Page 69 of Hold Me Instead
“Thanks!” Charlie gave herself a minute, staring out the window at the long shadows in the park.
She knew what she was doing. She could manage her work life with a personal life. Handle herfeelings.Sure, this was a unique situation of the two colliding, but at the same time, it was only temporary. Zachary wasn’t going to be in Elmwood Falls forever. Nothing aside from innocent flirting had happened, anyway. She was probably blowing it out of proportion.
Another knock sounded at the door, and she collected herself and whipped it open.
“Sorry, Jasmine, I’m coming.”
Zachary stood in the hall, his thumb swiping slowly over his bottom lip. His eyes ticked up to hers, those dark eyebrows luring her. “You good?”
“Great!” She hurried past him and shoved into her next appointment room.
Relationships? Yeah, she had no clue what she was doing. In order to keep her cool, she had to find it in the first place.
Chapter 19
Charlie
Charliesetherglasseson the desk and leaned into her hands with a moan. Rain pummeled the windows as unrelenting as her migraine. The panes of glass glowed with the dreary gray of outside, her desk lamp angled at the wall to soften its slash of light. She pinched her forehead with her pointer fingers and dug her thumbs into her temples. Nothing soothed it.
She had three more hours of appointments, an afternoon where she and Zachary were booked solid. As unpleasant as it was, she’d worked through migraines before, so either way, she’d power through. It made her reliable. A picture of self-care, she was not. If she was lucky, the pain would dissipate by evening so she could tackle the final cookout details. Fortunately, most things were in order for the event the next day.
“Have you guys—what’s wrong?”
Zachary’s deep voice jolted Charlie from her sad attempt at massaging pressure points, but she kept her head in her hands. His question echoed in her head, and she shivered, the pain dulled for a split second.Must be the deep breathing.Damn near sucked all the air from the room when he spoke.
“Headache,” Charlie mumbled.
“It looks like something knocked you out.”
“Thanks.Always nice to hear.”
The shift of his scrubs stopped, and a teasing nudge woke her shoulder. “Migraine?”
“Mmm,” she mumbled again, shoving her fingers in desperation. “What were you asking?”
His subtle scent filled her nostrils—thank God it wasn’t sweet because her head would explode. His body was so close she wanted to tip to the side and curl into him. If she hadn’t been acutely aware of him filling her space, she might’ve thought he’d left. He released a resigned sigh just before his fingertips brushed her hand.
Charlie jolted at the contact, her hands dropping to the desk as she looked up at his concerned face. Her heart galloped, the pulse in her head increasing enough to make her wince. His eyes, an even deeper brown in the low light, tracked the movement.
“Aw, Charlie,” he said, voice almost tentative. He crouched. His hand brushed aside wisps of hair and tucked them behind her ear. He placed the other along her jaw, cool fingers cradling her like she might break if he held on too hard. “Bear with me, okay?” Both his hands slid until the back of her head rested in them, fingertips squeezing her nape, thumbs pressing her temples.
She searched his face while he focused on his ministrations. He hadn’t shaved again, the scruff on his jaw annoyingly arousing. Why did he have to walk around so effortlessly…Zachary? Emitting that “oh I’m so sexy but don’t know it but really do” vibe that reeled her in willingly. Wearing his white coat over navy-blue scrubs, all clean and sharp and hot. She huffed in her head, closing her eyes lest they roll right out of their sockets. But then she kept them closed, nearly whimpering at the comfort. Her body wasfullyaware his hands were on her.
“Is this helping?” His voice was low, almost raspy.
Pressure increased, so every digit was actively trying to dull the pain. The scrape of his fingers in her hair, against her scalp, sent tingles down her spine.
Charlie cleared her throat. “Um.”Real clear,Charlie.That’ll get him to stop.Or continue.Whichever the hell you want because,really,you don’t know!
“Anna used to get these all the time. When she couldn’t get into acupuncture, she’d have me work certain spots. I don’t really know what I’m doing, I’m just trying to put pressure everywhere.”
Charlie’s eyes opened as his hands, now warmed from friction, relocated. Heat traveled down her neck with the path his fingers took until he dug into the muscles by her shoulders and clavicle.
“Fuck, Harris. You’re so tight. Is this good? Tell me what to do.”
Oh,those words. He had no idea they triggered a different kind of tightness in her body. She squirmed, trying to ease the tingling zipping from her stomach. The thought of his hands on more of her bare skin was too much.
“This is the best I’ve felt all day,” Charlie whispered, not wanting to disrupt the progress. Not wanting him to leave.
