He glanced at the paper envelope and then back at her. “That’s not my handwriting.”
Donna squeezed his palm until he extracted it while she said, “True, but I thought maybe you had a secretary now.”
Seconds ticked past and he needed to find Charlotte. He pressed the button to go upstairs to his room. “You set me up and took me by surprise at the gas station. Why?”
Donna leaned against the wall and pouted. “I kissed you because I miss you, a lot.”
Until the news broke about his inheritance she hadn’t cared about him at all. He shook his head. “You broke up with me and said at the time it was because I was really in love with Charlotte.”
Her lips opened like he’d shocked her at remembering her words. The bell rang signaling the arrival of one of the elevators. Donna waved the invite. “You denied it.”
The door opened but guests must have packed into the car so it took a minute for it to empty. “You knew then what I didn’t. I have to go now.”
The path was clear. He stepped in, alone, and swiped his card to access his floor. Donna called, “If she breaks your heart, Jack, then I’m here for you.”
He ignored her and was able to breathe once the doors closed. The only person in the world he needed was Charlotte. Hopefully she was upstairs.
Hurrying down the hall, he went inside his suite and his shoulders relaxed when he heard the shower.
Good. She’d come here rather than bolt. Charlotte hadn’t just disappeared on him. He knocked on the bathroom door. “Be out in a minute,” she answered.
Her voice sent a warm rush through him. He opened the blinds of the room so they could see the moon peeking from behind a cloud.
No one could see into their room anyhow.
The bathroom door opened and she was dressed in a white robe. Adrenaline and the need to hold her flooded his veins. Her ashen face wasn’t shower-refreshed but instead shadows beneath her eyes made her seem troubled. He hugged her, hoping he could help. “Charlotte, I was looking for you.”
She held him tighter and sniffled. He didn’t move or care that her wet hair soaked into his new clothes. He’d get more.
Once she wasn’t trembling, and stood on her own, she wiped her face. “I’m sorry. I wanted to return to the party but….”
He pointed toward the bed to sit. They both did and he patted her back. “You’re sad—I get it. I didn’t know about Aurelia's department store moving into your father's space.”
Her head shot up. “I believe you, Jack.”
Good. He’d never harm or upset her. He took her hand and once again sparks rocketed through him. “I set up a meeting with Aurelia to discuss moving her store elsewhere and I wanted you to be there. Early tomorrow morning.”
Her lips pressed thin and she said, “Cancel it.”
Her dreams were tied to the store. It was something they could handle so he kept his voice low when he said, “You don’t have to let your father’s store die.”
She stared at the oak floor boards of the room. “It’s okay. It’s better for the employees to make Aurelia’s plans happen.”
There had to be a way to make both parts of his life fit together without destroying her happiness. He quietly said, “It’s not better for you.”
She took her hand away and patted her knees. “I’m a big girl. In life you don’t always get what you want.”
Charlotte rose and headed to the window, closing the blinds again.
He stood and waited for her to turn around. “You don’t have to do this. We can buy the store; you can have whatever money you need to rebuild the store the way you want in order to honor your father.”
She shook her head. “I don’t deserve that. I don’t deserve you.”
What? His heart thrummed in his ears. “Love isn’t about deserving, Charlotte. It’s about accepting each other, flaws and all.”
She patted his face and her eyes filled with water like she’d cry again. “Jack, you’re amazing and don’t have any flaws.”
Last week, before he had money, she’d told him flat-out that he was hiding from his potential and for him to quit the store. He’d continued to work there, mostly because of her. It was their connection. “That’s not true.”
