Page 23 of Of Course, Cutie

I walked away to serve another customer, thinking about how stupid it was to invite Charlie over to watch kid movies. Part of me wished I could take back the invitation, but I knew Tess would be thrilled to see Charlie. And hell, I couldn’t stop thinking about spending time with her again.

I could be Charlie’s friend. I could be her platonic, older friend. There was nothing wrong with that.

I could stop myself from wondering how her kisses tasted and how her skin would feel against mine.

11

Charlie

Matteo strategically chose a pair of tight gray joggers and a fitted Guns N’ Roses tank top for my movie day attire. He’d said, “Girl, you guys already bonded over this band, and the logo will keep his eyes right on your tits aaalll day. And these pants are tight and make your ass look incredible, but they’re also all like, ‘Heeey, I’m cute and casual! Definitely not trying too hard!’ Trust me, it’s perfect. And I know you hate this, but I’m going to need you to put on some eyeliner.”

He wasn’t wrong. I looked hot.

I slipped out the front door before anyone else was awake and drove to Burke’s apartment with my heart racing. He still wanted me to come, right? I’d texted last night to confirm, and he said Tess was excited to see me. But what was Burke thinking?

When I knocked on his door, I was pretty sure I was going to throw up. When he answered and smiled at me, my knees were dangerously close to buckling. “Hey!” My voice was too high. “I brought the waffle mix, but I didn’t cook them yet because then they’d be all soggy. Please tell me you have a waffle iron.”

Burke laughed and nodded. “I do. It makes princess castle-shaped waffles.”

“Oh my god, that is adorable.”

“Come in.” Burke stepped back and took the grocery bag from my hand. He closed the door behind me when I entered his apartment and studied my face for a minute. “I’m surprised you came so early.”

“Am I early? I thought you said 7 am!”

“I did. You’re right on time. I’m just surprised.”

Tess came bouncing over with a toothy grin. “Charlie!” She flung her arms around my legs.

“Hey, Tess! Wow, you have a lot more energy when you’re not sick! I hope we get to play more this time.”

Tess laughed and took my hand. “Um, yeah. Do you want to see the tablet my dad got for me? It’s so cool! And then he painted my toy chest pink! It’s Pinkilicious!”

“Like the book we read last time?” When Tess wasn’t feeling well, I read Pinkilicious, Purplilicious, and Goldilicious to her two times each.

“Yup. Come on!” She tugged on my hand.

“Tess, sweetheart.” Burke laughed. “Let Charlie breathe. She just got here.”

Tess wrinkled her nose at her dad. “Huh? She’s breathing. What are you talking about, daddy?”

I turned to smile at Burke. “I don’t mind.” Then I let Tess lead me down the hall to her room. Burke’s bedroom door was open, and his spicy, manly smell drifted from it. I told myself not to look through the open doorway, but I did. I saw his bed piled high with blankets and imagined curling up next to his body beneath them.

I shook the thought away and tried to listen intently as Tess described all of the new games on her tablet. After a few minutes, I suggested that we go back out and help her dad make breakfast. Tess let out her sweet little laugh and said, “Um yeah. He’s so bad at cooking!”

I followed her back out to the living room and turned on the first Tinkerbell movie. “Okay, I’ll go make sure your dad doesn’t burn the waffles, and then I’ll be right back to watch with you.” I ran my fingers through her soft honey-colored hair and smiled down at her before heading to the kitchen.

Burke looked sexy as hell, but he didn’t even have to try. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and black sweatpants, with his hair secured in its usual elastic. I almost melted when he looked up from a pan of bacon and smiled at me. “How was the trip to Tess’s room? Did she talk your ear off?”

I laughed. “She’s adorably chatty.” I unzipped my jacket and slowly slid out of it while Burke watched with a molten gaze.

“Damn. That’s a great shirt, cutie.” His eyes were glued to my chest, like Matteo predicted.

“Thank you!” I hung my jacket over the back of a chair. “I’ll get started on the waffles. Where’s the um, the… cooker thing?” Burke’s eyes were still on my tits, and I was losing the ability to form coherent thoughts.

“The… cooker thing?” Burke dragged his eyes up my body to meet mine. He cleared his throat. “Right, the cooker thing. It’s um…” He reached for the cupboard behind me and brushed against my body. “Right here.”

Our lips were close, our bodies even closer. Could he feel my heart racing? Did he hear my breath catch? Damn, he smelled good.

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