Chapter Eleven #3
“Did you get me drunk on purpose?” I ask playfully.
“Let me take you home,” he whispers as he brushes hair away from my face.
He looks at my lips and I sober up a bit, thinking he’s going to kiss me again. He smiles as he takes ahold of my hand and walks around to the passenger side of his SUV and opens the door. He helps me in and then shuts it behind me before walking over to his side.
We hold hands all the way back to my house. Granted, it’s a short drive, but it’s a large step for us.
Charlie walks me up the porch steps like he’s done so many times before, but the air between us is different this time. It’s charged with possibility.
I thank my lucky stars that Thea is out of the house tonight.
I fumble with the key in the lock, not wanting to let go of his hand. Our fingers are still intertwined as I finally get it open. I turn around in the doorway and stare up at him as the stars twinkle overhead and waves crash in the distance.
“I had a really great time tonight,” I begin, my voice no louder than a whisper.
Charlie smiles. Then, as if in slow motion, he leans down and presses his lips to mine. It’s different than when we kissed this morning in the parking lot. That was quick and new, this is tender and passionate.
He kisses me gently in the moonlight. His hands cradle my face delicately between them.
I bite my lip when we separate and stare at him, searching his eyes. Maybe it’s the wine or maybe it’s Charlie, but every nerve ending inside of me is on fire and I feel like I might combust on the spot.
“I did, too,” he says, his voice dripping with desire.
I can’t help myself. I rise up on my tiptoes and kiss him again, balling my fists into his shirt to pull him closer to me. I want him closer; I’d crawl into his skin if I could.
We part; years of pent-up emotions break free, igniting a hunger in him that I’ve never seen before.
We barely make it through the doorway before his lips are back on mine. Charlie kicks the door shut. I’m walking backwards through the hallway and hit my hip on the table. It reminds me of a day in the diner when I’d done the same thing going to see Judith.
Judith.
I banish thoughts of her from my memory, focusing on the man in front of me. The pain in my hip is nothing compared to the desire in my heart.
He has me pressed against the wall and his hands are at the base of my neck now, tangled in my hair. He gives a quick tug and I lean back under his command, baring my neck to him.
“Good girl,” he murmurs as he presses a trail of kisses down my throat until he reaches my collarbone and I feel his teeth graze the skin there. “You are more lovely than the stars.”
“Charlie,” I say. It comes out a half-whisper, not because I want him to stop, but because I want to make sure we both want this. I want to make sure we won’t regret this in the morning.
He pauses and looks at me; his face illuminated by the pale moonlight streaming in through the window in the door. I search his eyes.
“Are you sure?” I ask through a trembling breath.
“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my entire life,” he replies. “Are you sure? This is a line we can’t uncross.”
“Yes.” It comes out louder and more forceful than I anticipated and he laughs.
“I don’t want you to regret this in the morning,” he adds, brushing hair out of my face.
“Can’t regret something you’ve waited this long for.”
His lips come crashing down on mine again. His hands are at my back, finding the zipper of my dress. Goosebumps spread across my skin like wildfire as he unzips me and begins to slide my dress sleeves off one shoulder at a time.
My phone starts ringing. I frown, distracted now. I start fumbling for my clutch to grab my phone.
“Leave it,” he says breathlessly in between kisses on my shoulder.
“I can’t, it’s Thea,” I say, pulling my phone out of my clutch. I blink a few times to get my eyes to focus. Charlie is fighting with my bra straps as I answer.
“Hello?”
Instead of Thea’s voice, I’m met with Raquel’s. “Hi!” she says.
“Raquel, what is going on?” I ask, eager to end this conversation and get back to kissing Charlie.
“Um, okay.” Her voice is higher than normal and I know instantly that something is wrong. “We came out with some of my friends to Ramona’s and I think someone spiked Thea’s drink.”
“What?” Everything around me stops and time stands still. Charlie freezes, staring at me intently.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Raquel says, “but she was being good and just drinking a soda, not alcohol. She’s acting really weird and I called an ambulance.”
“Oh my God, where are you?” I can hear sirens in the distance but can’t tell if they’re coming from outside the house or through the phone. It has Charlie’s attention now, too. Hastily, he slides my dress sleeves back onto my shoulders and spins me around, zipping me up.
“The ambulance is almost here, just meet us at the hospital,” Raquel says before she hangs up.
“Oh my God,” I repeat as I face Charlie again.
“What is it?” he asks. Concern laces his face.
“It’s Thea,” I say slowly. “Someone spiked her drink.”