Page 8 of Unearthed Dreams (Sable Point #3)

Chapter Seven

CHARLIE

Kai’s bark was still echoing in my ears as I rushed down the stairs from the apartment above the bar. He was close behind, issuing more orders.

“Charlie, slow down. You’ll fall.”

“I’m fine.” I looked over my shoulder to speak the words, which was a mistake. My foot missed the next step and I pitched forward, only to be stopped and reeled back in by strong arms around my waist.

“I got you,” Kai whispered into my shoulder. Neither of us moved as he held me to him, my back to his chest, his arms still wrapped around me. Our chests were heaving, his breath fanning out across my neck and chest.

This man was lighting my insides up in ways I’d only ever read about in romance novels. There was a dull thump between my thighs and my skin was buzzing. It was so much .

But just a few minutes ago, I was inches away from my very first kiss.

Twenty-two years old and not only was I a virgin, but I’d never even been kissed.

That’s what happened when you lived in a town of five hundred people and had three older brothers insisting that any boys in town stay far, far away from their baby sister.

By the time I’d gotten to college, I’d become so shy and awkward with the opposite sex that it seemed nearly impossible to have a full conversation, let alone anything more. Just like with Trevor.

Kai, for whatever reason, made it easy. He drew me in with his quiet demeanor; it was like he called out to that piece of my soul that craved gentle and simple peace. Then he snapped at me, and it reminded me all too quickly that I was way out of my depth here.

Now, with his arms wrapped around me, I felt that same peace settled over me again—like I was safe here, free to be me without the need to be loud or more than the quiet girl I was perfectly content being.

“Are you okay?” he asked, then he pressed his lips to the skin of my shoulder and I nearly melted into a puddle.

“I-I should go.”

He swallowed, then loosened his hold on me. His hands came to the tops of my arms to steady, one thumb brushing over the spot he just kissed. Almost like he was trying to erase it—or brand it into my skin.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have?—”

“It’s fine, really.” I started down the stairs again, slower this time, but eager to get some space and clarity about this whole confusing situation.

Frustration got the better of me, and by the time I made it to the bottom of the stairs, I whirled on him. He stopped on a dime, reeling back slightly so he didn’t bump into me like I’d done to him twice today. Apparently, my brain had no filter today, because I asked exactly what was on my mind.

“What exactly are you sorry for? Almost kissing me? Barking at me like a jackass? Or actually putting your mouth on my skin?”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, but when it got caught in the bun near the crown of his head, he pulled out the elastic that kept it bound there.

His white hair fell in unruly waves around his shoulders, only getting wilder as he ran both hands through the long strands.

His roots were still darker—a shade that matched the short, neatly trimmed beard on his handsome face.

Almost like the hair grew in dark but couldn’t hold on to its pigment for more than a few days.

He was, by far, the most attractive man I’d ever laid eyes on. Trevor and his nerd-hot couldn’t hold a candle to the rugged sex appeal of the man in front of me.

“I don’t know, Charlie. All of it, I guess,” he admitted. Even a foot shorter than him, it felt almost as if he was peering up at me from beneath his lashes. He looked torn, somewhere between apologetic and pleading for me to tell him it was all okay.

Instead, I gave him a little of his bark right back. “It’s fine. Wouldn’t want my first kiss to be with an asshole, anyway.” His head snapped up from its bowed position and his eyes flared. “Better I learned that lesson now.”

I was overreacting—I knew that. Kai had been nothing but nice to me, barring those few snappish comments.

But they were in a tense moment, and no one was perfect.

But this would be my shield with him, protecting my silly heart from the inevitable.

He would eventually see what everyone else did: a boring, aimless girl, who spent more time with books than people.

I spun on my heel to head back into the bar.

“First ki—” Kai’s footsteps thudded behind me. “Charlie, wait.”

I made a beeline for my bag, not bothering to look around the bar. I only realized we weren’t alone when a familiar voice called out.

“Well, hey there, Miss Everton! Heard you were back in town.”

Bert Dolstic. A good friend of Dad’s, probably in his early sixties with a beer belly and thinning blonde hair. He was perched at the far end of the bar.

I smiled before beginning to gather my things. “Hi, Mr. Dolstic. How are you?” I spoke the words to the counter, anxious to get out of Kai’s space. I could feel his eyes on my as he moved down the bar, but I didn’t dare look up.

“Oh, not too bad. Just enjoyin’ my retirement. It’s five o’clock somewhere, right, Kai?”

Kai grunted, and from the corner of my eye, I saw him slide Bert a Miller Lite.

“How’s Billy doin’?” he asked Kai as I slid my computer in my backpack and zipped it up.

“Fine.”

I hoisted my bag over my shoulder and finally looked up—and met his eyes.

Those stormy hazel eyes were locked on mine. He licked his bottom lip, slow and distracted, and the heat that flushed up my neck nearly knocked me over.

I turned before I could combust on the spot. He took a single step toward me—but didn’t close the distance.

He knew better than to cause a scene in a small town like this.

“Bye, Mr. Dolstic,” I muttered, pushing open the door and escaping into the bright, sunny streets of downtown Sable Point.

My hands were still shaking as I fled down Main Street, putting distance between myself and Callaghan’s.

The ghost of Kai’s lips on my shoulder burned like a brand, and my mind wouldn’t stop replaying that moment in his apartment—the way he’d looked at me, how his thumb had traced my bottom lip, the heat in his eyes before everything went sideways.

Your first almost-kiss was with a widower ten years your senior. Way to go, Charlie.

I needed somewhere safe. Somewhere that made sense. My feet carried me automatically to Books and Crannies, my sanctuary since I was old enough to read. Just seeing the familiar storefront through the morning haze made my racing heart slow a fraction.

The same bell that had greeted me thousands of times before chimed overhead as I pushed through the door. The scent of paper and peonies wrapped around me like a familiar hug, and I inhaled deeply, letting it wash away the lingering smell of stale beer and Kai’s woodsy cologne.

Books. Books made sense. Books were safe. Books didn’t look at you like they wanted to devour you whole or press their lips to your skin or?—

“Charlie!”

Jennifer’s excited voice snapped me from my spiral. She waddled toward me, her pregnant belly preceding her by a good foot, and pulled me into an awkward hug.

“Holy Toledo, lady. Who knocked you up?”

She chuckled. Not many people found me particularly funny, so when I had the pleasure of making someone laugh, I didn’t take it for granted.

It helped ground me, remind me who I was—just Charlie.

Quiet, awkward Charlie who belonged here among the shelves, not pressed against a bar owner old enough to be.

.. well, not old enough to be my father, but definitely too old for me.

“That would be my husband.” Her eyes sparkled. “You know the one, right? You did attend our wedding, after all.”

I forced myself to engage in the conversation, to push thoughts of Kai aside. “Hmm, I think I recall such an occasion.” My smile felt more natural now, the familiar rhythm of friendly banter helping to settle my nerves. “It’s so good to see you! When are you due?”

She huffed out a breath that puffed up her glowing cheeks. “In a month, but the baby could come any day, really.”

She led me to the pink velvet loveseat beneath the front window—my favorite reading spot since high school.

The antique coffee table still bore the evidence of my most mortifying moment: a sizeable crack running through the Victorian-era wood, the result of me tripping over my own feet while carrying a stack of Russian novels junior year.

The crash had echoed through the store like a gunshot, and I’d offered to pay for the damage through tears, but Nancy Edwards had just laughed and said it “added character.”

Nancy had opened the town bookstore long before I was born.

When she retired a few years ago, her daughter, Jennifer, had taken over.

She was Jasper’s age, so about three years older than me, but she’d always been a little bookish like me.

She was one of the few people in Sable Point I felt connected to, other than my family.

She’d even helped me clean up the Russian novel disaster, never once making me feel as clumsy and awkward as I was.

Looking at that coffee table now, at the crack I’d put in it, I smiled. This place held so many pieces of me—even my less graceful moments.

As Jennifer settled into the loveseat beside me, she rubbed her swollen belly with a grimace. “Mom’s arthritis is getting worse,” she said, her usual cheerful tone dimming slightly. “She can barely handle the register anymore, let alone shelving books.”

My heart squeezed. Nancy had always been so vibrant, practically dancing between the shelves, always finding the perfect book for every customer. “I’m so sorry, Jen. That must be hard.”

“It is what it is. Between that and the baby coming... I’m not sure how I’m going to manage it all.”

I nodded sympathetically, my mind still half-stuck on Kai’s apartment full of books, wondering if he organized them by genre like Nancy always had, or if?—

“Hey! This is incredibly presumptuous of me to ask, but... do you need a job? ”

The question caught me off guard. Me? Work here? At Books and Crannies?

My heart leapt. This was it—my chance to do something that actually meant something to me. Not bagging groceries, not serving drinks, but being surrounded by the things I loved most in the world. A place where being quiet and bookish wasn’t a flaw but an asset.

“I don’t have anything lined up,” I said carefully, trying to contain my excitement. “I’d love to work here, if you really think I could do it.”

“Of course you could do it, Charlie. You’re the smartest person I know.”

Her words wrapped around me like a favorite book’s worn pages. Here, among the shelves and stories, I didn’t feel awkward or insufficient. I didn’t feel too young or too inexperienced. I felt... right.

Maybe that was the difference. With Kai, everything had felt electric but uncertain—like standing on the edge of a cliff. Here, it felt grounded. Safe. Like coming home.

“When can you start training?”

I glanced around the store—at the carefully organized shelves, the cozy reading nooks, the wall of staff recommendations where I’d spent countless hours discovering new worlds. This wasn’t just a job. This was an opportunity to be part of something I truly loved.

“Now?” The eagerness in my voice made Jennifer beam.

As she led me behind the counter to start showing me the ropes, I felt the last vestiges of my encounter with Kai fade away.

Or at least, I tried to convince myself they had.

But even as she explained the ordering system, I couldn’t quite forget the way his eyes had burned into mine, or how his collection of books rivaled this one.

Focus on what’s real, Charlie. Focus on what’s possible.

This—the bookstore, the familiar smell of paper and ink, the quiet companionship of fellow book lovers—this was real. This was possible.

The rest... well, maybe it was better left between the pages of a romance novel.