Page 19 of Shadowing Charlotte
I couldn't hold back anymore, I leaned over her, catching her bottom lip between my teeth. She gasped against my mouth before melting into me, her lips parting. Thrill and satisfaction coursed through me at her response as I pulled her closer. I wanted more, needed her to crave me the way I did her.
"You're lucky I adore you—" Ipanted against her lips.
"Because if you didn't, I'd be lying in a grave somewhere out by the quarry?" she asked, nuzzling my nose, as if we'd been together for years, as if she adored me as much as I did her.
"That's not funny, Charlotte," I replied grimly, unamused by her dark humor. She grinned as she released me and threw the covers off.
"What do you want to drink?" She padded into the kitchen in her socks, her ass cheeks hanging out of her underwear. She was completely unbothered by my gaze, pausing in the doorway to bat her lashes at me. "Pepsi, water, Gatorade?"
"Whatever you want, princess," I called back.
She returned, setting two bottles of water on the table and taking a puff from her vape. When she offered it to me, I took a long drag, releasing the mist into her face as she climbed into my lap.
"Are you going to ask me to be your girlfriend?" she teased as she straddled me, her proximity immediately making my body go haywire, as if she were lightning covered in skin.
"Aren't we a little old for labels, princess?" I asked my hands moving to grip her hips.
"I'm not, grandpa," she replied, sticking her tongue out at me. The action only reminded me of how young she was, perhaps too young. I couldn't help but wonder if I was making a mistake. I mean—fuck—I'd been making the same mistake for two fucking years.
Chapter fifteen
Charlotte
"Look, both of us know this is a little weird," I told him, leaning against his chest. "But I like you…" Lex snorted at me, rolling his eyes. "I can't very well introduce you to anyone like this. I mean, can you picture it? 'Hi, this is Lex; my stalker.' Hardly something for Daddy to approve of."
"Princess," he sighed, combing his fingers through his hair, the word laced with… regret? Anxiousness? "I hardly think your father will approve, regardless of what you call me. I'm almost twenty-seven years old. You're a baby compared to me."
"Six years isn't that big of a difference. Besides, I date who I want. Daddy can be… well, he can hover. But he wants me to be happy. That's why he never stopped me from seeing Adam." I knew I'd said too much when his cheeks flushed, his cerulean eyes flashing with anger.
"You mean the fucking cunt who hits women?" His arms tightened possessively around my waist.
"He never hit me before last night…" I replied softly. Things with Adam had spiraled quickly, but I didn't think he was a bad person.
"Don't defend him, Charlotte." Lex glared at me. "Only fucking cowards abuse women…" It looked like he wanted to say more, but his expression shuttered with a sigh.
"I'm not defending him!" I complained. I wasn't trying to; I was just trying to make sense of everything that had happened. "My point is," I insisted, returning to the subject at hand, "I think we've gone past the point of you watching me from down the street. If you're going to be a part of my life, I want to know what to call you."
"And you… want me to be a part of your life? Are you sure that's a good idea, princess?" Lex's skepticism was palpable. His words contradicted the way his hands tightened around me, though. He gripped hold of my thighs with a possessiveness that sent my heart racing with excitement.
"No, but, if you haven't noticed already, I'm not very good at making smart decisions," I replied with a grin, resting my chin against his chest and looking up at him. I couldn't explain it. I was drawn to him like a magnet to metal. Perhaps I shouldn't have been, but it wasn't something I could control.
I popped another chip into my mouth, my eyes glued to the screen. Lex let out a groan, gently pushing me out of his lap and pacing in front of the tv, refusing to watch. He looked physically ill, wincing at the sounds coming from the movie. It didn't matter how much I enjoyed it; I was only willing to torture him so much. I hit the home button, ending the movie.
"And I thought I was the psycho…" he muttered, taking another puff from the vape.
"I've seen it a million times. Movies don't really bother me. Not since my mother died." I'd realized, when she'd passed, that real horrors were far worse than anything written into a movie.
"Oh… I'm sorry," he breathed, sinking down onto the couch beside me. "How did she die?"
"She was hit by a drunk driver and severed in half." My words were blunt, nonchalant, as if they didn't hurt. They did. They always did…
"Fuck… I'm sorry, Charlotte."
"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. The dumb ass who killed her will be in jail for another three years. He's paying for it."
"But it still doesn't bring her back," he whispered, placing his hand over mine.
"No, it doesn't…" I agreed in a murmur. Silence followed. We sat there and he held my hand, rubbing my skin with his thumb. I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply as the unwanted memories came flooding back. Daddy and I had arrived at the hospital only minutes after she had. She'd been pronounced dead on arrival.
