Page 26 of When You Saved Me

The waistband of my pants stretched with my flexing dick. Having Charlie dancing in my kitchen—half naked—was not part of the plan. If I was going to survive this, I needed to go back to plan A and put as much distance between us as possible.

I watched as she flipped the final pancake and layered it onto the stack she had next to the stovetop. The delicate fingers that grasped my arm last night gripped the edge of the plate with ease. She was a painter, I reminded myself. She used her hands every single day and had considerable strength, no doubt.

When she noticed my presence as she whirled around with the plate, a beautiful smile spread her lips wide.

“Good morning, sleepy head. I made breakfast.” She raised the plate of pancakes in the air before setting it downin the middle of the island next to another plate covered with a paper towel.

“Good morning,” I responded cautiously, not used to having someone in my space, let alone cooking my meals.

“I hope you don’t mind.” Her smile faltered for a moment, and I realized she must have seen the discontent on my face. “I wanted to do something nice for you after letting me crash here last night.”

This one is always doing nice things for others. But who does nice things for her?

Charlie’s skin was practically glowing in the morning light coming in through the angled shades. Sunshine didn’t cover it. Charlie was damn near ethereal and the way I wanted her was downright sinful.

“I appreciate it. Thank you.”

I rounded the island and grabbed two plates and forks for us. The sweet scent of vanilla wafted toward me as she slid onto the stool next to mine.

“Your cat attacked me this morning,” I said bluntly, remembering how the little rascal had pounced on my face, nearly giving me a heart attack.

She whirled on me. “Attacked you? What do you mean?”

The fluffball’s ears must have been burning because I felt his body rub against my leg just then. He looked up at me with feigned innocence reflecting in his giant eyes. I glowered at him.

“He jumped right on my face while I was still lying in bed.”

The giggle that came from Charlie’s mouth made thehairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It was so melodic and pretty sounding.

“That wasn’t an attack. More like a gesture of affection. He wanted your attention, so he…made sure you were paying attention.”

When I noticed the smirk on her face, I growled. She was too cute for her own good and it was starting to get under my skin.

Done with her games, I set the dishes and utensils in front of our seats and reached for the paper towel that was covering another plate full of bacon. Charlie sat in silence as I filled our plates with the breakfast she’d made and I tried not to look at her because I knew if I did, I’d lose control, just like I’d done last night.

And I needed to be in control.

Pouring syrup over the stack of three pancakes on my plate, I silently hoped they would be better than the muffins that were buried somewhere deep in my trashcan.

I took a bite and had to choke it down. I looked at the stack on my plate where I’d cut out a triangle to see that pockets of flour had spilled onto the plate. The mixture hadn’t been combined all the way, so there were spots of dry flour.

I finally looked over at Charlie. She was mowing down on the pancakes like nobody’s business.

“Do you like them?” she asked around a mouthful of food and something about it made her look so damn cute.

How the girl didn’t end up with food poisoning or at thevery least, an upset stomach, was beyond me. I stole a glimpse at the large stack on my plate.

I’m going to have to eat this whole damn thing.

“Yeah, they’re great. Thanks again for making breakfast.”

The delicate column of her throat worked as she swallowed her bite down. “I was happy to.”

Of course you were, I wanted to say. She was happy to doanythingI was coming to realize. Whatever man claimed this woman as his wife was going to be damn lucky.

She was too good.

Too beautiful.

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