Page 103 of Tempting Promises
If only we could stay up here forever, but that’s ridiculous because we don’t even like each other.
Although, if I’m actually honest with myself, that’s completely untrue.
I like her much more than I thought was ever possible. I like everything about her, even when she’s pushing my buttons, maybe even more so then.
“Yeah, both of us have our meetings and then we drive back,” I say, as though she doesn’t already know that.
Don’t I look like a dumbass.
“Why don’t we take a cab back?” Charlotte suggests.
“Sure, that’s great.”
We head down, back to the ground where the world feels different. Up there, it was...I don’t know, like I could fool myself easier.
Charlotte hails a cab and we climb in. This is all going to end tomorrow, and apparently, I’m a fucking idiot unable to stop myself from making bad choices, so I pull her to me, my arm around her, forcing her head to rest on my chest.
Neither of us feels the need to say a word, and it’s probably for the best. We both know what the right thing is, so why bother saying something we’d regret or something neither of us wants to admit?
Against all odds, I have feelings for Charlotte Sullivan.
Ones I’ve never had before.
Ones I should be leaping out of the moving cab to avoid, but instead, I’m holding her because I fucking need to.
I never thought I’d be happy for traffic and yet here I am. The longer this lasts, the longer I get to keep her, even though she’s not mine to have.
“Rowan?”
“Hmm?”
“If we weren’t Charlotte and Rowan, if you hadn’t been with my sister and we weren’t fighting for the same contract, would this end differently? Would we be going back to that big penthouse as . . . more?”
I wish it was that simple.
I lean my head against hers, breathing her in, hating the truth because her sister and the contract aren’t what’s stopping us from being together. My past and the way I watched my family break apart is. “I’d walk away from the contract tomorrow if that was the only thing in our way. If I wasn’t a man who didn’t want a family or a marriage or anything even close to it, that’s what would make it different.”
“Not even for the right girl?”
“Are you that girl, Charlotte? Do you think you’re able to change how I feel about love and family?” She stiffens, and I hate myself for the way that sounds. “If there was anyone that could do it, it would be you.”
The cab stops in front of our hotel. Immediately the door opens, the valet being far too good at his job. He helps Charlotte out while I pay the cabbie, the question and comments still lingering between us. When we get up to our room, the mood feels somber.
As she starts to walk toward the bedroom, I grab her wrist.
Her big green eyes stare up at me. “I’m not that girl.”
The way she says it tells me that not only does she not believe that but also that she’s saying it to protect herself.
“It’s probably better we realize this now, before things get out of control.”
“You mean before I fall in love with you and you break my heart?” she asks.
I don’t say anything because I’m not really sure what to say.
She exhales deeply, forces a smile, and pulls her wrist from my grip. “Don’t worry about that, Rowan. I’m not halfway in love with you. I’m not even a little bit in love with you. I’m well aware of what we were and that it has run its course. The only thing I love is my farm, and it’s what I protect, my heart is not in jeopardy of being tangled up with you.” Charlotte lifts up on her toes and kisses my cheek. “Good night. Thank you for letting me fall in love with my city all over again. It means a lot to me.”
It meant everything to me. Every moment we spent together made my resolve crack deeper, and I need to fill the gaps before I take her to my bed and fill something else.
