Page 73 of Unburdening His Heart

I quickly swipe the accept button. My hand goes straight to my hair, remembering I never fixed the rat’s nest from early this morning. It’s too late to do anything about it now as Andrew’s handsome face fills the screen.

I smile. It’s only been a little over twenty-four hours since I’ve seen him in person, but damn, I miss him already. I smile wider, trying to cover for my needy and wayward thoughts.

“Damn, you’re fucking gorgeous. I missed you.” His response immediately puts me at ease.

A shy smile grazes his face. Maybe he’s just as insecure about this as I am. Just the thought of that eases any leftover insecurity. This is new to both of us. We can figure it out together.

I take in his handsome face. His beard is just a little longer, his hair a mess from him running his hands through it. But what I notice the most is how tired he looks. My eyebrows furrow in concern.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Just a minor hiccup I didn’t expect, but I finally have a lead on it, and hopefully, it’ll be put to rest soon.”

My brows furrow. “What kind of little hiccup?”

He blows out his breath, then looks off to the side for a second, as if contemplating how much to tell me. I tense, ready for him to blow me off and close any door of communication we may have. Instead, he surprises the hell out of me.

“When I got home from Fraser, I had a note sticking in my door jamb.”

“A note? From a neighbor?” Part of me is thoroughly confused as to why a note in his door would cause him to lose sleep or go so far as to call it a “hiccup.” Then I remember it’s us, and there’s always something going on. Some recent development to fuck everything sideways when we think we have a plan together.

“I’m going to tell you this, but you can’t say anything to Andrea or Addy.” He looks me dead in the eye, begging for trust and for me to make that promise.

I nod. “I promise.” My heart rate picks up with how serious he looks. “The note must have something to do with Christopher. It was a warning.” He shakes his head, frustrated.

“A warning for what?”

He shrugs. “That’s just it. I don’t fucking know. It barely makes any sense.”

“What does it say?”

Concern radiates from every inch of my body. I wish this whole fucking thing with Christopher was put to rest for all our sakes, but especially for Andrea, Addy, and Andrew. They deserve to move on from this whole thing. To live their lives.

“Just that I can find answers from an unusual place.” He sighs, clearly irritated.

“What the fuck does that mean?” The blueberries and cake are long forgotten as I go round the kitchen counter to go sit on the sofa in the living room.

“I don’t know for sure, but I have a hunch. Tomorrow, I’ll find out if I’m right.”

“Will you tell me what it is?” He would’ve already told me if he planned to.

He confirms my suspicions when all he does is shake his head.

“Not yet, but I promise I will when I can.”

I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but I’m surprised he opened up to me as much as he has. Baby steps, I suppose.

“I’m holding you to that, Andrew Shaw.”

“You should, Charlotte Reed.” Something about his tone and open, honest facial expression makes me believe he’ll tell me everything when he can. That both excites and scares me. “Now it’s time for me to convince you how much sweeter that pussy of yours tastes than your cakes.”

My cheeks instantly warm at the sudden change of subject. My core tightens again, and I sit up straighter to take notice of the insatiable man who has captivated my attention from the first moment I saw him.

I raise my eyebrow. “And how do you suppose we do that?” I’m more curious than anything to see what he has in mind.

“Take your pants off.”

I laugh a little at how abrupt he is. He leans forward, and all I can see are his strikingly beautiful eyes and the top of his collared shirt with the top two buttons already undone.

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