Chapter 29
COLTON
It took me a few minutes to regain my bearings, my groggy mind finally clearing for the first time in days.
I was lying supine in the plush hotel bed, tucked beneath the covers, with only a pair of sweatpants on.
Memory shot through me in flashes. I remembered the burning, my skin feverish as my brain pounded inside my skull. The mental trauma dump was so all-consuming that my immune system didn’t stand a chance against my body’s high stress response.
As a result, I could barely move, let alone look after myself. Yet, I swore my mum had intervened that day, sending a literal angel to watch over me.
My gaze roamed to catch on the woman in question, slumped asleep in an armchair, sidelining the hotel window. Despite not seeing Charlotte in more than four years, there was no one else I would have trusted to take care of me in my most vulnerable state.
She wore jeans and not a scrap of make-up, but that’s not what had warmth blooming through my chest. Charlotte wore my T-shirt. It was oversized and looked utterly ridiculous on her tiny frame, but I couldn’t deny the possessiveness I had, seeing her enveloped in what was mine.
As if she could sense my focus, her tired eyes fluttered open to lock on me. We remained there for a few stagnant seconds, so much passing through that one singular look.
“You brought me back here? To my hotel room?” I asked, my mouth groggy from misuse.
“You kept on begging not to be taken to the hospital. It wasn’t hard to figure out where you were staying once I found your key card. I also might have called your latest contact in your phone…”
“Avery?”
She tilted her chin. “Avery. He wanted to come back, but I told him I had it covered. Was that the right move?” she asked, her brow furrowing in concern.
“Yes. He’s going through a lot, and I don’t want him worrying about me.” I attempted to sit upright, but my arms buckled beneath me.
Charlotte shot forward, clucking her tongue. “Let me help,” she said, assisting me to readjust until I was leaning against the bedhead, my breaths coming in short pants.
I was aggravated at my useless body, unable to complete simple commands without considerable effort. Though those frustrating feelings soon disappeared as I caught Charlotte staring at my bare chest with interest.
I licked my lips, which had her eyes locking on the minute movement.
“Thirsty?” she asked.
You have no idea. I nodded, unable to reply without giving myself away.
Charlotte reached for the glass of water sitting on the bedside table and raised the straw to my lips.
Without taking my attention off her face, my fingers tentatively anchored around her wrist, before I sipped.
Cool water satisfied one thirst, yet another one entirely burned as bright as an inferno, nowhere near satiated.
As if she could read my mind, Charlotte flinched, but as she went to pull away, I grasped onto her hand. “Don’t go,” I whispered.
She shook her head, confusion rife in every line of her expression. Then her focus pivoted to our joined hands—in particular, the big solitaire diamond that was digging into my skin.
My fingertip traced the shiny jewel sitting pretty on her ring finger. How did I miss that before? “You’re engaged?” I asked, unable to recognise my own voice, my tone full of regret and all lost things.
“Yes, I’m engaged,” she said, detangling from me and stepping back from the bed.
I cleared my throat, pushing through the rejection. “How have you been?”
“We’re really going to go there?” Charlotte asked before she began collecting her belongings strewn throughout the room.
“Umm, yeah? I haven’t seen you in a long time. I’d like to catch up.”
“I’ll pass. You’re better now, which means my work here is done.” She didn’t sound bitter or perturbed. If anything, she seemed content, as if my recovery was a job well done.
Which meant that familiar desperation started to creep in. She had thrown me so completely off balance that I wanted to do the same to her. So, I did what I did best and baited for a reaction.
“What will your fiancé think about you being missing for days?”
She gave a half shrug, not even bothering to look my way. “He already knows. I told him I was nursing an old friend back to health. He’s a doctor, so he understands—”
I rolled my eyes so hard, I nearly gave myself an aneurysm. Of course he has to be a fucking doctor.
“And what will he think about his fiancé returning to him wearing another man’s shirt?”
She pinned me with a scathing glare. “You vomited all over mine. It’s only fair you provide recompense, is it not?”
My lips thinned, physically holding back from saying something I’d regret. I had been in survival mode for so long that I was wired to attack first, yet I knew that my attitude had no place there, with her.
And just like that, all my pent-up fight just evaporated.
What the fuck am I doing?
Charlotte had stayed cooped up inside for days to solely care for me. Even I had to read the situation for what it was, there was no room for my dangerous games. People only got hurt, and she was the last person on earth who deserved my ire.
There was that fear again. To say I wasn’t her first choice was an unfair comparison. Because I had never made her mine. Once upon a time, I had had my chance, and I passed that up for a darker path, one of revenge.
I was now looking at the aftermath of that decision: my dream walking away with a man who was truly deserving of her. And I had no one to blame but myself.
“You’re right,” I said, pushing those negative feelings all the way down into hell. “I cannot thank you enough for what you’ve done for me, Charlotte,” I said, with full sincerity. “Can I give you anything in return? The least I can do is pay you for your time.”
Her features softened as she swung her packed bag over her shoulder. “I don’t need anything, Colt.”
“Please, I insist. Ask for anything, and it’s yours.” Anything.
She bit into her lower lip, taking a second to contemplate. “You know what? Fine. My only request is that you focus on yourself. Heal, move on and live. Live how your mother would have wanted you to… free.”
Charlotte smiled then, a beaming, genuine grin that had me mirroring the same. “I’ll see you around?”
“Probably not.” Then she left.
A dormant fire ignited within. A challenge was laid before me—one I had no intention of losing. I was stubborn, determined, and downright tenacious when I found something I wanted.
And Charlotte? I wanted her.