Page 120 of Hold Me Instead
“I—”
“Next?” The cashier smiled, welcoming them forward.
She and Zachary placed their order, and as they stepped to the side of the counter, Zachary continued.
“You and I haven’t talked about…us…in a while. Really talked. I wantusto decide it before anyone else does.”
“Okay.”
“Truth is…”
Bodies in large winter coats bumped into them, shoved them together, then wove them apart. They glanced at each other in the noisy bakery and seemed to agree that they’d wait.
Their little bags of warmed cookies were ready, the holiday mint chocolate flavor in one, signature snickerdoodles in the other. They stepped outside to bells from a horse-drawn sleigh and flurries.
He held her elbow and led her away from the door, huddling close to the wall. “There’s been a lot on my mind, obviously. Really, though, I’d love to have you at my parents’ place.” He stepped closer still, took a deep breath. “As for us? You’re not a fling to me, Charlie. I don’t take any of our time together for granted. It feels like we’re dating. I didn’t think I’d be interested in that again, but clearly, I underestimated you.”
She grinned back at him, scooting herself closer. “It was my scrubs, wasn’t it?”
He laughed, hard enough that he tipped his head back, and snowflakes dotted his eyelashes when he looked back at her. “Oh, they definitely helped.”
She couldn’t even think about things with the practice at the moment, not when Zachary Lee was saying he wanted to date her. Even after all he’d learned, with his patience and care as they slowly got more intimate. He wasn’t running away. Yet she didn’t want him to stay with her out of obligation.
“Zachary, I don’t want you to feel like you need to…keep seeing me, after everything—”
“Charlie.” He stepped her to the wall, one leg between hers, his hand cradling her face. “You sharing that side of yourself with me? I’m honored you trusted me. But I want to see you—dateyou—because I can’t stop thinking about you. Or wondering what scrubs you’ll wear the next time I see you. Or if you have a berry-colored bra to match your underwear,” he murmured. “Or if you’re happy.”
“You don’t need to worry about me,” she whispered.
“Ah, but I do,” he said, the backs of his fingers sliding hair from her cheek. “I’m realizing I don’t wantyouto worry. That I hope you can finally release what you’ve been through and…hold me instead.”
Charlie’s eyes misted, and no sooner had she stood on her toes, Zachary leaned toward her, their kiss slow, sensual, as though they had all night.
***
Her head was reeling, not to mention that her concerns about paying into the business with Zachary didn’t bother her as much as it probably should. Going into business with someone you were seeing, and barely had been, at that?
It had to be the holidays. They were messing with her mind. Because co-owning the business with the owner’s son sounded like a great idea, if only she could get him on board.
And she was pretty sure she was falling for him.
Chapter 34
Zachary
Aholidayplaylistcuratedby the staff jingled through a small wireless speaker, filling the party room at Arturo’s Restaurant with cheerful energy. They had closed the hospital a couple hours early, allowing everyone enough time to go home, change, and bring their families to their annual celebration.
The mood was certainly brighter than when he’d arrived almost two months ago. After his father’s heart attack, there was a somber veil over the staff, his absence weighing on everyone’s mind. Once he and Charlie found their own rhythm, though, things settled. Spirits lifted, especially with news of Daniel’s recovery. The question as to his return to work came up less and less as time went on. Everyone adjusted to him and Charlie running things, to them being the go-to duo.
Mostly, though, it was Charlie. She kept things running like normal, despite his instincts to find things to fix and change.
He watched her now across the room as she laughed with Maura and her husband. Sure, he could take over and run things the way his father wanted. He’d incorporate a few of his own preferences into the fold—it was only natural, running a business.
What stood out the most was how much he wanted Charlie by his side as he did it.
She wore her cream sweater loosely tucked into the high waist of camel-colored pants that lengthened the look of her legs and showed off her round ass. He’d tugged her into the hallway when she’d arrived to express how much he liked them, and she had assured him he could help her out of them later.
“My God, honey, have you asked her out yet?” His mother’s voice carried softly, her hand at his shoulder.
