Read Online Love Beyond the Curve (BookStrand Publishing Romance) by Kate Patrick - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kate Patrick
Tags: Romance
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too.”
She was walking to the door the whole time she had been yelling at him. Reed was shocked by her reaction to his confession.
“Charlotte, I wasn’t…it wasn’t like that. I truly didn’t like it. Don’t go,” he yelled back at her as she slammed the door closed behind her.
“Damn it, Charlotte. Shit. I can’t even follow her and catch her before she gets to her door.”
He managed to get himself up on his crutches and head to the bedroom. He hadn’t had a shower since Friday morning, and he needed one now. He would just stand on his crutches, but he was going to have a shower. Maybe while he was in there, he would figure out how to deal with Charlotte and her damned insecurities.
Chapter Fifteen
Reed lay in bed thinking over the evening, and what he should have done differently. He figured it out rather quickly once he got settled and began to focus his thoughts on what he had said and what he knew about Charlotte.
He should have never said he felt jealous. He didn’t mean to say it. It had just slipped out. He guessed it did sound like he was trying to feed her a line of bullshit to soften her up to make a move on her. He recalled how she had confided in him about the way she had experienced, more than once, a guy trying to screw her when he already had a thin girlfriend he took out in public with him.
“Of course she would think I was doing the same thing. It probably hurt worse knowing she had told me exactly how she felt about it. Damn, I messed up. I’ll be lucky if she doesn’t move out next month. Now I have to figure out how I can fix this,” he spoke aloud to himself in the dark, wrestling with the thoughts of whether or not he was really interested in Charlotte as more than a friend.
By the time morning came, he knew exactly what he had to do. It all started with a phone call.
* * * *
At eleven, the knock he had been expecting finally came. Reed made his way to the door on his crutches, which he was now beginning to master. He was getting around on his own without any help. He had even taken another shower, stood up long enough to get his breakfast, and load the dishwasher. He was still hurting, but the pain pills kept it manageable, along with his common sense to take Charlotte’s advice to stay off of it unless absolutely necessary. He was keeping it propped up when he wasn’t on it, and trying to be less active with his right side to help his ribs heal as fast as possible.
He opened the door to find Candace standing there looking perfectly crisp and coiffed as usual, wearing a navy-blue suit with a pale-pink blouse. She turned her cheek for him to kiss it, so as to not muss her freshly applied lipstick. He hopped backward so she could come on through to the den.
“You don’t look so bad. I didn’t know what to expect. How are you doing?” Candace asked the question as she breezed through to the den. She seated herself in an armchair across from where Reed was reclined in his chair.
“Well, let’s see, I got hurt Friday afternoon, and it’s nearly Sunday afternoon, so I guess you bypassed the worst part. So, yeah, I guess I’m doing pretty good today compared to Friday night.” He nodded at her, answering in a flat tone of voice.
“Oh, Reed, you aren’t going to try to make me feel bad about not seeing you until today, are you? I talked to you on the phone. You know I just don’t do sick vigils very well.” She waved him off as if it were nothing that she hadn’t checked on him since the accident.
“Well, I guess I have figured that out. You probably wouldn’t be here now if I hadn’t called and asked you to come by. I know how busy you are, Candace,” he answered her, without any expression to his voice at all.
“Well, now that you mention it, I am supposed to meet Mother and Father for lunch at the club. What did you need to see me about so urgently?” She crossed a slim leg and smoothed her skirt, waiting for an answer.
“Well, I wanted
She was walking to the door the whole time she had been yelling at him. Reed was shocked by her reaction to his confession.
“Charlotte, I wasn’t…it wasn’t like that. I truly didn’t like it. Don’t go,” he yelled back at her as she slammed the door closed behind her.
“Damn it, Charlotte. Shit. I can’t even follow her and catch her before she gets to her door.”
He managed to get himself up on his crutches and head to the bedroom. He hadn’t had a shower since Friday morning, and he needed one now. He would just stand on his crutches, but he was going to have a shower. Maybe while he was in there, he would figure out how to deal with Charlotte and her damned insecurities.
Chapter Fifteen
Reed lay in bed thinking over the evening, and what he should have done differently. He figured it out rather quickly once he got settled and began to focus his thoughts on what he had said and what he knew about Charlotte.
He should have never said he felt jealous. He didn’t mean to say it. It had just slipped out. He guessed it did sound like he was trying to feed her a line of bullshit to soften her up to make a move on her. He recalled how she had confided in him about the way she had experienced, more than once, a guy trying to screw her when he already had a thin girlfriend he took out in public with him.
“Of course she would think I was doing the same thing. It probably hurt worse knowing she had told me exactly how she felt about it. Damn, I messed up. I’ll be lucky if she doesn’t move out next month. Now I have to figure out how I can fix this,” he spoke aloud to himself in the dark, wrestling with the thoughts of whether or not he was really interested in Charlotte as more than a friend.
By the time morning came, he knew exactly what he had to do. It all started with a phone call.
* * * *
At eleven, the knock he had been expecting finally came. Reed made his way to the door on his crutches, which he was now beginning to master. He was getting around on his own without any help. He had even taken another shower, stood up long enough to get his breakfast, and load the dishwasher. He was still hurting, but the pain pills kept it manageable, along with his common sense to take Charlotte’s advice to stay off of it unless absolutely necessary. He was keeping it propped up when he wasn’t on it, and trying to be less active with his right side to help his ribs heal as fast as possible.
He opened the door to find Candace standing there looking perfectly crisp and coiffed as usual, wearing a navy-blue suit with a pale-pink blouse. She turned her cheek for him to kiss it, so as to not muss her freshly applied lipstick. He hopped backward so she could come on through to the den.
“You don’t look so bad. I didn’t know what to expect. How are you doing?” Candace asked the question as she breezed through to the den. She seated herself in an armchair across from where Reed was reclined in his chair.
“Well, let’s see, I got hurt Friday afternoon, and it’s nearly Sunday afternoon, so I guess you bypassed the worst part. So, yeah, I guess I’m doing pretty good today compared to Friday night.” He nodded at her, answering in a flat tone of voice.
“Oh, Reed, you aren’t going to try to make me feel bad about not seeing you until today, are you? I talked to you on the phone. You know I just don’t do sick vigils very well.” She waved him off as if it were nothing that she hadn’t checked on him since the accident.
“Well, I guess I have figured that out. You probably wouldn’t be here now if I hadn’t called and asked you to come by. I know how busy you are, Candace,” he answered her, without any expression to his voice at all.
“Well, now that you mention it, I am supposed to meet Mother and Father for lunch at the club. What did you need to see me about so urgently?” She crossed a slim leg and smoothed her skirt, waiting for an answer.
“Well, I wanted
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