I’m going over my scene for tomorrow when a knock sounds at my door. I glance up and see Charlotte standing in the doorway. “Hey, what’s up?”

She tugs at the hem of her frayed blue jean shorts for a moment before answering. “Can I talk to you?”

“Sure.” I shove aside pages of script to make room for her on my bed. “Come sit.”

Her eyes widen a little, but she nods and walks over. She chooses the corner farthest away from me.

“Are you okay?” I ask as she worries her bottom lip. I glance at her shirt and smile. It reads “Yoga and Coffee Are All I Need”. “I didn’t know you did yoga.”

She frowns, then looks down. “Oh, yeah, I don’t. I think I borrowed this from Kelley.”

“So you’re a clothes thief,” I say, glad to see her shoulders relaxing a bit. “I’ll have to watch out for you.”

“But I’m your girlfriend. Don’t girlfriends get rights to their man’s closets or something?”

I shrug. “I wouldn’t know. You’re the first serious girl I’ve had, Char.”

Charlotte flinches at the nickname. I know where her mind’s gone. It’s the same place mine’s been all morning.

“I wanted to talk about last night and…” her fingers start tugging again “…Jay.”

“You don’t owe me an explanation.”

Charlotte raises her eyes to mine. “But I do, and I want to tell you.”

I nod slowly. “So what happened between you two?”

“Jay was the first guy I met when I moved to L.A. and my first serious boyfriend. Kelley took me out one night to meet her friends, and Jay was one of them.” Her eyes grow soft. “We hit if off. We were friends for a few months, but things really heated up between us…”

Charlotte gives a little shrug. “I fell hard for him—really hard. Soon I was spending every night at his place instead of Kelley’s, and two months after we made it official, he asked me to move in with him.” Charlotte glances at me. “I said no at first, and I know it seems rushed, but I was broke and in love—”

She stops and scowls. “Well, I thought I was in love.”

I shift and lean against the headboard, waiting for her go on.

“Anyway, I finally agreed and started moving some things into his place. A few weeks in, Jay started pushing me to have…sex.” A blush creeps up her neck. “I wasn’t ready, and he knew that, but he kept insisting—” She stops and looks away. “I…well, I’m a virgin.”

I catch my breath and try to keep my face impassive as a hundred tantalizing thoughts stream into my mind. A virgin? My girlfriend is untouched? This beautiful woman has never been with a man?

Holy shit.

“I loved him,” Charlotte continues, almost to herself, “but something was holding me back—something that I could never lay a finger on…”

She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is what happened next. I had a terrible audition one night, just awful, and all I wanted to do was go home and have my boyfriend hold me. I walk through the door and find…” Her voice chokes up. “And hear…”

I grip my comforter hard with my fists as a single tear escapes her eye and slides down her pale cheek.

“Well—” she clears her throat as she wipes the tear away “—after that, there was no way I was staying in that apartment a moment longer. So I moved back in with Kelley. I just left whatever I had moved to Jay’s—though it was barely anything, anyway. We’d only been living together for two days before…well before I found out what he’d been doing behind my back.”

She takes a deep breath and looks at me. My heart clenches as another tear rolls down her cheek. “That’s it. That’s the whole morbid story of my silly love life.”

I have to stop myself from rushing forward, taking her beautiful face in my hands, and brushing her tears away. I want to hold her, press her cheek against my chest, and tell her she’ll be alright.

But I don’t do any of that. I can’t, because I’m afraid of what I’ll do if I touch her.

“I never heard from him again until last month—when we started dating,” she says, motioning to me. “He’s been texting me a lot and wants to meet up to talk, but that’s the last thing I want to do.”

I lean forward and put my hand on the comforter in front of me, letting her know it’s there for her if she needs it. I can handle douchebag ex-boyfriends. They’re much safer territory than crying virgins on the edge of my king-sized bed. “You don’t owe him anything, Charlotte. He doesn’t deserve anything from you.”

Charlotte gives a small nod. “Maybe. But I can’t help but think that this is my fault.”

“What?”

“He wanted more from me, and I couldn’t give it.”

I frown. “Charlotte…”

She shakes her head. “I know men have certain needs and desires—”

“Never say that again,” I snap. “Your ex is no man. Those are stupid excuses that boys give to explain away their selfishness.”

“Tate…” Charlotte trails off as her eyes go wide.

“If I ever run into your ex again, then I’ll—”

“No,” Charlotte cries, grabbing my hand. “Promise me you won’t do something you’d regret.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t regret punching his face in,” I growl.

“Tate! Your career and image are much more important than me and my silly love life…” She gives a sad laugh. “Or lack thereof.”

I stare at her. What was wrong with this woman? I can’t fathom how someone as beautiful and confident and intelligent as Charlotte could think that she’s anything less than a hard ten.

“Any guy who can’t handle or respect your boundaries is an asshole,” I say in a hard voice, rubbing the top of her hand softly with my thumb.

Charlotte’s pale cheeks flush cherry red. “So, um, anyway…” She tugs her hand away and runs it lightly down her shapely thigh.

Dammit, Charlotte, keep your hands off yourself.

She glances at the mess of papers scattered across my bed. “Are you going over lines?”

“Yeah,” I say, trying to focus on anything but the sweet, innocent virgin gazing at me. “I have a big scene tomorrow that I want to nail—”

I stop, realizing that maybe I should have used different words.

“Can I help?” Charlotte asks, unaware of my blunder. “I have an audition tomorrow and I’d love to watch a master.”

“You what? That’s huge news!”

“Okay, famous guy, cut the theatrics. It isn’t anything special, and Kevin did all the work getting it for me.”

“Stop selling yourself short. You’re going to nail—um…do great.” I run a hand over my hair. “You know what? Screw my stuff. Let’s work on yours.”

Charlotte blinks at me. “Really?”

“Yeah, I’d love to help. Grab your lines and—” I stop because she’s already running for the door.

“I’ll be right back!” she calls from down the hall.

My gaze glides back to where Charlotte was sitting just moments ago. All of Charlotte’s shyness around our touching and kisses makes sense now.

So many emotions are vying for attention that I think my head might explode. Pain for Charlotte’s heart being broken, anger at the asshole who did it, shock that any man would let such a woman go, and…most troubling of all…desire for the woman I’m living with.

I groan as a familiar need builds between my legs. He’s antsy after a long month of celibacy, only to have a sexy, innocent virgin thrown into the mix.

Screw me.

I grunt. Or not.