Page 86 of Degrees of Control

“Like what?”

“Kelsey’s giving me some work at her equine clinic for now, but we’ll see how my near future shakes out before I go making any big career decisions.”

Charlie stared at him, her chest tight. “Near future?”

Suddenly he couldn’t meet her gaze. “I-I know it’s soon and I’ve been an exceptional asshole, but I can’t just have another couple of weeks without you, Charlotte. If you can forgive me for being such an exceptional asshole, then I’ll do anything…I mean…how would you feel about me coming with you to Melbourne? We don’t have to live together or anything, I could rent a place near you, or far away from you. I have a friend over there who runs a garage, he could give me work, are they called garages in Australia? Also, is Moonee Ponds anywhere near Melbourne? I’ve tried googling it but it all makes no sense, anyway you don’t have to say yes…Charlotte?”

More tears. Again with the tears, but this time she didn’t even try to stop them. Just hugged him with all her strength. “I forgive you for being an exceptional asshole,” she mumbled into his left pectoral muscle. “And I want you to come to Melbourne with me and eat Vegemite on toast and swerve to avoid kangaroos on the Hume Highway.”

James laughed and squeezed her close. “Then it’s done. I’m in love with you and I’m gonna go to Australia with you. I officially declare this picnic a success.”

“What picnic? We don’t have any food.”

“Shh, baby.”

Charlie smirked. “Just so you know, my family is going to make fun of your accent so bad.”

“I don’t care, darlin’, long as you think it’s sexy.”

Charlie squeezed him tighter, feeling his powerful body flex against hers. “Have you been ridiculously turned on these last few weeks by any chance?”

James tilted his head back and groaned at the sky. “You have no goddamn idea. Just having you this close is driving me insane. And yoga? What the fuck, Charlotte? I wear shorts to that class and if I have to watch you bend over like that one more time—”

“Want to get out of here?” Charlie interrupted. “Get out of here and have sex is what I’m saying.”

James grinned. “It’s that kind of compatibility that’s gonna make us a fucking amazing couple, Blue-Eyes.” He seized her hand and started tugging her back to the car.

“Whoa, that was fast,” she teased. “You must be desperate.”

“And you’re not? C’mon, we’ll go tell Sophia you’re my date for the wedding, and then I’m gonna tie you to my bed.”

Charlie narrowed her eyes at him. “I just realized how you coerced Sophia into helping you. You threatened to mess up the seating arrangements at the wedding, didn’t you?”

James laughed. “Maybe, but it was for a good cause. Even Sophia knows that.”

They walked back to his car hand-in-hand and a thought occurred to Charlie. “Hey, James?”

“Yeah?”

“Because you’re super into me and technically an unemployed guy who does yoga, do we have to make sweet, sweet love now?”

He smirked at her. “Uh-uh, your days of sexual torment are just beginning.”

“Hmm, good to know, Mr. Hunter.”

James brought her hand to his lips and kissed her. Just like a prince in a fairy tale “You just wait, Blue-Eyes, we’re gonna have everything together.”

The End

About Eve Dangerfield

Eve Dangerfield has loved romance novels since she first started swiping her grandmother’s paperbacks. Now she writes her own tales about complex women and gorgeous-but-slightly-tortured men. Eve currently lives in Melbourne with her boy, a bunch of semi-dead plants and a rabbit named Billy. When she’s not writing she can usually be found juggling a beer, her phone and a lipstick. Not literally, she’s really bad at juggling. You can find details about this and more relevant things atwww.evedangerfield.com

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