Page 12 of Charm Me

Chapter 6

Wyatt

Her directness wrappedaround me, sunk its claws into me, and pulled me in. Her statement about sex stunned me. I loved that she was comfortable enough with who she was as a person and a woman that she said exactly what she was thinking. Something told me, I’d never have to guess when it came to Zoe. She’d tell me exactly who she was and what she wanted. It made her that much more desirable to me.

She’d been correct about the sex, though. Because goddammit, that kiss.

It took everything I had to break away from her and high tail it out of there yesterday. The touch of her lips marked me, and I could still feel the tingling sensation on my mouth, tongue, and skin. I’d stayed up half the night thinking about what it would be like to have her naked body pressed against mine. She’d caught me off guard and unless I forgot how fucking amazing her mouth felt against mine, it would be damn near impossible to keep my hands to myself this week.

She intrigued me and already had a hold on me that I couldn’t explain, not even to myself. My focus was shit, I had a semi hard-on for a woman who just told me no, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, my day was about to get a hell of a lot worse.

I was on my way to see my sister, Abigail.

She called me late last night asking me to stop by her apartment this morning. It was the opening I’d been waiting years for and she finally reached out. It’d been almost two years since I’d seen Abigail. In that time, I’d only gotten her on the phone a few times a year. I missed her like crazy, as did the rest of the family. If she’d open up and tell me the reason why she isolated herself, maybe then I could help.

I had a duel goal this week—choose a new financial manager and get Abigail talking. We were all worried about her and wanted her to come home. I was the only family member she’d agreed to see, and my goal was to convince her to come home with me, even if it were just a visit to start.

The cab pulled up outside the address she’d given me about twenty minutes after I left Zoe. It was a nice brownstone with ornate scrolls around the windows and door. There was a small flower garden by the steps leading up to the door with pale purple flowers in bloom. Abigail’s favorite color.

My feet dragged like sandbags were weighing me down as I walked up the steps. Between the inappropriate thoughts I had about Zoe all night and my anxiety over seeing Abigail, I was more than a little weighed down right now.

I knocked on her door and it felt like several minutes passed before I finally heard footstep from inside. The door cracked opened and a tall, slender blonde poked her head through.

“Abby.” I gasped at her worn and tired eyes. Abigail always had so much life—happy and full of joy. But the woman staring back at me looked anything but happy. Her eyes were sad, and she looked at least ten years older than thirty-seven. Her hair was longer than I remembered, she was too skinny—more bones than skin—and the dark circles under her eyes were puffy.

She stared at me like she didn’t know who I was. “It’s me, Wyatt.”

“Of course, Wyatt. Come in.” Her voice was raspy, and she started coughing. She opened the door wider, her expression remained unchanged by my announcement as if she wasn’t the least bit phased by my arrival. It’d been years since I saw her, and I didn’t understand how she could be so emotionless toward me considering how close we once were.

“Are you ill?” Between her pale skin and rough cough, she didn’t look healthy.

“I’m fine. Just tired ... and work ... working too late to meet my next deadline.” She couldn’t even get the sentence out without sounding like she was losing a lung.

“You should have that cough looked at.” She didn’t look well. In fact, she looked like she could kill over any minute. What I really wanted to do was drag her to the closest hospital but that probably wouldn’t go over so well.

She shrugged and closed the door. “What did you want to see me about?”

I stared at her in stunned disbelief. She sounded like she could care less that I was there, and it hurt. “Abby. Please, this isn’t who you are. What happened?”

Her eyes shot daggers at me. She turned and walked further into her home.

Shit. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply before I followed her. “I’m sorry, Abby. I just miss my sister. There was a time we were best friends and we told each other everything. Remember that?”

“That was a long time ago. That girl doesn’t live here anymore.” She wrapped her arms around her waist and turned her back to me. “Was there something specific you wanted?”

I’d planned on easing her into this conversation, but now that I was here, I knew it wouldn’t matter. If I left without getting to the point, I may not get another chance. “I want you to come home.”

“No!” She spun around, her expression pure anger. “That’s not my life anymore.”

“Why? You loved the ranch. You loved to ride and hike the mountain trails. You used to relish the warm sun bakin’ on your skin. Now you don’t look like you leave this brownstone. Please, Abby. Talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I shouldn’t have invited you in. You should leave.”

“But I just got here.”

“This was a mistake.” She rushed to the front door and held it open.

“Don’t do this, please.” I begged. She flinched slightly at the desperation in my voice.