Page 69 of About Time

He stands up and takes a couple steps away from me. “I keep telling myself that you’ll eventually come around, but that’s never going to happen, is it?”

I stare at him, blinking. To keep him here I need to say something to soothe him. I need to figure out how to get past this hang up. My mind remains blank. There’s no fight inside of me to keep him. Instead there’s a voice inside of me screaming to let him go.

“The fact that you have no answer is all the answer I need,” Clark says and grabs his keys and wallet off the table.

He stops at the front door and turns back to face me. “I love you Hattie, but I need to think a bit. I deserve to marry someone who is as excited to be with me as I am her. I don’t think that is you.”

I don’t stop him as he opens the door and leaves. Maybe I should have run after him, but deep down I know he’s right. I pushed us ahead because subconsciously I was afraid that if I took a second to think, I would realize we weren’t right for each other. It looks like I might have risked my friendship for all the wrong reasons after all. I’m just so desperate to get over Charlie, and now I think I might have just made sure I will always be completely alone.

There’s a knock on the door, and I take a deep breath. I guess the conversation Clark and I need to have will be happening much sooner than I imagined.

I pull the door open. “Clark, I’m sorry. I don’t?—”

“Who is Clark?”

My hand falls off the doorknob, and I take a step back. “What are you doing here?”

The thudding of my heart against my chest hurts. I have to fight to maintain my composure. It doesn’t matter how badly I’ve missed him, when it comes to Charlie, my guard will always be up. Trusting him is something that has caused me heaps ofanguish. I won’t do it again so easily. I go back to holding onto the door. My knees are threatening to buckle, but I won’t show even a little weakness in front of Charlie Storm.

“When Griffin was looking for Wren I tried asking around town where you lived, but I guess I’m not the only one you went Casper on. Even dear old Donovan didn’t have your address,” Charlie starts saying.

My eyebrows scrunch together, probably creating wrinkles. Even his words cause me lasting damage. “Okay, he found her. Did you come all the way down here to bitch me out for my decision to leave Harriston behind me?” I snap.

The asshole smirks at me, and my stupid heart skips a beat seeing that crooked grin. Clark is ready to give me the world and I freak out when he kisses me. Charlie comes all this way to antagonize me and my panties get wet just at the sight of his stupid, sexy face.

“There’s more than one way to find someone. I knew you’d come to Florida, and even remembered the city, but I didn’t have the actual address. Public records are pretty easy to search. It helped that you weren’t really trying to hide. While I was searching the damnedest thing came up. Turns out you and I are still married.”

That makes my heart stop pounding. I think it might have stopped completely for a moment. “How is that possible?”

Charlie shrugs. Then he lets himself in and closes the door behind himself. “I didn’t exactly follow up to make sure it went through. I never really wanted a divorce.”

“Bullshit,” I blurt out. “You did everything short of driving me to the bus station to get me to leave town.”

He shrugs, and I go from wanting to kiss him to wanting to punch his smug face. “Think what you want. I never wanted to end things. I just didn’t think I deserved you, while you deserved so much more than me.”

“Fuck you for that, Charlie. It doesn’t matter now. We can never go back in time and fix all the shit that’s broken between us. You destroyed me.”

His head drops, and I regret saying anything. Even if it is the truth, and part of me wants to hurt him, in the end I hate the idea of causing him pain. It doesn’t matter how much he’s hurt me, I love him too much to return the favor. Damn if that doesn’t make me hate myself a little bit more.

He clears his throat. “I know I did, Doll, but I destroyed myself in the process too.”

“That doesn’t change anything. We need to go get this taken care of,” I say, waving my hands around wildly.

He grabs my left and turns it over. “Why, so you can marry some tool named Clark? This is a sign, Doll. I’m done fucking up when it comes to you.”

I scoff. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“Then open your eyes, because I’m going to prove it to you.”

“I won’t hold my breath,” I tell him and somehow find the strength to close the door in his face.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Charlie Past- Age 42

I standon the other side of her door shocked that she actually shut it in my face. My doll has grown a spine since the last time I saw her, and instead of being annoyed, I find it fucking hot. I’m going to enjoy bending her back to my will. I don’t question that it will happen, only how hard she’s going to fight me.

Imagining the battle to come makes me hard. Life has been really fucking dull without her in it, and I need my favorite toy back in my life. She’s the only one I’ve ever explored this kink with, and without her sex is just a means to a release. One I don’t engage in very often.

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