Page 152 of The Nanny and the Hothead
“Like Seth and Holly,” he hissed. “The two people I trusted the most, who’d lied and betrayed me.”
“Mitch,” she breathed.
He closed the distance between them. “Just say it. You want to leave me and go to London.”
“No, I want to be with you. I choose you. I love you,” she whispered, her eyes glassy with tears.
Did he want to believe her? Of course, he did. Did he want to take her into his arms and kiss her until he’d forgotten his own damned name? Absolutely! But he couldn’t.
“I thought you were done acting like that,” he replied, stone-faced.
“Done acting like what?” she shot back.
“Like a goddamned pretzel, twisting yourself to please everyone. I don’t need liars in my life, Charlotte. I’ve been there, and I’ve done that. And I won’t be made a fool of again.”
The intensity pulsed between them. “I am not a liar. I’m sorry about how you learned about the workshop. But I’m not twisting myself into anything. If I have to choose, I choose you. And I choose Oscar.”
“When did you get accepted?” he bit out.
She lifted her hands to rest them on his chest. And that’s when he saw it—the orange heart clasped in her hand.
“When?” he shouted as his hotheaded demons got the best of him.
She lowered her hands and took a step back. “I submitted the application the day we picked up Oscar. And I learned I was accepted the following Monday.”
He sucked in a tight breath as if he’d been punched in the gut.
“You’ve known the whole time we’ve been together. And you didn’t say a thing. That makes it even worse. You knew it would hurt me. You knew it all along.”
“I love you, Mitch. I never meant to hurt you,” she pleaded. “But there’s nothing to fight about. I’m not going. I choose you. I choose Oscar. Let’s finish your book. Let’s put this in the past.”
The past?
If he knew one thing about himself, it was that he was incapable of putting betrayal in the past. He pictured the times he’d caught Holly and Seth together. It had seemed innocent, and he’d written it off. Hell, he’d thought he was the luckiest guy on the planet. His girlfriend and his best friend were close. They were a happy trio and business partners. But he hadn’t seen what was right in front of him for months before he caught them embracing. And he wasn’t about to become that naïve chump again.
“I want to see the picture you submitted,” he demanded, lowering his voice. “You didn’t send it to me when I asked to see the photos you’d taken since you’d become Oscar’s nanny. Jesus Christ! Your ass was saved on a technicality! You’d taken the damn shot the night before you accepted the position. Is that why you never showed it to me?”
He was a fool, a damned fool!
Her pain was palpable, regret written on her face. “I should have shown it to you. And I should have gotten your permission to use it. And for that, I am truly sorry. But I didn’t think I had a chance of getting in. I didn’t think there was any harm in trying,” she confessed as tears stained her cheeks.
“The photo,” he repeated, giving her no comfort.
She went to her bag and removed her camera from its case. With trembling hands, she scrolled through the photos. “It’s this one,” she said, passing him the Nikon.
He stared at his image on the camera’s screen. Anyone could see that she’d already captured his heart. The vulnerability in his eyes and the hint of a smile drew him in. He could understand why people wanted to know more about the picture. There was a raw honesty that cut right to the bone. He’d let his guard down. He’d let her in. She’d pierced the walls around his heart, and the picture said that and more. Perhaps he’d thought he could be that person or believed in that instance he could love again. But love and betrayal could not exist together.
He handed her the camera, then stared at the item clenched in her fist—the orange heart.
“I need you to give that to me. It belongs to Oscar,” he said, his voice void of emotion.
She stared at the tiny thing. “But he wanted me to keep it for him.”
“And you want to abandon him,” he shot back through gritted teeth, the hothead taking over. This is where most people backed down, where they skittered off to take cover.
He should have known Charlotte wouldn’t flinch.
“Here, take it,” she said, handing him the heart. “But I need you to know that I’m not abandoning either of you. Can’t you see that, Mitch? I choose you. I don’t know how I can make you understand that.” Fire blazed in her eyes. That conviction and drive he’d come to love only hurt him more.
