Page 47 of Of Course, Cutie

Charlie nodded and sniffled. “Okay. Call me?”

I ran my hand through my beard and let out a long slow breath. I could feel Sienna’s inquisitive eyes on me as I nodded and said, “Okay. Bye, Charlie.” I watched her walk through the back gate with a sinking sense of dread. She wasn’t mine anymore. I knew it deep in my soul.

“So.” Sienna’s voice pulled me back from the edge of my pain.

I groaned and covered my face with both hands. “Sienna, I’m sorry. I never meant to break anyone’s trust. I never meant for any of this to happen. I know she’s almost half my age, and I never should have touched her. I’ll get lost.”

Sienna wrapped her coat more tightly around her body and shook her head. “I already sent Evan home, and I’m not licensed to run the bar. If you take off, you’re really screwing me over. Please finish your shift and then stay to talk to me after.”

“Right.” I nodded and followed Sienna back inside. I could shove all of my feelings down and do what needed to be done to survive. I was good at that.

???

The bar closed at midnight on weeknights, so I didn’t have to wait too long to have my ass handed to me by my boss’s girl.

At 12:04, Sienna plopped down on a barstool across from me. “Start talking, Burke. What the hell happened tonight? What the hell’s been happening?”

I ran my hands through my beard and stared up at the ceiling before meeting her fiery gaze. Sienna was pissed, too, not as pissed as Evan, but still pissed. “I swear I didn’t mean for this to happen. Charlie’s beautiful. Any straight, breathing male could tell you that, but I’m not the kind of guy that chases shiny things. You have to know that’s not me.”

Sienna raised both eyebrows at me, so I sighed and continued, “We talked a lot when she’d hang out here, and we had a lot in common. Then she watched Tess for me and hung out with us a few times. I tried not to have feelings for her. I tried so damn hard, Sienna, but Charlie’s perfect.” I met Sienna’s cold gaze with a pleading one.

“How far did it go, Burke?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, picturing Charlie’s beautiful body and hearing her sighs of pleasure. I stared down at the black marble bar top. “Way too far.”

“Shit.” Sienna ran her hands through her hair and looked away. “Charlie was a virgin, Burke. Did she tell you that?”

I hung my head in shame. “Yes.”

“Shit.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I swear I’ll never touch her again.” My breath caught. The thought of never touching Charlie again tore my heart clean out of my chest.

Sienna rested her forehead in her hands and took a few deep breaths. When she lifted her head and spoke again, her words surprised me. “Do you love her, Burke?”

“Yes.” The word escaped my lips without a second thought. I hadn’t even said the words to Charlie yet, but I loved her. I loved her so damn much.

Sienna stood and paced in front of the bar. “Okay. Look, Charlie is the baby of the Cox family, and none of those fantastic people are willing to let her grow up. Evan is fiercely protective of her, and he’s trying to play dad, but he has no idea what he’s doing.”

She stopped to drum her fingers against the bar and started pacing again. “I’ve known Charlie since she was like twelve, so I’m protective, too, but I’m a little removed from the situation so I can see it more clearly. She’s never acted her age. Charlie is an old soul, definitely not a kid. I know that, and you know that, but like I said, her family doesn’t want her to grow up.”

Sienna sank back onto the barstool. “God damn-it. I should have been paying more attention. I saw the way Charlie looked at you the day you guys met, and then I let myself get wrapped up in wedding plans.”

Silence settled over us. Finally, I spoke up. “I’ll back off. I’ll quit so that Evan doesn’t have to fire me and piss Charlie off even more. I’ll leave her alone.”

Sienna gave me a pained look and bit her lip. “I hate to say this, Burke, but that might be for the best. I think things need to cool off a little if we’re ever going to fix this.” She ran her hands through her hair. “Just give me some time to work on the family, okay?”

“Have a little patience.”

Sienna smiled. “That’s Charlie’s favorite song.”

“I know.”

“You do love her, huh?”

“So much.”

“Look, I’m not mad that you love Charlie, and the age thing is like, whatever.” Sienna waved her hand and rolled her eyes. “I can easily sell that part to her family. The problem is that you guys hid what was going on between you two. Hiding shit causes so many problems.”

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