Page 57 of The Billionaire's Secret Desire
I take a deep breath, steadying my nerves, and then lift a hand. My knuckles brush the glass in a soft knock.
"Charli... it’s me," I whisper, voice hoarse.
Chapter 24
Charli
There’s a knock on the van window.
It’s soft, hesitant—barely a whisper against the glass—but it slices through the fog of sleep like a siren.
Ghost lifts her head before I do. Her ears perked, a low growl vibrating in her throat until she recognizes the scent. Then she huffs, tail thumping once against the mattress, and flops her head back onto my shin like this is all perfectly normal.
My heart, on the other hand, is doing its best to crack open my ribcage.
Another knock. This time, a little firmer. “Charli… it’s me.”
I sit up slowly, dread and longing swirling in my stomach like a hurricane. The air inside the van is cool and damp from the night, and I rub my eyes, trying to steady my heartbeat, trying to pretend I don’t already know who it is.
I inch forward, pulling back the curtain just enough to peek outside.
And there he is.
Sawyer.
Standing under the flickering yellow light of the Rusty Anchor’s parking lot, hands in his jacket pockets, hair tousled,face shadowed with exhaustion and something that looks a lot like hope.
My breath catches. My heart lurches.
I crack the door open an inch, just enough to let the night air and his scent in—clean and familiar and devastating.
“How did you find me?” I whisper.
He doesn’t smile. Doesn’t flinch. Just looks at me like I’m both the question and the answer to everything he’s been searching for.
“I’ve got my ways,” he says, voice low and rough.
I let that sit between us for a second, not sure what to do with the flood of emotions rushing through me. Relief. Panic. Guilt. Want.
Of course he found me. Of course he came.
I open the door a little wider and he leans in. Ghost stretches and hops out beside him, sniffing Sawyer’s hand before nudging her head against his hip in quiet approval. Traitor.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I say, even though every nerve in my body is screaming the opposite.
“I disagree,” he says simply. “And since I didn’t have a return address, I figured showing up in person was my best option.”
I shake my head, hugging my arms around myself. “This isn’t fair. You showing up like this. I left because?—”
“I don’t know why you left,” he cuts in gently. “I know Ava told you something that is full of lies.”
That stops me cold. My mouth opens, then shuts, then opens again. “She told you?”
He shakes his head. “She didn’t have to. Just seeing her at the wedding told me all I needed to know. And when I talked to her, I told her to stay the hell away from both of us.”
I stare at him, my defenses crumbling fast. “Sawyer, I didn’t leave because I don’t love you.”
“I know that.” His voice is hoarse. “But you also didn’t stay. And that nearly broke me.”
