He tensed, imagining young Charlotte with no one looking out for her. His own baby sister was well protected by him and his brothers and their cop dad. “Did you sleep with your sugar daddy?”
“No, he was an elderly man that just wanted company from a young college girl. I went to dinner and theater with him, read him the newspaper, stuff like that. He paid my tuition, but then I dropped out because I couldn’t bear looking at myself in the mirror. It was a little too close to the way my mom was with a variety of men from the strip club.”
He stroked her silky hair. And here he was making her look at herself in the mirror. But she had warmed to it. The trust she placed in him overwhelmed him.
She took a shuddering breath. “After that ended, I went back to college part time, working my way through. Had a few good years in banking, that’s how I could afford my house, and then I guess I just burned out. I lost myself and then I moved, got fit, made new friends, and eventually found a new career.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah, it is good. I’m working hard not to let my issues define me, but…I guess they still affect me. I have a hard time opening up. Relationships are tough for me.” She sighed. “And now with me running out of time on my baby window…I don’t know about my future. I have a lot of hard decisions to make.”
He could read between the lines. She was letting him know she didn’t see a relationship for them in the future. His chest ached at the thought of this being all they had, one date stuck in the mud. But she had opened up to him, emotionally and physically. That had to mean something.
“Everyone has something wrong with them,” he said. “Objectively speaking, you’re amazing.”
“You’re not objective at all. You just have blue balls.”
He chuckled. “Maybe I do, but it’s still true. You turned out amazing despite whatever your parents did. Look at you with a great career that you love, great friends, I mean, you’ve got that group of ladies from smutty book club—”
“Happy Endings Book Club.”
“And you own your own home. By any measure, you’re a success.”
Her arms squeezed tight around his middle and she buried her head in his chest.
“It’s true,” he said, cupping her head. She lifted her head and he gave her a tender kiss. A surge of affection shot through him for all she’d been through and all she’d overcome. She was exactly the kind of woman he respected—kickass and strong. He broke the kiss and stroked her cheek, feeling all kinds of mushy where she was concerned. Then he had a scary thought about her dad in jail. “Is your dad violent?”
She blew out a breath. “No. He went to one of those cushy white-collar jails for fraud. He was a financial advisor and took people’s money, funneling it into his own accounts. I didn’t even know him that well. I saw him like twice a year.”
At least she hadn’t had to deal with a violent man at home. “I had the opposite. A fantastic dad and a mom that bailed on her six kids. I haven’t seen her since I was six years old.”
“I’m sorry.”
“The worst part is she showed up recently back home to make amends or whatever and I missed it.”
“Maybe you could look her up.”
“Josh says not to bother. He’s probably right. It was too little too late. I guess it just bugged me that she didn’t ask about me or call or anything since she was getting back in touch with everyone.”
“That sucks,” she said.
“Yup.” He wrapped her long hair around his fist, loving the feel of it in his hand. “Bet you’re wondering what’s wrong with me.”
“I thought it was your mom bailing.”
“Nope. You might find this hard to believe—” he lowered his voice “—but some people say I have a big head.”
She bumped his jaw and then slid her hands all over his head. “Feels normal to me.”
“I meant a little too confident.”
She laughed. “I know. I was joking and you do have an abundance of confidence. It can be a bit much sometimes, bordering on arrogant.”
“I gotta be amped up with confidence for my job. If you have even a moment’s hesitation or doubt, a stunt can go south fast. Mind and body are tightly tied together.”
“Your job scares me.”
He found himself smiling both because she cared enough to be scared for him and because he loved the thrill of his job. “I love it.” He stroked a finger down the soft skin of her neck. “You’re being real with me and I like the real Charlotte.”
“I like the real Ty too,” she said softly.
He kissed her again, gently, hoping to ease her pain.
“None of that leaves this room.”
“It’s locked in the vault,” he said.
“I like you better than any man I’ve ever met in my entire life.”
His eyes stung. Jesus. This woman had a way of squeezing his heart. “Thank you.” He needed to look her in the eye. He eased away from her and turned on the light, aiming it toward her for a good look. Her nose was red, her cheeks tearstained.
She blinked a few times. “Why’d you turn on the light?”
He left the light facing up for a dim glow and pulled her back in his arms. “I needed to see the brave woman who shared so much.”
She spoke to his chest. “We agreed never to talk about it once the light was on.”
“Charlotte,” he said slowly, searching for the right words to express how much all of that meant to him, “thank you for trusting me with your secrets, with the mirror, with your orgasm.” Red dotted her cheeks at that last part. “I promise to always take care of whatever you gift me with.”
“It’s hardly a gift.”
He stroked her hair and kissed her. “It is.”
She sighed. “I’m so tired.”
“Course you are. I didn’t feed you anything but jellybeans, gave your body a workout, and you just unloaded everything that’s been weighing you down. I’d say you feel like a balloon that lost all its air, but later you’ll soar even higher because of it.” He chuckled. “That sounded so deep. I guess it’s all that secret sharing kind of touched a deeper place. Most of my first dates don’t go like this at all.”
She was quiet. He looked down to see she’d fallen asleep.
He stroked her soft hair, wondering at the strength she must’ve had to pull herself up from where she came from and have the life she wanted on her terms. It bothered him that she was thinking about having a baby on her own because it meant she didn’t think any man would ever step up and want to have a family with her. Some part of him wanted to be that man, even as the more rational part of him said that was crazy. Just because he stepped into Charlotte’s life while she was at this crossroads didn’t mean he was there too. Yes, he lived for the rush, but not in relationships. Wake up. She spelled it out in big bold letters. She’s not looking for a relationship. She doesn’t see a future with you.
He must’ve drifted off because the next thing he knew, a bullhorn was blaring. He rolled away from Charlotte and sat up, disoriented. “Shit. What time is it?”
Charlotte pushed her hair out of her face. “Huh?”
It was still dark. It must be the police coming to rescue them. “Get dressed,” he told her. “It must be high tide.”
He fixed the towel around his waist, snagged the robe, and made his way upstairs. A spotlight panned over the deck from a nearby police boat. Damn, it was cold. He tied the robe tight around his waist and shoved his feet into his muddy sneakers.
“NYPD,” a voice boomed through a megaphone. “Pick up your radio for an update.”
He raised a hand. “Got it!” He headed to the main control panel, snagged the radio, and pressed the button. “Is it high tide?”
There was a staticky noise like a long put-upon sigh. “Yes. We’re sending George out to steer you out of the mud. Prepare to help him on board.”
“Roger, over,” he said, wondering exactly how he was supposed to do that. He headed out
on the back deck, where there was a ladder to climb on board.
“Saved,” Charlotte said from behind him. He turned to find her fully dressed. For some reason that made her seem closed off and distant, or maybe that was just her expression. What happens on the boat stays on the boat. Their time together was done.
He worked for his normal upbeat tone. “They’re sending a guy out and then I’m going to help him board.”
“You should probably get that pole with the hook on the end.”
That’s what the pole’s for? “Sure. That was what I was thinking.”
She crossed her arms against the cold, looking over at the police boat. He retrieved the pole and watched as a rowboat was lowered into the water.
“This has been the craziest first date I’ve ever been on,” she said, staring at the man rowing over to them in a wet suit.
“This has been the best first date I’ve ever been on,” he replied. It was true and he didn’t bother to hide it, used to speaking his mind. Except for the small embarrassment over getting the boat stuck, he’d enjoyed every moment with her. There had been no awkwardness, no boredom, just fun and then so much more than he’d ever expected. No one had ever opened up to him like that before. It touched him deeply.
She met his eyes, tried to smile but couldn’t quite manage it.
He swallowed over the lump in his throat.
Her voice came out like forced cheer. “You can’t beat being stuck in the mud and stranded for half the night.”
“No, you can’t,” he murmured.
She turned away, watching the man row to them for a moment. “I’m going to get those jellybeans,” she said and slipped inside the cabin.
And then George, a grizzly old man with wild gray hair, was hollering from his rowboat for Ty to throw him a line. Ty looked around. No rope anywhere that he could see. He leaned over with the pole instead.
“Seriously, man?” George asked. “No wonder you’re stuck in the damn mud.” He ignored the pole and simply stepped out of his boat and into the swampy water. Then he swam and, when he couldn’t swim anymore, waded through the thick mud. He boarded the boat on his own from the ladder.
“Sorry I couldn’t help more,” Ty said.
George shook his head. “You don’t belong with a beauty like this.”
For a moment Ty thought he meant Charlotte, but then George kept grumbling about her fine lines and some kind of engine he didn’t even know the yacht had before spraying himself with a hose Ty hadn’t noticed before. There wasn’t much water before it petered out.
The rest was a crazy big deal as George worked to get the yacht unstuck, which, even with his expertise, was no easy task. By the time they were safely back to the dock, Charlotte was withdrawn and way too quiet. Ty told himself to leave things as they were, just take her home and say goodbye. But some part of him rebelled. He wanted to keep hanging out with her. Just a little longer, a little more fun before she moved on with her big decisions and future that was never supposed to include him.
“You want to stop for a bite?” he asked her. It was nearly two a.m. and he knew she must be starving.
“No, thanks. Just take me home.”
He did. She slept on the drive home, or at least she pretended to sleep, because the moment he pulled into her driveway, she grabbed her purse, said a quick thanks, and left. He turned off the car and got out to walk her to the door, but she slipped inside before he even got a chance. The sinking feeling in his gut told him she wouldn’t even consider a casual second date. No stripper-style dance was going to work magic for him this time. Oh shit. Her mom had been a stripper. Somehow he’d triggered nearly every hot-button issue with her. He couldn’t blame her if she never wanted to see him again.
He got back in the car, turned it on, and just sat there staring at her front door, his throat tight, his chest aching like he’d lost something important. The only reason he felt this intense…longing was because of the unusual circumstances of their date. Hell, anyone would bond over being stranded somewhere together.
He shifted the car in reverse and shot out of her driveway, needing to put some serious distance between them.
Chapter Nine
Charlotte stretched out her legs in her comfy oversized tunic and leggings in her seat at the Happy Endings Book Club meeting on Thursday night and mentally prepared how she would answer her friends when they asked about her date with Ty. Her plan was to keep her mouth shut at the meeting so as not to draw attention to herself, but she didn’t know how long that would pass muster. The club had originally begun as a singles book club, so they always took a keen interest in each other’s love lives.
The ladies were getting cups of the amazing coffee served at their regular meeting place in Clover Park, Something’s Brewing Café. Charlotte had brought her own large travel cup of green tea for the antioxidants. She fiddled with her cell phone, trying to hold off any curious questions. Her friends had witnessed her and Ty’s first fiery meeting at the wedding and second fiery meeting at Garner’s. They also knew about his Magic Mike-style dance. Who could resist sharing that juicy bit? She only wished she’d had the foresight to video it for them because it was amazing. But now, though there was comedy to be had in their disastrous sunset dinner cruise, what followed in the dark was not something she was prepared to share. In fact, she deeply regretted blurting out all her painful secrets. Not even her friends knew that stuff.
She tucked her cell phone away, suddenly depressed. Her friends, all in their twenties, sat in the circle of chairs around her, chattering happily, and all Charlotte could think was she’d never feel that carefree again. Something had irrevocably changed for her on that boat. Saying everything out loud gave it power and now she had to deal with the consequences. She had to make some hard decisions, go back on the pill or not, try in vitro before it was too late, or live with the fact that she’d voluntarily missed her window.
Ty could never be a serious consideration in those decisions. Even if they worked out the long-distance thing, he was a stuntman risking his life on a regular basis. It was far easier to go into motherhood with the expectation of going it alone. A stuntman for her baby’s father? Her stomach rolled just thinking about it. What if he died on her?
Hailey interrupted her dark thoughts, taking her seat in the circle of women. “So today I’ve got a new kind of romance, paranormal, which means there’s some magic!”
“Like Harry Potter?” Mad shook her head, her fire-engine red hair long enough now to get in her face with the movement. She shoved her hair back. “Not gonna cut it. I need real hot scenes. Now that I’ve got Park, I’ve got someone to do them with.”
Hailey waved that away. “It’s got hot scenes. A sexy vampire with a huge, um, you know.” She flushed bright pink.
“Cock,” Mad supplied helpfully.
Hailey flicked her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder. “Yes, well, it’s very sexy.”
“You like a guy who’s extra large?” Lauren asked, crinkling her nose. She was a very sweet second grade teacher. “That seems uncomfortable.”
“You just need to be properly worked over to take him,” Mad replied matter-of-factly. She looked around for confirmation and, receiving none, added, “Park’s hung.”
Charlotte bit back a snarky remark. Mad would not shut up about the fabulous, romantic, sexy, hung Park. Of course, they were all happy for her, thrilled at her engagement, but it was getting to be a bit in your face. Ty was hung, too, not that she got to experience—shit. She was getting turned on thinking about him. No, no, no. Not going there. She wasn’t even sure she could look him in the eye again with all he knew about her. It was even hard to look his sister, Mad, in the eye now, even as well as Charlotte knew and loved Mad because she could see the resemblance in the dark brown eyes and around the mouth, which was weird because of what Ty’s mouth had done for her.
Hailey cleared her throat. “Anyway, it’s called Accidentally Married to a Vampire.”
“Accidentally?” Charlotte asked.
The women tittered.
“Julia highly recommended it.” Hailey stared them all down, challenging any of them to contradict Julia. That was a former book club member and internationally bestselling author of the Fierce trilogy, the book that had first brought them all together. “She also recommended Carnal Werewolf, but I wasn’t sure about the furry love angle.”
The women debated spiritedly over fangs versus fur and finally concluded fangs were sexier.
Hailey clapped once. “Okay then, I will get us started on chapter one. But first, Charlotte, how did it go on your sunset dinner cruise?”
Charlotte froze, surprised at the sudden turn in conversation despite trying to prepare for it. The women turned to her as one. The group had expanded recently, so that was a lot of eyes on her. The original group—Hailey, Mad, Lauren, Ally, and Carrie—plus newcomers Missy, Lexi, and Sabrina.
Mad piped up. “I can’t believe Ty pulled off a dance like that! Damn, I wish I had seen it.”
“And he really did a backflip?” Hailey asked.
“Oh, he’s been doing backflips for years,” Mad said. “It’s mostly in your core muscles. Haven’t seen him dance much, though.”
Charlotte grinned. “He was amazing! So you can see why I found it hard to resist his invitation. I mean, he danced in front of all the women in my yoga class.”
The women sighed. “So romantic,” someone murmured. She hadn’t really thought it romantic so much as supremely sexy. Maybe it was kind of romantic.
“Maybe he could teach Park some moves,” Mad said thoughtfully.
Charlotte resisted an eye roll. Let the woman enjoy her mushy love.
“So how was the date?” Hailey pressed. “Are you going to see him again?”
Charlotte focused on the first question. “Pretty much a disaster. Turns out he borrowed the yacht, had no idea how to read the freaking map, and we ended up stranded in the mud, waiting for high tide so the NYPD could rescue us.”
So Revealing (Happy Endings Book Club, Book 3) Page 8