Confiscating Charlie Read Free

underneath. It was like something from another century, but somehow it looked right on her.
    Charlie ’ s eyes were wide as they took him in. Her cheeks reddened, and he felt like an intruder.
    “ I ’ m sorry to barge in here like this, but I wanted to apologize for Sammy. He ’ s an asshole sometimes, but when he drinks, he acquires a case of terminal stupidity, too. ”
    Charlie continued to stare at him, frozen with her toothbrush in hand.
    Her mahogany colored hair gleamed under the light, contrasting with the creamy ivory of her skin. She really is stunning . He honestly couldn ’ t blame Sammy for stealing a kiss.
    When she remained still, Noah thought he was probably intimidating her. He tried to make himself smaller by crouching a little. “ Hi, by the way. I ’ m Noah. ”
    Charlie blinked. “ I know. ” She twisted and turned off the water tap behind her before turning back to him. “ I ’ m sorry. You surprised me. ”
    Glad that had done the trick, he pointed to the toothbrush and tried not to wince. “ I hope that ’ s not because of what happened earlier. ”
    Charlie ’ s face fell, and he felt like crap. She waved the toothbrush.
    “ I shouldn ’ t be making this big a deal about it. ”
    He walked up and put his hands on her shoulders. “ You don ’ t have to feel bad about feeling bad. He shouldn ’ t have touched you. Hell, he shouldn ’ t have breathed on you with that nasty beer breath. ”
    One corner of Charlie ’ s mouth twisted, but it wasn ’ t a smile. To his dismay, she started blinking rapidly again.
    “ Oh no, don ’ t do that, ” he said helplessly, patting her awkwardly on the back.
    Charlie covered her face with one hand and shook her head slightly. “ I ’ m being ridiculous. ”
    “ No, you ’ re not, ” he insisted.
    “ I am . But —”
    Noah frowned. “ What is it? ”
    She sighed. “ It was my first kiss, ” she said in a small voice.
    Fucking hell. How was that even possible?
    “ Really? ” he asked with a disbelieving scowl.
    Charlie looked at him and then quickly away. Making an effort to smooth his features he apologized.
    “ Sorry. It ’ s just hard to believe. You ’ re so... ”
    He didn ’ t finish, but Charlie blushed anyway. A little warm himself, he removed his hands from her shoulders and took a step back so he wouldn ’ t crowd her.
    “ Thanks for coming up and everything, but I ’ m overreacting. All I need is a redo. I'll just pretend it never happened, ” she joked weakly.
    Noah paused and then shook his head.
    “ You ’ re not overreacting, ” he said slowly. “ A girl ’ s first kiss should be special. I can help. ”
    Charlie made a face at him. The move called attention to a few cute little freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose. “ What do you mean? ”
    “ You said you need to redo your first kiss. That ’ s a great idea. But not here, ” he said, gesturing to the bright walls.
    Charlie sighed. “ Yeah, it ’ s like a unicorn was butchered in here, ” she said, startling him into a laugh. She shrugged. “ This is my sister ’ s teen dream bedroom. Not mine. ”
    “ Don ’ t worry. I get it. Stepmother number two did my room in the city entirely in pastels. It was so humiliating whenever any of my friends came over. ”
    She giggled. Pleased that he ’ d been able to cheer her up he felt energized. But his work wasn ’ t done yet.
    “ You have to let me make this up to you, ” he said.
    Charlie put her hands on her hips. “ You want to paint my room? ”
    He laughed. “ No, I ’ m volunteering to help you redo your first kiss. ”
    She froze. “ No, thank you. ”
    Noah felt a tiny little stab of disappointment before brushing it aside. “ I ’ m not taking no for an answer. It ’ s my fault your first kiss was ruined so it ’ s up to me to make it up to you, ” he said with an entreating smile as he backed away toward the balcony.
    Charlie licked her lips. “ Please don ’ t, ”