Page 41 of Guarding My Love

But instead, the woman he’d had his eye on when he hadn’t been looking at anyone for years, caused him to lose his control and fiercely kiss her.

She was a gentle person and he yanked her up and crushed his mouth to hers.

Sure, she held on and gave it back just as good as she was getting it.

But then she left shortly after and it’d been nothing but silence since.

Not even crickets.

Crickets would be welcome.

Instead it felt as if the world around him just went dark.

He threw his cup in the sink with more force than necessary and saw it chip.

“Fuck!”

He picked it up and tossed it in the trash.

The last thing he wanted to do was go to West’s Hampton house today for a small family Memorial Day picnic.

But his brother didn’t ask much of him for someone who gave him so much.

And he needed the distraction on top of it.

If it wasn’t overcast with a chance of rain, he would have taken his boat over, which of course would take him twice as long as driving, then to get home when he was ready to leave.

Best to just stick to the plan.

Like he should have done with Charlotte!

After hours of trying to distract himself, he finally grabbed his keys and left. Nothing was going to get his mind off of her and he had to chalk it up to the fact he’d apologize when he saw her next.

If she even wanted to talk to him.

When he was pulling down his driveway, he saw a bright red obnoxious Porsche sitting in Charlotte’s driveway. Her SUV was gone. He knew she was visiting her sister.

He stopped at the end and saw a white-haired man on the front porch with his nose wrinkled and looking in the windows. The guy looked like he belonged on a golf course with his pink polo and white shorts. Shoes on his feet with no socks.

Urgh. Give him sneakers any day.

After he glanced at the license plate and memorized it, he rolled the window down. “Can I help you with something?”

In the past, he’d drive by and not give two shits and mind his own business.

“Nope,” the guy said, dismissing him. “You can go on about your business.”

“She’s not home,” he said.

“You know Charlotte?” the guy asked.

“She’s my neighbor,” he said. Might as well keep it simple. “Her car is gone. She’s not home.”

No way he was going to say she was out of town. Part of him didn’t want to leave now and instead watch out to see if anything happened.

The other part of his brain said this guy might get a paper cut if he picked up the mail.

The guy looked pissed that he might have inconvenienced himself, but Foster didn’t give a shit. All he thought of was the texts she was getting from her much older ex and his radar went up.

---