Page 57 of Deny Me
“Would you ask him to meet me in my study?” It wasn’t a room she used often; she typically worked in her bedroom or in her office at CF. Inviting him into her bedroom seemed too intimate now, even with the separate seating area and desk.
“I’ll bring him up after Dr. Keller has left,” Elliot said.
“Oh, I asked Becky to go for a walk.”
“We can go after your meeting.” Elliot obviously didn’t want her meeting with Wes without being nearby.
Charlotte, on the other hand… “No, you two go. I’ll come out as soon as I’m finished.”
“But—”
“Elliot.” She knew the woman only wanted to ensure her safety, but this was too personal to handle with an audience. “I’ll meet you after,” she said firmly. “Please.”
Elliot reluctantly nodded. When she led Susan down the hall toward the staircase, Charlotte rushed to her room to freshen up before making her way to the study. She’d been seated in the chair near the window, focused on the beauty of the late fall day outside in hopes of quelling her nerves, for only a few minutes before the door opened and Wes entered.
Concern lit his sky-blue eyes as he rushed across the room. “Charlotte! God, I’ve been so worried.”
He scooped her out of her chair and into a hug. Charlotte’s eyes closed at the feel of his arms around her, so like King’s but equally different. His embrace was a comfort more than anything—her heart didn’t beat faster, her breath didn’t quicken. It would be easier if it did. But Wes was her best friend, not her lover. Never her lover, no matter how much he or her parents wanted that to change.
Opening her eyes, she shot Elliot a warning look where she stood in the doorway before pulling back from Wes’s hold. Not until the door was shut behind Elliot did she speak. “Wes, we need to talk.”
Wes stiffened, his gaze locking on hers as if he could read what was going on there. She prayed he couldn’t.
“Would you mind if we sat?”
Wes took the chair paired with hers, sticking to the very edge so he could lean close to her. “What happened last night out in the garden? No one would tell us anything. I’m going out of my mind here, Charlotte. What—”
She put a hand up, hoping her smile softened her words. “I can’t tell you if you don’t let me talk.”
Reluctantly Wes eased back in his chair. Charlotte gave herself a few seconds to breathe, to try to gather her words, but her thoughts scattered like pebbles in a pond, so she stuck to facts for now.
“Some of the men involved in this situation with Becky got a little too close last night.”
She didn’t tell him the team had known it might happen, nor that she’d been more bait than victim. Wes really would lose his mind then.
“They what?”
The last word was a shout, and she winced. Wes missed it, shooting out of his chair to pace across the study.
“The whole purpose of King and his team being here is to keep you safe. If they can’t protect you from an attack in a public venue, how can they hope to protect you here? Or anywhere else?” He spun around. “Charlotte, let me take you away somewhere. They won’t find you, I promise. We can hide till all of this passes.”
“No, Wes.”
He rushed her way, coming to rest on his knees in front of her chair. “Please. I will keep you safe.”
“I have a responsibility to Creating Families, Wes. To Becky and her baby. I can’t leave.”
He grabbed her hands, his grip hard. “None of that is more important than your life!”
Extricating one hand, she laid it gently atop his. “Yes, it is.”
“Charlotte—” The desperation in his eyes, his hold tugged at her heart. He ducked his head, and when it rose again, the emotion blazing in his face took her breath. “Charlotte, I love you. Please, please come with me. I need you safe.”
Without warning he rose on his knees and his lips met hers.
Time stopped. Somewhere deep in the back of her mind, barely hidden, the question rose: would this change anything? Would kissing Wes finally spark some emotion between them that she’d never acknowledged? But no. The feel of his lips on hers was pleasant, earnest. It wasn’t fire blazing up from her soul to meet his. It wasn’t a roar of hunger demanding to be fed. Instead, tears tingled at the back of her nose and eyes.
She was going to lose him. This was it. Wes would never forgive her, not just for rejecting him, but for turning to King instead.
