“Fuck you, asshole.”
“Been there, done that, Charlie, remember? Oh wait, that’s right. You wanted to forget it ever happened. My bad.”
Terri stopped walking. “I’ll be right out.”
With a wave of her hand, Charlie retreated through the door and never looked back.
Terri walked up to me and threw her hands on her hips. “What in the hell is wrong with you? Her parents died, Tucker. Have you ever seen her cry before? Hell, I’ve known her since I was eighteen, and I’ve never even seen her cry during a sad movie. She didn’t even cry at her folks’ funeral.”
Turning back to the files, I found the one for Pine Brewery. Slamming the file cabinet door, I took in a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kicked her when she was down.”
Her brows pinched together. “That’s it?”
“What do you mean?”
She shook her head. “That’s all you’re going to say for treating her like that, knowing what she has gone through? What is wrong with you two? Clearly you both still have feelings for each other and won’t admit it, so instead you attack one another.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “Yeah. Right.” I pointed the file toward the door and said, “Charlie Monroe has no heart. The only thing she cares about is her job. That’s all she’s ever cared about. That and living up to her father’s expectations. I feel terrible her parents are gone. I honestly do, but that changes nothing between us. She made her feelings for me very clear seven years ago.”
Terri threw her hands up and let out a frustrated groan. “Whatever! Believe what you want to believe, Middleton. I’m done trying with both of you.”
She headed toward my door but stopped and faced me again. “But just so you know, Charlie admitted to Lily that she loved you only weeks after that weekend y’all spent together. All those times she tried calling you, to explain.”
A knife pierced my heart … or at least it felt that way. Charlie had admitted to my sister she loved me?
“How do you know she told Lily that?” I asked.
Terri shook her head, disappointed at my reaction to her little bomb she had just dropped.
“Lily told me. She told me the real reason Charlie ran that morning. It’s a damn shame you never let her back in to tell you or answered any of those calls and texts, but then again, maybe you really didn’t care about her that much. Maybe it was your fucking ego that was wounded. Whatever it is, Tucker, she cares about you, and you just treated her like shit when she needed you the most. I hope you’re feeling good about the pissing contest you just won.”
She slammed the door behind her and I jumped.
Walking over to my desk, I dropped into my chair and rubbed my neck. I stared at my degree that sat on my desk. What was it doing there? Picking it up, I turned and hung it back on the wall. My eyes caught the security system I had.
A strange feeling came over me. Opening up my laptop, I pulled up the video footage for my office and went back a few minutes to where Charlie and Terri had walked in. Lifting my headphones to my ears, I hit the play button. As I sat there and listened to Charlie and Terri speak, my anger grew more and more. Pulling off my headphones, I leaned back in my seat and stared at the screen, infuriated. I’d paused it at the part when Charlie started crying. My heart ached for her, but after hearing the little plan she had concocted that involved me, whatever sympathy I had for her turned into full-on anger.
After pacing in my office for thirty minutes, I finally stopped. The corners of my mouth slowly moved up until I let out a roar of laughter.
“You want to play dirty, Charlie? Oh, I can play dirty. Game fucking on.”
“JIM, HOW MUCH has Charlie had to drink?” I asked as I watched her talk to some douchebag.
The way he kept placing his hand on her leg was driving me up a fucking wall. Of course, what guy wouldn’t want to put his hand on her leg with the way she wore that little red dress. It showed off every amazing curve of her body. I might have been pissed off at Charlie more than ever, but I didn’t want to see another man hurting her when she was in such an emotional state.
Douche. What you mean is you don’t want any other guys hurting her, but you’ll gladly hurt her any chance you can get.
I ignored my inner thoughts. After fuming in my office about Charlie’s plan to seduce me, I decided to turn the tables on her. I’d seduce her, ask her to marry me, and then do what she did to me. Leave her. It would be a dick move, but revenge was the only thing on my mind right now.
Jim shrugged. “No clue. It’s girls’ night, and I was banned from the table. Terri said Charlie was on the hunt for a one-night stand. I ain’t standing in the way of any of that. According to Terri, it’s been years since Charlie was laid. Dude, do you know what years of sexual frustration can do to a woman when she’s on the prowl? That’s like being in the crosshairs of a lioness on the hunt.”
My face tightened and my pulse sped up at the thought of her fucking some guy tonight. “Don’t you think she’s a little emotionally unstable to be hooking up with someone tonight?”
Jim stared at me with a blank expression. “Since when do you care what Charlie does? Wasn’t it you who practically delivered her Sam, even when you knew he had a girlfriend? He was one of the only guys I know for sure Charlie has dated since the … incident. Which, by the way, if Terri and Lily ever found out you did that, shit would hit the fan.”
A grin moved over my face. “Karma is a bitch.”
“Dude, she never cheated on you.”