Page 37 of A Second Chance Christmas Kiss

Bill glared at him, then walked out. “Maybe you should callyour boyfriendnext time, not the police.”

I let out a sardonic laugh. “My gosh.” Bill was acting like a complete jerk, and it calmed me down.

It didn’t seem to calm Charles down. He walked around the broken glass and kept taking in the scene. “I know you said no, but seriously, would you like me to call some people to put cameras up or some private security?”

I shook my head. “I told you Will is coming, and I don’t want it to seem dangerous.”

Charles cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t want to keep having break-ins either.”

It was hard to deal with Charles’s intensity. Especially when he knew he was right. I turned away. “I’m going to go back to my place tonight. I’ll figure out what to do tomorrow.”

For a long minute, Charles said nothing. Then he placed a light hand on my shoulder. “If you don’t want me to help figure this out, just say so.”

I sucked in a breath. “I don’t want you to help me figure this out.” Honestly, I didn’t know if that was the truth, but this situation had left me vulnerable, and it was upending me. I didn’t need Charles to save me. “If you could give me a ride home, that would be great.”

Charles’s lips turned down. “Of course I’ll take you home.”

A few minutes later, we got to the doll shop. He got out and ran around to open my door for me.

I didn’t fight him. “You don’t have to do that.”

Charles gave me another frown and reached for my hand. “I am a gentleman.”

We walked toward the back of the doll shop, and I pulled my hand out of my pocket to punch in the code.

“It looked like you had something you wanted to say.”

I pushed the door open, flipped on the inside light, then turned to face him. “I’m tired.”

His blue eyes looked sad in the moonlight. “Can we talk more?”

I shook my head. “Charles, thank you for helping today and thank you for dinner, but I have to go.”

He nodded. “Sure. Are you going to the church ‘auction a date’ tomorrow night?”

I had totally forgotten about it. “I don’t know.”

“Okay. Can we talk some other time?”

“I guess.” I didn’t know how to feel about this whole situation, but I couldn’t think about it tonight.

“Okay. Goodnight.” He reached out and took my hand, giving it a little squeeze. “Please call if you need anything, even if you only want to talk, okay? I mean it.”

“Thanks. I will.” Again, I felt vulnerable. It’d been so long since anyone had cared like this. Sure, Gretchen and Kent were always there for me, but it wasn’t the same.

I pulled the door shut, slumping against it. This time, part of me wished I hadn’t shut the door on Charles. Part of me wished I had fallen into his arms and leaned into the comfort I knew he wanted to give me.

Could I ever accept another man’s comfort again? Could I ever trust after being so brutally hurt? I didn’t know.

Exhausted, I trudged up the stairs to my small apartment. I couldn’t believe Charles hadn’t known about what his grandfather had told me. I remembered how his face had contorted with pain when he’d spoken about his ex-wife. The man wasn’t unscathed in his life either.

I settled into bed, not caring about taking off my makeup. My fingers tingled with the memory of the way Charles’s hand had felt in mine. Charles King still had my full attention, even after all these years. Would he ever not have my attention?

I smiled and let myself drift off. I wasn’t about to tell him.

Chapter Sixteen

Charles

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