Page 92 of Point of No Return

She nudges my shoulder. “Complicated?”

I think of Skar’s hands on me, of his lips whispering soothing, sweet-nothings in my ear when he’d seen me at my worst:

“I’ve got you.”

“Deep breaths, baby.”

“Breathe for me.”

His hands had been everywhere, holding me closer, stroking my back. So warm and big and safe. He was the one thing in that moment that kept me from teetering over the edge. The one thing holding me together. And every part of me hated it.

“I wish I could read him. I want to know what he’s thinking. Or know how to navigate this…thingbetween us.”

The attraction between us is undeniable. Unwinnable.

Wrong…but if it’s so wrong, then why does it feel so right?

“It’s a good thing you’ve got forever to figure it out,” she says, and the words sink deep.

Forever.

No, I have a couple of months, maybe.

Forever is a dream- one I’m slowly realizing that I want. But it’s one I can never have.

Chapter Forty-One

Skar

I’m counting down the hours until dinner, practically twiddling my thumbs until the clock hits five. I spent the day at home, going over tedious paperwork and showing Aleks how to input it into our system. He’s catching on quickly- quickly enough that I could probably have him do it on his own.

And I can’t concentrate worth a damn.

I’m even dreaming about Charlotte now. She owns my every waking thought.

She ownsme- and she doesn’t even fucking know it. And with the distance she continues to put up between us, I doubt she ever will. But after tonight… things will change. They have to. Maybe that’s why I called Eva in the first place. I want them to change. It starts with this.

I tighten the neck of my tie, pulling on my blazer as I take one last look in the mirror before strolling out of the room.

Only Charlotte is standing just outside the door, hand raised as if about to open it. She quickly drops it, eyes flickering over my suit, but her curiosity is curbed there. She crosses her arms casually.

“I’ll be back after dinner. I have some things to take care of,” I say easily.

Something flickers in her eyes- too damn swift for me to name it.

“I thought you said you weren’t meeting with clients.” She practically says it as a dare, taunting me as if she knows what I’m really about to do.

She’d fucking kill me if she found out.

“I did.” Her eyes narrow into slits, but she shrugs, sliding past me and into the room. “Charlie-” I grab her elbow, stopping her.

“I liked it better when we didn’t talk,” she yanks away, but I spy the lie immediately.

“Is that right?” I scoff as she crosses her arms again, the movement making my eyes dip to her chest.

And fuck, the sight of her in that dress…

“Want to know what I think?”

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