Bringing Home the Bad Boy (Second Chance #1)(82)

“Much as I love the two of you together…”

Did she? News to him.

“… I have to say, you need to give the poor girl some time to process. Her ex left her for another woman, and married that woman instantly. As one who understands abandonment,” Glo said, pressing her nails to her chest, “I can tell you, she needs time to deal.”

“She can deal with me close by,” he’d argued.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Glo had stepped in close and put a hand on his upper arm. “I’m a girl who knows what it’s like to be alone. I need my space. When you’re used to dealing with things by yourself, it’s easier to deal with them by yourself.” She’d dropped her hand, her gentle moment over almost as soon as it began. “Besides, she doesn’t need you going all caveman and dragging her back to your house by the hair. You can’t fix it for her.”

He knew that. Hell, he’d told Charlie that.

Now, walking along the beach next to Charlie, her pace leisurely, her eyes turned upward, he followed her gaze. Stars twinkled in the vast dark sky and the moon sat fat and round, illuminating everything in a bluish glow.

He considered this whole “space” thing and came to the conclusion Glo had a point. He had four years of space to deal with who he’d become after Rae passed. Aside from the times Charlie had visited Columbus, she’d had hardly any time to deal with him.

So. Space.

At her back porch, he stopped short of climbing her stairs. He watched her do it, though, appreciating the tight black dress cupping her ass. Man, he wanted her tonight.

Camera in hand, she spun and snapped another picture of him. He pressed his fingers over his eyes as the flash all but blinded him.

“Warn me, Ace.”

“Sorry about—”

“Ace.”

“Sorry.”

He smiled when she winced. She may get her space, but he wouldn’t leave her hanging. “Get your ass back down here and kiss me.”

Happily she obliged him, and he waited as she came down one step, then another, stopping short of coming to ground level where he stood. Her face aligned with his perfectly from the second step and made it extra easy for him to palm her ass as he made out with her long and slow. If she wasn’t going to be in his bed, the least he could do is send her to her room distracted and damp.

She wiggled against him and when her hands tightened in his hair, he figured he’d achieved that goal. Leaving her wanting more left him wanting more.

He stepped back and started toward his house. “Got a chubby to walk off.”

“Crude,” she said, but her grin suggested she liked what she heard.

Too bad it was true. He did, in fact, have a chubby to walk off. He took his time strolling home, and tried to think of something other than Charlie.





CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE




The knock on Charlie’s back patio door came around four a.m.

She bolted out of bed, getting a heck of a dizzy spell as she did, needing to hold on to the wall to anchor herself for a few seconds until her head straightened out.

Her first thought when she heard the knock was of Lyon and her second thought was of Evan. Her third thought was the phone battery had died and that’s why she didn’t get a call about whatever trouble they were in.

When she slid the door aside and found Gloria on her deck, her head swam for a different reason. Confusion. A lot of it.

“Gloria?”

Not only was Gloria Shields standing on the back deck, but her eyes were red from crying and her makeup was gone, also from the crying, Charlie assumed.

“Is… Evan okay? Lyon okay?”

“I think so. I thought you’d be over there.” Glo blinked a few times at Evan’s house and then back at Charlie. Fat tears rolled down Gloria’s cheeks. “Which makes this awkward.”

Charlie wasn’t completely awake yet, but she was pretty sure Glo’s pronouncement didn’t make sense. “Why did you knock if you didn’t think I was here?”

“Because I secretly hoped you were.”

Which didn’t make a lot of sense, either. “Want to come in?”

She shook her head. “Can you come out? With coffee?”

“I can do that, sure.”

Glo collapsed on the porch swing and crossed her arms as she studied the dark lake. Charlie moved to the coffeepot, noticing the clock on the stove read 4:15. It was way, way too early to be awake and caffeinated, but this was an emergency.

Obviously, if Gloria, who was more Evan’s friend than hers, had come to her house hoping / not hoping she was home.

Well. Glo was in luck. Because if Charlie knew one thing it was how to entertain on her fabulous patio. Two mugs of coffee and a bag of Pepperidge Farm Milanos in her hands, she went outside to deliver them to her guest.

Gloria Shields had yet to stop crying.

“Her name is Jordan.”

Charlie blinked. “Jordan?”

“That’s how the skank at Asher’s house an hour ago introduced herself to me.”

Oh gosh. Asher.

Not a catch, Ace. A mess.

He was right. He was a mess.

“I was up late working.” Glo swiped her eyes. They filled instantly. “I missed him so I drove to his cabin and knocked on the door.” She turned her watery eyes on Charlie. “He didn’t answer. But Jordan did. Wearing a skimpy little scrap of silk and looking at me like I was the piece of trash.”