Page 80 of Love You, Mean It
“Ouch!” he said dramatically.
“Listen, I give you credit for leaving the house like this. That’s a loyal daddy right there.” I chuckled.
“Would your daddy not leave the house like this?” she asked.
The question was so innocent, yet it was a sore subject for me.
“No. My dad wasn’t big on that kind of stuff.”
“What’s he like?” she pressed.
“Not everyone likes to talk about their families, baby girl,” Charlie said as his hand found my thigh and he squeezed it.
“No. It’s okay. I don’t mind talking about it.” I shrugged, placing my hand over his. “My dad left when I was a baby, and we don’t have a great relationship now. But I have siblings that I’m close to, so I see him at family events, and he’ll be here for my sister’s wedding in a few weeks.”
“He sounds like Caroline,” Harper said. “Daddy’s not going to make me see her anymore. If it makes you sad to see your dad, maybe you shouldn’t see him anymore.”
I never actually considered that. I was usually feeling wounded that I wasn’t included. But she was right in a way—being around him did not make me feel good. It made me feel unwanted.
Unloved.
And that wasn’t healthy for anyone.
“You’re awfully smart for a seven-year-old,” I said.
“Daddy! Vi’s the first person to call me a seven-year-old. I’m not six anymore. I’m seven. And I am really smart. Super smart.” She giggled as we pulled into the driveway and Charlie opened the garage.
Harper ran inside because she wanted to go set up her makeup for me to get a makeover next. Once we stepped into the house and Harper took off down the hall, Charlie stopped me. My back was pressed to the door, and he placed a hand on each side of me, caging me in.
“Your dad is an asshole, Firefly.”
I nodded and smiled, because this man just somehow knew what I needed to hear.
“I know. And maybe Harper’s right. Maybe I shouldn’t be so accessible to a man who hasn’t treated me well.” I tipped my chin up.
“Well, you’ve probably spent a lot of time guarding yourself from others because of your relationship with him. When the person you should have been guarding yourself from all along was him. Other people might not let you down, you know?” He leaned forward and kissed my cheek.
It was sweet. Intimate in the strangest way.
Not sexy. Not passionate.
But there was a connection. An understanding.
“I’ve never thought of that.”
“Listen, I’ve been guarded my whole life, so I’m not one to talk. But I’m just saying, you’re all kinds of magic, Violet Beaumont. And I don’t think that man should be the reason that you don’t trust the rest of the world. He’s the one who doesn’t deserve you.”
“What happened to the man who doesn’t like to speak? I feel like you could be my therapist lately.” I chuckled.
“I’d like to be a lot more than that,” he said, his voice gruff as he whispered against my ear, his lips grazing the sensitive skin there as he spoke. “I’d like to strip you naked right here, turn you around, and fuck you senseless against this door. But I’ve got a little girl counting on me, so that’ll have to wait.”
My breaths were coming fast, and I searched his gaze when he pulled back. “You’re an asshole, Charlie Huxley. Now I’m all flustered.”
He took a step back and laughed. “Good. I wanted to make sure I hadn’t run you off just yet.”
“One day at a time. And we’ve made it through the first one, and I’m still here. How about you?”
“Me and my dirty thoughts aren’t ready to run yet, Firefly.” He grinned at me, and I chuckled, because the blue glitter was sparkling in the light shining down on him.
