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Jesse.

Chapter 5
    “H i,” Jesse said, adjusting the two grocery bags in his arms. He knew he was blocking her way out, but he’d gotten here just in time. He didn’t intend to let her leave. “How was your weekend?”
    “Peachy.” Despite the sarcasm, she was smiling. “How was yours?”
    “Same.”
    “Great,” she said. “Mattie and I made some good progress on her wardrobe. I was just leaving.”
    Jesse shook his head. “I’m fixing dinner.”
    “No, you’re not. You’re standing here blocking my exit.”
    “Stay for dinner, Charlie,” Mattie said. Her cell phone rang. “It’s Gina. I have to take this, but please stay. Please?”
    The girl left the room with her phone pressed to her ear.
    “She said please.” Jesse smiled. “I got dinner for the three of us. I figured since you and Mattie had been working so hard, it was the least I could do. Besides, I want you to stay.”
    “Scrambled eggs?” Her bold stare assessed him unapologetically. “I hear they’re your specialty.”
    He suddenly had the urge to stoke this growing fire.
    “Glad to hear you remember something from Friday night.” He couldn’t help himself, and he loved it when she blushed.
    “I remember all the important things.”
    Her gaze fell to his mouth. She bit her bottom lip before looking into his eyes again.
    “Such as?”
    “That I didn’t even get to try your specialty.”
    He arched a brow. “My scrambled eggs?”
    She smiled. “Yeah. Something like that.”
    “We will definitely scramble some eggs very soon.” He watched her in wonder, taking a great deal of pleasure watching the color spike in her cheeks. “Tonight, we’re having steak and baked potatoes.”
    *
    Just like that, the ice was broken.
    Actually, the ice was more than broken. Things seemed to be heating up between them. It wasn’t so much what he said during dinner, it was the way that he looked at her that was different—a good kind of different.
    For a bit, Charlotte worried that Mattie might notice it, too. But the girl seemed oblivious. Especially when she started in with the questions.
    “Jesse said I wasn’t allowed to ask you questions about Tom when you were helping me with the pageant, but we’re not working on the pageant anymore.”
    “Mattalyn.” Jesse’s tone was stern.
    Mattie had been good about staying on task when they were picking out her competition wardrobe. Of course, part of the focus had been on her crush, but now Mattie seemed ready to go at Charlotte with both barrels.
    “I just want her to know I care,” Mattie said to Jesse. “And I do care, Charlie. I want you to know you can talk to me if you need someone.”
    Charlotte smiled. “Thank you, Mattalyn, I appreciate that, but really, I’m fine.”
    The girl watched her as if she were trying to assess whether Charlotte was telling the truth. “You’re fine? Really? I mean, you and Tom were together a long time. Aren’t you devastated?”
    “Matt,” Jesse warned. “I said knock it off.”
    Charlotte waved away Jesse’s protests, though she couldn’t deny that it felt good to see him act so protective of her. “I don’t mind answering her question.”
    Was it wrong that this explanation was as much for Jesse as it was for Mattie?
    “I’m not devastated. In fact, I’m a little relieved. I’ve had a chance to think it over the last day and a half, and I’ve realized there were so many signs over the past three years that things were wrong. I’m not really shocked. The two of us couldn’t even agree on an engagement ring.”
    “Do you have any regrets?” This time, the question came from Jesse.
    “Only that I didn’t face the truth sooner.” Charlotte turned back to Mattie. “It’s kind of like what I was telling you earlier. You should never compromise who you are or what you want for a guy.”
    Mattie’s eyes got round and large. She shook her head at Charlotte, and Charlotte suddenly realized Mattie didn’t want to talk about this in