Hiding Catherine

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Catherine sighed as she leaned back against the door after impulsively kissing Charlie’s cheek. She had been attracted to him from the first moment she saw him in the PX. He wore his scowl like a warning, telling everyone to leave him alone. She didn’t listen. She wanted to know him. She didn’t know what caused the scowl on his face, but she didn’t care. The fact he was military, she was sure it had come from a tour overseas.

She had seen many soldiers afflicted with wounds or missing limbs from tours overseas. Her brother was one. He had lost his leg when his Humvee was struck by an IED. He didn’t like to talk about what happened nor did he want anyone’s pity. She could tell Charlie was sensitive about his face.

It was why he always kept as much of it covered when out in public as possible. It didn’t bother her in the least. It was a war wound he received while serving his country. She couldn’t look down at him for that. Besides nobody was perfect. She said the first thing she was thinking. She was about fifteen pounds overweight and she had an unhealthy addiction to Dr. Pepper.

Catherine touched her lips remembering kissing Charlie. It shouldn’t make her stomach flutter. It had been all too brief. Another prime example of her impulsiveness. He hadn’t seemed upset she kissed him, but he hadn’t looked too happy either. She would apologize the next time she saw him.

If she saw him again. The man liked to be left alone. He would most likely avoid her now. Which would be a shame. He seemed liked such a nice guy, once you got past all the gruff. Then again, Catherine was not the best judge of character. She tended to date bad boys, and in the case of her previous relationship, a horrible guy.

Brandon had seemed such a great guy when they first dated. Military like Charlie. But after two years of dating, he turned into a monster. Where he used to praise her for her beauty and frame, it turned into criticism. She didn’t dress up enough for him or had gained too much weight. He didn’t want to be seen in public with her.

If that hadn’t been bad enough, he had been stealing government secrets and selling them. If she hadn’t found out about it and called the police on him she didn’t know what would have happened. What kind of person did that? Catherine couldn’t get away from him fast enough and had avoided male company since.

Catherine thought she had learned her lesson about trusting men, but one look at Charlie and all her good intentions flew out the window. There was something different about him that didn’t remind her at all of Brandon.

Catherine couldn’t say how happy she was that it was Charlie that had pulled over instead of a complete stranger. Not that Charlie wasn’t, but at least she had seen him before. She had heard a lot about a someone k********g women over the past few weeks. It was nerve wracking being on an empty street, no cell phone, with a flat tire.

She would have walked back to base but with how heavy the rain was no one would have seen her, and she could have been hit by a car. She didn’t know which was worse, being caught by a kidnapper or hit by a car.

Instead of leaning against the door worrying about a kidnapper, she should get dry clothes on and try to find her charger. First, shower then the charger. She was freezing. Her dead phone wasn’t going anywhere.

Catherine pushed off the door and headed upstairs, throwing her wet clothes in the dryer, and took a hot shower to warm up. Charlie had kept the heater on for her in his jeep, but she was in her air conditioned home now.

Against her better judgment, Catherine found her thoughts drifting back on Charlie. He was a take charge of a situation kind of guy and yet silent at the same time. She didn’t mind. She could talk enough for them both. His piercing green eyes captivated her, and his dark brown hair that looked like it was in need of a cut. Didn’t military guys have to keep it short? Brandon always did.

Charlie’s facial hair was so dark it was almost black. Did he have chest hair? She liked a man with chest hair. A nest of downy soft short hairs to run her fingers through. Catherine’s hand slid down her front imagining it was Charlie’s chest she was feeling, instead of her own. She could imagine all the muscles he kept hidden under his shirt. His shirts were always loose around his frame, but they were pulled tight over his biceps. Her n*****s puckered, and her fingers slid over them to tweak them. She set her head back on the cool tile and let the water beat down on her.

Catherine summoned an image of Charlie walking into her bathroom, and stripping off his clothes to join her. He never took his eyes off her. They devoured her as he climbed into the shower with her. He brushed her fingers out of the way and took over tweaking her n*****s. She caressed the chest she had been imagining. It was perfection. Puckered skin and nicks marred him but it in no way diminished his beauty.

They served as reminders of what he had done to protect his country. While one hand fondled her breast, the other glided down her side to her thigh. His knee wedged between her thighs forcing them open for him. A sigh escaped her as she rocked over Charlie’s leg. His short, crisp hairs slid along her folds heightening her pleasure. Charlie kissed a path up the side of her neck to the sensitive spot behind her ear.

Catherine tilted her head back to give him better access. “Please,” she begged not caring how needy she sounded. She needed more kisses. More pleasure.

Charlie ignored her plea and continued his assault on her senses and body. The hand on her thigh reach down behind her knee, and he brought her leg up on his hip. His hand caressed the underside of her thigh, then skimmed her folds.

“Yes,” Catherine screeched, grabbing onto his biceps, and pulling him closer. Charlie raised her other leg onto his hip, and his engorged c**k slid between them. He rocked into her slowly, his length hitting her clit just right. “Charlie,” she husked, squinting up at him through the water spray. The water pelted off his shoulder before hitting her in the face. She had to squint, so she didn’t get water in her eyes, but damn he was worth going blind for.

She reached up and stroked his cheek where the worst of the scarring was. His beard was soft as down against her palm. He looked momentarily shocked that she would touch his scarred cheek, but after a moment, he leaned into her touch.

Catherine felt like she had accomplished the unattainable at that moment. She didn’t think life could get any better until Charlie lowered his head, and his lips swiped over hers. She felt a spark from the contact all the way to her toes, and liquid heat pooled between her legs. He brushed his lips over again, teasing her. “Please, Charlie.” She didn’t care if she had to beg. She had been dreaming about this moment since she met him, and she needed his lips on her more than her next breath.

“Say it,” he whispered against her lips.

Say what? She had already said please.

“Say my name,” he answered her silent question.

“Charlie,” she sighed his name as his erection hit her clit again just right. Catherine tightened her legs around his waist and held onto his shoulders. “Kiss me, Charlie.”

Charlie groaned deep in the back of his throat, making her shiver, before swooping down and capturing her lips again. Had Catherine been standing, her knees would have buckled by now. His kiss was as take charge as he was. He commanded her mouth. His tongue stroked hers, and he fisted a hand in her hair and ground more insistently against her. Catherine clung to him and clenched her thighs around him as she came calling his name.

She flopped back against the tile wall feeling the water cool against her heated flesh. Her knees trembled, and her eyes fluttered open to see she was alone in her shower. Her fingers were still buried between her legs. Catherine sighed in disappointment. It had all been a figment of her imagination. It had felt so real though.

Catherine turned off the water and dried off. Who was she kidding? Charlie didn’t want her. He had made that abundantly clear. She always said the first thing that popped into her mind and it was usually the wrong thing to say. She was too fat and didn’t dress well enough to impress a man. Catherine doubted he would be in the PX anytime soon. He would only ever be a fantasy for her.

After a fruitless search for her charger again she climbed into her cold, lonely bed, and dreamed of a scowling face with hypnotic green eyes.

~

It had been three days since Charlie gave Catherine a ride home. Three days of telling herself to get over him, and three days of her watching the entrance of the PX to see if he would come in. She must be a glutton for punishment. Why else would she be looking for a man who wanted nothing to do with her? If he liked her, he would have come see her. And yet here she stood looking for a man she shouldn’t want. She told herself repeatedly to forget about him, but she couldn’t. Something about him drew her in. A moth to a flame. She wanted to know more about him.

She thought she was being sneaky about looking for him, but her coworkers looked at her funny every time someone walked past her. She would look up to see who it was with a smile on her face. When it wasn’t Charlie her smile slipped, but she still greeted everyone kindly.

“Catherine, you okay?” Nadine, the girl working the register next to her, asked.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly, pretending to clean up around her register.

“Are you sure? You’re acting funny.”

“I want to make sure I greet every customer that walks through the door.” Her excuse sounded lame even to her.

“Hmm,” was all she said, then she gasped. “Oh my god, Catherine, look at that guy that just walked in.” Her voice sounded more horrified than intrigued.

Catherine looked up not knowing what to expect. Her breath caught when Charlie walked through the doors with two other people, one on either side of him. It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t wearing his normal ball cap pulled low over his face.

She didn’t know who Nadine was horrified at seeing. All she saw was Charlie and the fact she could see all of him. And what a sight he was. His hair was short on the sides and longer on top. His dark brown curly hair was swept over to one side. He looked much more put together today than the last time. Her eyes ate him up, Catherine wondered if her tongue was hanging out.

The men he was with were laughing about something and nudging each other. Charlie looked his normal stoic self and stared straight ahead, but she knew he was aware of everything happening around him. He probably knew she was there but was ignoring her. That stung.

“Do you see him?” Nadine whispered loudly. “The deep scars on his face pull on the skin making him look like a bulldog or something. It’s terrifying. Why wouldn’t he cover that up or something? That face would scare children. It scares me.” She gave a dramatic shiver to emphasize her point.

Catherine didn’t think so. She hated that Nadine could say something so mean about someone she didn’t know. Charlie couldn’t help that he had been wounded. In the light, it looked much harsher than when she rode with him. The dome light had been dimmed and he kept his scarred cheek in the shadows as much as possible.

It still didn’t change her opinion of him. She watched him as he walked past her, still staring straight ahead. His gaze didn’t so much as flicker toward her.

What if he was purposely ignoring her? That was probably what he was doing. He was here to get a few things because he needed them. He wasn’t here to see her and listen to her babble about nothing. He didn’t care about her. Nobody did.

“Catherine, you’ve gone pale. Was it because of that guy?”

Catherine shook her head no. He was the reason she went pale, but not for the reason Nadine was probably guessing. “Can you cover me for a minute? I need to use the bathroom.” She needed to collect herself for a moment and remind her why she needed to keep her distance from Charlie.

Nadine nodded, and Catherine walked briskly toward the bathroom. She rounded the corner and collided with a wall of muscle. She fell back, but a hand reached out and steadied her. “Sorry about that. I didn’t see you there.”