Page 79 of Guarding My Love

“They are great,” she said. “Maybe Foster can meet them one day.”

There was a lot of silence when she said that. Then Laken jumped in. “Good luck there. You might need it.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I’m not that bad. It might be nice to take a few days off.”

More silence to those words. “I think Charlotte might be a miracle worker,” West said.

“Wait until Mom finds out,” Braylon said.

“You guys are so horrible,” Lily said. “Leave Foster alone.”

“Thank you, Lily,” he said to Braylon’s fiancée. “It’s nice to have someone in my corner.”

“I’m in your corner,” Charlotte said, smiling.

She touched his hand under the table. It was good timing that their food was being brought out.

While everyone was being served, he looked around and noticed Jamie’s arm around Laken. Braylon was rubbing his hand on Lily’s arm. West had reached out to touch his wife a few times.

Not him.

Charlotte’s slight touch of his hand under the table was the only affection they’d shown anyone.

It just wasn’t him and he wondered if she needed that.

Or wanted it.

Hours later, they were entering their hotel room.

“I’m sorry if I’m not like my siblings.”

“What?” she asked.

“I’m not like them. I’m not outgoing or affectionate in public. I’ve never been much of a fan of PDA.”

She tilted her head. “I want you to be you, Foster. Not them. They aren’t the ones I’m in a relationship with. It’s you and only you. And if I’m being honest, if you draped your arm over my shoulder, it would have felt forced and been a trigger for me.”

“A trigger?” he asked.

“I don’t want to get into it too much. Not when we’ve had such a great night. But in the past, I felt like when the men I was with did that, it made me feel like a possession or a kept woman. That they were showing me off rather than giving me love.”

Foster was damn happy he hadn’t given in and put his arm around her shoulder like he’d been debating.

He’d told himself if he felt that unsure of it, it wasn’t worth doing.

“I don’t want you to feel that way with me,” he said. “Ever. But I worry I’m too hard for you. Maybe too rough around the edges at times.”

She started to laugh. “Can I confess something to you?”

“Always,” he said.

“I like that about you. It might have been my first draw. Or the tingle in my body when you were gruff.”

“It wasn’t annoyance?” he asked, lifting his eyebrow.

“Well, I think it was that too, but I had noticed how hot you were. Then you opened your mouth and I was like, geez, what did I do to tick him off? It’s not like I tripped on purpose with a big ladder in my hand.”

He laughed. “I’m glad you like the way I am.”

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