The Redemption (Charlotte Bloom Book 2) Read Online Free

honest with everyone since my return. I didn’t even know if they knew Alec had been trying to contact me. It didn’t matter at this point. I knew I was right in sending the email. I had to move on. I couldn’t keep living my life like this. I wasn’t taking care of myself. I needed to figure everything out on my own.
     
     
     
    ***
     
     
    The next day, Amara took me shopping for a dress for my date with Charlie.
    “You should try this one,” Amara suggested, shoving a short, revealing black dress at me. “I bet you could fit into a size 2 now anyways. You’ve turned into a tiny bag of bones,” she joked. “We need to fatten you up. But… after you wear this dress.”
    I looked it over. It was totally not my style. I was more of a classic clothing type of person. I liked cardigans, jeans, t-shirts… I’d never even worn a strapless dress. On top of that, it had the shortest hemline I’d ever seen on a dress meant for an adult woman.
    “I don’t know, Mar. It seems kind of slutty.”
    “And?”
    “I’m not slutty. I couldn’t be slutty if I tried.”
    “I beg to differ.”
    “I agreed to go on this date with Charlie mostly as a favor to you. I’d rather not come across as slutty.”
    “Suit yourself. I’m going to try it on, even though I doubt it’ll fit me.”
    It was true. Amara was tall and Portuguese, and she had an envious, curvalicious body.
    I browsed more of the dress selections. I was looking for something a little less revealing—something simple. I went to the sale rack. As I slid the hangers from one side to the other, I came upon a red dress with maroon velvet paisley all over it. My heart stopped. I owned this dress. I’d worn it in Wales. It was the dress I had been wearing when Alec and I had revealed our feelings for each other, the night everything had changed.
    I kept going, pushing the red dress out of view. I had to move on. After a long and tiring search, I gave in to the short, tight black dress. Amara would not stop hounding me about it, so I had to concede. I would definitely need Spanx for this dress. Amara had described Charlie as a “good guy with an edge”. I had no idea how to dress for a guy like that, but I decided I would top the look off with a leather jacket. That way, the top portion wouldn’t be too revealing. I kept pushing the same thought out of my head: with Alec, I never had to think about what I was going to wear.
    Or what I wouldn’t wear.
     
    As I looked up, Alec took his shirt off. Holy mother of god. I tried to avert my eyes. The smell of the room, and Alec standing there shirtless was almost too much to take. I almost swooned. Like, literally, swooned and fainted. I clutched the door frame as he turned around and walked into his closet. His back was broad and tanned, and it was very muscular. I imagined working with the horses every day was very active. He turned back around with a new white shirt, and I looked down. I didn’t want him to catch me looking.
    “You have a nice room,” I said quietly. My voice came out mouse-like and meek.
    “It does the trick.”
    I dared to look up again, and my heart stopped as I realized he was staring at me, looking at me from head to toe. I guess he hadn’t gotten a good look before in the dark kitchen or hallway. He kept eye contact while he buttoned his shirt up, which was some sort of cruel, sick joke in my eyes. It should be the other way around—he should be unbuttoning it. I looked down. I had to. This was driving me crazy. So what, he had a nice body. I could admire that as a friend. It was like the times I went to the beach with Amara and admired her perfect, tanned, svelte Portuguese body. Except that I didn’t want to jump on Amara and have sex with her on this bed, in this room.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    I spent the majority of my afternoon primping myself for Charlie. On the one hand, I was still totally and completely hung up on Alec, and I couldn’t deny feeling that way. On the other