Page 20 of The Heart You've Borrowed

“Really?” I asked, shocked.

“Yeah.” She laughed again, still trying to catch her breath.

“I had no idea.” I shook my head.

“I know, I never made a move back then because I thought you always saw me as a little sister.”

“Well, I never made a move because I never thought you were interested.”

“Really? I had no idea you ever thought of me like that.”

“Looks like we wasted years because we were both too stubborn to act on our feelings.” I am so angry at myself. If I had just made a move she would have picked me over him, she wouldn’t have had to go through hell the last few years.

“Yeah, I guess so.” She quietly says.

“Let me grab a towel to clean you up.” I jump off the bed and wet a towel in the bathroom and when I walk back into the bedroom she’s sitting up in bed. When she sees me she reaches for the towel.

“Let me.” I kneel on the floor and start to slowly wipe away at her thighs and clean her off.

“Thanks.” She smiles at me.

“Of course.” I stand up and kiss her temple. I grab my briefs and put them back on. I climb back on the bed and lay next to her.

“Can I ask you something?” She turns to face me.

“Of course.” I swallow hard. This could go one of two ways. She says she just wants to be friends or that she wants to be more.

“Do you think this will ruin our friendship?” She finally asks after a beat of silence. Shit.

“Um, no. I don’t think it will.” I sigh.

“I know you want more, but I can’t right now. This was fun, more than fun. This was a dream come true.” She takes a breath.

“But?” I ask.

“But, I just got out of a really long and bad relationship. I can’t have another relationship right now. I can’t mentally do it. And I am so sorry. I don’t regret what we did but I can’t give you more right now. Not to mention you’re my boss now and I don’t want to ruin my new life here. I know you aren’t like that but I need to focus on finding myself again. And I want you to be there while I do that but I just can’t have you be there as anything other than a friend right now.” She sighs, and a single tear rolls down her cheek.

“I understand Charlie. I do, really. It’s okay. This was just both of us having pent-up feelings for each other and we were finally able to release it. I will be here for you in any way you need me to be. We can pretend this never happened if that’s easier for you.” I grab her hand, squeezing it.

“I don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen because I don’t regret it. I’ve wanted to do that for years. I just don’t think we should do it again, at least not right now. I still need to get used to things here and start over ya know? I just need some time to figure things out.” She turns to look at me, a small sweet smile on her lips.

“Of course, silly girl. Whatever you want.” I pull her into my arms and run my fingers up and down her back.

“Can you stay the night again?” She quietly asks.

“As you wish.” I get off the bed and walk over to her dresser, grabbing her a pair of underwear and a T-shirt. I hand them to her and she gets dressed as I climb back into bed. She curls into my side, her head on my chest.

“Good night Lio.” She whispers.

“Good night, silly girl.” I kiss her temple. I stare at the ceiling for a while, thinking. Tonight was one of the best and worst nights of my life. She had feelings for me for all these years and never once did I have any idea. If only we both were honest with each other years ago our lives would have turned out so different. But that’s in the past, we can’t change it. But we can change our futures.

Chapter Fifteen

Charlie

When I wake up in the morning, I roll over and feel the empty side of the bed. I slowly open my eyes and see that Lio isn’t next to me. I sit up and see a note on my nightstand.

Charlie -

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