When Two Hearts Collide (Game of Hearts Novels Book 3)

by Sonya Loveday

  But my favorite part of each day was helping those who couldn’t decide on which man or woman to settle down with from the long list of coffee blends on the board. Some part of me believed every specially handpicked cup of Joe they drank would help them find their destiny—be it meeting their own personal Jon Snow or defeating their own Dexter’s Dark Passenger demons that particular day. That was another one of my quirks. I saw things deeper. Felt them harder than most people. Some would say, ‘it’s just a cup of flavored coffee’. Not me. Nope… a cup was worth a thousand words. It told me everything about someone that maybe they didn’t even know themselves.

  When rush hour ended and I finished helping a local guitarist set up in the corner of my shop, I glanced down at my watch and felt a small bit of panic.

  Two more hours and Charlie’s flight landed. There was no more avoidance. No more time.

  What was I going to say when I saw him? I knew I should just act normal, like I was a friend helping a friend out. Yeah right, Char, only this friend almost had sex with that friend… and “friends” don’t typically have that sort of history shared between them.

  My stomach felt like a cage of butterflies had been released inside it at the thought.

  “You’re daydreaming again,” Cherry said into my ear from behind the counter, her sapphire-blue hair brushing against my cheek. “That’s like the zillionth time today I’ve seen you zone out. What gives?”

  I finished wiping a coffee mug with our logo on it—a raven I painted one night while bored—and set it back on the shelf, reaching for the next one out of the dishwasher.

  Just tell her. Tell her and get it over with. I warred with myself as my stomach turned into a full-blown knot.

  She blinked at me, her blue eyes waiting.

  I switched my stance, swallowed hard, and bit the proverbial bullet. “I have to pick up Charlie from the airport,” I blurted, just wanting to rip the band-aid right off.

  I didn’t have to look at her to know her face wore a look of confusion, I could hear it in her voice when she asked, “Charlie? I’m confused, short stuff. Did Hannah have a sex change I should know about?”

  “Yes. I mean, no,” I quickly corrected, shaking my head with a groan of annoyance at her jab of wittiness. She had to remember him. Then again, he hadn’t affected her the way he did me, so I said, “You don’t remember Charlie? Ed’s friend? You know… the one who walked us around London.” A heat wave combusted under my skin.

  “I’m confused,” she admitted, leaning back against the counter. Her smile told me otherwise.

  I turned my back on her, wishing I had installed the fans Cherry suggested, and willed my voice to be even as I carried on my explanation. “He’s coming in Hannah’s place because she can’t make it. She asked if I could show him around, like he did for us, since he’ll be alone. And you know me, I couldn’t tell Hannah no.”

  “You can’t tell anyone no, Charlotte,” Cherry corrected. “That’s your Achilles heel.”

  “Yeah, well,” I said, finishing up the last mug and turning back to face her. “It felt like the right thing to do.”

  Her smirk was like the Cheshire Cat’s—wide and full of mischief. “Where did it feel like that, Charlotte? Here?” she asked, pointing to my heart. “Or there?” she finished, pointing to the V of my thighs.

  My mouth fell open and snapped shut. “Cherry!” I snapped on a whisper, eyes scanning for anyone close by. The guitarist’s music was loud enough to keep anyone within earshot range from hearing us.

  Her laughter kicked up, the sound playful and hard-edged… just like her. “What?” she asked, throwing her hands up in mock surrender. “I’m just giving you a hard time. You know I love how easily you’re embarrassed.”

  With a huff, I took my apron off and turned, heading for the back room. The drag and slide of her shoes, because she never picked up her feet when she walked, nipped at my heels. Of course Cherry had to follow me. “You ready for your shift?” I asked Aaron, the night-team member who sat at the employee table, nose buried in his phone.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, jumping up, clocking in, and disappearing into the shop.

  “You’re leaving now?” Cherry asked as she leaned against the wall next to the time clock.

  I hung up my apron and turned. “Yes. Are you going to be okay working a double?”

  I usually worked the doubles since I ate, slept, and breathed the shop. It was my baby. My venture. My one and only dream come true.

  Her eyebrow dropped in question. “My middle name is double shift. I’ll be fine.” She paused for a moment, toeing a circle on the ground, and I knew whatever she was about to say wasn’t going to be good. “You, uh, going to bring Charlie here?”

  I pursed my lips together. “Why? So you can embarrass me some more?”

  She made a half-hearted attempt to look offended. “I would never,” she said, but her tone was the total opposite. She would love to sink her especially sharp claws into him. Make him squirm over the chemistry we once had.

  Would we still have it?

  “Maybe some other day,” I quickly said, not wanting to give her any hope. “I have to get him settled in. I’m sure he’ll be exhausted from his flight.” I paused as I reached for my purse, ignoring the smug smile on her face, which no doubt had to do with the gutter her mind always seemed to swim in. “Look, I’ll come by as often as I can. There were a few things I had planned for Hannah that Charlie may want to do. But I’ll call every day to check in. Of course, call me if anything comes up. Please.” Another pause. “You sure you’re going to be okay?”

  Her hands were on her hips, facial expression as flat as a pancake. “You gonna keep asking me the same offensive question? I’ve worked here from the beginning, Char. I know how this place works. Hell, by the time you come back, you’ll have double the business… guaranteed.”

  I pulled my The Little Mermaid messenger bag over my head and turned to her. “I don’t doubt your charisma for a second.” I looked down to the tips of my drawn-on Converse, and then back up at her. “Thanks, Cherry.”

  She hated sentimental moments as much as I hated the fact they never finished making the Vampire Academy movies.

  Hey, I thought they were good, and don’t even get me started on Dimitri.

  She waved me off and said, “Gotta go check on Aaron. You know he likes to forget he’s working and dance out to the music while hitting on the ladies.”

  “Okay,” I said with a smile, watching her head back into the shop. It felt weird leaving, because I knew I’d be stepping out of my daily routine and entering a new one for a couple of weeks… all for Charlie.

  I just hoped I could keep my heart in check and my pants on this time around.

  AFTER PULLING UP IN FRONT of the airport’s pick-up lane, I decided last minute to draw his name on a piece of cardboard I found in my trunk. I always wanted to have an iconic moment like in the movies where I held a sign for a special someone as they got off a plane.

  But the sign looked too plain with only his name on it. Charlie. Big whoop. It needed to pop—to portray happiness and welcome.

  I had a box of sharpies in the back that I liked to use to draw on my shoes and skates from time to time, so I dug them out and doodled all over the sign. I almost started with hearts, but then backtracked, thinking that would be a little much for a friend. Even stars felt a little too personal, because I liked to gaze up at them and believe every one of them was made from the union of soul mates. And we weren’t soul mates. No way. Not at all.

  I settled for something safe, familiar, and un-romantic—unicorns.

  When I was finished, a proud smile beamed from my lips. The sign was something out of a 90’s pop coloring book. There were flying unicorns and stellar Zentangle designs all around his name, warming up the old piece of cardboard.

  Honestly though, I was stalling.

  I glanced down at my watch. When I saw the time, I bolted for the airport terminal. I knew I’d have
a little extra time considering he had to go through both immigration and customs, but that time was up. I made my way through the front doors and found his flight on the board to point me in the right direction.

  With my sign in the air, I stopped near the others who were waiting for the next herd of people to come around the corner. It only took a second for Charlie to emerge within the group of heads shuffling forward.

  He saw my sign, creased his eyebrows for a second, and then waved as he made his way over to me.

  He was as ruggedly handsome as the last time I saw him. He had that dangerous air about him, like he could disarm with his smile and then pin down with his skill. Like a butterfly to a corkboard, spread out with no hope of getting away.

  “Hey!” I said, not knowing if I should hug him. Instead, I held the cardboard sign awkwardly at my side as I fidgeted with indecision.

  He chose for me by setting his suitcase down and gathering me in his arms with a firmness that made me tingle. “Nice sign,” he said.

  I hugged him for a second, trying not to become ensnared by the warm scent of his cologne.

  Cologne always did me in. It was my chink in the armor when it came to men. That and the eyes. Most woman wanted jaw lines of granite and forearms that screamed gym time, but not me. It was all in the eyes.

  And his eyes, bright like high beams and deep like the color of molasses, threatened my already-weak knees.

  “I, uh, I wanted it to be bright,” I said, stepping back and smoothing my hair. I looked down at my feet because it was safer than the glint in his gaze.

  “Oh, it’s definitely bright. Might even give off the wrong vibe about me, if ye know what I mean, luv,” he added, smirking.

  Love. He called me love. Swoon.

  “Are the unicorns too much?” I asked, looking at the sign again as the butterflies circled like a hurricane around my heart. “I guess maybe they speak more to a feminine crowd rather than you. I just thought they were cute.”

  And safe.

  He threw his arm over my shoulder and pulled me forward. “Nah, luv. Yer right, they are pretty cute.”

  I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, so I decided to laugh a little. “So are you hungry?” I asked as I guided us toward the parking garage.

  “Famished,” he said. “I had what they called food on the flight, but it tasted like cardboard. I need real food. Like stick-to-your-ribs kind of food.” He paused, lifting his shirt to his nose. “And a shower.”

  He winked at me, and I couldn’t help but notice the small scar by the corner of his eye. It told me he’d either had an accident or gotten into a fight at some point when he was younger. I’d have put money on it being from a fight because he had similar scars all over his knuckles. I hadn’t noticed it back in London. Then again, I’d had no reason to.

  I hit the button on my keychain to unlock the car as soon as we made it to the garage, and then popped the trunk so he could throw his suitcase in. I didn’t know if I should offer help or just get in the car, so I opted for standing there, staring like an idiot, until he closed the trunk and headed for the passenger seat

  “Which would you like first?” I asked after I pulled into traffic. The sun was at that God-awful angle that cut through the windshield and nearly blinded me.

  He thought about it for a moment. “Shower first, and then food,” he said. “If that’s okay,” he added.

  “Of course,” I hurriedly said as I switched lanes and pulled onto the highway.

  Silence crept in as I drove toward the beach where he’d be staying. Every once in a while, I’d look at him out the corner of my eye, wishing I knew what to say. There was this sort of elephant between us I didn’t know how to approach.

  “Weather seems nice,” he said a moment later as he turned his face toward the waning sunlight coming in through his window. Maybe he didn’t know how to approach it either.

  “Yeah, it’s going to rain the next few days, but after it will be perfect.” Jesus, Charlotte, could you be more awkward? Talking about the weather as if it’s the only topic safe to discuss inside a moving vehicle. I need to get a damn grip.

  “I’d likely melt into the ground if the heat was too much,” he added with a small chuckle.

  “Old Sol won’t hurt ya.” I smiled over at him. “Although with you, I might need to pick up SPF 100.” If he could be calm, so could I. Or at least I could try.

  “Sol?” he asked, looking at me funny.

  “Yeah, Spanish for sun. I like to name things.”

  “I see.” He looked over at me and gave me a tired-looking smile, one that said he’d had a very long day, and said, “Hannah didn’t tell me exactly what you two had planned. Or if you’re still planning to do those things since I’m here.” His shoulders twitched in what might have been a shrug, but it was hard to tell as he continued. “I know I’m not tall, blonde, and gorgeous like her… well, maybe the gorgeous part, but—”

  I laughed and tilted the air vent to blow on my face. “I’m still planning on doing everything I had planned. That is, if you’re down, of course.”

  “Down?”

  “As in up for it?” I wanted to smack my forehead.

  “Oh. Yeah, I’m down,” he replied, testing out the slang term. “Definitely down. But what exactly am I down for?”

  “Well, you know, I figured we could get mani/pedis, and then maybe a wax. Oh, and most definitely a dye job. I was thinking about going pink. What do you think?” I joked, glancing over at him and giving him a taste of his own medicine with a wink.

  For a moment, he looked bewildered. Like a deer who had stumbled into a pair of shiny headlights.

  When he didn’t laugh, I reached for the AC knob, turning it up to the highest setting. “That was a joke, Charlie. Lame, I know. Truth is, I’m not much of a joker. I’ve always kind of sucked at it,” I muttered, wishing I had something I could hide behind.

  He breathed out in relief, which was followed by a hearty bout of laughter that seemed to brighten the darkening sky. “No, no. You’re definitely good. You had me going for a moment.”

  I giggled with relief. “I’m sorry. Honestly, I planned to take Hannah to see the team tomorrow, but we can skip that. Then I was going to take her to my beach house and spend a few days on the shore, shopping and eating good food. This girl and food go together like cheese on a cheeseburger.”

  “Food. That’s speaking my language, woman,” he said through a hearty growl. “I’ll try anything once. And don’t get me going on cheeseburgers. But the shopping part? I don’t fancy myself much of a shopper.”

  I knew he hated shopping from when he was my tour guide a few years ago during the Derby World Cup. He didn’t make any effort to hide his disdain for standing around while the girls and I shopped. The last thing I wanted to do was show him a bad time while he was visiting. I hated making people unhappy.

  My palms started to sweat again.

  “We can skip the shopping too,” I said, beginning to feel a little unsure about the decision to be his tour guide. I’d probably screw it up, just like most things I did that involved men.

  And he wasn’t an average man. At least not the type I usually dated. He had his stuff together. Owned his own business, just like me. Even though I knew, through his friend Violet, that he was notorious for running out on girls before a relationship could form… there was something about him that said he still wasn’t the typical bachelor.

  I just couldn’t put my finger on what exactly that something was.

  “Nah. I should probably bring Hannah and Violet back some souvenirs. Besides, I know how much ye enjoy it.” He pointed to his temple. “Memory like a steel trap, yeah?”

  “Oh! How is Violet?” I asked, thinking back to my short time in England. Violet had been a friend of Ed’s who Cherry took a quick liking to. Maybe I finally had something to keep Cherry from embarrassing me in front of him, because I’d love to see the look on her face when I brought up her last fling.

 
“Violet is Violet, if ye know what I mean. Still spunky and loud, but great for the pub.”

  “That’s good. I’m sure Cherry will love to hear about her.”

  “Ah, Cherry, the love that got away,” he recounted.

  My forehead creased. “I didn’t know you were into Cherry. You do know she’s… she’s…”

  “In love with the same sex? Of course.” He chuckled. “I didn’t mean she got away from me. I’m talking about Violet’s situation. She hasn’t been quite the same since you lot left. Even two years later, and with the kind of charm that could rival any gentleman, she’s only been on two dates. And they never panned out.”

  “Oh,” I said, thinking about Cherry and how very similar she’d acted since we returned stateside.

  “And, to be quite honest, luv,” he continued after clearing his throat. “I haven’t been the same either. Ye left me in quite a state. Took days to slake it off.” There were so many implications in those words. Too many to filter through. And the heat radiating off his tone was enough to melt butter.

  My fingers and toes started tingling as fire flared through my bloodstream. I was having an Anastasia-swooning-over-Christian moment. Totally picturing what he would do to me if I ever crawled into his bed, something that almost happened had I not found myself nearly wasted the night before I left England.

  I could definitely see him taking charge. Making me give in before he gave over. Taking his time with experienced hands and a creative mind.

  Yaaaaasssss.

  I didn’t have to look in the mirror to know that splotches of red crawled up my neck and spread across my cheeks at the thought. Shit. He’s definitely going to notice. Good way to play it cool, Char.

  When he turned in his seat a little to face me better, I readjusted my grip on the steering wheel, begging my heart to stop pounding as if it were following the beat to the music on the radio. I was sure he could see my veins throbbing in my neck with how hard my heart was pumping.