Page 60 of Rival Hearts

“Yeah, you more than anyone,” Gabe agreed. “I think she’ll be great for this.”

“What?” I frowned.

“Charlie and your whole… thing.” He waved his hand. “She’s really good at what she does, and if anyone can point you in the right direction, it’s her. She’s a saint.”

“Yeah, she is.”

“You’ll like her when you get to know her. She’s so different from the rest of the girls out there. Sometimes I worry about her.”

“Why?”

“You know… guys can be real assholes, taking advantage of her kind nature, and she’s been through so much as a kid already. I just don’t want her to get hurt, but if I’m the overprotective brother, she’ll lose her shit at me. She’s sweet and kind, but she’s also independent as hell.”

I nodded, not knowing what to say. All this I knew firsthand, of course.

“I just hope she finds someone worth her time. Not an asshole like you and me, eh?”

I chuckled. “You think I’m an asshole?”

“Class-A dick.” Gabe laughed. “You go through women like they’re going out of fashion. Charlie deserves better than someone like you or me.”

I chuckled again, but God, this whole thing was getting twisted. The worst thing was that I didn’t think Gabe was wrong. Charlottediddeserve a hell of a lot better than me. I just couldn’t bring myself to forget about her, to let her go so that she could find that guy.

Eventually, though, she would figure that out for herself. She’d find out what a piece of shit I really was, and then the problem would be solved.

As soon as she chose to stay away from me, I could move on from her. But as long as she kept coming back to me… there was no way in hell I could ever turn her away and tell her she wasn’t supposed to be with me.

Even if we weren’t on the same side of the line.

Even if Gabe was my best friend.

Charlotte was my weakness, and eventually she would learn each and every one of my flaws.

17

CHARLOTTE

The wind was picking up, and the world outside felt as unsettled as my emotions.

I’d tried all morning to focus on my work—I had a whole lot of research papers I wanted to get through, and I wanted to type up a report for Victoria so she would know where the campaign was and what she was spending her money on.

None of that was happening for me. I couldn’t focus. My mind kept drifting to Alex, to our night at his office together.

Whatever was happening between us wasn’t supposed to happen. And I couldn’t help myself.

Something about him drew me. I didn’t believe in soulmates or in love at first sight, in fate and destiny, and all the other bullshit girls liked to believe in when they grew up.

Those things were replaced by an overdose of reality when my mom left, and then my dad turned out to be the villain in the story.

Any idea of happily ever after wasn’t going to come to me by itself. I knew that if I wanted something to have a happy ending, I had to do it myself.

Not to mention the fact that love was a pointless pursuit. Sure, it was out there and people could find it and settle down and live the rest of their lives with their chosen partners, but that wasn’t what I wanted. Not right now, anyway. I didn’t even know if I wanted it… ever. Although, if it was with someone like Alex, who set my skin on fire and made my toes curl and could make butterflies erupt in my stomach by just looking at me…

No. Stop it.

I’d told him before and I would tell myself again now, too—I had bigger fish to fry. Yeah, so I’d talked about emissions when I’d said it to him but that didn’t change facts. I had other things to focus on, and falling in love, going crazy over a guy, just wasn’t a part of my picture right now.

I wasn’t sure if it would be a part of my picture, ever. The thing was that I did like to plan ahead. I was a five-year plan type of person. I liked the idea of having something bigger to work toward, and knowing what I was aiming for in the next five years had kept me on track for a long time.