Behind me I heard her move into the kitchen, her bare feet barely making a sound against the tile. I turned as she reached out and took the bottle of water I had just been drinking out of. I watched her heart-shaped lips wrap around the bottle as she took a dainty sip.
Just when I thought I was gaining control of the situation, she went and used her lips. On my bottle. “I know sleeping in your office isn’t the most ideal place,” she replied.
So she thought I spent the night at work. She wasn’t surprised either. Was this a normal thing?
I nodded. “I got a couple hours. Then I spilled coffee all over my suit and had to borrow a change of clothes.”
“Do you have to go back in?” She shifted and some light floral scent wafted toward me. She smelled good. Fresh and… calm.
I never knew a person could smell calm. She had this quietness about her; not quiet in a literal sense, but in figurative way. In a stable way. Like if she were an electrical panel, she would be the grounding wire. She would be the wire that would keep the other wires around her from electrocuting everyone they came into contact with.
The irritation I was feeling moments before ebbed away and I was left feeling composed. “No, I’m not going back to work tonight.” I ignored the fact my voice dropped an octave.
Her impossibly wide eyes widened even more. Was she that surprised I wasn’t planning on rushing back to work? Had I already done the wrong thing?
Before I could make an attempt to fix whatever the hell I just did, the sound of a ringing phone nearby had her reaching into the brown bag on the counter. I watched as she held the black encased phone up to her ear.
“This is Charlotte Carter.”
Charlotte! That was her name!
“Yes,” she was saying. “I see, yes, of course. Tomorrow is just fine…”
She kept talking, but I stopped listening as my gaze wandered down her body and to her legs again. Her toes were painted red.
It was sexy.
She sighed and pulled the phone away from her, setting it on the counter.
“Everything okay?” I asked, forcing my gaze up.
“The client had to reschedule for tomorrow.”
“So you get to play hooky?”
She got this funny look on her face and she glanced at me. Then she said, “I suppose so.”
“We can have dinner, then,” I said. I hadn’t planned on dinner with her. I planned on spending as little time as possible with her.
But that was before she tackled me, half naked, and calmed me with a single look from her golden lash-lined eyes.
Besides, I could use this dinner as an investigation of sorts. This woman—Charlotte—lived with my brother. Maybe I could learn things that would help me nail the fucktards who murdered my twin. Maybe she knew where the flash drive was.
“Dinner?” she asked. The way she said it made me think this suggestion was a surprise. Did my brother never take her out to eat?
I shrugged. “I’m off. You’re off. I’m starving. You’re thin. You could use a meal. Let’s eat together.”
Judging by the look on her face, I went and said something un-Max-like again. Damn, being someone else was hard.
“You think I’m too thin?”
Well, shit. Not only did I say something out of character, but I committed the cardinal sin that every man knew to never commit. I commented on a woman’s weight.
I decided to blame it on the twilight zone atmosphere of this tiny apartment.
I sighed heavily. “I don’t think you’re too thin. I think you’re gorgeous. Go get dressed so we can go.”
Her face softened and she smiled. “Okay.”
Well, that was easy.
Before going off to find some pants—Please, God, let her cover up those legs—she tilted her head to the side. “Aren’t you going to change?”
Right.
It was time to trade my leather jacket for something far less comfortable. “Of course.” I followed along behind her, toward the bedroom, which was just off the living room.
My cock was twitching again because I was envisioning both of us in the bedroom getting dressed…
Charlotte didn’t go into the bedroom, instead veering back into the bathroom. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes,” she called as she closed the door behind her.
My shoulders sagged in relief as I stepped into the bedroom. I couldn’t help but look at the bed, the very large bed that dominated the room.
I pictured Charlotte’s long, bare legs and peek-a-boo chest. I was supposed to share a bed with that and not touch it. I’d never shared a bed with a woman I didn’t plan on touching.
It was going to be a very long night.
8
Charlotte
I leaned against the bathroom door, pressing a hand against my chest as if the movement would somehow calm my racing heart. The rapid rhythm against my palm only served to remind me how worked up I was.