Page 58 of Must Love Bees
It was too much. Charlie was too much. And she hoped he’d never stop.
At some point, she wrapped her arms around his neck to prevent herself from sliding into a quivering, boneless puddle at his feet. Instead of being held upright, the two of them melted together. She was only vaguely aware that he sat on the table’s edge with her between his legs—she was too distracted by Charlie’s mouth brushing the edge of her ear.
“Astrid.” Charlie’s gruff whisper set the hair along the back of her neck on end.
She didn’t bother opening her eyes. Instead, she tugged his face back to hers so she could kiss him.
“Astrid,” he murmured, between kisses.
“Shh.” She pressed against him. “I’m kissing you. I need to concentrate.”
Then Charlie did something Astrid had never heard him do before. He laughed.
She knew he was laughing because she could feel him smiling against her mouth. That was enough to make her let go.
Charlie was smiling? And laughing. And, oh, my, so manly and beautiful she had no choice but to stare. He was breathing hard, his hair a tousled mess and his shirt plastered to his broad chest. All lovely things. But his smile. His laugh. Like his kiss, they were so much better than anything she could ever have imagined.
“That’s my favorite smile.” Her fingertips traced the arc. “You should laugh more often.”
Red flooded his cheeks. Was he embarrassed? He cleared his throat, twice, then said, “You surprised me.”
“I will now attempt to surprise you at least once a day.” Now that she’d seen his smile, she couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing it again. Soon. Regularly.
“Believe me, you do.” If he was having a hard time holding her gaze, he hid it well.
“Really?” She loved the warmth in his dark brown eyes. “You have a lovely smile, Charlie. If I were having a terrible day, that smile—right there—would make it better.”
He didn’t say anything or move. One dark brow rose but he didn’t speak.
She waited, but he stayed quiet. “What are you thinking?” she whispered.
“I’m...processing.”
“Oh.” Today had been a lot to process. “Good. You’re not regretting this...” Where had that come from? Why had she said it out loud? If he did, and said so, it would crush her.
“No.” He took a slow, steady breath and repeated, “No.”
Whew. “Then we should go back to kissing. Don’t you think?” she whispered. She was more than willing to pick right up where they left off. Eager, was more like it.
His smile was back.
The ground seemed to wobble beneath her feet. Her hold on his shirt tightened. “Or not.”
But he was staring at her mouth now so she hoped a kiss was imminent. Until his phone rang. He reached around and grabbed for his phone.
“Work?” It was business hours. Instead of turning her world upside down, he might have important work to do.
He shook his head as he stared at the screen and held the phone to his ear. “Halley. Hello?” He stared at the floor by his feet but one arm still held her against him.
“Charlie.” Nova’s voice rang out sweet and true. “I stole Halley’s phone. Don’t tell, okay?”
“Okay.” He was frowning. “Is everything all right?”
“It’s a bad, bad rainstorm.” And Nova was clearly terrified.
Poor Nova. Astrid wanted to give the little girl a hug. A big one.
“We are okay, Nova.” Charlie’s voice was low and soothing. “You are okay, too.”
