“What was you going to say?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It does.”

  He brushes away the loose strands of hair that have fallen out of his bun. “Is that why you’re handling what happened to you better than most?”

  It’s a fair question, one I don’t want to answer, but feel like I should. “Honestly, a part of me wants to forget it ever happened, but the other part has learned from it. I choose to keep moving forward because there isn’t any other choice for me. Yes, I’m hurt by what he did; yes, I’m heartbroken over the lies and betrayal, but I’m also well-versed enough to know I’m in denial. People can judge what they must about that night. Pick it apart and question every detail. But it doesn’t change anything for me. I experienced it differently, saw it differently, and what was meant to be beautiful, only turned out to be ugly. I let go of most of that negative energy the night you put me in front of the punching bag.”

  “Just like that?” he asks, looking doubtful.

  “No. I still have a long way to go. I just refuse to dwell on something I can’t change. I’ll heal in time.”

  “Charlotte, I—”

  The barman chooses that moment to place the drinks between us on the bar. “There you go, mate.”

  Drew picks up his pint, taking a swig. I take mine, the fruity cocktail already making my taste buds tingle. “Let’s get drunk.”

  He grins, knocking his glass against mine. “To getting drunk.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  DREW

  The party is coming to an end, which means guests are more intoxicated and are getting louder by the minute.

  “Do I have a big arse?” Charlotte yells, holding her phone to her head. On the screen is the name of a celebrity she has to guess.

  We’re in the middle of playing charades since the live band my mother hired are a snooze.

  Speaking of, my mother storms over, her expression pinched and red. “Really, Andrew.”

  I grimace at the scathing look she gives me. “We’re playing charades.”

  “You’re acting like a child.”

  I roll my eyes and turn to Charlotte. “A huge one.”

  “That’s what she said,” she teases, ignoring my mum. She has put up with her hostile behaviour all night and in the end opted to pretend she wasn’t there whenever she came along.

  I wish I had the same strength.

  “Guests are watching you, Andrew,” Mother scolds and hands over a card. “Take your guest back to this room and stop embarrassing your sister.”

  I take the card and in the midst of grabbing it, I knock her hand, causing her bag to slide down her arm and drop to the floor. Charlotte quickly rushes to her knees, helping me place everything back.

  Mum, however, doesn’t even try to pick up her belongings. Charlotte holds up another room card, one similar to mine and grins as she tucks it down her dress. I shake my head, my lips twitching. I hand Mum her bag and take Charlotte’s hand. “You’re right, Mum. We wouldn’t want to embarrass you.”

  “It’s been such a lovely pleasure meeting you, Mrs Wyatt.”

  Mum looks shaken by her comment. “I wish I could say the same.”

  Charlotte suddenly spins to face me. “I’m Kim Kardashian, right?”

  I chuckle at her change in subject. “Yeah, babe, you were.”

  “Really,” Mum huffs out.

  “Goodnight, Mum.” Charlotte laughs as we walk away. “You do realise she will just get a replacement card?”

  Charlotte grins and takes my hand. “Yes, but we aren’t doing it so she doesn’t get a room. I’m going to take a leaf out of my uncles’ book— if you don’t mind me playing a trick on your mum.”

  “A trick?” I ask, willing to do anything she asks of me right now.

  We’re both a little pissed, and for the first time I’m really enjoying myself at a family event. It feels good to be free from responsibility and upholding a certain image.

  I’m twenty-six years old, and although I’ve had nights out with mates, it has never been like this. We could have spent the night in a bus stop and I would have enjoyed myself in her company.

  Charlotte suddenly stops, her red hair flying as she spins to face me. Her cheeks are a rosy red as she exhales heavily. “Okay, I’m kind of lying. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while. I was hoping to do it on our next family holiday.”

  “Love, you’re going to have to fill me in on the details ‘cause I have no idea what you are going on about.”

  “It’s all about the details.”

  I chuckle. “What?”

  She rests her hands over my chest, laughing. “We are going to make her room look like a murder just happened.”

  “Again, what?”

  She waves me off. “They’ll have extra pillows. Fancy places like this always do.”

  When she heads toward the lifts, I trail after her. We step inside the lift, and are greeted by an older couple dressed up like they spent the night at the casino.

  “Hey,” I greet.

  Charlotte gives them her megawatt smile. “You guys look so beautiful.”

  The older lady smiles affectionately. “So do you, my dear. That dress is simply stunning.”

  “You don’t think I look fat?” she blurts out. “I got told I look fat in it.”

  The couple reprimand me with one scathing look. My balls shrivel up and I take a step back. “Wait,” I begin, but Charlotte continues.

  “But you two, you look so cute, so beautiful. I hope I find that one day.”

  “She means—”

  The ding announcing we’ve reached a floor interrupts me and I groan when I realise it must be their stop.

  The lady places her hand on Charlotte’s arm. “You take care, dear. Don’t let anyone tell you that you are anything but beautiful.”

  Tears gather in Charlotte’s eyes. “That is so sweet of you,” she blubbers.

  She stops next to me and my insides turn at her approach. “You should be ashamed of yourself, young man. If you were a few feet smaller I’d have your hide,” she threatens. “Treat her better.”

  “But I—”

  The man steps up next, gently pushing his wife forward. “If you were my boy, I’d have clipped you round the earhole.”

  “But I…” He walks away, not letting me finish, and my shoulders slump. Great, now they think I’m an abusive arsehole.

  Charlotte falls against me, hugging me around the waist. “Weren’t they the best people?”

  “Yeah,” I grumble, wondering if I have time to find them and change their minds about me.

  The lift doors shut and moments later, they open again. “Tell me again what we’re doing.”

  “Let’s just get it done. The party is nearly over and we don’t want your mum catching us in the act.”

  “You know what, fuck it. She’s been difficult all evening.”

  She nods enthusiastically. “If only we had Eloise’s room number. We could scare her into leaving the hotel and we won’t need to see her again.”

  I chuckle. “You were the one who accepted her breakfast invitation.”

  She groans. “It’s a curse. I don’t like saying no to people.”

  “She wasn’t asking you.”

  She smacks me on the shoulder. “I know that, silly, but it was fun watching her reaction.”

  We head down the next hall, checking the door numbers as we go. “This is it.”

  She pulls the card from out of her dress and opens the door. The beep echoes and Charlotte freezes, glancing at me over her shoulder. “Shush.”

  “I didn’t make a noise.”

  “For this to work, it has to be done right. Make sure you get the fridge. They’ll have either small ketchup bottles or sachets. I’ll get the body ready.”

  I twist my lips warily. “We aren’t actually killing someone?”

  She laughs, poking me in the bicep. “Oh, my lord. I’m not a murderer. But my uncle made up a fake dead body with bedsheets one time and put it in bed with my dad. According to my uncles, there were tears, piss, and a lot of screaming, but according to my dad, he just jumped a little.”

  It smells like my mother’s perfume as we head inside the main room. Trust my mum to get a suite that’s bigger than my flat.

  “Jesus,” I hiss out, seeing the champagne bottle on the side.

  “They are totally having—”

  I place my hand over her mouth before she can traumatise me for life. “No. We do not speak of that.”

  She giggles and steps away. “It’s a natural thing.”

  “Nope. Lalalalala,” I sing as I grab the champagne bottle. There is no way I’m leaving this here. I place it on the side next to the door. “We’ll take this with us.”

  “I’m going to get the bed ready,” she tells me, heading into the master bedroom.

  My gaze scans the room, finding my mother’s things in place like she’s making a home for a year instead of the night. If it were me, I wouldn’t have bothered unpacking. I’d just grab what I need when I needed it.

  The pristine room is triggering. Suddenly I’m having childhood flashbacks of Mum telling me to have my room cleaned in a certain way, and I want to rebel.

  A grown-arse man and I’m acting like a child.

  Fuck it.

  I have years of pent-up anger when it comes to my mum and her strict rules and expectations.

  Heading over to the picture on the wall, I look at it before pulling it off and rehanging it upside down, then do the same with the other pictures in the room. By the time I’m done rearranging the room, I have a massive grin on my face. My mother is going to pitch a fit when she walks inside. The room isn’t trashed, far from it, but the things out of place are going to have her losing her mind.

  Charlotte comes out of the bedroom, bumping into the wall. “All done.”

  A wider grin spreads across my face as I walk past her, ducking my head into the room. I burst out laughing at the bedsheet she’s stuffed with something to form a figure of a body. It’s tied in places with the ties from a dressing gown. “She is going to freak.”

  “Let’s go before she gets back.”

  We rush out of the room and I barely slow down quick enough to grab the bottle off the side.

  “Thanks for coming with me tonight,” I tell her, as I open the bottle.

  “I’ve had a lot of fun. More fun than I’ve had since the night we found Cluck.”

  “Cluck?”

  She waves me off. “It was a misunderstanding and not important.”

  “Okay…”

  “What floor is our room on?”

  “Two down from this one,” I declare, pressing the button to call the elevator. When the door opens moments later, I can’t help but touch her. I rest my hand on the bottom of her back, leading her into the elevator. She shivers as we come to a stop inside the door.

  I slide my hand across her back before leaning over and pressing the button to our floor.

  The champagne tastes sweet on my tongue as I gulp a large amount down.

  All night I have been hyperaware of her. Every move, every touch, every brush of her body against mine. However, now we’re alone, about to go back to our room, it’s like my body is on another frequency and all I can sense is her. I’m trying really hard to be a gentleman.

  Her fingers brush mine and she inhales sharply. “I wish we could see your mum’s face,” she tells me as the elevator comes to a stop. There’s a yap as the doors slide open. “Puppy!”

  My lips twitch as she steps out, bending down to the puppy and giving him a lot of fuss.

  “He likes you,” the puppy’s owner tells her.

  She looks up at him, her smile bright, beautiful. It’s one of those smiles you can’t help but return. “He’s friendly. What’s his name?”

  “Ted.”

  I clear my throat to cover up my snort. Charlotte looks up, her nose twitching. “I told you to get that looked at.”

  “She’s always bossing me around,” I tell the guy, who’s eyeing her up like a man after his prey.

  Wanker.

  His eyes widen when he finally pulls his attention away from Charlotte’s legs, probably wondering if he could get a glimpse of what she’s wearing under her dress. His mouth opens then closes, and I smirk, enjoying his discomfort.

  “You like it,” she teases, getting to her feet after patting the dog one more time.

  “Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” he tells me.

  I just bet he didn’t.

  “He’s pretty hard to miss,” Charlotte blurts out, as I slip my fingers through hers.

  I tense a little, wondering what compelled me to do it, but I have no answers. Not even with previous girlfriends had I done any kind of public display of affection.

  She isn’t your girlfriend.

  I take another swig of the champagne, clearing my thoughts. She’s fucking with my head. She's the apple the Evil Queen tempted Snow with.

  And fuck do I want to take a bite.

  The guy steps past us, getting into the lift.

  “Bye, puppy,” Charlotte sings, before dragging me down the hall.

  I tug on her arm, pulling her in the other direction. “It’s this way.”

  We come to a stop when we hear Eloise behind us. “Andrew? Did you come to see me?”

  “Oh, sugar,” Charlotte whispers. “She totally wants you.”

  “It’s not mutual,” I whisper back, before leaning down. “Run!”

  “Andrew? Andrew?”

  She squeals as I tug her arm, pulling her in the direction of our room. I read the numbers on the door as we head past them.

  We nearly topple over when we reach our door. Checking down the hall, I can’t see Eloise, but I can hear her calling my name.

  “Quick,” I demand, as Charlotte shoves the key card into the slot. We both push inside, breathing heavily as we slam the door behind us. I place the bottle on the side before sliding my back down the door, Charlotte doing the same next to me, giggling.

  “That was close,” she heaves out before bursting into laughter.

  “Drew?”

  My eyes widen as I gently slap my hand over Charlotte’s mouth. She struggles to keep her laughter in and my lips twitch. She has a beautiful laugh. It comes from the soul.

  “Hey, do you know what room Drew is staying in?” Eloise says from somewhere outside the door. “He was here but now he’s gone. I tried the front desk already and they can’t share the information. But he was definitely here and he was with her.”

  Her voice trails off and I begin to relax, until Charlotte falls against me, laughing uproariously. “Oh god, your face.”

  “It’s not funny,” I lightly scold.

  She sucks her bottom lip into her mouth. “Maybe she doesn’t have a room? I mean, we could offer her the floor.”

  I slide away the hair that has slipped free. “As kind as your offer is, I’m not kind. That skank is coming nowhere near our bed.”

  She giggles once again, getting closer. “Did you see her face?”

  No, because right now, all I see is her. Fuck, she’s radiant when she smiles.

  And I can’t pull my gaze away. There’s a light in her eyes that hasn’t been this bright before. It’s the same spark Landon spoke about when he mentioned how worried he was for her.

  I can understand why people gravitate toward her, why she has stripper friends who are nuts.

  Her lips part as our gazes lock, and for a moment, neither of us look away, not until her gaze drops to my lips. I’m not sure who moves first, me or her, but both of us lean in.

  Tension chokes the air and I feel my groin tightening at the heated look she’s giving me. A tiny puff of air slips past her lips as she leans up. I try to calm my rapid heart, to be rational and list off the reasons for why this isn’t a good idea.

  But I can’t.

  Her big green eyes blink back at me as our noses touch. It’s like she’s waiting for an invitation, for permission.

  Finally, her full, soft lips press against mine, and I fight the urge to pull her into my lap.

  Fuck, she tastes as good as she smells.

  Just as I’m about to reach for her and deepen the kiss, she pulls back, her eyes wide.

  “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHARLOTTE

  What am I thinking?

  He has been so good to me and I basically pounced on him. But that kiss… That simple kiss. I press my fingers to my lips, still feeling him on me, still tasting him. They tingle with awareness, urging me to go back for more.

  I’m not sure what came over me. I’d fought the urge to kiss him all night. It had been something building inside of me all night, something I had never felt before.

  “Charlotte,” he rasps, his voice smooth like chocolate.

  “I’m sorry, you probably didn’t want me slobbering all over you,” I admit sheepishly.

  I close my eyes at the feel of his palm cupping my cheek. His fingers are calloused, rough in places, but they feel good. His touch feels good.

  Maybe he liked the kiss.

  My lids flutter open and I stare up at him, badly wanting to kiss him again. “That was a good kiss.”

  He leans down, and my heart rate accelerates. “It was a good kiss.”

  Does he want to do it again?

  “Can we do it again?” I whisper.

  He doesn’t answer. Instead, he pulls me closer, capturing my lips with his. I grip his shirt, my fingers tightening in the material. Our breaths mingle together as he deepens the kiss, his taste driving me wild.

  I rise to my knees before turning to straddle his thighs. His back thuds against the door as he leans back, sliding his hands up my thighs and under my dress. I shiver as he grips my hips, pulling me closer until I can feel how hard he is beneath me.

  Why aren’t I freaking out?

  Why does it feel this good?

  I rock back and forth, an electric sensation running through my core. Our gazes never break, too enthralled with the moment, with each other.

  It feels so good, like every fibre of my being feels it too.

  It makes me feel like a bigger fool. I fooled myself into thinking what Scott and I had was good, that in time, other things would fall into place. However, it had never been like this. This is on another level, one where I’m not kidding myself it means more than it does. Actions truly do mean more than words.