“She was with you last night?”

“No. She was at Becker’s house. Owen’s cousin. Katherine invited herself over. I barely talked to her. She said she wanted to get together so she could get some things off her chest.”

“She didn’t look like she was dressed for conversation.”

Declan looked both angry and apprehensive. “I didn’t even notice. I threw her out and rushed over here.”

Charlie crossed her arms over her chest. “Declan, I don’t know if this will work. I don’t fit in your world.”

“You’re wrong, Charlotte. I am going to leave you be for a bit, but we will talk about this.”

“Talk about what? That I am just another kink in your chain? Nah, I’m good.” Charlie moved past him and felt his hand grip her arm, spinning her back to him.

“We will talk about this,” he growled, pulling Charlie in and kissing her forcefully on the lips. Charlie heard a soft moan in her throat and tried to swallow it down. Damn stupid body. Declan pulled away, releasing her and left without looking back.

***

Charlie sat in her car in the parking lot of Ciatti’s’s waiting on her sister. She’d spent the past two days miserable and bitchy, and there was only one cure for it—Italian food. Her phone beeped that annoying tone letting her know it was a text from Declan. Somehow, even though she’d hurled it against the passenger door earlier, it managed to survive the assault. She reached quickly across the console to retrieve it from the floor.

Declan: I need to see you. Tonight.

Charlie: I can’t. I need some space.

She fiddled with the makeup mirror while she awaited his response. It didn’t take long.

Declan: Don’t run away from me.

Is he worried I will end this or just worried that I won’t give him the opportunity to explain things?

Charlie: I’m not. You have no idea what this feels like. You have no clue.

***

Mikki and Charlie devoured the Antipasto between sips of Moscato as they waited for the main course. For Charlie it was a plateful of comfort food in the form of handmade ravioli that only Ciatti’s could provide.

When Charlie took a break from noshing on the olives, prosciutto, and cheese, she asked Mikki about the wedding. “How’s the planning going? Did you decide on a cake yet?”

Aaron had been great about participating in the planning until the cake fiasco. After that, he decided to leave the rest of the decision making to Mikki. Charlie, as the maid of honor, tried to make sure her big sis stayed on task, but so far no luck on the cake selection. Of course, the cake wasn’t the only thing that stressed her out.

“I went with a vanilla clove cake with an orange marmalade filling, Grand Marnier frosting, and frosted cranberries.”

“Finally!”

“What?”

“Took you long enough. I suggested that one to you a week ago!”

Charlie eyeballed the steaming plate of pasta as the server placed it front of her. As she took her first bite, her senses overwhelmed her with the flavors of pumpkin, cinnamon, sage, and brown butter. Heaven in a pasta pillow. I can replace sex with food, can’t I?

“So, are we going to talk about Declan’s houseguest?”

“No,” Charlie quickly replied.

“You can’t be mad about girls he’s slept with before you. That’s not fair. Do you think he’s still involved with her?”

Pumpkin ravioli in brown butter sage sauce could make Charlie push Declan out of her mind, but not forever.

“I don’t think so. It’s not why I am mad.” She glared at Mikki. “Well, yes, okay, it bothers me that he’s been with her. I mean, I know it shouldn’t because neither one of us were virgins when this whole thing started.” Charlie put her fork down and picked up her wine glass. I can deal with it, but not when it’s thrown in my face. And it was.” She downed the rest of her glass before she continued. “It’s just now I have to deal with psychotic ex-girlfriends.”

“All right, so I have a question,” Mikki said. Charlie shook her head, preparing for the worst. “Is she a redhead?”

“Yes! Redheads always freak me the fuck out!”

She glanced across the table to see Mikki’s face desperately trying to hold in her hysteria. Charlie motioned for her to let it out, and the two of them broke into laughter.

***

Charlie felt Declan there before she saw him. After returning from her dinner with Mikki, she found him sitting, waiting for her on the steps of the porch.

“You shouldn’t be here. I’m still angry.” Her words traveled in soft whisper. One public scene per week was her new rule.

“I just can’t stay away. Despite everything you had to go through and despite how you may feel, I know we need to spend time together tonight.”

“I just don’t know. I don’t think I can do this any longer.”

“Charlotte, you need to give us a chance. You keep running, and I unintentionally keep giving you reasons to flee.”

Charlie stared into his eyes for a few moments. Nothing had changed. He hadn’t changed. He was still the man she wanted. He hadn’t cheated on her, and he had never made it a secret that he had been with other women before her. He truly seemed to want to work things out.

“I had planned on taking you somewhere tonight, somewhere we could have a scene.” Declan glanced at his watch. “We missed the reservation, but I still think we need to have a session. I want to play a game with you. I think it will help us get past this, and dissolve some of your reasoning for running every time you feel we get too close.”

“Okay. You can come in.”

***

Once inside, Declan spent a few minutes on the phone cancelling or rescheduling their plans while Charlie poured some wine. While he was out of decent eavesdropping range, he still managed to hold her in his gaze. Charlie also noticed he positioned himself between the front door and her. She had nowhere to run.

Her imagination conjured up all sorts of scenarios where she ran and he caught her. Charlie envisioned Declan throwing her down to punish her and have his way with her. The little scenes always ended the same: with Charlie surrendering to Declan’s will and promising to never run again. A delicious chill snaked its way down her body as she replayed different versions of the same theme.

By the time Declan was walking toward her, she was dying to take off toward the door just to see if he would be in hot pursuit. Charlie couldn’t wipe the silly smirk off her face.

“That’s a devious little grin. What are you thinking about?”

“I was wondering what you’d do if I made a run for the door.”

“Hmmm … What do you think I’d do?”

Charlie giggled nervously.

“Okay, let me rephrase that … What do you imagine me doing?”

She could feel the heat rising up her neck and onto her cheeks.

“Go ahead. Run.”

Charlie spun away from the door to throw him off. It bought her a couple yards of a head start but she was going in the wrong direction. She ran around the furniture grouping, placing the objects between them for a momentary standoff.

Her heart was knocking wildly. Her mind had somehow convinced her body that she was in some sort of danger and needed to flee. It was completely exhilarating. She faked right and then changed direction to the left, but he was onto her. His arms wrapped around Charlie as she hooked around the end of the sofa and was about to make her way toward the door.

“Gotcha.”

Charlie struggled in Declan’s arms, but he wrangled her to the sofa and managed to climb on top of her so that his knees and calves pinned her arms, and his weight held her hips in place. Charlie made one more attempt to free herself but could feel that there was no chance of escaping that position. He had her. She lay panting in defeat beneath him.