I turn on the lights, giving the birthday group a hint it’s time to leave. We start cleaning up the bar, and one of my employees pays attention to how the partygoers are getting home. We take drinking and driving seriously around here and do our best not to ever over-serve.
Once the group is finally gone, we clean up as fast as we can. I’m half-tempted to leave shit and come in tomorrow morning to get things neat and tidy, but Logan is opening with me and usually comes in early to do bookkeeping shit. I don’t feel like dealing with him getting all pissy over the state of the bar. Plus, you never know when an inspector will come in, and we have a perfect reputation to uphold.
Getaway profits enough for Logan and me to both step back into more of a manager role and be less hands-on, but hiring two full-time employees is an expensive endeavor and I’ve gotten quite used to my comfy lifestyle.
Finally, everything is spotless and ready for another day of the same thing tomorrow. I’m the last to leave and double-check the alarm system and locks. It’s after three-thirty and Charlie is no doubt fast asleep.
I take a quick shower to get the smell of the bar off me and then get into bed still naked with damp hair. Charlie rolls over, eyes fluttering open. She smiles when she sees me and she wiggles closer, resting her head on my chest. As much as I want to have sex again, I’m beat, and holding Charlie is the most comforting thing in the world. She might be in my arms, but it feels like she’s the one holding me.
* * *
“Owen?” Charlie’s lips press against mine.
“Are you waking me up for sex?” I blink my eyes open and pull her back into bed. She’s dressed, with her hair and makeup done.
“I wish. I’m running late, actually. But I wanted to say bye before I left.”
Wrapping her in my arms, I nuzzle my head into her neck. “Call in sick.”
“I can’t. I’m meeting another client today.”
“Another boring client?” I squeeze her ass and my cock jumps.
“This one doesn’t sound boring. It’s a young nurse. She got hired, went through orientation and then got fired once the employer found out she’s six months pregnant. They told her she was disabled. Can you believe that?”
“What an idiot. You can’t do that.”
“Exactly. I’m sure we’ll come to a settlement outside of court, but this is the kind of case that reminds me why I became a lawyer. To get justice and try to make the world better in a legal way. Remind assholes they can’t treat women that way.”
“You’re amazing, Charlie.”
“Thanks. I’m just doing my job.” She sits up and runs her hand through my hair. “Do you work again tomorrow?”
“Yeah, but during the day. I’ll be done by six at the latest.”
“Do you want to go out for dinner? I can make us a reservation at the one and only fancy place to eat downtown,” she says.
“Yeah. I’d like that.”
“Good, because I want to talk, which I know is something people say when things are bad, but it’s not. I just want to make sure we’re on the same page with everything.”
“If that page means my cock in your pussy, we are.”
“I’m serious,” she giggles. “I like this. I like us. But I’m still a little scared,” she admits. “I don’t want to get hurt again.”
“I will never hurt you, Charlie. Trust me.”
She puts her lips to mine. “I do.”
Then she leaves, needing to go to work. I fall back asleep until my alarm goes off. Then it’s up, eat breakfast, get dressed and head into work myself. Maybe I will look into hiring someone else. Or at least trying to get on more of a daytime schedule. I’m the boss and can move my shifts around as I want. Well, as long as it’s doable with everyone else.
I’m the boss—okay, one of the bosses—but I’m not an asshole. We have a good thing going here, and I like knowing that our employees generally enjoy working here.
Getaway is busy today, busy enough that even I wait on a few tables and run food out to the lunch crowd. Charlie called me while she was on her break, but I missed it. I call her back and get her voicemail. She must be with her client, and I know she’s going to win this case with ease.
There’s a lull around four o’clock, and I go into the office to eat my lunch and get off my feet for a few minutes. Wes, Scarlet, and the kids are at a table when I come back out, and I start to head over there to say hi.
Weston meets my eye and then looks at a guy in a navy blue suit who is sitting at the bar. He looks back at me in question, and I shake my head, not sure what he’s trying to ask.
“What’s going on?” I ask, pulling a chair up to their table.
“That guy,” Weston starts. “Do you know him?”
I look back at the bar at the guy sitting there. The guy has an air about him that screams asshole. “Never seen him before in my life.”
“I think that’s Charlie’s ex,” Scarlet whispers. “Quinn and I kind of stalked her social media to get clues on how to push you two back together.” She holds up her hand, silencing me before I can tell her that was borderline creepy. Though I did have Quinn do something similar. Call it a dirty move, but it made Charlie happy, didn’t it? “Quinn was able to recover or unlock or something—whatever—and we found one photo of Charlie with her ex. I think that’s him.”
“What’s he doing here?” I ask though I’m sure I know. He’s here to try and win Charlie back. Too late, asshole. “And it’ll be easy to figure out if it’s him or not. Her ex’s name is Todd.”
“We had Logan ask for his name, and he told him it was Dan.” Scarlet shakes her head. “Can’t you go card him or something?”
“Not unless he orders alcohol.”
She looks at Wes. “Pretend you’re investigating him or something then.”
“I can’t do that.”
She bites her lip and hands Violet to Wes. “Don’t arrest me, babe.”
“What are you going to do?” Wes asks, cradling the sleeping baby.
“I’m going to find out that guy’s name.” She pulls her dress down, exposing enough cleavage to make me feel like I need to look away. Then she fluffs her hair and saunters over to the bar, sliding up next to the Mystery Man.
In under a minute, she has him buying her a drink. I watch, impressed, as she goes on to spill a bit down her breasts. Mystery Man reaches over to give her a stack of napkins and makes a move to wipe the alcohol off her chest. Wes starts to get up.
“She knows what she’s doing,” I assure him and he sits back down, eyes narrowed. Another minute passes and Scarlet catches my eye, and motions for me to join her in the back. Pretending to go to the bathroom, she slips into the office.
“I forgot how much fun that was.” She smiles and takes a sip of her drink. “I mean wrong. How morally wrong that was.”
“You just talked to him for less than five minutes. What’s wrong with that?”
She cocks an eyebrow and holds up a wallet.
“You picked his pocket? Damn. I’m impressed, Scarlet.”
She bats her eyes. “Thank you.”
I take the wallet from her and look at the guy’s ID. Yep. This asshole is Todd.
“What are you going to do?” She takes the wallet back. “Kick him out? Beat him up?”
“I want to, trust me.” And I would have in the past. I’ve gotten into my fair share of fights over the years. But I want to prove to Charlie that I’ve changed. I’m not that guy anymore. “But instead, I’m going to talk to him.” I look at the wallet. “You’re giving that back, right?”
She purses her lips. “Yes. Though if that is Charlie’s ex, he’s exactly the kind of guy who needs to be taught a lesson.”
“Easy there, Lucifer. Leave the punishing to the law.”
She lets out a sigh. “That’s so boring.”
“It is.” She goes back to the bar, telling Todd she saw his wallet tumble out of his pocket. He checks it right away for any missing cash, and seeing that there isn’t an
y, he offers to buy Scarlet another drink. She turns him down and goes back to the table with Weston and the kids, leaving Todd sitting there dumbfounded.
No wonder she liked hustling so much. It comes naturally for her.
I go back around the bar, fill a few drink orders, and put in an order for sweet potato fries.
“You passing through town?” I ask Todd.
“Do I look that out of place?” he chuckles.
“You do.”
“I’m trying to locate a friend.”
“Who are you trying to find? I know most people in this town since they tend to pass through here too.”
He looks me up and down. “You wouldn’t know her.”
I arch my eyebrows. “You’d be surprised who I know. So this old friend…you two lost touch and you don’t have their number anymore?”
“Something like that.”
It’s more like Charlie either blocked his number or won’t take his calls.
“Ever think they don’t want to be found?”
He laughs. “Trust me, she needs to be found.”
“Needs to be?” I plant my hands on the bar and narrow my eyes a bit. “You make it sound like she’s in some sort of trouble.”
“If she’s here, she is. She doesn’t belong here.”
It’s getting harder and harder to keep my cool. “Have you asked her what she wants? Maybe she likes it here.”
He shakes his head. “You know how women are. They might think they know what’s good for them, but really, they need someone to show them.”
What the fuck was Charlie thinking, getting engaged to a guy like this?
“I disagree. And I have a feeling this friend is much better off here than in New York with you.”
“H-how do you—who are you?”
I smile pleasantly just to piss him off. I extend my hand to shake. “Hi, I’m Owen Dawson. And Charlie and I are back together.”
Todd stands up so fast the bar stool falls to the ground behind him. Then he balls his fist and tries to punch me right in the face.
Chapter 33
Charlie
“Hey,” I say to Owen’s voicemail. “I know you’re still working, so I’ll go ahead and meet you at the restaurant so we don’t miss our reservation. If you’re going to be late because of work, no big deal. Just let me know and I’ll order an extra glass of wine and bring a book to keep myself entertained.” I walk out of the office and head toward my car. “And I feel like saying I wanted to talk this morning was more dramatic than it needed to be. I do want to talk, but not in a bad way. It’s in an ‘I want to be with you and still want what I wanted before’ way. Marriage and children—not right away,” I add quickly. “But they have to be on the horizon, and this time…this time I don’t think it’ll be an issue. I’m looking forward to seeing—and doing you—later.”
It’s an awkward as fuck voicemail, but whatever. It’s Owen. He never makes me feel awkward. Putting my phone in my purse, I pause at a crosswalk.
“Charlotte!”
I look up, not sure if someone is talking to me or someone else. Everyone here calls me Charlie, which I prefer. The only person who always called me by my full name was—
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
“Todd?”
He’s across the street, separated by the passing cars. I could turn and run back into the office, lock the door behind me, and wait until he goes away. Or I could face him now and get this over with.
“What do you want?” I ask when he crosses the street. There’s a bruise on his face and what looks like dried-up blood under his nose. Did he get into a fight?
“You,” he pants. “I want you.”
“Okay, good for you.” I shake my head and start to walk forward. He grabs my shoulder.
“Wait, Char.”
“We’re over, Todd. What you did was unforgivable, and like I said, we had our issues before. We should have ended things long before then.”
“Come back to New York.”
“Didn’t you hear anything I just said?”
“I did.” He brings his hand to his forehead and winces. There’s another bruise along his hairline. “And that’s why I need to tell you something.”
“What, Todd? What could you possibly have to tell me that’s so important?”
“It’s about Owen.”
“What about Owen?” I roll my eyes. I’ve mentioned Owen before. Todd knows we dated in the past, but he had no idea that I still had feelings for him. Hell, I didn’t even let myself acknowledge my feelings for him.
“I know you guys are together.”
“Yes, we are. Are you going to scold me for moving on or something? Get over it, Todd. You slept with someone else while we were engaged.”
“If you’re together then he’s cheating on you.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? I went to that bar, what’s it called, Getaway? He was there. With another woman. Some pretty blonde with a tight ass—”
“Seriously?”
He shakes his head. “We got to talking and it came out who I was and who he was…and then when I was leaving, I saw him in the parking lot with some other girl. I’m so sorry, Charlie. I confronted him and he hit me.”
I cross my arms, looking at Todd with disdain. “Whatever, Todd.”
“He’s no good for you, Charlie.”
“And you are?”
“No,” he says, which surprises me. “Neither of us are. If there’s a type I know, it’s assholes. Trust me, that guy is an asshole. You said it yourself about him breaking up with you in college.”
“That was a long time ago, and I’m done with this conversation, Todd. Owen and I have a date tonight, and I need to go home and get ready for it.” Without another look, I cross the street, running to avoid being hit by a car. My heart is in my throat, along with chunks of rising vomit.
I call Owen as soon as I get into my car. He doesn’t answer. I call again and get sent to voicemail after one ring. What the hell is going on?
Nothing. Nothing is going on.
Owen isn’t a playboy anymore. I didn’t freak him out by leaving a voicemail saying that I want to get married and have his babies. Because he wants it too. I know he does.
I start the car, roll down the windows, and drive to my parents’ house to get another dress to wear tonight. I might as well take all my clothes over to Owen’s at this point. Or enough to get me through the next month…when I move into my own apartment.
Which seems silly to do now.
Because Owen has enough room at his place. And we’re together again. Why would I move out only to move back in a few months later? I park along the street and go inside, heading up to my old room. Our dinner reservation is in half an hour, and it makes sense to change and get ready here and then hang out instead of driving across town to Owen’s. He’s most likely going to meet me there and not go home either.
Refusing to let Todd’s words get to me, I change, brush out my hair and use Carly’s curling iron to freshen up my waves. I call Owen again on my way to dinner and get his voicemail. He’ll be here, though. He has to be.
I’m seated at the table, order one glass of red wine, and open the Kindle app on my phone, reading to pass the time. But then fifteen minutes pass and Owen still isn’t here. I get another glass of wine, read three more chapters, and call him.
He doesn’t answer, and suddenly I can’t breathe. Did something bad happen? If it did, I’m sure one of his siblings would get a hold of me. Weston is the sheriff and Archer works at the local hospital. One way or another, we’d know if something terrible happened.
Needing a distraction, I log onto my social media accounts. Five minutes ago, Danielle posted a photo of her, Logan, and Dexter. They’re smiling and looking picture-perfect. I’m confident Logan would be able to sense something bad happening to his twin, and he wouldn’t be smiling for a photo with his wife and dog if Owen were dead in a ditch.
Which
means my worst fear is coming to life.
Owen doesn’t want the same thing I do. We had sex and then what? He decided to ditch me?
Fool me once, shame on you. But fool me twice…
Chapter 34
Owen
“Fuck.” I rub my wrists where the cuffs had been.
“Sorry,” Weston says, shaking his head.
“It’s not your fault.”
He shakes his head and runs his hand through his hair. “You’re free to go now.”
“Took long enough. That little shit got out of here hours ago, didn’t he?”
Wes opens the holding room door for me. “His lawyer screams scumbag but had good connections.”
“What good is the legal system when rich assholes can buy their way out of situations like this. He hit me first. Well, tried to hit me.” I smirk. “That cocksucker can’t throw a punch to save his life.”
After Todd tried to hit me, and I easily blocked it, he stepped back and fell right onto Marty Pickens, one of our resident drunks. Along with being a drunk, Marty is paranoid and thinks the world is out to get him. We serve him at Getaway because he’s safer in the bar than out on the streets, and we’re able to give him food and a cool place to wait out the sun in the summer.
But the second Todd touched Marty, he freaked out, saying the FBI sent Todd. He started beating the crap out of Todd, and it was a good thing Weston was there to break things up because I would have stood back and watched with pleasure.
Then Todd went after me again, and this time, I did hit him back. Popped him right in the nose, and as soon as Todd saw the first drop of blood, he was dizzy and about to pass out. Instead of leaving things at that, the fucker called the police once he realized Weston was my brother.
Which is why I’m just now leaving the police station.
“Can I have my phone? I was supposed to meet Charlie for dinner.” I rub my temples. “Shit. She’s going to think I blew her off or something.”
I walk with Wes through the station and get my phone and wallet. It’s not my first time being booked for fighting, but this is the first time regret and anxiety forms in my stomach over it. I hate that I left Charlie hanging, but once she hears how Todd got his ass handed to him, she’ll be laughing.
Fight Dirty: A Dawson Family Novel Page 21