by Tamie Dearen
Josh was so busy listening to this exchange he missed all but the end of Charlie and Collin’s conversation. “... But I have an extra ticket. Would you like to go?” asked Collin.
“Well—”
“Are you asking my fiancée out?” Josh could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
“Just think about it,” Collin told Charlie. He gave Josh a smug smile before turning to flirt with Claire.
“What was that about?” Josh asked Charlie, trying to gauge her reaction. Was she attracted to Collin? Was she upset Josh wasn’t stopping his aggression? One more aggressive move and he might lose his temper. But he didn’t want to make a scene in front of the entire family. He concentrated on taking slow, deep breaths.
“It was nothing. He’s just trying to jerk your chain.”
“Well, he’s done it,” Josh mumbled.
From across the table, David spoke up. “Mr. and Mrs. Marshall, I must say you have produced four amazingly beautiful daughters!”
“Thank you. What was your name again?”
“David,” he supplied. “You’re welcome, Mrs. Marshall.”
“You can call me Connie.”
“Connie, I see Hannah got her gorgeous blue eyes from you.”
“Why, thank you, David.” Connie cheeks gained an attractive rosy glow while her husband scowled beside her.
“If I could get these girls out to California, I’d turn them into stars,” David proclaimed.
“You’re not taking my sisters anywhere,” Spencer muttered.
“Spencer,” David’s tone wheedled, “You wouldn’t want your sisters to miss the opportunity of a lifetime, would you? I seldom see beauty like this without some kind of surgical enhancement.”
“Perhaps it’s because your eyes are usually closed in a drunken stupor,” Spencer retorted.
“Are you denying your sisters’ beauty?”
“No. I’m denying the significance of your opinion. I know how beautiful my sisters are.”
“Spencer!” Connie scolded. “Be nice—all he’s done is given your sisters a compliment.”
“If he gives them anything else, I’m giving him my fist,” Spencer mumbled.
“I can’t believe Claire is only nineteen.” Collin spoke in low tones to Charlie. “I would have put her at twenty-two or twenty-three. I was about to have her join us for our little New Year’s Eve bash, but it looks like it’ll just be you and me, Charlie.”
“Charlie won’t be joining you for your little New Year’s Eve bash. She has other plans.” The small amount of food Josh had managed to swallow churned in his stomach.
“I can answer for myself,” said Charlie. “You don’t own me.”
“Not yet, anyway,” said Collin.
“No one is going to own me, even after I’m married,” said Charlie.
“I don’t want to own you, but I do want to protect you from scum like this.”
“Here, now. That’s totally uncalled for,” said Collin. “All I did was invite the lady to a private party.”
“She’s my fiancée!” said Josh.
“It’s a free world, and all I did was ask. Like she said, you don’t own her. She’s free to make her own choice. She can say yes or no, herself.”
Charlie covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking. She stood up, turning teary eyes to Steven’s grandmother. “Gram,” she choked out. “May I be excused for a moment?”
Gram lifted her napkin to her lips and gently patted them, before she said, “Certainly, Charlie.”
She fled from the room.
Chairs scraped as Josh and Collin stood simultaneously, asking likewise to be excused.
“No, you may not.” Gram’s voice was firm. “Emily, you may be excused. Everyone else will continue eating. Steven, would you pass the potatoes, please?”
Josh sank back into his chair, his gaze following Emily as she ran after her sister.
“This turducken is delicious, Gram,” said Collin, as he threw a smirk in Josh’s direction.
Josh considered what he might do to Collin that wouldn’t show up in an autopsy.
“CHARLIE! IT’S ME! LET me in!” Emily knocked on the bathroom door. She heard noises from inside before the door cracked open and Charlie peered through.
“Are you alone?”
“Yes, it’s just me.”
Charlie snaked her arm outside and pulled Emily into the room, locking the door behind them and burying her face in her hands again.
“I’m sorry that happened. Are you okay?” Emily stroked her hair.
Charlie burst into giggles, wiping tears from her face. “Are you kidding? That was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t keep a straight face anymore.”
“You’re not upset? Collin was being so aggressive.”
Charlie waved off her concern. “You know me. I can handle aggressive guys—well, most of them, anyway. It’s only Josh who gets me off balance. But I was trying to let Collin think he was getting to me before I put him in his place. And then Josh got upset, and I almost cracked up right in front of them. I barely made it out of there.”
“So you weren’t crying?”
“My eyes were watering from trying not to laugh. I was about to lose it.”
“I guess it’s pretty obvious how much Josh loves you. He was so jealous out there.”
“Actually, I’m pretty sure it was a competition thing—like when male dogs go out and mark their territory.”
“Thanks so much for putting such an awful image into my mind. If you apply that metaphor to David, he kind of marked the whole table. He went for all four of the Marshall sisters. And he even flirted with Connie.”
“Yes, I can’t decide whether or not I’m happy Josh is acting like that. I guess it would be a bad sign if he didn’t. But I certainly don’t need his protection, and I don’t want to be his possession, either.”
“But Charlie, when a guy loves you, he can’t help being possessive. Spencer would’ve gone ballistic if Collin had flirted with me.”
Charlie turned mournful eyes her direction. “Emily, can I tell you something?”
“Sure. What is it?”
“I’m sure he doesn’t love me—he hasn’t even kissed me.”
Emily knew her surprise showed on her face. No wonder Charlie thought Josh wasn’t in love with her. “He’s never... But I thought—”
“He kissed me two years ago, but not since I’ve been back.”
“Well, he hasn’t had much opportunity. You were half-dead when you decided to get married. Was he supposed to kiss you in the hospital?”
“My face wasn’t injured.”
“I’m sure he’s just waiting for the right time.”
“You can’t tell anyone, not even Spencer.”
“If you’d let me tell Josh, he’d probably fix the problem right now.”
“No! You’d better not tell him. I don’t want a sympathy kiss.”
“Charlie, don’t be ridiculous. If Josh kisses you it won’t be because he feels sorry for you. As I recall, you told me his last kiss about knocked your socks off.”
“It’s been two years—I think I’ve built it up in my mind. I’ll probably be disappointed next time. If there is a next time.”
“There’s gonna be a next time. You’re getting married.”
“Sister, am I doing the right thing? How did you know? How did you know Spencer was the one?”
“Honestly, I just couldn’t imagine my life without him. Even thinking about being really old, like in our fifties, I could only see us together.” She squeezed her sister’s arm, hoping her words were reassuring.
“Thanks, Sis. Now, I’ve got to put my game face on and go give him heck.”
Emily grinned. “That’s my sister. Poor Collin won’t know what hit him.”
CHARLIE PINCHED HER cheeks and nose to make her face red before reentering the dining room with Emily. She kept her eyes downcast as she made her way to the table. Both Josh and Collin sto
od up to pull out her chair. Charlie sat down and the two men subtly pushed against each other as they moved her chair in under her. Collin was easily overpowered, so he sat down quickly to cover his loss.
“Charlie,” he said, taking her hand between his. “I’m so sorry if I’ve been too forward with you. We’ve only just met, but you’ve captured my heart so. I don’t believe I’m thinking clearly.”
“So you didn’t mean to ask me out?”
“No, I definitely meant it.” She saw Collin’s eyes glance over her shoulder. She could feel Josh looming next to her.
“But you asked Claire out as well.”
“Of course that was before I knew Claire was under age.”
“But which one of us do you want. You have to decide.”
“Why I want you of course.”
“You want me? You’re really sure? Well then... Okay.” She heard Josh muttering behind her.
“Okay?” Collin asked, obviously taken aback.
“Okay. But I want to be really clear about this. Are you asking me to marry you? Or did you just want to hop in the sack together?”
“Hey!” Josh gripped her shoulder.
She turned her head. “Stay out of this, Josh.”
Collin stammered, “Uhmm... neither one. I was merely asking you on a date.” He lowered his voice. “I mean... It’s always possible something could happen after...”
“I see. So exactly what are you offering?”
“Huh?”
“Well, it seems to me you’re suggesting I drop my handsome, physician fiancé just to go out on one date with you. So I wondered exactly what on earth could make this worth my while.”
“Spoken with all the innocence of one who’s never been on a date with Collin Sterling of Hollywood.” He smirked.
“No,” said Charlie. “Spoken with the wisdom of one who knows a line of bull when she hears it. I think I’ll stick with door number one.”
Collin laughed. “Oh ho! You cut me to the quick! I’m bleeding!”
“Something tells me you’ll heal quickly enough.”
“Still, you can’t blame me for trying.”
“I can’t, but Josh can. So lay off, or I’ll start making disparaging remarks about your manhood.”
“I’m almost tempted to keep it up, simply to hear what you might say. But I can see I underestimated you, so I’ll wait for easier prey.”
“A word of warning.” Charlie glanced at the glowers on the male faces around the table. “With all the testosterone floating in this room right now, I suggest you find your prey in a different place. That is, if you want to keep your proverbial manhood intact.”
“Thanks for the advice,” Collin chuckled. “I’m not so certain about the proverbial one, but I’d like to keep the real one safe.”
WHEN CHARLIE FINALLY turned her attention away from Collin, Josh murmured in her ear. “Thanks, Charlie.”
“For what?”
“For choosing me.”
“Surely you know there was never any real doubt?” she asked, as one corner of her mouth lifted.
“I wasn’t a hundred percent positive. He’s a pretty aggressive smooth-talker.”
“Reminds me of someone I once knew.” Charlie winked.
“Yeah. Seems like a long time ago.”
“Wanna know a secret?” At his nod, she answered, “I really liked that guy.” She put her hand over his on the table. Her words were so quiet he had to lean in to listen. “But I like this one even better.”
When she glanced up at him, her golden eyes glimmering, and her cheeks flushed, her soft lips inviting, it was all he could do to keep from kissing her right there at the Christmas dinner table, in front of everyone. And he knew, once he tasted her lips again, how hard it would be to stop with a chaste kiss. Instead, he took a deep breath and whooshed it out slowly, sitting back in his chair.
Maybe they could move the wedding date up.
Chapter Seventeen
GRACE PULLED GRAM ASIDE after dinner. “Gram. I’m so impressed. Your secret weapon seemed to work quite well—Josh was so jealous. Did you put Collin up to all the flirting?”
“No. Evan’s boys flirt enough without any extra prompting. But that wasn’t my secret weapon. That’s still to come.” Gram clapped her hands, demanding the attention of the room.
“And now, Gus and I have a little surprise for everyone. Since the weather cooperated and we have some nice snow on the ground, we’ve arranged for everyone to go on a sleigh ride.”
“Yay!” called Jace, above the murmurings of excitement.
“You’ll have to bundle up and take turns of course, but there are three sleighs out back awaiting your pleasure. Two small ones for two or three people, and one big one that will hold four or six, if you squeeze in tight.”
“I want to go!” Jace bounced like a basketball.
“Of course you do,” said Gram. “You can go first, with Josh and Charlie. And I bet you’d like to ride up front with the driver. Maybe he’ll let you hold the reins.”
Gram whispered to Grace, “There’s nothing more romantic than a sleigh ride.”
CHARLIE FOUND HERSELF bundled up on a sleigh with Josh before she knew what was happening. The driver was a teenager, and Charlie hoped he knew what he was doing. But he was chipper and happy to let Jace sit beside him and help him drive the horse. They set off across the field on the smooth snow, listening to the jingle of the bells on the horses harness.
Sitting next to him, huddled against him for warmth under the blanket, she realized this was the first time they’d ever had any semblance of a date. They really hadn’t spent much time alone together. She was painfully aware of the way his hand felt as it clasped hers, his thumb gently rubbing on her skin and sending little tingles up her spine. Or maybe she was only shivering from the cold.
“I get to mark this off my bucket list now,” remarked Charlie.
“First time, huh? It’s nice, isn’t it? I hope we get to do a lot of first things together.”
Charlie’s mind immediately flew to the wedding night. They hadn’t really talked about that aspect of the marriage. She’d told him she wanted a life-long commitment, with no divorce, so of course it meant they would eventually be man and wife in every sense of the word. But she didn’t want to be physically intimate with him until she was sure he loved her. And how on earth would she know when the time came? She stiffened and pulled away.
“I... I didn’t mean...” He bit his lip as he glanced ahead to be certain their conversation was private. “I wasn’t talking about sex, Charlie.”
She was grateful for the darkness hiding the rush of blood to her face. How had he managed to read her mind?
He blundered on. “I meant I’d like to do a lot of new stuff together. You know, mark things off the bucket list.”
“Yeah, I know. But we haven’t talked about it. You know. About the physical part.”
“Well, there’s plenty of time. Three weeks before the wedding.”
“Right, three weeks,” she squeaked out.
“Are you still okay with it? Do you want to back out?”
“No, I don’t want to back out. But maybe you do?”
“Not me,” said Josh. “Why would I want to back out?”
She hesitated. “We haven’t spent that much time together, really. I have some faults you don’t know about.”
“Really? Like what?”
“Like... I’m not really a morning person.”
“Ha! That’s an understatement. But I love mornings, so I’ll make you a nice cup of coffee and bring it to you in the morning. And you can give me some kind of sign when it’s safe to talk to you.” He tipped his chin in a perfunctory nod. “What other faults do you have?”
She laughed. “None—that was it. Let’s hear yours.”
“Okay... I tend to throw my dirty clothes at the hamper instead of into the hamper. And I’ve been known to leave the cap off the toothpaste tube.”
“Oh, no. I’m
afraid that’s a deal-breaker. I’m particular about my toothpaste.”
“Separate tubes?”
“Maybe. I’ll have to think about it.”
“Seriously though, we should talk about some things,” Josh said. “Like... children. Do you want children?”
“You mean, other than Jace and Chloe?”
“Right.”
“Yeah, I do want more.”
“You do? How many?”
“I don’t know... Maybe three or four more?”
“So five or six kids?” Josh sounded surprised. “Wow. Okay. I guess I don’t object to the idea, but I’ve never imagined it.”
“I think you’ll be a good dad. You’re good with Jace. And Chloe, too.”
He bent his head and spoke into her ear, sending shivers down her neck, “And you’re a really good mom, too.” Then he moved his lips gently down to her cheek and his hand rose up to rest his fingers against her jaw and turn her face upward. Her heart began to pound as she realized it was about to happen. He was finally going to kiss her. She grasped through a fog to remember the last thing she’d eaten. Thanks goodness, it was a chocolate dinner mint. If only she’d applied some berry flavored lip balm to her chapped lips.
“Uncle Josh! Aunt Charlie! Look I’m holding the reins all by myself!”
Josh jerked his face away and dropped his hand like a guilty teenager. “That’s great, Jace.”
With her heart still racing, Charlie took a deep breath of icy air to calm herself. She could see a certain disadvantage to having kids around, but in their case, the kids were the reason they were together at all. If it weren’t for Jace and Chloe, she and Josh wouldn’t be getting married, so she could hardly resent Jace’s presence. “Are you having fun?” she asked Jace.
“It’s easy!” he called back, “And Randy says I’m the best nine-year-old sleigh driver he’s ever seen!”
“Be careful, and pay attention,” Josh warned. With Jace once again captivated by driving the horses, he lifted his hand to cup her chin toward him. “Now... where were we?” He gently caressed her forehead with his lips, trailing ever so slowly downward toward her mouth.