Page 124 of The Charmer

She cleared her throat but still didn't say anything.

"I'm coming to the store."

"No, no. Maybe it's easier to say this on the phone."

I stopped in my tracks just as I was about to step onto Royal and leaned against a brick wall. It sounded serious. "I'm listening."

"It's just that... yesterday at the party, when you told Robert all those things about the future and our house..." Why is she bringing that up? "It all felt so real."

That was a bad thing? It was supposed to sound real.

"I guess I got my hopes up,” she said quietly.

I was starting to understand what she meant. "Georgie—"

"No, just please let me finish. Otherwise, I might lose my nerve."

"Sure. Sorry. Go ahead."

"And then, when you said that you just made it all up and you're not envisioning anything close to that in the future, I realized that... well, if our visions of the future differ so much, maybe I should reevaluate some things. You, too, I guess."

I swallowed hard. To my intense dismay, I was speechless. I'd never had a raw conversation like this my whole life.

I was so out of my depth that I had no idea what to say. Not even how to reassure her. Ultimately, I went with "Georgie, it was not my intention to hurt you. I'm sorry."

"I know. You've been nothing short of amazing to me, but this isn't just about what we’re doing now. I mean, it's great, but if I keep falling for you and getting my hopes up, it's not... I can't let my heart be broken again."

"Fuck this. I'm coming to the store. We need to talk about this."

"No! I wouldn't know what to tell you," she said hurriedly. "I'm sorry. I don't have things clear in my mind either. I'm just telling you how I feel."

"Thanks for being honest. You can always share what weighs on you with me," I reassured her. I was of half a mind to go to her store anyway, but she'd explicitly asked me not to, and I needed to respect that.

"Listen, I have some customers.” I'd heard the bell chime a few times, so I knew she wasn’t making up an excuse. “We'll talk later, all right?"

"Sure."

I groaned as the line disconnected. Damn! Talk about a fuckup. I wasn't even sure what just happened.

I stumbled down onto Royal, needing a coffee, so I headed to Maria's shop. I was still deep in thought, mulling over Georgie's words. I couldn't believe I'd hurt her and hadn't even realized it. I needed to fix it.

There were already a few customers inside the coffee shop when I stepped in, and I patiently waited my turn.

Maria kept throwing me suspicious looks as she took care of the other customers. Then when my turn came, she asked, "Two coffees to go?"

"Just one."

"Hmm, don’t want to surprise the Mrs. this morning?"

"Just one."

"Actually, do you mind taking two coffees over to your grandmothers’ store? They called and said they’d love some coffee but will drop by later. They’re very busy.” Maria spoke quickly, averting her gaze.

Strange.

"Sure, I'll take their coffees to them, then."

I wasn't feeling like going into the office at all, so it gave me a good excuse to postpone. I needed to be out and about, to think over this matter with Georgie.

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