Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
CHARLOTTE
His sister?
Yep. There was no doubt about it. My head was definitely about to explode. Only now it would be due to embarrassment instead of anger.
It all made so much sense now. The dark hair, those stunning features that all women around the world would envy, the eyes only a few shades lighter than charcoal.
Now that the red haze of anger was no longer clouding my vision, I was able to see that the resemblance was downright uncanny.
She was basically the beardless female version of Dalton, which was why she was so freaking beautiful.
“Um . . .” Humiliation seeped from my pores. There was really no way to come back from this.
“Hi, Charlotte. It’s nice to meet you.” The woman now known as Jolie extended her hand and gave me a stunning, genuine smile, laced liberally with humor.
Crap, and she’s super sweet too. Well that’s just great.
I took her offered hand, shaking it woodenly. “Y-yeah. It’s um, nice to meet you too.”
I couldn’t bring myself to look in Dalton’s direction after letting my anger and jealousy get the best of me and giving way too much of myself away.
“Sorry for interrupting,” I muttered as I started inching backward. “I’ll just . . .” I threw my thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the table I’d stormed away from a couple minutes ago. “Enjoy the rest of your lunch. The burgers here are awesome.”
With that, I whipped around, slamming my hip into the table behind me. I let out a grunted curse, but refused to look back at the Prescott siblings as I speed-walked—speed-limped—back to my table, ignoring the wide-eyed gaping from my friends.
“Did you tell Rory our order’s to-go?” I whisper-yelled to Layla as soon as I got close enough.
“Yeah. Got it right here.” She pointed to the two plastic bags with their handles tied into knots. “What’s going on? Are you okay? That looked like it hurt.”
It did. It really freaking did. “We have to go. Now,” I urged, grabbing my purse and flinging it over my shoulder. Thankfully, my friends followed suit without argument. “That’s not his date. That’s his sister, and I just made a complete ass out of myself.”
“I know now’s not the time,” Sloane said quietly as the four of us booked it toward the exit, “but just to warn you, I totally plan on laughing my ass off about this later.”
Dalton
It was damn near impossible for me to rip my eyes off Charlotte’s ass as she hightailed it out of The Tap Room with her crew in tow.
I’d clocked her the minute she and her friends had stepped into the bar, but I hadn’t made it obvious.
That was a feat in itself, considering how just the sight of her drove me out of my goddamn mind, but with all her long hair hanging loose and wild down her back and those tight black leggings formed to her like a second skin, it took everything I had to keep from going hard as I tried to concentrate on the conversation I’d been having with my sister.
But when the sole object of every fantasy and erotic thought I’d had for the past several months was in the same room, she was damn near impossible to ignore.
Then, of course, there was the fact that the baggy gray sweatshirt she was wearing was cropped so high, a good two inches of her soft, creamy skin showed between the hem and the waistband of her pants. Just that small, silky strip of flesh was all it took to drive me out of my mind.
When she came stomping over to my table, I’d been pleasantly surprised to see that fire in her eyes.
For six and a half months, the Charlotte I’d gotten to know, the fiery, blunt, strong woman I’d developed feelings for when I was put in charge of keeping her safe, had been missing in action.
That anger on her face was the first time I’d seen that spark of life in her in way too goddamn long.
She’s been walking around in this cloud of sadness for months, like she was unsure of herself and every move she made, and I fucking hated it.
That fire was a part of her, and seeing it back on her face, even in anger, made my blood heat.
When she called me cowboy with all that same attitude she used to give me when she’d called me that in the past, I felt my dick stir.
Then she lost control. I could see on her face she hadn’t meant to let all that slip, but that was all I needed to know . . . I was in.
“That wasn’t nice,” Jolie scolded, pulling my mind back to the present. I looked across the table to see her staring at me with a reproachful scowl on her face. “You didn’t need to let her dangle like that. You could’ve put her out of her misery a lot sooner.”
“It was a means to an end,” I grunted, taking a sip of my iced tea.
My little sister rolled her eyes. “It was you being a jerk and getting a kick out of her misery.”
I didn’t bother denying it or acknowledging that she might have been a little bit right.
She looked back toward the door Charlotte had just bolted through, her expression a mixture of thoughtful and excited. “So . . . that’s her, huh? The woman you told us about?”
I lifted my chin in the affirmative. I didn’t make a habit of telling my family about every aspect of my life, but the story about Greg Cormack had been newsworthy, and Charlotte had gotten caught in the crossfire.
Reporters were camped out outside the hospital, trying to get the story of the woman who’d almost died at the hands of a maniac who carried a badge, and I’d unintentionally been caught on camera on more than one occasion.
It didn’t take long at all for the story to work its way through the states to Wyoming, and it was only a matter of days before my folks were blowing up my phone, asking what the hell was going on in my sleepy little town.
I couldn’t answer all their questions without mentioning Charlotte, and even though I didn’t come right out and admit I had feelings for her, they had read between the lines way too damn easily, piecing the truth together before I could deny it.
It was one of the curses that came with being from such a tight-knit family. My parents and baby sister could read me like a goddamn book.
“She’s very pretty.” Jolie’s eyes came back to me, her lips trembling with a smile she was fighting to suppress. “And such a tiny little thing.”
“Oh, for the love of Christ,” I grunted, rolling my eyes skyward as my sister’s excitement grew.
“She’s downright pocket-sized.” Her lips tilted upward as she gave a little bounce in her chair. “It’s actually kind of adorable. With her being so small and you being so big, you two look super cute together.”
“All right. We’re done with this conversation,” I grunted.
“Oh come on,” she whined dramatically. “When’s the last time you were interested in someone, like really interested? Excuse me for being a little excited that you finally met someone you actually like.”
My back stiffened a bit at the uncomfortable turn the conversation had taken. I might have been close with my family, but that didn’t mean I was a fan of discussing my love life with my baby sister.
“There have been other women,” I stated defensively.
Jolie’s expression told me she thought I was full of shit, and she wasn’t totally wrong.
I hadn’t exactly been a choir boy since getting out of the service and moving to Hope Valley to work for Linc’s company, but not one of the women I’d seen had been serious enough to discuss with my family.
As a matter of fact, if I’d happened to be dating someone during one of Jo and my parents’ annual trips, I made sure the woman knew I’d be unavailable for the week, not stopping for even a second to consider inviting her to meet my family.
As I gave that some thought, I realized I actually liked the fact my sister had met Charlotte.
“You realize we aren’t actually together, right?” Despite my efforts, I thought to myself.
She leaned in and lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Not yet, but she’s totally got the hots for you, big bro. And I’m so happy I was able to say that without throwing up in my mouth a little bit.”
“Listen, Jo. I know Charlotte has feelings for me, but she’s got some shit in her past that she’s letting get in the way of being with me.
She’s the kind of woman who needs to be handled gently, and you have all the grace of a wrecking ball, so I’m askin’ you not to do whatever it is you’re planning on doing, all right? ”
Her face pinched up in offense. “First off, that’s totally not true! I’ll have you know, I’m full of grace, jackass. And second, I wasn’t planning anything.”
I gave her a flat look. “You’re so full of shit. I know you, Jo, and I know once you get something in your head, you’re like a goddamn dog with a bone, but I need you to back off, all right? Whatever you’ve got swimmin’ around in your head right now, just let it go.”
She flopped back in her chair with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest while poking her bottom lip out in a pout. “You’ve gotten boring in your old age.”
I arched a brow playfully. “You’re only a few years younger than I am.”
“Yeah, but I’m young at heart while you’ve become a cranky old man.”
I shook my head on a chuckle and pulled my wallet from my back pocket.
Removing several bills, I dropped them onto the table and pushed to my feet.
“Well, this has been fun, but I need to get back to work.” I bent low and pressed my lips to my sister’s forehead.
“I’ll see you guys later tonight. Try not to get into trouble before then, yeah? ”
Jolie held her arms up, palms facing out, and declared, “I make no promises. I’m on vacation, and Vacation Jolie does what she wants.”
That was exactly what I was afraid of.