Charlotte wiped the tears on her cheek with the backs of her hands. She met his eyes. “Me.”
Max lifted an eyebrow. “You? Well, I don’t know that I want to kill you just yet, but it sounds like someone’s going to get a smacked bottom after a good night’s sleep. No one scares my girl like this without getting punished, not even you.” He smiled at her.
Charlotte returned a wan smile before sobering with the realization that she’d have to tell him what led her to his doorstep. She gazed into his eyes dolefully. “Max, tomorrow I was going to tell you why I’m no longer living at the boardinghouse, but then I was forced to run here before I could.”
He frowned. “What do you mean? I don’t understand. Where are you living, if not at the boardinghouse?”
“Nowhere as of today, but I planned to sleep at the schoolhouse tonight.”
Max continued to frown at her, looking very perplexed and worried.
She sighed and said wearily, “Can I tell you what happened tomorrow? I don’t feel I have the strength to tell you tonight.”
The muscles in Max’s face relaxed a bit. “Of course, honey. I think that’s a good idea. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Tim returned and handed Charlotte her tea and Max a shot of whiskey. Max drank it, then said, “After your tea, Charlotte, you’re going to bed. I’ll sleep here on the sofa.”
Charlotte nodded. She thanked Tim for the tea and took a sip. It felt like warm comfort gliding down her throat and heating her stomach, and it helped to settle her nerves. Charlotte basked in the comfort of Max’s embrace and blushed when she became aware for the first time that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. She studied his chest. It was lighter in hue than his forearms and face, and curly brown hair wisped thinly around his nipples. She found herself wanting to touch him and stroke the hair on his chest down to his flat abs. Her eyes traveled south to his trousers and she studied the area that covered his manhood. She’d never seen a man’s member, and she found herself feeling very curious about what his looked like beneath the fabric. Her eyes traveled back up his chest and then to his face, where she found his eyes fixed on her and an eyebrow raised.
“What in the tarnation are you staring at, Charlie? You’re eyeing me like you’ve never see a man without a shirt before.”
Charlotte blushed harder. “I don’t know that I have.”
“Well, it’s nothing impressive, and I think you’ve had a good enough gawk for now. Let’s get you into bed, why don’t we?”
“All right, Max.” Charlotte took a final sip and set her teacup on the table next to the sofa. She winced upon standing on her bruised feet.
Max noticed and grabbed her into his arms. He strode to his bedroom. “Blasted woman. What am I going to do with you? You can’t even walk.”
She let out a moan. “And tomorrow I won’t be able to sit,” she said mournfully.
“Damn straight.” Max placed her on the bed gently. He bent and planted a chaste kiss on her lips, which sent her stomach aflutter. “Rest up, darlin’. You’re safe, and everything else will be made right as rain tomorrow.”
He straightened and turned to leave, but Charlotte grasped his hand. “Max, will you sleep here with me tonight? I know it’s improper, but I don’t want you to stop holding me. It comforts me, and I still feel frightened.”
Max stared at her for a moment with a conflicted expression, then climbed into bed behind her. He pulled her into his arms. “I don’t know how on earth I could say no to that, sweetheart.” He kissed the shell of her ear and then her neck, which sent a shiver of delight down her spine. Charlotte snuggled her back into his chest. She shoved her bottom into his crotch and squirmed to get comfortable, not realizing her doing so would elicit a growl from the man holding her.
“None of that, Charlie, unless you want that smacked bottom tonight.” He added some space between their lower bodies.
“Maybe I do,” she said with a giggle, believing in that moment that any way Max placed his hands on her body would suit her just fine.
“Go to sleep,” he ordered in a serious voice.
Charlotte sighed, feeling both comfortable and unsatisfied. She fell asleep in Max’s arms, and the morning came much too soon. She awoke to an empty bed and the sounds of Max and Tim talking in the other room. After crossing the bedroom slowly to not cause pain to her feet, she looked in the small mirror over the dresser and smoothed her hair down as best she could. She did the same for her dress. Using the pitcher and basin on the dresser, she washed her face and drank some water before exiting the bedroom and meeting Max and Tim in the kitchen.