Rebuilding Charlie: Black Dog Inn Book 1 by Kris T. Bethke & Tia Fielding

Author:Kris T. Bethke & Tia Fielding [Bethke, Kris T. & Fielding, Tia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-02-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Charlie

Sitting there, inside the tent, felt a little bit magical. My mind kept spinning about how someone had gone through all this trouble for me?

“I just can’t get over how good this tastes.” I twirled more spaghetti around my fork. “Definitely the best non-chef meal I’ve had in a very long time.” I smiled at Teague.

He perked up even more. Had he been a dog, his tail would’ve been wagging like crazy.

“I like cooking a lot. Like I said, this is one of my signature dishes.” He tore a piece of garlic bread with his teeth, the action somehow oddly charming.

It also reminded me of his casual acceptance of my potential limitations. It wasn’t something I’d expected. Not from anyone, not even him, even though the last couple of weeks had shown me what kind of man he was. Teague was everything David hadn’t been, and that in itself should’ve told me to not rush into things.

“What’s that face about?” Teague peered at me.

I took a sip of my water to buy some time. “I…. I don’t know how much you know already, but I broke up with my most recent boyfriend a week and a half before I got here. So, it’s… it’s still pretty recent.” I glanced at him frowning. “Maybe I should’ve been clearer about that. I mean, this is n-not a rebound thing or anything, I don’t think, it’s—”

His larger hand covered mine. “Can you take a deep breath for me, Charlie?”

Like it had the other day, Teague’s touch settled me on a level I wasn’t used to. Not from people other than Blue or, sometimes, Nic.

I breathed for a while, then continued to explain. “I told you about the dinner party, the mirrors. It’s… it wasn’t even the worst thing he did in the four months we dated. We broke up because I’d ‘embarrassed him’ at the dinner, but also because I couldn’t… I guess I didn’t feel safe to have… have sex with him naked.” I lifted the hand he wasn’t still holding and quickly glanced at him. “And I’m not… this is not about that. Not another sex talk trying to scare you off, I swear, but it’s an explanation about him.”

Teague nodded and frowned. “He sounds like an asshole. I mean, I knew that already based on the dinner thing, but just….” He shook his head as if he couldn’t fathom someone acting like David had.

“He berated me. Called me all sorts of names,” I continued quietly. “He never made me feel safe in the way you have already. So, I’m thinking, maybe we need to be careful here, too. Because this doesn’t feel like a rebound, but I’m scared that it’ll turn into one whether we want that or not.”

He tilted his head, contemplating my words. “You’re saying we need to take this very slow?”

I nodded, relieved that he understood me when I wasn’t sure I understood myself. “Yeah. That.”

“Well, the way I see it, this is our first date, Charlie.

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