Page 69 of The Devil in Blue Jeans
“Thanks,” she whispered, shutting the door behind him.
He headed for the menu on the nightstand and took a quick look, before picking up the phone. When room service answered the call, he said, “Can I get a charcuterie board and a bottle of your best whiskey with two glasses and ice.”
“Yes, sir,” the man with the gravelly voice said. “We’ll get it up to you just as soon as we can.”
Knocking off things he had to do before she got out of the tub, he grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and sent Willow and Aubrey a text in a group chat:I’ve taken Charly to a hotel here in Phoenix.
Willow instantly replied:Please give Charly our love, tell her we’re here when she needs us.
Aubrey’s text came a moment later:Ask her to call us when she has a minute. We can’t stop thinking about her.
He texted back:I will. Good night.He followed up with a text in his group chat with Eli and Gunner:All is well. We’re at the hotel now.
Both gave him a thumbs-up emoji, which was the male equivalent of what Willow and Aubrey had said.
With a sigh, he muted his phone and dropped the cell on the bedside table, right as there was a knock on the door. He opened it and the server strode in, placing the tray on the footstool at the end of the bed. After Jaxon tipped him, he left the room, shutting the door behind him.
Jaxon filled the glasses with ice and whiskey, and it occurred to him that he’d never done anything like this before with any woman. She made him think beyond his own needs. He wasn’t there for himself. He was there for her, and he was damn sure he’d turn the world upside down if it meant she didn’t have to feel any more pain. Because the warmth that touched his chest when he was with her filled an emptiness that he’d been running from for a long time. But being there now, communicating with Charly’s friends like one of her family members, only made him surer that this was exactly where he was meant to be.
The bathroom door creaked open, and Charly stepped out with a white bathrobe wrapped around her. She was makeup-free, and her hair was still damp from the bath, and she’d never looked more beautiful.
He handed her one of the glasses of whiskey he had poured. “Thought you could use this,” he said.
“I really could, thank you.” She took the glass and sipped from it, settling down on the bed.
“Do you want something to eat?” he asked, gesturing to the charcuterie board.
She shook her head, gazing at her crossed legs. “No, not right now, but thank you.”
The exhaustion that was evident in her expression made him feel helpless. “I sent a message to Willow and Aubrey,” he said softly. “They’re worried about you and would like to hear from you when you’re feeling ready.”
She finished her sip of whiskey, cringing at the burn likely rushing down her throat. “Okay, I’ll call them soon. I just need...” She looked up at him, staring blankly. “I don’t even know what I need, if I’m being honest.”
“I think that’s to be expected.” He downed a big swig of the whiskey, before joining her on the bed. He wished he had some words that would make her feel better but didn’t know where to begin.
“You came,” she noted, ending the silence between them.
He looked over at her with a small nod. “I came.”
“Why?” she asked, her brows drawn together.
“The thought of you being here alone ate me up. I didn’t want you going through this by yourself, especially when it’s your ex-fiancé in that hospital bed.” He placed his hand on her thigh, her bare skin feeling warm from the hot water. “Are you doing okay?”
She let out a deep sigh and then stared into her glass for a moment before setting it down on the nightstand beside her. Turning toward him, she adjusted her robe over her legs and sat cross-legged while facing him.
For a long minute, she examined him with a quizzical look in her eyes.
“Are you waiting for me to say something?” he asked with caution.
Her lips pursed for a moment before she blurted out, “I care about you and I don’t want to push you away.”
He knew he heard those words correctly but couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Say that again?”
“I care about you, and I don’t want to push you away,” she repeated, confidently. She chuckled lightly at whatever was showing on his expression and shook her head. “You might think I’m a bit out of my mind, but when I was with Marcel, all I could think about was that I wished I told him that I forgave him. I wish I told him how happy I am in Timber Falls. How happy I’ve been with you and this new life I built. I don’t want to push away the chance of the happiness I always wanted, just because that happiness didn’t happen with someone else. I want to stay open to falling in love again.”
He finally processed what she had said and blinked. “You care about me and don’t want to push me away?” The last conversation they had she was walking away from him. His brain had trouble catching up with this switch.
She gave a little shrug, smiling sweetly. “I know that this is probably confusing because of how we left things, but there it is, I have feelings for you. And I don’t want to spend another minute not expressing what’s in my heart. After being with Marcel today, I realized that we only get one life to live. That’s it. Then it’s over. And I refuse to make the same mistake again by not expressing how I feel because it scares me to do so. I want to be happy, and I want to let love grow where it grows, and right now, it’s growing with you.”
