Charmed: A Small Town Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Willow Springs Series Book 3)

by Laura Pavlov

  I could do this.

  Ignore the elephant in the room. Or the two elephants in the room.

  The love of my life and my father’s love child.

  Because what choice did I have?

  Chapter Eighteen

  Crew

  I loved waking up with this woman in my bed every day. Never thought I’d feel that way. But here we were. We used to jump through hoops in the morning to keep our relationship a secret. I’d have Brad drop her off at the corner and she’d walk the fifty yards so that we wouldn’t risk anyone seeing us get out of the car together. But we quickly realized we were the first to arrive at the office, and Layla usually showed up shortly after we did, and she never questioned anything. My assistant was definitely aware that something was going on between me and Maura, but I knew she’d take it to the grave.

  “Did Ava do well on her math test?” Maura asked my driver. He’d never chatted with me about his kid, but Maura had a way of getting people to open up. I guess she’d worked her voodoo magic on me too, in a way. I was talking to her about Belle all the time now, and she didn’t have to pry it out of me.

  “She got a ninety-five percent. The kid’s an ace.”

  “I knew she would kill it,” Maura said as we pulled up to the curb.

  “Thanks for those websites with the math games. They really helped her.” He looked over his shoulder and winked.

  “Of course. See you later,” she said, and I opened the door and grabbed my coffee and the extra coffee that she insisted we bring to Beevis every morning. She held her cup in one hand and her purse in the other.

  “You know that he’s never going to get his shit together if you keep bringing him food and drinks. Hell, I’d love to just chill-ax out here all day and have a hot girl bring me my meals.”

  Her head fell back, and she laughed. “Did you really just say chill-ax? You stole that from Coco, didn’t you?” Yes. I was now having weekly FaceTime calls with the wizardly willows or whatever the hell they called themselves. They’d chat and Maura would call me over to join in.

  “What are you talking about? I’m a hip dude,” I said.

  She smiled so wide that my chest squeezed. “Who are you and what have you done with my broody boyfriend?”

  Normally the term boyfriend would cause me to shut down.

  Convulse.

  Seize up.

  Run for the fucking hills.

  But not with Maura. It was music to my fucking ears.

  “Am I not normally chipper?”

  “You’re perfect,” she said, and she bumped her shoulder into mine as we approached the man that had somehow become more like a family member than a dude who I dropped money in the can for.

  I always stood in front of him and forced a smile, gracing him with my pearly whites. He still favored Maura and I couldn’t blame him. I favored her too.

  “Good morning, Beevis,” I said, handing him his drink while Maura gave him the muffin that was wrapped in brown paper.

  “Why can’t you call me Beeves like Maura does?”

  “I don’t call Justin Bieber the Biebs, so I’m sure as shit not going to call you the Beeves. I draw my line at daily coffee and muffin delivery.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Beeves. I’ve got you,” Maura said, rolling her eyes at me.

  What? We freaking catered to this dude. I actually looked forward to his sarcastic digs at me at this point. But I wasn’t giving him a nickname. What was it with everyone and these goddamn nicknames? You were given a name at birth. Use it. What’s the point of going through the whole process of choosing a name if everyone is going to call you something different?

  “Maura told me that your brother calls you C-dawg. Is it all right if I make that your handle?” he asked, and I turned to my girlfriend and raised a brow.

  Little traitor.

  “It most definitely is not okay,” I grumped.

  Beevis and Maura burst out in laughter, and I rolled my eyes.

  “See you later, Beeves,” she called out as we made our way into the building.

  When we stepped on the elevator, she was still laughing. “So, I wanted to talk to you about Beeves.”

  “What now? You want to buy him a car?”

  “No. Maybe someday he could buy his own car if we help him get on his feet. What do you think about a job at Carlisle Ad Agency?”

  “What? You want me to hire him now?”

  “Listen, I know you have a big heart even if you try to pretend you don’t. Your father believes in giving back. Beeves is a good man who fell on hard times. Why not give him something to work toward? A little hope is all he needs. Someone to believe in him.”

  “I’ll fucking think about it. But only because it’s important to you, you little bleeding heart temptress.” I shook my head and wondered how the hell I got here. I was more concerned with finding a job for Maura than Beevis, and I already set that plan into action.

  She leaned over and hit stop on the elevator. “I love you, Crew Carlisle. Have a good day.”

  She pushed up on her tiptoes and kissed me, before pulling away and hitting go on the elevator. The doors open and I chuckled.

  “Charmed, baby,” I whispered as we stepped off the elevator. That had become a code word of sorts for us when we were at the office. A way for me to tell her that I loved her without saying the words.

  “Charmed,” she said as she stopped at her desk and I made my way into my office.

  The day took off with a blast and there was a knock on my door as soon as I ended my morning conference call with the car company. “It’s open.”

  Jen peeked her head in. “You got a minute?”

  “Of course.”

  She ran our creative department, and I always called her our secret weapon. I’d hired her last year. She was a Stanford graduate and absolutely brilliant. The girl had an eye for award-winning ad campaigns.

  “So, I want to talk to you about that dog food campaign.” It was going to be a high dollar campaign that we’d won with one of the largest dog food companies in the nation.

  “Shoot.”

  “Well, I went through all the pitches from our team. Sam had some great ideas, but the one that literally blew me away was Maura. I know she’s just an intern, but Crew, believe me when I tell you, the girl is talented. I was just letting her jump in to pitch for experience, but hers stood out without question. It’s the winner. I thought maybe she could pitch it to you today. I haven’t told her yet, because I wanted to see if it would be okay. I know she’s not an official employee, but you’d be a fool if you don’t try to lock her down.”

  I’d like to lock her down for a lot more than a job. And I was proud as hell that she’d knocked it out of the park. I knew she was talented but getting the seal of approval from Jen was a testament to just how good Maura was.

  “All right. My grandfather is coming today to hear the pitch. Let’s give her a shot.”

  “Awesome. I’ll go talk to her. See you this afternoon. Conference room at two?”

  “See you there.”

  Not five minutes later, my door flew open, and Maura hurried inside, shutting the door behind her.

  “Lock it,” I said when I looked up to meet her gaze.

  Her eyes widened, but she did what I asked. I patted my lap for her to come sit there. She dropped down on my lap and all the tension from the day’s meetings dissipated. Lavender and goodness filled my senses, and I breathed her in.

  “Hey, baby,” I whispered, my lips grazing her ear.

  “Crew. Focus. Jen just told me I’m going to pitch my idea to you and your grandfather today. Is this for real?”

  I kissed her neck and my hand slipped beneath her skirt finding her lace panties. “It’s for real, so bring your A-game.”

  She tugged my head up to meet my gaze, her
breaths coming hard and fast. “I can’t pitch to your grandfather. What if I freeze up? What if I don’t know what I’m doing?”

  I pushed up and settled her on my desk as I stood over her. I’d been fantasizing about having Maura in my office for weeks. My hand slipped beneath her panties.

  So wet.

  She was always ready for me, just as I was always ready for her.

  “You won’t freeze up. Jen said your presentation killed it. Do the same thing this afternoon. Let me help you relax.”

  “We can’t do this here,” she whispered, but her head fell back, and she moaned as my finger slipped inside.

  “We can do this wherever the fuck we want.” My mouth came over hers as her hips moved against my hand. I loved pleasing this girl. Loved seeing her come undone.

  She groaned into my mouth as she kissed me hard. Desperate and needy. She cried out her release against my mouth, and I did what I could to muffle her voice.

  “Well, that was interesting,” she said, staring up at me all hazy and sated.

  Fucking perfect.

  “Now relax and go kick ass. I love you.” I kept my voice low and slipped my finger in my mouth. Because when it came to Maura Benson, I couldn’t get enough. Her eyes widened and she hopped down off my desk.

  “Love you, too. Don’t give me those sex eyes when I’m presenting, please.” Her lips brushed against my ear, and my dick was having a temper tantrum.

  “What are sex eyes?” I asked, tugging her against my body so she could feel how much I wanted her.

  “Maybe just don’t look at me during the presentation.” She chuckled, and her hand came down between us to grip my erection. “Oh my. Should we take care of this?”

  The phone on my desk rang, startling us both. I reached over and hit the button for speakerphone. “Crew, your grandfather is here early. He wants to meet with you before the presentation.”

  And just like that, my dick sobered up and Maura ran a hand down her blouse and skirt. “Oh my gosh. What if he knows what we were doing?”

  “That would make him a dirty old man.” I smirked and walked her to the door.

  I unlocked the door and was thankful that it didn’t make a noise when I did so, and I pulled the door open. “We’ll see you at two p.m., Maura.”

  I was back in professional mode.

  “Looking forward to it. Hello, Mr. Carlisle,” she said to my grandfather before heading down the hallway.

  “Hello, Maura,” he said, and he walked into my office. Layla flashed me a wicked grin that said she knew something just went down, and I rolled my eyes and closed the door.

  I sat behind my desk and faced my grandfather as he leaned forward to say something. “Just a few things to go over before the meeting.”

  “All right,” I said.

  “I spoke to your father, and he told me you really like this girl. I want you to know that I understand this isn’t an office fling, and I appreciate your discretion until her internship is up.”

  Wow. I didn’t expect his approval.

  “I do. Thank you for understanding. I wanted to talk to you about offering her a position after she finishes the internship. She’s really good at her job, Gramps. She has several interviews lined up, and we’d be foolish to let her go elsewhere and work for the competition. Jen picked her presentation over everyone’s for the dog food campaign, and you know what a bulldog Jen is.”

  He nodded and thought about it for a moment. “Let’s see what she does this afternoon with the presentation.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “And it would have to be out in the open that you were together if we hire her. She’d work directly under Jen. You need to be certain you’re serious about her because if you end it and she works here, things could get very ugly. Office romances are not easy, which is why I have that hard-and-fast rule.”

  I chuckled. “Don’t dip your pen in company ink? I assure you this is more than that.”

  “I can see that. That’s the only reason I’m not reaming your ass. But she’s an intern and she’s a Benson, so you’ve got some hurdles to get over there. You never take the easy road, do you?”

  “I never cared for it much, no.”

  He barked out a laugh and pushed to his feet. “I’m happy for you, Crew. But keep it private until this internship ends.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Now let’s go see if she’s as good as you and Jen say she is.”

  We made our way down to the conference room and Jen was huddled in the corner talking to Maura. Probably giving her a pep talk and coaching her. Presenting to my grandfather would intimidate anyone. But I had all the faith in her.

  We took our seats and Jen introduced Maura before taking the seat beside me. “Okay, let’s get started.”

  Maura proceeded to pull up a PowerPoint with graphics that she’d designed, and I was instantly impressed. She presented the campaign with complete confidence, and it was shocking to think about the fact that she was an intern. She hadn’t had the experience in the field as of yet, but you’d never know it. I sat back, my chest puffing up with pride as I watched her present one of the best ad campaigns I’d ever seen. If she was nervous, she didn’t show it. And I knew in that moment that my grandfather was not going to let the competition steal her away.

  When she finished up, she stood in front of us. “Thank you for your time and consideration.”

  My grandfather clapped which almost caused me to fall out of my seat. The man didn’t give that kind of praise easily, so she’d clearly blown him away.

  “I’m impressed, Ms. Benson. I think we have a winner.” Grandfather pushed to his feet and shook her hand. “Jen, can you give us a moment?”

  “Of course. I’ll go get the ball rolling.” She nodded and stepped out of the conference room.

  Gramps held his hand out for Maura to take a seat across from us.

  “I’m impressed and I know that Jen and Crew are as well. We’d like to offer you a position here at Carlisle Ad Agency after graduation. We’ll write you up an offer if it’s something you’re interested in. It won’t be announced until the internship is over.”

  This was a surprise. He usually took his time to ponder things like this. I knew why he chose to make the offer. He wanted to protect me if it ever came back to bite me in the ass that I’d been dating her all along. He wanted to be able to say that he’d made the offer to hire her on her merit and not because she was dating the boss. I appreciated it.

  “Oh. Wow. That’s amazing. Can I have some time to think about it?” she asked, and I flinched.

  What the fuck was there to think about?

  “Of course. I know you have a few interviews lined up, but we certainly hope that you’ll consider us your top choice. We’ll have an offer letter to you early next week,” he said before pushing to his feet and shaking her hand. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m having lunch with the printing team today.”

  “I’ll phone you later.” I nodded and turned my attention back to Maura. “I need a quick word with you.”

  My grandfather left the conference room and we dropped back down to sit. It took everything I had not to pull her on my lap, but the conference room was floor-to-ceiling glass, and everyone could see us. I folded my hands on the table. “You did good.”

  Her cheeks pinked and she let out a long sigh. “I feel good about it. And I can’t believe he’s offering me a position here. Did you know that was going to happen?”

  “I discussed it with him. I didn’t know he was going to offer it to you today. And I didn’t know that you would need time to consider it.”

  Her warm honey gaze locked with mine. “Listen, I love working here. I do.”

  “But?”

  “But, I’m also in love with the boss. I don’t want to cause you any unnecessary drama or hurt your reputation
. You have a lot of people counting on you here, and I won’t ever interfere with that.”

  So fucking sweet.

  “We would make it known that we’re together when you came on officially. You’d answer to Jen, not to me, unless we’re in the bedroom.” I winked, and she shook her head and chuckled.

  “Charmed.”

  “I’ll bet you are. So, what’s the hang-up?” I asked, because I needed to know what I was up against.

  “We still have the little issue of you and my dad. How do you think he’ll feel if I come to work here?” she said, wringing her hands together.

  “I don’t give a shit how he feels about it. The man has bigger issues on his plate than you working for my family.”

  “I’m going to talk to him when I go home next weekend, Crew. I’ll be done with the internship, and I can focus on figuring this out. I’m going to tell him about us. And, I’m going to give him an ultimatum that he either tells my mom or I’ll tell her. I need to fix my family, and I’m tired of keeping what we have a secret.”

  Why does she have to be so fucking good? Why can’t she be selfish once in a while?

  “Do you want to work here?”

  “Of course, I do. But it’s complicated. And regardless of what I do about the job doesn’t affect our relationship. I just need you to give me a little time.”

  I pushed to my feet. “Patience is not my strength, but I’ll try.”

  She glanced out to the office to see if anyone was watching before whispering, “I love you.”

  “Love you too, Ms. Benson.” I smirked before holding the door open for her and making my way to my office.

  I dropped down behind my desk and called down to the mailroom.

  “This is Carl,” the guy who oversaw all of the mail and packages for the building said. He was older than dirt and had worked there since before I was born.

  “It’s Crew. Do you have space for another runner?”