If The Shoe Fits by Laurie LeClair Read Free Book Online Page B

loves me,” she
said cheekily.
    He chuckled. “Even the barracuda?”
    She grimaced. “Okay, everybody but her, how’s
that?”
    Right before her eyes, his smile faded and
his face sobered. He stepped back. “What about Dexter? Is he in
love with you? Are you in love with him?” The last came out between
gritted teeth.
    Charlie swallowed hard. “Yes and no.” The
words stuck in her throat. A wave of remorse washed through her.
She never intended to mislead Dex. Somehow, she thought he’d feel
that way anyway.
    Frowning, Alex gazed at her. “Yes for what
part and no for what part of the question?”
    Taking a shaky breath, she answered, “Yes he
loves me, in his own way, and no I don’t love him.”
    He let out a big sigh and the lines on his
face relaxed. “Well, that’s good to know.”
    “What about you? Involved?”
    “Hardly.”
    “The women in the paper?”
    “Dates.”
    “And prospective brides.”
    “Hardly,” he repeated, this time with a crisp
edge to the word.
    She took a deep, shuttering breath. “Why
me?”
    He hesitated. “You’re the only one I
wanted.”
    The low timber of his voice and the darkening
of his eyes tugged at her middle. Her breath came in short, shallow
puffs. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
    A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth.
“Yes would be the preferred choice.”
    Chuckling, she shook her head. “You are
persistent.”
    Just then she heard footsteps coming toward
them. “Oh, my, ain’t this something, honey?” Dolly drew near and
nudged her arm. “Edward’s been showing me around. He’s a teddy
bear.” She winked and made a low sound in her throat. “I can’t wait
to get started. You gotta see the kitchen. It’s to die for.”
    Charlie looked at Alex. His long, lingering
gaze sent warmth through her. He whispered, “It’s to die for.”
    “The house or you?” she asked under her
breath.
    “Me, of course.”
    She chuckled. Out of the corner of her eye,
she noticed Dolly motioning to Alex. Her friend slipped something
into the drawer of a small table nestled between two chairs. He
looked puzzled.
    Dolly straightened. She smoothed her hands
over her pretty blue dress. She glanced from Charlie to Alex and
back to Charlie again. “I’m interrupting you two love-birds, ain’t
I?”
    “Yes,” Alex said.
    “No,” Charlie said.
    “Tell you what, Mr. R., if it’s okay with
you, I’ll just whip up something quick for dinner while you and
Miss Charlie finish the details.”
    Turning quickly to her friend, she said,
“Dolly!”
    “No need to thank me, honey.” She winked
again and rushed out of the room.
    “Shall we?” Alex asked, waving a hand to the
chairs flanking the small table.
    Her heartbeat quickened.
    Moving across the room, she felt a sharp
pang. His study brought back a rush of sweet memories of her
father’s drawing room. Rows and rows of leather-bound books on the
shelves, a large oak desk with his papers neatly stacked in the
center…
    Sitting in the deep leather chair, Charlie
felt instantly at home. She tried to shake off the piercing ache of
need shooting through her, but she failed miserably.
    She’d never had any longings for anything
remotely close to a long-term relationship, never mind a
marriage.
    The more time she spent with Alex, the more
glimpses she had of what she could have: a husband, a marriage,
eventually children. And the more her heart tugged for what she
thought she never wanted.
    Perched on the edge of the chair, she twisted
to him as he sat back in the matching chair on the other side of
the small, round chess table.
    Arching an eyebrow, he nodded to her.
    “Why me first?” She sounded childish to her
own ears.
    “I already know what I want.”
    His dark, hungry gaze made her shiver. There
was something about him that drew her to him and that made her toss
out all her tried and true rules when it came to men. “Me,” she
whispered huskily.
    “Exactly.”
    She knew what she wanted: King’s