by Eliza Quinn
Chapter Three
“You two know each other?” Asher asked, trailing off in his introduction while the girls stared quizzically at her. Charlie stared at the man, looking for a sign that he knew her. Asher raised his brow in question at her, but Charlie didn’t notice. Nor did she notice the stares she was getting from the others. Instead, she was focused on the man who seemed to be staring right at her, only he wasn’t. He was looking straight through her.
Asher tilted his head in question at Kay, who just simply shrugged her shoulders. She had no explanation to give other than she was just as confused as he was. Charlie stared at the man, drinking in the sight of him, memorizing the curl of his hair and his beautifully sculpted face. She willed him to look at her face and recognize her. Nothing happened. He only looked through her and focused on something else. Charlie swallowed the sudden lump in her throat at being so blatantly forgotten.
Celine cleared her throat at the weirdness of the entire situation and started speaking loudly. “Damien, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I hope the library is to your standards?” she asked.
“It’s a beautiful house and a fine establishment. It is lovely to meet you all,” Damien said quietly, staring at Charlie even though he was speaking to Celine. Charlie didn’t notice as she stared at the floor uncomfortably.
“It was nice to meet you,” she muttered and abruptly left the room, refusing to catch anyone’s eyes. Celine and Kay shared a look.
“We’re going to go…” Kay began to explain to Asher.
“No problem. I understand. Go, she seems weird,” Asher said and gestured to Damien to head out of the kitchen area.
“What was that about?” Asher asked Damien as they made their way to the front of the library.
“I don’t think it’s my place to say,” Damien responded.
The women found Charlie on the top floor of the library staring out the huge Victorian windows but seeing nothing. She looked confused and vaguely hurt by what had happened in the other room. Her eyes were clouded with something that looked like betrayal.
“You okay? You seemed funny in there. Did Damien do something? Has he hurt you before?” Kay asked.
“If it’s something he did or that he’s hurt you, you can talk to us. Asher would never collect money from someone like that. We can even ask the boys to beat him up. Just say the word. Are you okay?” Celine sat next to her and took her hand in hers.
Charlie swallowed. She’d behaved like a child and yet her friends were rallying around her, supporting her, offering to beat someone up even though they didn’t know his offense. The support made her already fragile emotions break down even further.
“You guys. You’re seriously the best,” Charlie said with a small laugh. She hugged the women and sighed into their embrace, soaking in the sweetness of their presence, feeling all the raw edges of her anger smoothing out.
“Yup, we’re freaking amazing. Now what’s up? You look like you saw a Damien-shaped ghost. What’s up with that? Spill, because you said there was nothing going on in your life with regard to men. Damien is a man and it looks like there’s a hell of a lot going on here.” Kay nudged her.
“Okay okay. You know that guy at that club, the one that I slept with without knowing his name?” Charlie said.
“Get out,” Celine exclaimed.
“No way…” Kay breathed.
“Yup. One and the same guy. Damien. I didn’t even know his name. How crazy is that? I wasn’t even sure I’d remember him if I ever saw him again but that’s crazy. I’m not a wild party girl, I wasn’t even that drunk – besides, how could I forget a face like that? It was more than just a one night stand for me. I know that’s stupid because I barely knew the guy but it was something for me. Some connection. I spent more than a little of my time these last few years wondering what if? What if he didn’t leave the club? What if I had just asked for his name? What if he had just asked for mine? What if we both didn’t just get swept up in all of it? I always assumed that the way I wondered ‘what if’ was the way he did too. I thought for certain if we ever saw each other again…” Charlie trailed off, remembering the way he had stared at her blankly. What had she been expecting? A kiss on the lips? A marriage proposal? It was crazy.
“He would remember you and maybe, just maybe, he’d have spent all that time wondering about you too and where it could have gone?” Kay whispered softly while Celine frowned.
“Yes. I guess that was too much to expect. I must have just been a fling. It was years ago and you said he was married. He was probably married when he and I met. I was probably the other woman.” Charlie sighed. It was so stupid in retrospect to build castles in the clouds based on nothing.
“Maybe, but it’s complicated. You met someone who you thought was a great unattached guy and you had a moment. If he was married at the time, it’s his fault for being a lecher, not yours.” Celine brushed her hands over Charlie’s shoulders reassuringly. “You’re amazing and any guy with brain cells in his head would see that, so don’t let it bring you down. Okay?”
Charlie swallowed and nodded her head. She’d imagined for years what it would be like if they ever ran into each other again. Now she knew. Nothing had happened. The world didn’t stop spinning. She could suck it up and move on. It was that simple.
Chapter Four
The girls rallied around her for the rest of the day and Charlie was grateful for them. They had really come through and let her know exactly what they thought of him. It was quite comforting.
“Hey, wanna have a girls’ night in after work? Everett is out of town but he’s letting us use his apartment in the city. He stocked it beforehand with all the goodies we love and Asher said we could take some of the wine from the cellar here so we have all the good stuff. I feel like we need an evening of pampering. What do you say?” Celine called as they were wrapping up the tasks for the day.
“Sure. I’m in, considering I talked Asher into giving up the wine. And by talked I mean I just asked because he’s happy to give me what I want.” Kay laughed.
“I know I’ve said this before but you guys are seriously the best. I’m definitely in and of course there must be pizza,” Charlie said with a grin.
They took a cab into the city together and settled into Everett’s posh apartment. As they sat and poured wine, Celine went to the door to get the pizza. They settled down with some painfully cliché chick flick playing in the background.
“How are you?” Kay asked softly.
“I’m getting there. Like I said, it was crazy to build up so much on some random chance meeting. I don’t even know what I was expecting. So yeah, it’s fine. Asher should take whatever he offers. The library deserves it. It was years and years ago. Seriously. I’m over it,” Charlie stated forcefully.
“Sure? Because it doesn’t matter how long ago it was; it seems to have made a lasting impact on you,” Kay probed.
“Of course I’m sure. It’s not like I compare every guy I’ve been with after that to him.” Charlie snorted and ignored the fact that her face was heating up because maybe there was a blatant lie in there. Whether consciously or subconsciously, she had compared every other guy to Damien and they had fallen short. She’d tried to put herself out there but there had just always been something missing. Something that had just clicked with him.
“Uh huh. So why are you blushing then?” Kay pointed out her red cheeks and she took a healthy gulp of wine.
“Okay yeah, it was hot but I need to move on. Today just gave me the push I needed, that’s all. I had to be the other woman and a brief one night stand. Bitter pill to swallow but I have pizza and good wine and you guys! I’ll shrug it off and move on. It’s a simple thing.” She shrugged and swallowed more wine.
“I don’t think you should jump to conclusions. For one, Asher wouldn’t be friends with him if he was a complete asshole, or at least, one without reason,” Kay said.
“I don’t think so too. I mean, how do we know that he cheate
d on his wife with you? We don’t know why his relationship ended, only that he was so broken up about it he took a three-year vacation to his home country. I don’t think he was sleeping with all the hot models because I googled the guy on the way here and the only gossip to be found is of the familial scandal variety. So maybe don’t make snap judgments yet,” Celine said.
“So I should what? Go to him and demand an explanation? Completely ignore the fact that he didn’t even recognize me this morning? Maybe reintroduce myself as the girl he randomly had sex with? I’m not a crazy person. Have my actions up to this point seemed to you like those of a crazy person? Or is it just the look in my eyes?” Charlie giggled at the mental picture she was painting then rolled her eyes at Celine, who smirked into her wine.
“If you do that, I might have to go find where they put crazy people at and have them admit you because that would be insane behavior. What Cel is saying is simple: don’t think the worst. If not for anything else, then for your own peace of mind. Definitely don’t seek him out. Damien has a lot of resources at his disposal. If he wants to find you to explain his actions he would. Until then don’t jump to the worst possible conclusion,” Kay said.
“I guess you guys are right,” Charlie sighed. She needed to get her head out of her ass and focus on all the good stuff that was going on. Damien might have been her dream man at some point but there was no telling who the man she met was. She ignored the ache in her chest and tried to focus on the banter the girls shared back and forth. This was why she did not put her heart on the line. Just a small foray into emotional territory and her heart already felt bruised. She sighed into her pizza and ignored the ache that sprang up in her chest. She was finally going to suck it up and move on. Damn Damien and the mind-blowing orgasm he had given her. Damn him and all the ways she had imagined they’d reunite. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of her pining after him when he couldn’t even be bothered to remember who she was. Mentally, she firmly closed the chapter on him and took a deep breath. He didn’t remember her and she would do her damnedest to forget him.
Chapter Five
It had been a long couple of days for Charlie. She battled with herself and her decision to forget Damien. It was supposed to be easy, but she still struggled. She found herself walking from work to the deli close by the library. She figured it would be much easier to just buy dinner than to cook it, with the state she was in. As she walked, someone caught her attention. Damien. He stood in front of the shop, wearing a dress shirt with sleeves pushed up to his elbows. His hair looked ruffled, like he’d run his hands through it several times. He stood frowning at the storefront as if he found something about it especially offensive. Charlie swallowed as she felt her stomach clench in what closely resembled lust. She’d been too numb with shock to register her reaction to his presence the first time, but not anymore. How could she? He was her walking fantasy.
Charlie groaned under her breath and played with the idea that thinking of him had somehow conjured his presence at her favorite deli. Maybe he’d been going to the library and had stopped for dinner. Either way, whatever he was doing there, it wasn’t her concern. She had planned to put him out of her mind and that was exactly what she was going to do. Charlie forced her frozen feet to move to the shop front, telling herself to ignore him as he had the second time they met. She tried, really really tried, to do that.
“Dammit!” she growled. She had to know why he’d done that. She had to know why he’d chosen to ignore her. She stopped and watched as he walked into the shop. With an annoyed huff, she walked into the quaint space after him, determined to get the answers she sought. Charlie got in line behind him. Luckily, no other customers had gone in during her brief period of hesitation. She took a deep breath and tried to tamp down the deep the rage she spent most of the last few weeks pretending she didn’t feel. Then she tapped him on the shoulder.
“We need to talk,” she told him as soon as she turned around. The look of shock on his face was comical.
“Uh…” he started to say. Charlie didn’t let him finish.
“Now,” she ordered, tugging him by the hand and dragging him outside. He followed behind her quietly. Charlie tried to tell herself to be calm. She didn’t want to start yelling on the street but at this point she was beyond furious and running straight into livid. She dragged him to the alleyway beside the restaurant and let her anger explode.
“I get it. I get that you probably have females throwing themselves at you so what happened between us isn’t something you’d cherish, but how dare you pretend I don’t even exist? Was having sex with me such a shameful experience? Because let me tell you buster, I am not ashamed of my sexuality or the people I have had sex with, you included, so cut the crap act out and stop showing up to places you know I’ll be if you want to keep ignoring me.” Charlie pointed her finger at his chest, jabbing him every few seconds for good measure. In her anger she’d gotten close, too close. Close enough to smell him, aftershave, sweat and rain. Close enough to see that those copper eyes were ringed with a gold so bright it was almost yellow. Close enough to see those eyes light with a need so deep she felt the answering call tingling in her blood. She took a deep, shocked breath at the sight of it. He wanted her. He hadn’t so much as said a word to her but she could see the blatant evidence in his eyes.
“Wait…” Whatever she was about to say got cut off as he dragged her body closer, closer to his until she felt the hard lines of his body pressed against her softness. He closed his eyes and let out an agonized moan, the sound of it so harsh and raw that Charlie gasped at the surge of lust coursing through her. She should have been struggling but her bones had gone liquid with desire. The traffic, the world outside couldn’t penetrate the bubble she was in with him. He snapped his molten eyes open and they stared at her like she was prey.
“I’m not ignoring you,” he said quietly, staring at her lips with a hunger that was barely leashed. Charlie wet her lips and tried to breathe.
“Then why…”
He kissed her.
Charlie gasped. Kissing was too mundane a term for how he devoured her, pressing his lips against hers, his full, soft lips against her needy, buzzing ones. She moaned and wrapped herself around him, pressing her heated core against the hard length of his cock. She moaned around his lips. Damien took her mouth, slipping his tongue inside to taste her. She tasted like coffee and coconut. He tasted like brandy and butterscotch. Her tongue twisted against his, tangled against his, and found rhythm. She moaned again and this time, he gulped down the sound and greedily plundered her mouth for more. Tongues, teeth, clashing together. This wasn’t just a kiss, it was war. His hands found her ass, cupping it until she wrapped herself around him. Her back slammed against the wall as he dragged his lips back on forth on hers. His name was a prayer on her lips. His tongue licked against her slick lips, rudely waking up all those urges she denied for so long. She wanted his fingers, his tongue, his dick, to expertly play with her needy pussy. The thought left her panting as she clutched at the back of his shirt and dragged her puffy lower lips against his clothed cock. Her dress rode up until her panties bunched, leaving the sides of her pussy bare.
Damien resisted the urge to growl. Her hot, slick cunt pressed against him. He needed to touch her. He needed to feel her clenching around him, begging for more. He pushed her up against the wall and drove his restrained cock against her. As he did he slid down his fingers, reaching the folds of her soft pussy. His cock was so painfully hard.
Charlie moaned as his fingers touched her softly.
“More,” she moaned, begging as she twisted her hips, taking his fingers faster. He gave her more, hard and fast, two fingers sliding in and out of her soaking wet hole as his thumb pressed against her clit. Charlie screamed as he found her little pleasure button, bucking her hips against his fingers as stars began to explode behind her eyelids.
“I’m going to cum!” Charlie screamed as she rode his fingers shamelessly.
“Cum,” he ordered as she exploded around his fingers. She moaned his name like a prayer as bliss soared through her.
“I’ve wanted to do that for years and years. I couldn’t get you out of my head no matter how hard I tried,” he gasped.
Charlie felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her head. She sucked in a breath and stared at him in shock.
“You didn’t forget,” she said accusingly.
“I didn’t. How could I?” he asked quietly.
Charlie untangled herself from his embrace and shook her head at him.
“Could have fooled me,” she shot back.
“I have a lot of explaining to do.” Damien sighed and pressed his forehead against hers. Charlie willed herself to move away, but instead she settled into his touch.
“Yeah. You’re going to do that when exactly?” Charlie asked softly.
“Tomorrow? Have dinner with me. Please,” Damien said.