a woman who I can’t stand, and the feeling is very much mutual.”
I reached across the table and took up one of his hands and squeezed it. I didn’t know enough about his marriage to set his mind at ease. I wouldn’t feed him platitudes that everything would be all right, but I could reassure him he had a place to think tonight.
“I’m sorry that’s what your life has become,” I told him. “But I don’t think it’s too late for things to change for you.”
He pulled his hand away from mine and laughed. “It’s karma, I tell you. For being the worst father over the years.”
“You don’t believe that.”
“Don’t I? I’m not sure what I believe anymore.”
I vaguely recalled his halfhearted attempts in the hall to fend off my attack. He’d never taken me up on my offer before to call me if he needed someone to listen.
While I liked getting these little insights into the man he was, I was uneasy at the thought of him spilling information because of the state he was in.
“Did you have much to drink at the party?” I asked him.
“Quite a bit. I’m not drunk if that’s what you’re asking.”
“You didn’t drive, did you?”
“No, I’m not that irresponsible. My driver took me here.”
“Good. Why don’t I help you to bed? You can sleep off however much you drank, and in the morning, if you still want to talk, we’ll do it when you’re not drowning in emotions.”
He didn’t protest when I took him by the arm and exited the kitchen. We didn’t speak as we walked up the stairs arm in arm.
“Where do I put you?” I asked him.
“There are guest rooms to the left. Don’t you know that? You’ve been here since they left, haven’t you?”
“I am not a snoop, Charles. I know my boundaries.”
Did I, though? Because I shouldn’t be noticing how well he fitted next to me. Even with all the vulnerability pouring from him tonight, he was full of strength, and that turned me on.
We found him an empty bedroom that only required me to pull down the covers for him. He sat heavily on the bed and rubbed his hands tiredly over his face.
“Need help with your shoes?” I asked him.
He stared at his feet, then up at me. “I was just going to crawl into bed wearing them.”
That didn’t sound remarkably comfortable. I went down on my knees before him and helped him out of his genuine leather shoes.
“Shall I take your socks off too?”
“No, leave them. Feels funny to have another man do that.”
His comment left me a bit unsettled, but he didn’t seem to notice as he removed his shirt and reached for the buckle of his pants.
Right off the bat when we’d first met, I’d sensed our mutual attraction. I hadn’t been sure how he identified sexually but had concluded that he was bisexual based on his marriage and his attraction to me.
His comment seemed contrary, though. Had Charles never been with a man?
With his back to me, Charles pushed his pants down his hips, and I turned toward the door. “Sleep well, Charles. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“August.”
His voice stopped me. Warily, I glanced back at him. He stood with his pants halfway down his thighs. Shit. I needed to get out of there fast. Charles was drunk or at least tipsy and had no idea what he was doing.
“Yes, Charles?”
“The things I said downstairs.” His eyes bore into mine. “Forget it. I’m not myself tonight.”
Chapter 7
Charles
“Charles, are you up?”
I glanced at the door with unease, grabbed my pants on the bed, and hauled them up my naked ass. I’d taken a shower after waking up sweaty and still groggy on the details of what had happened last night. Now at August’s knock, the memories came in like a flood.
The way he’d attacked me in the hall. The hard lines of his body trapping me against the wall. The raw strength coming from him as he caged me in. The second I’d recognized it was him in the dark, my body had simply succumbed with minimal fight back.
The lust wasn’t the worst part of the memory, though. It wasn’t even the way we’d low-key flirted with each other. I’d nearly lost my mind when he touched my naked chest, checking for injuries.
When he’d complimented me on my abs, I’d never felt more proud of all the time I spent working out in my home gym with my personal trainer.