Page 53 of Second Chance Savior

“I tripped on the vacuum.”

“My fault,” River chimed in.

“No, it was mine.”

Mom eyed us both. “You’re getting along now, it seems. Hope it stays that way.”

We nodded. She turned away.

River and I shared a private smile, laughing silently, while something warm and exciting unfurled in my chest.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

River

In the morning,I hovered outside the closed bedroom door almost a full minute before I raised my fist to knock. But before I could, the door flew open.

Charlie looked startled to see me there. She was already dressed.

“Time to go?” she asked.

“It is. Hodge dropped by with a few things he thought we might need.”

He’d made me promise to come visit soon and bring Charlie with me when things weren’t so hurried. I’d told him that was extremely unlikely.

I would come. But Charlie? If I’d given him the impression that she and I spent a lot of time together, he was sorely mistaken.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

I dipped my chin. “I checked in with Cerberus and the Protectors. As you’d expect, there’s been a major law enforcement response to the incident at the botanic gardens. The police are treating it as a terrorist attack and you as a potential target of that attack. They’re working hard to find you.”

“Brynn knows I’m safe. She’ll pass that along to the rest of the FBI.”

“I would think so, along with my name. Which means we have to assume Stillwater knows I’m protecting you. Our plan hasn’t changed. We keep you out of sight until we can uncover the extent of Stillwater’s plot against you and who’s working with them.”

“Right.” Her teeth dug into her lower lip. “What about you? Areyouokay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

She sighed and shook her head. Maybe I was playing dumb. But I preferred not to rehash certain things that we’d said last night. No need to go there again.

“Sun will be up soon. We need to get on the road.” I rapped my knuckles against the wall before turning to pack my things.

I hadn’t slept much. How could I, after she had offered to share her bed with me? And then when she’d grabbed my hand. That simple brush of skin against skin had gotten me half hard in an instant.

Exactlywhy I’d turned down her offer. She thought we could share a bed platonically. That was a no-go for me.

I had told her, straight up, that I wasn’t pretending to have feelings for her. It would’ve been wiser if I’d kept my mouth shut. I’d spent years hiding how I felt about her from everyone, sometimes even me, so I’d had plenty of practice.

Or maybe it was the opposite. I’d used up years of willpower where Charlie was concerned, and now I was finally wearing down.

I’d stayed up late working, but my mind had kept going to the closed bedroom door. Imagining Charlie curled up on the mattress. If I’d said yes, I would’ve heard the soft sounds she made in sleep. Felt the weight of her in the bed beside me in the dark.

I’d come so close to having that, and it had been a form of self-torture to turn her down. But it would’ve been just another kind of torture to lie there next to her. Knowing there was zero possibility I could ever touch her the way I wanted. Have her the way I craved.

I’d first noticed Charlie,reallynoticed her, eighteen years ago. I’d wanted her. And all these years later, despite the distance I’d tried to put between my heart and her, I still felt that pull.

I finished packing up my devices. Charlie came over, and I took the small bag of her belongings from her hand. Our fingers brushed. “Hodge brought something for you,” I said. “It’s on the table.”

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