Page 38 of Charm Me

Chapter 15

Zoe

Time tended to flyby when work was busy, but the past two weeks were as slow as molasses. I had more work to get done than I had time to do it in, but that wasn’t enough to keep my mind off a certain cowboy.

Wyatt Strong still dominated my thoughts.

Two weeks had passed since I last saw him, and I hadn’t heard from him since the Tuesday after he left me to rush off to deal with a family emergency. A week and a half with no communication and I was starting to lose my mind. We made no time commitments, no plans, and we didn’t talk about this thing between us or what it really meant. His only promise was that it wasn’t a goodbye.

But the silence was killing me and made me feel foolish. I’d checked my phone almost every hour for the first week, praying he’d reach out. A simple hello would have made me smile and ignited every urge my body felt when he contacted me.

He had too much control over me, and I hated it. His silence left me feeling empty and one-sided with my feelings for him.

After Michael, I swore I’d never let another man have that much control over me and my emotions. And I’d gone off and let Wyatt have it. Truth was, I’d let that man have every part of me if he asked.

At least now I only checked my phone a couple times a day for messages. Mostly, I wanted to reread his text messages and analyze them for hidden meanings that just weren’t there. He’d kept his response short and uninformative.

The last one he sent was a simple, I miss you.

I’d texted him three times since then with no response.

The first one was I miss you too.

A few days later, I’m thinking of you.

Two days ago I followed up with I hope all is well.

Nothing in return, and I didn’t know how to interpret his silence.

Did he change his mind about me? Had I misread him? Maybe he didn’t mean the things he said to me. I didn’t want to think that either of those things could be true. Not after the way he’d made love to me. He kissed me and devoured me like I was the only person that ever mattered to him.

I was driving myself mad with these thoughts. He said it was a family emergency, and maybe it didn’t work out so well.

All I knew was his sister, Abigail, was sick and he had to put the vacation expansion project on hold. Wyatt informed Glenn, not me, that Strong Valley Ranch would be hiring One Financial as their new financial management firm and he would be in touch soon about employing my services. Not gonna lie, it hurt that Wyatt didn’t tell me himself.

Maybe his sister took a turn for the worse and it was consuming all his time and energy, but I was just a text away.

One minute I wanted to hate him for shutting me out and the next I wanted to comfort him and ease his pain. The look in his eyes when he talked about Abigail was heartbreaking. I saw the same look in his eyes the morning he left me. And that same sad gaze haunted my dreams.

My emotions were all over the place. It shifted throughout the day which one I felt more strongly—worry, pain, or anger. Worry over him and whatever this emergency was that took him away. And I shifted between pain and anger over his silence. Was he silent because of a great loss to his family or because I’d misread him?

We had a connection. I didn’t doubt that for a second. I hadn’t imagined the way he looked at me or the way he touched me. His body responded to me with the same burning desire in which mine responded to him. No one could fake that level of intensity.

It was real. Every ounce of my being confirmed it.

Then why did I feel so thoroughly rejected.

I glanced down at my phone and reread his messages. I had to stop this torture. I tossed my phone aside, more determined than ever to focus on work and push Wyatt out of my mind for the rest of my workday.

***

I HIT SEND ON THE LASTemail of the day, pleased I’d gotten through all my tasks before five o’clock. I’d found my groove and remained super focused over the past few hours. I felt like me again—focused, determined, productive—and I liked it.

I’d been acting like a silly, lovesick and heartbroken puppy, and I needed to get my act together. It had been a week of my life, granted a fucking fantastic week, but I was stupid to let that time with him effect my life this much. Besides, I could miss Wyatt and still get my job done.

“Hey, Zoe. You got a minute.” Glen called from the doorway.

“Of course.” I smiled and waved him in.