Page 42 of Charlie
I winked at her. “Everybody likes croissants; you said so yourself.”
“Did you pull my leg yesterday?”
“Maybe I always liked croissants or maybe you converted me. A man’s got to have a bit of mystery about him.” Closing the door, I smiled at my own joke.
After taking a quick shower and brushing my teeth, I walked back into the bedroom, and found Liv where I’d left her. She looked so tempting with her smooth skin and the outline of her perky breasts showing through her sleepwear.
“The food will be another twenty minutes at least.”
I wanted to be respectful, but my hands were drawn to her. Getting back into the bed, I muttered, “I can’t think of food when you look so pretty in the morning.”
She lowered the remote control and watched me. “Then maybe you should have me as an appetizer.”
My head screamedyes!and I was just about to answer her when my phone vibrated on the night stand. “Hang on.” I reached over and answered, “Hello.”
“Charles, where are ye?”
“Oh, hey, Ciara, I’m with a friend.”
“Ye didn’t come home last night. We’ve been worried about ye.”
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “I fell asleep at my friend’s place and we just woke up. Sorry about that.”
“When will ye be home? Conor said he needs to speak to ye.”
My eyes went to Liv, who was watching me. “I’m not sure. Probably tonight?”
“Awk, ye missed our meeting last night. And now ye’re saying ye won’t make it today either. Who is this friend?”
“I’m not ditching you. I’m just… ehh, it’s a long story.”
Ciara sighed. “Try to make it back by noon. Ye know how important Sundays are to Conor.”
“Yes, I know. I’ll try and make it.” I hung up and turned to Liv. “Sorry about that. I should have messaged my friends that I wasn’t coming home last night. They worried.”
She had a cute frown on her face. “Do you have to go now?”
“No, I can stay for a few hours.” I reached for her hand, but she seemed stiff. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Liv, even I can tell something’s upset you. What is it?”
She looked away. “I just thought you saw me as more than a friend.”
I swallowed hard. “You mean the part about us being exclusive?”
Liv leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Yeah, but hearing you call me a friend. It’s like a bucket of cold water on my head.”
“Why?”
“I think we got carried away.”
“What are you talking about?”
She looked at me. “It was like a dream. Meeting the guy I had a huge crush on in college and being blinded by our amazing chemistry. But if we stop and get real for a second, being in a relationship will never work for us. I tried a long-distance relationship once and I swore I’d never do it again.”
“We could make it work.”
