Page 52 of Charlie Takes a Chance

I grin up at him when he stops in front of me and pulls the cowboy hat out from behind his back. He settles the black felt hat on his head, and I stand there smiling like a fool.

He looks good in it. It’s not over the top. With those dark wash jeans bunched around his cowboy boots. The canvas coat and the hat practically forcing my eyes on the glorious jawline…yup. Max St. James is the best-looking man I’ve ever seen.

“Come on, cowboy. I hope you have your dancing boots on.”

CHAPTER 20

Max

I can’t believeI let Charlie bully me into coming into town. I don’t feel like socializing tonight. It has nothing to do with the people in town because I like most of everybody. It was a stressful day yesterday, and I’d rather just stay at home, and watch some mindless TV.

I’d also like to not spend time with Charlie.

She’s not letting that happen. I need a break from her. Because she’s too much. She’s too much of everything that I’ve ever wanted. And I can’t have it.

After dragging the Christmas tree into the house with her, I realized that I have a full-on crush on my housemate, which is really dumb of me since she’s going to be leaving in a couple of weeks. Unless Billy can convince her to marry Zane. I guess there’s still time for that.

I park the truck in front of the Willow Saloon. Charlie is practically jumping up and down. She flips the visor down to check her makeup and brush some flyways back. She turns to me. “How do I look?”

The braids keep most of the hair out of her face, but there are some loose strands still caressing her cheeks. Her eyes arebright, and the pink lipstick makes her mouth look inviting. I wonder if it would smear if I kissed it. I clear my throat before my voice comes out squeaky. “You look great.”

She frowns at me. “You don’t have to make it sound like I was dragging a compliment out of you. I was just wondering if I looked OK for the dance.”

“Of course, you look fine. You look great all the time. You could show up to swing dance in town looking like you do when you roll out of bed.”

“Bless your heart,” she says with a fake Southern drawl. “You know, it’s a little bit weird that you know what I look like in the morning. We’re going to pretend like we don’t know that.”

I think a flustered Charlie is kind of fun so I keep pushing it. “Well, you keep running into me when I don’t have clothes. It’s almost as if you want a good glimpse of it yourself. All you have to do is ask.”

Charlie leans over the console and smacks my chest with the back of her hand lightly. “You better behave yourself tonight, mister, or else,” she adds with a little laugh.

I pretend like I’m locking a key to my mouth and then throwing it away. “I promise I’ll be on my sort-of best behavior tonight.”

“I don’t know if that’s exactly promising,” she replies as she pulls her phone from her purse.

“It’s a take it or leave it kind of option.”

“I guess I was the one that told you that you needed to come wasn’t I?” She shakes her head slowly as she types something on her phone. “I should’ve known better.” She pockets her phone, then opens the door and jumps out of the truck. She stops when she reaches the door to the Willow, and turns around. “I’m not going to lie, swing dancing sounds fun and it also sounds intimidating to walk into a room full of people I don’t know. You’re my emotional support roommate.”

She looks up at me with wide eyes and loops an arm through mine.

When she says it like that, now I really do have to be on my best behavior. I reach around her and hold the door open for her to go in first. “I promise most people in here don’t bite. I’ll point out the ones that do.” I wink at her and shift my arm to grasp her hand.

She smiles at me and laces her fingers through mine, sending an electric jolt up my arm. “Thanks. You’re not so bad if I ignore your long list of faults.”

“Ouch. The only way I’ll recover from that is to compare my faults to yours.”

Charlie throws back her head and laughs as we walk inside. “I’m a little scared. If we start to compare, we might find out we’re the same person.”

CHAPTER 21

Max

I don’t knowwhat Charlie was worried about. She’s definitely stealing the show tonight. She’s fresh blood, she’s fun, and she treats everyone like they’re her future best friend.

Very different from how she’s treated me. I feel like I’m permanently cemented in the friendly enemy territory with her.

There are about a hundred people crammed into this room, and that includes the volunteer fire chief who’s tactfully ignoring the 80-people capacity sign tacked on the wall.

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