Ain't She Sweet

by Marie Force

  “Oh boy. I’ve been craving a turkey BLT from the diner.”

  “Sounds good to me.” He kissed her again, studying her in that intense way of his. “You okay?”

  “I’m good. You?”

  “Really good. Better than I’ve ever been in fact. I’ve got a new girlfriend who’s sexy as hell and funny and challenging. Not sure how I’m going to think about anything but her today.”

  “I’ve heard she’s a prickly pain in the ass who’s making everything difficult for you.”

  He nuzzled her neck. “Not everything.”

  Charley leaned her head away from him, to give him better access to her neck.

  “Some things with her are as easy as breathing.”

  “What things?”

  “The way I want her and need her and think about her more than I think about anyone else. That part is easy.”

  “You need me?”

  “Mmm, you’ve become quite necessary to me since you’ve been staying here. I can’t imagine this place without you anymore.”

  “What about when I go home?”

  “I don’t want to think about you leaving. Too depressing.” With his fingers on her chin, he held her still for a deep, sensuous kiss that made her wish the therapist wasn’t due to arrive any minute.

  As she had that thought the door to the mudroom opened and closed.

  Tyler pulled back, smiling softly at her. “To be continued.”

  After he said hi to Debbie, Charley watched him cross the room toward his office, noting again the superb fit of his faded jeans. When she thought about the things she’d shared with him, things she never shared with anyone, her heart kicked into overdrive, beating at a rapid, erratic rate. Had she said too much? Given him more insight into her than she’d intended? God, she was such a hot mess where he was concerned.

  “That is one very sexy guy you’ve got there, Charley,” Debbie said wistfully.

  “Oh he’s, um . . .” She’d been about to say he wasn’t hers, but she stopped herself out of respect for him and the agreement they’d brokered the night before. “Yes, he is.”

  Over the next hour, Debbie took her through the pace of physical therapy, commenting repeatedly on how much progress Charley had made. “I’ll be surprised if the doctor doesn’t tell you to put down the crutches after today.”

  “That’d be nice. My armpits and hands would thank him.”

  “Just make sure you take it nice and easy at first,” she said as she put on her coat to leave. “We don’t want any setbacks.”

  “No, we don’t. Thanks for everything.”

  “So you don’t hate me anymore?” Debbie asked with a smirk.

  “Oh no, I still hate you. Just not as much as I did at first.”

  Debbie was still laughing when she went through the door to the mudroom, after promising to be back for more of the same tomorrow.

  Charley hobbled into the kitchen to put water on to boil so she could make some tea. She took a moment to fully appreciate the gourmet kitchen that had been designed by a true cook with extraordinary attention to detail. In addition to a huge gas stove, a double oven, spacious black granite countertops, matching black appliances and beautiful tile, the space boasted an incredible view of the mountains in the distance.

  She poured boiling water over the tea and while it steeped she thought about how at home she felt here. It was more than the incredibly comfortable and luxurious house making her feel that way. It was him, too. He’d gone out of his way to make her feel at home, and it would be hard to go back to her tiny apartment after the spaciousness of his home.

  Taking her tea with her, she took a trial run without the crutches, sitting at the table in front of the windows with the view of Butler nestled in the valley below. That was where Tyler found her when he emerged from the office a short time later.

  “What’s this? No crutches?”

  “Test drive. I couldn’t crutch and carry tea.”

  “How’d it feel?”

  “Not bad, which is good.”

  “That’s very good.”

  “How are things in the office of world domination?”

  Laughing at her description, he said, “Humming right along.”

  “You know what just occurred to me?”

  “What’s that?”

  “You haven’t run since I got hurt.”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “That’s no way to train for a marathon.”

  He shrugged off her concern. “There’ll be other marathons.”

  “You shouldn’t stop training because of me.”

  “It wouldn’t be any fun to run with the group without you there glaring at me.”

  “I never glared at you.”

  “Um, yeah, you did. And P.S., you’re cute when you glare.”

  “Well, that’s disappointing. I was going for intimidating, not cute.”

  “Sorry to disappoint, but your claws have always been sexy to me.”

  “Has anyone ever told you that you might be a masochist?”

  “Just about everyone I know has told me that since they figured out I’m into you.”

  Charley looked up at him, stunned by his confession. “So they think you’re crazy for liking me,” she said, irrationally hurt by people she didn’t even know.

  “No one has ever used the word crazy,” he said with the adorable smile that did weird things to her insides every time he directed it her way.

  “But they think you’re crazy for liking me.”

  He sat next to her and cupped her cheek, caressing her face with his thumb. “I don’t care what anyone thinks, Charley. The only one who matters to me is you and what you think.”

  “But your family—”

  Leaning in, he stole the words from her with a kiss that devastated her defenses. When he had kissed the fight right out of her, he said, “My family wants me to be happy. They like to tease me about my affection for a challenging woman. They don’t think I’m crazy for wanting you.”

  “You are though. You have to know it’s crazy to want—”

  Again, he kissed her until she forgot what she’d been about to say.

  “I’m crazy about you in all your prickly, difficult, sexy, funny, challenging, gorgeous perfection.”

  Stunned by an unexpected swell of emotion that seemed to come from the very heart of her, she closed her eyes.

  He kissed her eyelids. “You’re my dream girl, Charley,” he whispered.

  She reached for him, and he wrapped his arms around her as best he could with her leg extended between them, cupping the back of her head when she laid it on his shoulder. Regardless of her firm resolve not to get too involved, no man had ever cared for her the way he did. His tenderness set off a wild desire in her to forget the lessons of the past and leap blindly off the high dive into whatever this was with him. For once, she chose to let that desire run free, rather than immediately tamping it down.

  While he held her, she focused on breathing, drawing deep breaths into lungs that were suddenly starved for oxygen.

  “How about I take you into town to see what the rest of the world has been up to while we’ve been in seclusion up here?”

  Appreciating that he’d chosen not to focus on her emotional reaction to what he’d said, she nodded. “I’d love to stop in at the office, but I’m not sure I can do all those stairs.”

  “No worries. I’ll get you up there.”

  CHAPTER 16

  You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.

  —Charles de Gaulle

  Charley’s emotions were all over the place on the quiet ride down the mountain into town. Her mind raced, her heart beat fast, her palms were sweaty. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she was coming down with the flu or something. But it wa
s him and the undeniable effect he had on her with his tender sweetness, his refusal to accept her bullshit at face value, his obvious desire for her and the careful way he handled her. He took equally good care of her emotionally as he did physically.

  She was still trying to catch her breath after their intense conversation.

  You’re my dream girl, Charley.

  Would she ever forget those softly spoken words? Not in this lifetime or the next. Those words had changed something in her, softening her, opening her to the possibilities. As if he hadn’t turned her entire world on its axis with five words, Tyler hummed along to the radio as he drove, oblivious to the fact that he’d sent her reeling.

  True to his word, he carried her up the stairs to the offices above the Green Mountain Country Store. It was just her luck that her family—or most of it anyway—was gathered in the reception area when Tyler carried her in.

  Conversation stopped and all eyes landed on them. Awesome.

  She tapped his arm. “You can put me down now.”

  He did as she asked, lowering her slowly to her feet and holding on to her until he was certain she was steady.

  “Charley!” Their receptionist, Mary, came around the desk to hug her. “It’s so good to see you. How’re you feeling?”

  “Better every day.” Charley wanted to kiss Mary for breaking the awkward silence. “What goes on here?”

  “We were just talking about you, Charl,” Hunter said.

  “How come?”

  “We’re having issues with the inventory system,” Will said. “If you have a few minutes . . .”

  “Sure, I’ll take a look.” She glanced at Tyler. “You want to hang out or do you have stuff to do?”

  “I need to hit the post office and bank. I’ll come back in a while.”

  “Okay.”

  He leaned in close to her, and for a horrifying second she thought he was going to kiss her in front of everyone. “Don’t overdo it,” he said before he turned and started down the stairs, leaving her reeling once again.

  How did he do that?

  “You okay, Charley?” her dad asked, watching her with that astute gaze that didn’t miss much.

  “Sure.” Taking it slowly, she made her way to her office and flipped on the lights.

  “Are you off the crutches?” Wade asked.

  “Sort of. I have them in the car, but I’m starting to put a little weight on my knee. Got a doctor’s appointment at two, and we’ll see what he says. So what’s the deal with the system?”

  Everyone spoke at once, leading Charley to put her hand up to stop them. “One at a time.”

  “We added some new stuff,” Will said.

  “Wait, you added inventory to my system without talking to me about it first?”

  “I wasn’t aware that I had to ask permission,” Will said dryly.

  “Of course you do. You messed with it, and now it doesn’t work, thus the need for permission. Come show me what you did.”

  Half an hour later, Charley banned Will from ever touching the system again.

  “What was I supposed to do, with you out and stuff that needed to be added?”

  “You could’ve called me. Nothing wrong with my ears or my mouth.”

  “Clearly.”

  “Out. Let me fix this mess you’ve made.”

  “She’s fine,” he said to Ella as she passed Will in the doorway.

  “What did you say to poor Will?” Ella asked. “He looks devastated.”

  “Poor Will nearly crashed the whole system,” Charley said, clicking away as she spoke. “And why’s he adding stuff in the middle of the Christmas season anyway?”

  “You know how it is with the Vermont Made line. Crafters show up with stuff to sell, and he has to roll with it.”

  “Maybe he could roll with it without screwing up my system.”

  Smiling at her cranky reply, Ella took a seat in Charley’s visitor chair. “So how’s it going up on the mountain?”

  “Fine,” Charley said without looking away from the screen.

  “You two are awfully cute together. The way he carries you around.”

  The comment forced Charley to look directly at her sister. “He doesn’t carry me around. He hauled me up that huge flight of non-handicap-compliant stairs that lead to our office. That’s all.”

  “That’s all?”

  Charley hesitated, but only for a second. She needed to talk to someone about him, and Ella would always be her first choice. “Close the door.”

  “Ohhh, this is gonna be good,” Ella said gleefully as she closed the door. “What’s up?”

  “He’s very . . .”

  “Devoted?”

  “Yes. And . . . well, we kind of, well . . . had sex. Great sex. Amazing, unbelievably incredible sex.”

  Ella stared at her, agog. “How’d you manage that with your busted knee?”

  “We were very . . . creative.”

  Fanning her face, Ella continued to stare. “So what now?”

  “I don’t know! I agreed to be with him until the end of the year and then . . . I don’t know.”

  “You put a deadline on it?”

  “Yes! I wanted a way out.”

  “Why, Charley? Why do you want out of it when you’re having amazing sex and that sexy, adorable, hot guy is clearly stupid over you?”

  “Because.” Why did Ella’s question make her feel like she was stupid for following her own instincts? “I don’t do forever. I’m not like the rest of you. It’s not what I want.”

  “And you told him that?”

  “He knows how I feel.”

  Ella nodded, knowingly.

  “What? What’s that look about?”

  “He agreed to your deadline because he’s hoping to change your mind. You get that, don’t you?”

  “I’ve already told him I’m not going to change my mind.”

  You’re my dream girl, Charley.

  She wished she could scrub that sentence from her brain, but the words had been tattooed on her memory in permanent ink. Less than an hour after he said the words, she already knew she’d never forget them or the sound of his voice as he said them. “Everything is all jumbled up inside me. I’m turned upside down.”

  “You’re falling in love, Charley,” Ella said in a sweet, gentle tone that irked Charley. “That’s what it feels like.”

  She rejected that notion with every fiber of her being—except for the one little corner of her heart that had liked hearing she was his dream girl. “I’m not falling in love. I don’t do love.”

  Ella eyed her skeptically. “Maybe you do now. Have you considered that?”

  “No, I haven’t.” Yes, you have. Don’t turn into a liar now on top of everything else. She ran her hands through her hair roughly, tugging the strands together into a messy ponytail that she secured with a hair tie, putting at least one thing under her control. “I don’t want that. I don’t want to love him. I don’t want him to love me. I just want to go back to the way my life was before I fell down that stupid mountain. I never should’ve gone home with him. That was a huge mistake.”

  “How can you say that after you just told me you’re having amazing sex with him?”

  “Had. Once. Or I guess it was twice. Whatever. That doesn’t make for a relationship.”

  “Okay. So it’s not a relationship. What is it then?”

  “You want like a label?”

  “A label would be good.”

  “We’re friends. With benefits.”

  Ella clucked with disapproval and shook her head. “What’re you so afraid of, Charley?”

  Other than everything? “I’m not afraid.”

  “Something is holding you back from fully experiencing this situation with Tyler. Note I didn’t call it a relationship.�
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  “Thank you.”

  “So what is it? What’s holding you back?”

  “Nothing more than a lack of desire to commit to one man for the rest of my life. Just because that works for you doesn’t mean it’s right for me.”

  “Do you even know what that commitment entails?”

  Resigned to hearing the dirty details of Ella’s relationship with Gavin, Charley crossed her arms and set her face into her most mulish expression. “Why do I have a feeling I’m about to hear what it entails?”

  “It’s the most exquisite thing I’ve ever experienced in my entire life,” Ella said, her expression an unsettling combination of wonder and awe and greedy desire that completely transformed her gorgeous face. “It’s like the entire universe has fallen away, leaving only the two of us in this blissful state of unity. That’s the only word I can think of to describe it. To know that he’s thinking of me every minute of his day, and I’m thinking of him just as much. And at the end of the day, we get to go home to each other. That I get to sleep in his arms every night for the rest of my life . . . I honestly can’t think of anything better than that. Can you?”

  Unreasonably moved by Ella’s impassioned words, Charley responded with humor to hide her emotional reaction. “Better than sleeping in Gavin’s arms?”

  Ella’s withering look made Charley smile. “You know what I mean. Don’t deny yourself that experience, Charley, because you’re afraid to commit. The worst that could happen is it doesn’t work out.”

  That’s not the worst that could happen, Charley thought. It can be so, so much worse than that. “I hear what you’re saying, and I appreciate why you’re saying it. But just because that makes you happy doesn’t mean I need the same thing.”

  “Fair enough. But it would be awful to look back someday and realize that by trying so hard to protect yourself you haven’t really lived.”

  A stab of fear registered in her chest, forcing her to rub at the spot to ease the discomfort. The grim scenario Ella outlined would indeed be awful.

  “I get it.”

  “But I need to shut up now?”

  “Your words, not mine.”

  Ella laughed. “Even though you’re still a pain in the ass, I’m so glad you didn’t die that day on the mountain. I would’ve missed you terribly.”