Page 4 of Degrees of Control

Sophia brushed the hair from Charlie’s eyes. “Yes. But you look like a dream.”

“A wet dream,” Hayley chipped in. “I wish I had your tits.”

Charlie’s palms were slick with cool sweat. She felt as though she were back in a line at school, awaiting the new meningococcal injection. “So James Hunter, your cousin, is a rich Texan businessman who used to model?”

“Yes.”

“You do realize I’m a poor Australian yoga teacher who still gets asked if she’s in high school?”

Hayley patted her on the back. “That’s only because you’re so short.”

“I’m serious you guys, that man is prime real estate and I’m…” Charlie struggled to think of an appropriate comparison. “A car park.”

Sophia sighed. “You’re not a car park and trust me, he’s the one you want.”

“But—”

She gripped Charlie’s arm, her glacial blue eyes boring into hers like drills. “You didn’t get rid of that shithead Dale just to keep running from what you need, Charlotte. You want to fuck James Hunter? I guarantee he’ll want to fuck you. So go out there and own it.”

Charlie swallowed. Her friend had a point, but she was used to taking the backseat when it came to sex. She always made sure men were attracted to her before she made her own feelings clear. She could stand to take more risks, but the idea of approaching that insanely hot guy for sex was a bungee jump with a fraying cord.

Sophia leaned in closer. “This is what tonight is about. Confidence. Power. You need to be brave enough to ask for what you want in bed. You need to be able to approach the men you want to fuck. Who cares if it doesn’t work out? You can’t be ashamed anymore. I won’t let you. You’re better than that.”

“Okay,” Charlie said, hating how squeaky her voice sounded. “I’ll go for it.”

Hayley gave a loud raucous laugh, the one that sounded like a black hawk taking off. “I can’t believe you’re giving her a pep talk to fuck your cousin right now, Soph.”

“Shut up.”

“Well I think we’re done here.” Hayley finished her drink and gave Charlie another quick hug. “Good luck, Kemosabe. Whatever you do, don’t look the big JH directly in the eyes. I did once and I went blind for like, ten minutes.”

Hayley ran down the stairs and sank back into the crowd, leaving Charlie a wing-woman short.

“Shall we?” Sophia asked, and without waiting for a reply, seized Charlie’s arm in a vice-like grip and steered her downstairs and across the crowded dining room.

They approached the back of James Hunter who was still deep in conversation with three other men. How could you possibly be this intimidated by the back of someone’s head? Charlie began to feel like the Titanic veering toward that one fatal iceberg. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide…

Sophia tapped on the iceberg’s shoulder and her cousin turned to look at them.

Dear. God. Hayley had been right about his eyes, they were a bright hazel-green framed by thick black lashes that definitely hadn’t been glued on. Looking at him was like staring at the sun through a magnifying glass.

“Well, hi there, James, I’msoglad you made it.” Sophia wielded charm like a switchblade— friendly with just the right amount of condescending. In that moment, Charlie became aware that despite her plans to get her to doing the wild thing with him, Sophia didn’t particularly like her cousin. The realisation made her want to run away even more but Sophia still hadn’t removed her hand from Charlie’s arm. The clever bitch.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Miss Sophia,” James Hunter drawled. “You’re looking lovely tonight. Who’s your friend?”

He inclined his head toward her.He could see her.Charlie reminded herself it wasn’t physically possible to die from nerves and resisted the horrible urge to run away giggling.

“This is Charlie,” Sophia said with even more concentrated sweetness. “She’s on my softball team. Charlie, this is my cousin, James.”

They both looked at her expectantly.

Oh man, say something, Bell. “Hey, James.”

Nailed it.

James nodded. “Pleased to meet you, darlin’.”

Charlie’s stomach skyrocketed into her mouth. He and Sophia did have the same sprawling southern accent, but Sophia’s voice didn’t make her want to rip off her own underwear. The Hunter cousins began discussing longhorns or sweet tea or some other southern thing while Charlie willed her palms to stop sweating, she wanted to fidget, to rock on her heels and run her hands through her hair. James Hunter was like the world’s shittiest time-warp, one look and she was fifteen again. As she avoided his gaze, Charlie saw other guests watching them, watchinghim, as though seeking his approval before laughing at a joke or getting a drink. There was no doubt about it, James Hunter was a class-A alpha male, pure arrogance sugar-coated in that southern drawl so that every word that came out of his mouth seemed to say “go on, sweetheart, entertain me.”

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