Page 108 of Sex Positive

“I’ll even cook you Annie’s mac and cheese,” he whispers, dragging his nose up her neck and attaching his mouth to her pulse point.

She shivers, tangling her fingers in the fabric of his black T-shirt. “God,fine.” She points a finger in his face. “Don’t think you can distract me with kisses every time you want me to do something.”

“But it works. You’re soresponsive.”

His laughter chases her out of her bedroom.

Fifteen minutes and three mixing bowls later, Charlie sits cross-legged at her kitchen table, examining the noodles on her fork.

“It’s not poisoned,” Wes says.

“Given the state of my kitchen, I reserve the right to be suspicious. No one needs to use three mixing bowls to make Annie’s mac and cheese.”

“Kitchens are made for messes.” He shoves a large bite into his mouth. “And this is delicious.”

“You insulted me two months ago for having it.”

“I apologize.” He smiles sheepishly. “I just wanted an excuse to sit across from you at a restaurant and pretend we were on a date.”

Charlie snaps her mouth shut, cheeks heating. She stares into her bowl, fighting a smile. “Wesley Quinn, are you a secret romantic?”

He scoffs, offended. “No.”

Holding his gaze, she takes a bite of her macaroni and moans deliberately, catching the way his eyes darken. “Not poisoned. And I think you are.”

Before he can respond, her phone trills next to her. Victoria’s face appears on the screen.

She quickly answers. “Hello?”

“Charlie.”

Alarm shoots through her chest at the catch in Victoria’s voice. “Hey, what’s the news?”

“Um…” Victoria’s voice cracks. “I tried convincing them not to do it, but the board has made their decision.” She clears her throat, but it’s no use. Charlie hears her tears. “They’re going to accept the insurance claim and sell the clinic. I’m so sorry. There was nothing I could do.”

Thirty-One

She almost forgot.In the midst of the levity and light that is Wes’s presence, she almost forgot her clinic was damaged. She almost forgot she was going to be the one to save it.

Now it’s too late.

Her phone call with Victoria is brief. There aren’t a lot of answers to the dozens of questions Charlie has, and Victoria has to make a dozen more phone calls to other staff. She hangs up with the promise to check back in later.

Phone loosely clasped in her hand, Charlie stares into her bowl of mac and cheese, no longer hungry. An odd numbness comes over her, commingled with a desire to claw off her skin.

“Charlie.” Wes kneels next to her chair and takes her hand. “What happened?”

She lifts her gaze, focusing on him. “The board is going to sell.”

Wes frowns. “But the insurance claim hasn’t come back yet. It’s been less than a day.”

Charlie shrugs. “It’s not uncommon for businesses to fail after fires, even though this one was pretty minor by comparison. They seem to think there will be too much lost revenue during the time needed for repairs. Victoria thinks they were always going to sell regardless of what we raised at the expo. She thinks they were just placating her and biding their time.” She releases a shuddering breath and closes her eyes. “It’s hard to resist the allure of a very lucrative buyout.”

When Wes says nothing, she rests her head in her hand, pressing her palm into her right eye as the oncoming throb of a migraine makes itself known.

“What will happen with the expo?” he asks.

She rolls her head in her hand, blinking at him. “Victoria still wants to do it. But what’s the point?”