Page 52 of Unearthed Dreams
Seven days.
That was all it took for my entire world to shift on its axis. Seven days of stolen kisses and quiet laughter, of watching Charlie work on her novel with that adorable furrow between her brows, of falling asleep to the sound of her steady breathing. The peace I’d found in these simple moments was foreign to me—dangerous in its perfection.
I’d never known this kind of contentment could exist. With Kelsey, everything had been chaos and passion, a constant storm of emotions. But Charlie brought calm. She filled my space with warmth instead of darkness, with possibility instead of regret.
The past week had settled into an easy rhythm. She’d slip through my back door after the bar closed, laptop tucked under her arm and wearing a shy smile that was just for me. We’d developed a routine—she’d work on her revisions while I did inventory, then we’d curl up in my bed where I’d read whatever book she’d pressed into my hands that day.
I stood in the kitchen, sipping from my mug of coffee while she worked, laying on her stomach in my bed, laptop open.
The screen cast a soft glow across her face as she looked up from her writing, those blue eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“You know how in books, they describe the way characters smell? Like, ‘he smells like pine and snow.’”
I kept sipping my coffee, trying to ignore how adorable she looked when she got caught up in her writer’s mind. “Sure.”
“How would you write what I smell like?”
I cocked my head to the side, fighting back a grin. “You want me to sniff you?”
Her cheeks flushed pink, and she fidgeted with the corner of her laptop. “Well, no, I just thought?—”
The wooden floorboards creaked under my bare feet as I crossed the room, drawn to her like a magnet.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
I crouched in front of her, my fingers trembling slightly as I swept her silky hair over her shoulder. The scent of her shampoo teased my senses, but I wanted more. I leaned in close, letting the tip of my nose trace up the slender column of her neck as I dragged in a deep breath. Her pulse fluttered beneath my lips, and my cock stiffened. “Mmm. So sweet. Like strawberries and sugar.”
My phone vibrated on the nightstand, shattering the moment. The screen lit up with Pineview Cottage.
Fuck.
“Hello?”
“Hi Kai, it’s Gladys.” Her usual warmth was muted, setting my teeth on edge. “I’m afraid we’ve had an incident with Billy.”
My fingers tightened around the phone. “What happened?”
“He fell in the shower this morning. Hit his head pretty good.” She paused, and I could hear the bustle of medical activity in the background. “We’ve got him stabilized, but protocol requires a trip to the ER for imaging.”
“Fuck.” I was already standing, searching for my jeans. “Was he conscious?”
“In and out. But Kai...” Gladys’s voice softened. “He was lucid when they loaded him in the ambulance. Asked for Kelsey.”
The words struck, leaving bruises only I could feel. Some days he didn’t remember her at all. Other days, he remembered too much.
“I’ll be there in an hour.”
“We’re heading to McLaren Northern Michigan. I’ll keep you updated if anything changes before you arrive.”
I ended the call, my movements mechanical as I dressed. This wasn’t like his other “adventures”—wandering into the wrong room, trying to check himself out, insisting he needed to open the bar. This was different. This was...
“Kai?” Charlie whispered. “Everything okay?”
I turned to find her sitting up, hair mussed and eyes concerned. The sight of her there, soft and warm in my bed, made my chest ache. How had I let myself get lost in this fantasy? Pretending I could have something simple and good when my life was anything but?
“Billy’s hurt. I have to go.”
“Oh god.” Charlie was instantly alert, throwing off the covers. “What happened? Is he okay?”
