn't belong here.
She didn't belong here.
The sooner I got that straight in my head, the better.
It was time to draw some boundaries. For my own sake, if not for hers. Sleeping with her, moving her in with me, that was all tied up in protecting her and our previous arrangement as neighbors with benefits.
Going to dinner at Winters House? That was another thing altogether. It was as close to dinner with her parents as I'd ever get, and it sent everyone the wrong message.
Before I could think too much, I picked up my phone and dialed Charlie, intending to cancel. She could get a ride home with one of her brothers or Vance and Magnolia.
Charlie didn't answer.
"Problem?" Aiden asked brusquely.
Mentally shifting gears, I said, "No problem. Stuff has come up. I'm not going to make dinner. Can you give Charlie a ride home?"
There was a long pause.
Then Aiden said, "Bullshit. I wouldn't have taken you for a pussy."
Did he just call me a pussy?
Gritting my teeth, I said, "Fuck off, Winters. I said something came up."
"Yeah, and I said it's bullshit. You don't have to be scared. We don't bite."
"Now I'm agreeing with Charlie. You're an asshole," I said. I wanted to hang up on him. I wanted to go over there, snatch up Charlie, and drag her back to my house so we could avoid the whole Winters family scene.
Dammit.
"Fine." I ground out.
"Dinner is at seven. Be here by six." Aiden hung up.
Asshole.
I got in a few hours of work before I closed my laptop and headed to Winters House. Charlie had given me the gate code, so I didn't have to go through the pain in the ass of calling the house to get on the property.
I liked living in the Highlands, liked the energy and the people. But there was something awe-inspiring about rolling down the long drive, shaded by old-growth trees, to discover Winters House nestled in the hills.
On ten acres in the heart of Buckhead, Winters House was a fairytale, the kind of house I'd thought royalty lived in when I was a poor kid growing up in a trailer.
Built in a square around a central courtyard in a Mediterranean-style, the red tile roof and creamy walls were warm and welcoming despite the dark iron gates blocking access to the inner courtyard. They opened smoothly as I approached.
I'd been in houses like this before, mostly on the job or meeting clients. Rarely as a guest.
My years in the Army, and those I'd spent on my own after I went private, had given me the confidence to deal with people on every level of society.
Money didn't intimidate me. Neither did power. If I was here on a job, it would be business as usual. No big deal. I wouldn't have this niggling certainty in my gut that I didn't belong anywhere near Winters House. Or Charlie.
Day by day, being with Charlie was so easy, so natural, I forgot who she really was. I'd started calling her Princess to poke at her, but lately to me, Princess just meant Charlie.
My Charlie.
But Charlie had grown up here, like a real princess behind castle walls. She was so far out of my league it was like looking at the sun. I'd been right to try and cancel.
I already knew I was in too deep with her, but I wasn't ready to let her go.
Not yet.
Deep down, in the hidden parts of my heart I rarely examined, I had the fear that seeing me in Winters House, surrounded by her family, she'd realize I didn't belong and that would be the end.
I was here now. It was too late to run away.