Total pages in book: 176
Estimated words: 164533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 823(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 823(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
His expression had gone blank, and I could no longer read him. It made me wonder if Derek was right about there being more to the story of their breakup than Rhys was willing to reveal.
Seeing the time on the clock that hung from his office wall, I realised I only had a few minutes left on my lunch break, and I still hadn’t called Mom. I was going to have to wait until I got home that evening instead.
Standing from the chair, I dusted myself off. “Anyway, I better be getting back.”
I moved towards the door when Rhys spoke, “Charli, wait.”
He closed the distance between us but again made sure not to crowd me. “Yes?”
He dipped his head down to me, and something fluttery claimed my chest. Rhys had always been tall, but now that he was a grown man filled out with muscle and brawn, it solicited a surprising reaction out of me. And I realised he was nothing like Jesse. They were the same height, but Jesse didn’t have Rhys’ bulk nor the kind, empathetic eyes that somehow felt like they could penetrate my soul. I’d been dead inside for a long time, hadn’t felt a stirring of attraction for the opposite sex in years, but right at that moment, I knew for certain I was attracted to Rhys. Still. It was hardly a surprise since I’d been infatuated with him once upon a time. I was struck with a sudden image of us shoving all the files and papers from his desk and him climbing over me …
Okay, get a hold of yourself, Charli. The man just broke up with his fiancée, for Christ’s sake.
“I’m sorry for grabbing you. I had no idea you suffered from panic attacks,” he said then paused, pressing his lips together as he seemed to consider his next words. “If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m available. I know it must be stressful moving here, starting a new job and everything, but you have a friend in me, okay?” He smiled then. “And I’ve been told I’m a great listener.”
“Sure,” I said, my chest fluttering at the unexpectedly kind offer. “I might take you up on that.”
Being alone with him stirred a bunch of feelings in me, feelings I wasn’t equipped to untangle or analyse as I turned and left his office.
22.
Charli
“Wait, so he just grabbed you and pulled you into his office?” Nuala asked as she sat across the booth from me in the busy restaurant. She looked entirely too intrigued by my story.
It was Friday, and we’d arranged to meet for lunch. Nuala was currently teaching five- and six-year-olds, which meant shorter workdays for her so she could come see me.
“Yes. He was trying to avoid his ex-fiancée, who I’d just met and had lunch with, completely unaware of their connection,” I replied with a grimace. “Rhys practically threw me into his office. I started hyperventilating because being grabbed is still very traumatic for me.” My voice was quiet, and Nuala’s eyes gentled.
“Oh, Charli,” she whispered, her lips forming a sad shape.
“It’s nothing. I’m fine,” I brushed away the momentary, bristling discomfort. “Rhys, being Rhys, was very kind and understanding about the whole thing. I’m just so embarrassed, though. I hate anyone seeing me like that.”
“Rhys would never judge you,” Nuala said softly.
“I know, I just … Anyway,” I went on, shrugging off the lingering embarrassment as I pointed a finger at her. “I have a bone to pick with you. Why didn’t you tell me Rhys worked for your father? It would’ve been nice to know I was going to be colleagues with the guy I lost my freaking virginity to.”
The server arrived with our coffees, a young, slim man in his early twenties. I could see he was holding back a grin.
Great, he’d overheard.
Thankfully, he set the drinks down and left swiftly. Nuala tore open two brown sugar sachets and poured them into her latte. Stirring them in with a spoon, she shot me a mildly guilty expression. “I know I should’ve said something, but I’d just gotten you back, Charli. You seemed overwhelmed with everything that was going on, and you were in such a delicate state after the divorce. I didn’t want to tell you anything that might turn you off coming to live here. It was selfish of me, and I’m sorry.”
Her wide brown doe eyes were so full of remorse that I couldn’t even be mad at her. I was curious, though.
“Why would me knowing I was going to see Rhys turn me off coming to Ireland?”
“Well, he was your first. You two were completely besotted with each other that summer. I distinctly remember a lot of sneaking off to have sex. You weren’t as discreet as you thought you were.” She shot me an amused look, and even as a thirty-four-year-old woman, I flushed. Had we been that transparent?