Page 13 of About Time

Instead, I take Liam’s small hand and follow him down to the grassy beach. Almost immediately, he spots a kid from school and runs off. I consider ducking out at this point, but of course, this is the part where the young boys want to show off their tricks for the grown-ups.

Liam shouts, “Watch this Hattie! Can Wren do this?”

I use my hand to shade my eyes and shout back random encouragement. I’m so focused on watching Liam and his friend try and do flips in the water that I don’t notice Charlie sneak up on me until I feel the heat of his body radiating against my back.

His finger lightly moves my hair and tucks it behind my ear. I feel the faintest graze of his touch against the shell of my ear, and my body erupts in goosebumps.

His warm breath caresses the side of my neck, making me shiver. “Does your brother know you go around wearing scraps of material for clothes?”

My heart races and beats so hard I’m afraid he can hear the muscle pounding against my chest. I turn my head slightly and whisper back, “You may not have noticed, but I’m a grown woman, and I don’t have to have my guardian’s permission to dress myself.”

“I’ve noticed, and I really wish I hadn’t,” he answers gruffly.

Chapter Six

Charlie Past- Age 29

It’s official,I’m disgusting.

I had one task today, take Liam swimming so that Griffin could have a break. Nowhere in that plan was I supposed to perv on my friend’s nineteen-year-old sister-in-law, especially when he sees her more like his own sister.

He would not approve of me sneaking peeks at Hattie in that combination of strings and fabric scraps she’s calling a bathing suit. I should not be noticing that she doesn’t look like a young girl anymore. And I really shouldn’t be glaring at age-appropriate young men who are also noticing how good she looks. To be fair, it’s hard not to stare at her the way her sun-tanned skin glows against the contrast of her bright white bikini.

Hattie looks down at herself. “Is there something on me?” She asks and cranes her neck to look at her back.

I shake myself out of my trance and slip immediately into a sour mood. “No. There’s hardly any fabric on your body either.”

She rolls her eyes. “You are not that old,” she grumbles.

I shift my eyes back to her and give her a disapproving look. “I feel old standing here with you.”

Her mouth falls open, and I push back against the surge in guilt I feel. I’m not blind, I have suspected Hattie had a little crush on me. I never took it seriously, but probably because I felt safe from being tempted.

I’m not safe anymore.

Hattie has grown to be my fantasy and nightmare wrapped up in one sinfully enticing package.

“Hattie, look at me!” Liam shouts as he launches himself off the bent knees of a bigger child.

I suck in a breath watching him launch through the air, and I don’t exhale until his little head pops back out of the water. I swear the two of them are going to have me leaving here with my first collection of gray hairs.

“Liam, be careful,” I shout out to him.

“Ugh, Uncle Charlie, be cool,” Liam whines.

He wants to impress the pretty lady. Just what I need, to be in competition with my eleven-year-old godson.

I mentally slap myself. I cannot be jealous of a child getting more attention from a pretty girl. I want to stress the wordgirlhere because Hattie is barely old enough to be considered an adult. Quite unlike me, where I’m tipping my way toward thirty. I shouldn’t even be spending time with her.

It was different before, even when I started to suspect she had a little crush on me because there was a clear boundary between us. I was her brother’s friend, nothing more than that. We did develop a sort of friendship, but it was always within the confines of my relationship with Martin and Elisa. I was comfortable with it that way.

This new Hattie makes me feel off-kilter.

She bumps into me with her shoulder, and I realize I’ve been in my head too long. “Earth to Charlie. Liam was trying to get your attention. Is everything okay?”

I can feel the tension seizing up every muscle in my body. I need her gone from my sight before I do something embarrassing and completely immoral, like throw her over my shoulder and explore every inch of her soft skin.

“Look,” I start through a tight throat. “I appreciate you appeasing Liam, but I was really looking to spend some quality time with him today.”

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