Page 2 of Dirty Mind
Her long hair was spilling over her shoulders, covering her near-naked breasts, and I knew if I didn’t get off this mattress soon I’d be repeating last night’s mistake, but tearing myself away from her was proving a lot harder than I thought.
“When Knox showed me a pic of you on his phone and I realized you were Cece’s sister…” I shook my head. “I couldn’t believe it. What are the odds?”
She smiled before dropping her head. “Okay, so since it’s confession time, I have one.”
“I’m listening.”
I loved the way she blushed when she got nervous or embarrassed. I’d spent enough time with her to know she wasn’t shy. She was bold, and she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, but there was an underlying sweetness, a girl who still wanted to be liked.
“So, you’re kind of my celebrity crush.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, your sister might have mentioned something about that.”
She rolled her eyes. “Damn Cece. Of course she did. Did she also tell you I had my bedroom plastered with posters of you when I was teenager?”
Ugh. She was killing me with her cuteness. How the hell was this girl still single? “No, she didn’t.” But I wanted to hear more. “Plastered, huh? Like wallpapered? My face everywhere?” I grinned as I moved closer, because how the hell could I not? This little rocket was a magnet and I was steel. “Did you get off thinking about me?” I whispered in her ear.
She bit my earlobe before soothing it with her tongue. “Only every night.”
I rolled on to my back, my heart racing. “Damn. I can’t do this.” I scrubbed my face with my palm, trying to clear my head. “You’re too dangerous, Charli.”
“Dangerous how?” Her tone was playful and flirty, like she knew she was getting to me and she was loving it. She linked her leg through mine. “Like you might want a repeat of last night?”
“That was a mistake, baby.” Her smile slipped and I hated myself a little more for not being more sensitive. She just confessed she’d been crushing on me a long time and I blurted out that sleeping with her was a mistake? What the hell was wrong with me? “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean—”
“Yes, you did.” She sat up, reaching for the dress she’d been wearing for her sister’s wedding. “And it’s okay. You have no reason to feel guilty, Dade. You were just speaking your mind.”
“Yeah, but—”
“No buts.” She reached for her bra, fastening it while glancing out the window. “We’re both single, consenting adults. We got caught up in the moment last night, that’s all.” She slipped the dress over her head and stood once she was fully clothed. “No hard feelings, believe me.”
“Charli, wait.” My heart was thrashing my chest when I sat up. Shit. I didn’t want it to end like this. With her feelings being hurt, feeling like a mistake or regret. I grabbed her hand. “I think you’re incredible, and last night was—”
“One more item I can cross off my bucket list.” Her dimples made another appearance, as she withdrew her hand from mine and snagged her purse. “So, you may think it was a mistake, but I’m all about living in the moment and seizing opportunities, so I can’t see it that way.”
She dropped a key in my hand. “What’s this?”
“So you can lock up when you leave.” She stepped into her heels. “Don’t worry about the bed. I’ll take care of it. The key’s a spare, so you can just give it back to Knox whenever you see him.”
“Charli.” She was already walking toward the door and I was getting this crazy tightening in my chest that made it hard to find words.
“Yeah?” she asked, turning to face me.
I didn’t see a trace of anger or bitterness. No remorse or regret. Not even hurt. Her expression was light, almost happy, maybe because I really had just been an item to cross off her bucket list. Nothing more. And that made me feel like shit. And resent her just a bit, for not wanting me to be more.
“Never mind.”
She waved before walking out of the room. “I’ll see ya around, Dade.”
* * *
A couple of friends had flown to the wedding with me, on my private jet, so as much as I wanted a little peace and quiet to process what happened with Charli, I wasn’t gonna get it.
My buddies, Reed and Archer, were kicking back and scrolling their phones when Archer started laughing. “Have you seen this?” he asked, flashing his phone at me. “Someone at the wedding must have caught you in a liplock with Charli and posted it online.”
“You’re shittin’ me.” I snagged the phone and groaned when I saw the pic. We looked like we were hot and heavy. Her hands in my hair. Mine on her ass. No wonder her old man was shooting daggers at me the rest of the night. “Ugh. Charli’s tagged in this too.”
I passed the phone back to Archer, who was one of my song writing partners. “I couldn’t even look. Tell me it’s flying under the radar.”
