Free The Billionaire Playboy by Christina Tetreault Page A

against hers one last time.
    A devilish smile
formed on her face. “I'm going to hold you to that.”
     
    ***
     
    By the middle of
the following week more than half the town had power back and things were
inching their way back to normal. Fewer and fewer people needed help every day,
so Wednesday Charlie found herself helping her mom around the bed and breakfast.
Two of the families who had been staying at the Victorian Rose left that
morning and their rooms needed cleaning. Charlie doubted there would be paying
guests anytime soon but the rooms still need to be prepared.
    Working on
autopilot she stripped the queen-sized bed in the Revere Room. Would she be
getting Jake's room ready for a new guest soon too? With conditions in town
improving she figured he wouldn't be sticking around much longer. He'd already
been here a week and a half. How much longer would he feel the need to stay?
Not once during their conversations did he mention how long he typically stayed
in the field or when he planned on returning to Virginia. And they'd had plenty
of talks since their dinner together the previous weekend. In fact he seemed to
go out of his way to get time alone with her.
    Charlie pulled
the fitted sheet across the mattress and thought back over their talks. They
seemed to discuss everything from books and music to sports and politics. They
didn't always agree, but she found that she enjoyed their conversations and
heated disagreements.
    Their
conversations weren't the only things she liked either. Charlie figured she
could be kissed by Jake for the next hundred years and not tire of it. The man
could kiss. She'd never considered herself a romantic, yet when his lips came
in contact with hers it was like something out of a movie. Everything around
her faded away. Warmth and tenderness swept through her body as a deep longing
settled in her soul.
    Charlie unconsciously
sighed as she thought about the kiss they'd shared the night before. For the
second straight night they'd both come down for a late night snack and ended up
having homemade oatmeal cookies with a side make out session.
    If your friends saw you now O'Brien, they'd think
you'd been abducted by aliens . She didn't sigh and daydream about men.
It simply wasn't her. Yet she was doing just that.
    With more force
than necessary she stuffed a pillow into a clean cotton pillow case. She prided
herself on her ability to remain emotionally detached from the men she spent
time with. No matter who she dated or became intimate with she always held back
a part of herself. She never let her heart become invested in a relationship. It
was the only sure way to avoid a broken heart.
    This time things
were different. Every day she found it a little more difficult to keep her
emotions under lock and key. She kept trying to figure out why? Maybe if she
knew why she could get a handle on it. Part of her wished she still thought of
him as the spoiled playboy the media referred to as Prince Charming. Then she
wouldn't have a problem keeping her heart safe. Though she still didn't know
how much of his playboy status was fabricated by the media, he'd more than
proven that he was more than just a spoiled rich guy. He cared about the
welfare of others, no one could deny that.
    Charlie tossed
the pillow back onto the bed and reached for another. “I've got to get myself
back in control.” She stuffed the other pillow into its case.
    Through the open
bedroom window she heard a car pull into the gravel driveway. After a few
minutes she heard the front door downstairs close. Despite her previous words
to herself about getting back into control, hope and anticipation blossomed in
her chest. Had Jake returned? He'd left right after breakfast. Lunch time had
come and gone and he hadn't returned.
    Determined not
to look out the open window to see if his truck was back, Charlie spread the
sage green comforter over the bed. “I've got issues,” she said, her voice laced
with annoyance and disgust.