Charlotte (Marked Heart #2)

by M. Sembera

  Jerking away from him, Charlotte shouted, "Now!"

  Auggie quickly held his hands up and took a step back.

  ~

  Charlotte swung her legs to the side so she could slide off of the table without standing next to him. Frantic, she couldn't believe he did that.

  Walking away from the kitchen she heard Auggie call, "Lotte."

  Whipping around, she stated, "I told you," before fussing, "We had a conversation and I told you."

  "I didn't realize what I was doing until you stopped me."

  If his knuckle hadn't brushed against one of her scars, she wouldn't have realized either. For the first time in Charlotte's life, she lost control with someone. And it scared the hell out of her.

  "That's unacceptable," she snapped, at herself as well as him.

  She could see his frustration building as he griped, "Why is taking your shirt off even that big of a deal?"

  Thinking if he knew, he wouldn't push the issue, she replied, "I'm ugly underneath."

  Making his way closer, Auggie swore, "I don't believe you."

  "I'm scarred."

  The sincerity in his eyes shook Charlotte's disposition as he assured, "That doesn't matter to me."

  With a loud huff, Charlotte explained, "It matters to me."

  Stepping in front of her, Auggie shared, "Just so there's no misunderstanding. No part of my body is off limits to you."

  "You're really hard to stay mad at," she confessed as the side of her mouth curled into a smile.

  With a hopeful expression, Auggie raised his eyebrows, questioning, "Too bad I was a mood killer?"

  "There's always tomorrow," she teased before saying, "Unless, of course, you have plans with the clumsy girl."

  He scowled before smiling as he said, "I knew you were jealous."

  Charlotte ran her finger against the tattoo across his collar bone assuring, "Well, Mr. Augustus Carrick Caffrey, I don't want to share you either."

  22

  Cake

  Charlotte was doing her best to hurry knowing Ren was waiting for her downstairs. After a long goodbye at Auggie's just a few hours ago, she'd overslept. Since she was only going to hang out with Ren at her house for the day, Charlotte slid on a pair of gray shorts matching it with a gray camisole covered by a loose sheer black tank. Quickly pulling her hair into a banded up-do, she slipped her feet into her black strappy sandals.

  Thinking ten minutes had to be some kind of record, for her 'get ready' time, she grabbed her chubby stick and smoothed it over her lips before tossing it back in her purse. As she opened her bedroom door, Silvia barged in.

  Swinging the door closed behind herself, Silvia warned, "Don't even think about telling on me."

  With a slight laugh Charlotte asked, "Why? Are you going to rough me up or something?"

  "I'll tell daddy that you snuck out last night."

  Rolling her eyes, Charlotte said, "You do that then," reaching for her doorknob.

  Pushing her hand away from the knob, Silvia threatened, "I'll make something up then."

  Charlotte narrowed her eyes at her sister, sharing, "I wasn't going to tell on you. What's there to tell? Your little punk ass boyfriend thinks your good enough to do on the weekends at is brother's place but not worth enough to meet your parents," stopping for a moment to see the embarrassed expression on Silvia's face, she continued, "I think I'll just let that playout on its own."

  Tears welled in Silvia's eyes as she swore, "I hate you," before swinging the door open and stomped out.

  Thinking to herself, 'Truth hurts, doesn't it. Brat', Charlotte went downstairs to meet Ren.

  ~

  Auggie woke twisted in his sheets, clutching his pillow tight to his chest. Stumbling out of bed, he thought, 'This is pure hell'. Bracing himself before he stepped into another cold shower, Auggie decided he had to step things up if he was going to survive Charlotte. There had to be a way to speed things along. Gritting his teeth as the icy shower stung his shoulders, he knew he was going to have to eat crow and get some advice.

  ~

  Pulling up to Jackson's house, he was only able to pull a few feet inside the gate. Ren and Jacks' property was a little over ten acres and their entire front yard was filled with pickups and Southern Trees service trucks. Hopping out of his truck, Auggie didn't get very far before he saw Jackson walking towards him.

  "What's goin' on, Auggie?"

  Looking around, Auggie laughed, "That's what I'm wonderin'. You plan a family reunion and didn't invite me?"

  Shaking his head with a wide smile, Jackson replied, "We have some trees that need to come down," before asking, "What's up?"

  "I called your office. Seth said you were home today. Didn't know you had all this goin' on. I'll come back."

  "Is everything okay?"

  "Yea, just needed some advice that's all."

  "About what?"

  Glancing at the ground, Auggie answered, "I been talkin' to this girl and a..."

  Jackson had a shocked yet proud expression on his face as he blurted, "I knew you had a girl."

  "Damn Jacks, keep it down," Auggie snapped.

  Jackson started to say something when Oran walked up.

  "Hey Bartender, come to do some real man's work?" he teased.

  Reaching out, Auggie shook his cousin's hand, saying, "Ah, don't be mad I ended up with the better trade."

  Oran laughed, "Better trade? Passin' out cocktails isn't a trade. You wouldn't last an hour out here, boy."

  "Boy? You want me to show you how it's done," Auggie laughed back as Oran's brothers Niall and Dillen walked up.

  Dillen shouted, "Place your bets! Bartender's gonna get his hands dirty!"

  "You believe this boy, Jacks," Oran taunted.

  Laughing and shaking his head at his family, Jackson told Auggie, "I'll let Ren know you're here," as he headed back to the house.

  Auggie didn't understand why telling Ren he was there was important but was quickly distracted as Oran mocked, "You know our tools are bigger than a bottle opener."

  "I can out swing you any day," Auggie swore.

  "Ah, ah, ah, no swingin' or sawin' unless you're a regular member of the crew," Niall corrected.

  "Only haulin'," Dillen added.

  Oran shrugged, saying, "Sorry, crew rules."

  Auggie shook his head at his cousins, "Crew rules, huh."

  "Laid down by the old man himself," Niall assured.

  Pulling his shirt off, Auggie tossed it in the bed of his truck, recalling all the summer's he worked for his Uncle Brennen.

  Heading to the back of Jackson's property with his cousins, Auggie thought some good hard physical labor might relieve the frustration Charlotte was causing him.

  As they walked, Dillen blurted, "Nice!" before asking, "Kieran do that?"

  Nodding, Auggie shared, "Yea, when Will passed."

  They were all quiet for a moment before Oran griped, "Damn Kieran."

  Niall agreed, "He outta have to come out here and supervise the idiot."

  "What?" Auggie asked.

  "Kieran heard Frank broke his leg and asked if we could hook his buddy's brother Shawn up with a job," Oran replied.

  "Stupid ass Jimmy from the shop's kid brother?" Auggie questioned.

  Dillen nodded, saying, "Yep."

  "Ah, man," Auggie laughed before Oran shared, "Don't laugh too hard, you're babysittin'."

  Auggie was about to complain when Shawn strolled up to them.

  Wearing tennis shoes instead of work boots and jeans that were baggy enough to be a hazard out there working, Shawn stopped in front of Auggie.

  "Sup," Shawn greeted with a slight head nod.

  Auggie gave his cousins an 'I hate you all' glare as they laughed and headed back to work.

  Tightening the bandanna around his head, Shawn asked, "Auggs, right?"

  Unhappy with Shawn's use of what Kieran always called him, Auggie corrected, "Not if you wanna make it through today. It's Auggie."

 
"That's cool man. Hey, you know that fine ass woman that's here?"

  "You wanna die?" Auggie blurted before saying, "That's my cousin's wife."

  Shawn got a strange look on his face before a smirk appeared as he said, "Nah man, she's smokin' hot too though. I was talkin' about the blonde."

  A mixture of excitement and irritation filled Auggie as he realized it had to be Charlotte. She was there.

  "No," he stated, hoping for the boy's own safety, he would leave it at that.

  "Dang man, you gotta see her. She got legs that you can just imagine...

  Auggie's arms flexed as he tried to keep from snatching the boy up by his undershirt.

  "No," he repeated, cutting Shawn off.

  "Oh yea," Shawn assured before informing, "I'm definitely gonna try and hit that."

  Grinding his back teeth together a flash of Shawn laying on the ground, disfigured and bloody entered Auggie's mind.

  Utilizing the last thread of control he was hanging on to, Auggie growled, "Shut your mouth and let's get to work."

  As he turned to get started hauling, Shawn mumbled, "Shut my mouth, you shut yours," oblivious to how near death he actually was.

  Auggie shook his comment off as he lifted the end of a large branch dragging it towards the burn pile.

  ~

  Sitting in the kitchen, Charlotte was enjoying the smell of strawberry from the cake Ren was baking. It smelled so good she almost wanted to stay for dinner, but that would mean not going to see Auggie and she liked him even better than her favorite strawberry cake. Watching Ren pour herself another cup of coffee, she had been acting strange since Jackson came up behind her and whispered something in her ear. Something was up but Charlotte couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. She seemed apprehensive, which was unusual for Ren.

  "So your broke up with Trace, how'd Emerson take it?" Ren asked.

  With a slight laugh, Charlotte replied, "Just fine. He doesn't know."

  "Are you going to tell him?"

  Charlotte thought for a moment before saying, "I hadn't planned on it."

  "Don't you think he's going to wonder why he's not there to pick you up?"

  "He's still coming."

  Ren raised an eyebrow at Charlotte before questioning, "Does Trace know y'all broke up?"

  Rolling her eyes, she answered, "Yes Ren, he said for me to do whatever I wanted while I was here and I could give him my final answer when he comes down."

  "That's...odd," Ren said with a confused tone.

  "Why is it odd?"

  Ren set her coffee cup down, sharing, "I think it's strange that he doesn't care if you see other people."

  Thinking 'Oh you have no idea how strange he is', Charlotte asked, "Who says that's what I'm doing?"

  With a loud sigh, Ren replied, "I didn't say you were. It was implied that he doesn't care by him telling you that you could do whatever you want while you are in town."

  "Oh," Charlotte said before Ren asked, "Are you?"

  "Am I what?" she replied, not wanting to lie to Ren but trying to think of a way around answering.

  Ren's golden retriever, walked into the kitchen providing a temporary distraction.

  Honey barked at them before running over to the back door, pacing back and forth in front of it.

  "I think she needs to go out," Charlotte shared.

  Ren smiled at Honey, saying, "You need to go outside girl?" Honey barked again before Ren asked, "Can you go tell Jacks, she needs to go out?"

  "I'll take her," she offered.

  There was that apprehension again, as Ren said, "They're still cutting down trees and it's just a big mess out there.

  "That's okay, I'll take her," she insisted, standing up and grabbing the leash by the door.

  "Wait," Ren blurted as Charlotte clipped Honey's leash onto her collar.

  Giving Ren an irritated expression, Charlotte questioned, "Is Jackson's family going to throw rocks at me or something if I go out there?"

  "Auggie's out there," Ren replied, appearing as though she wanted to keep it a secret.

  Charlotte froze as the excitement of knowing he was there caused her heart to beat a little faster.

  Honey barked, snapping her back to the conversation as she fluffed, "I'm not worried about him."

  Ren shook her head as Charlotte gave a sarcastic smile and walked out the back door with Honey.

  Purposely walking Honey around the side of the house where she could get a good view of the workers, it was like a sea of red hair and beards to match. She didn't want to stare but the thought of catching a glimpse of Auggie working compelled her to glare at each and every man out there. Then she saw it, a large Celtic cross moving with every step its owner made. Mesmerized, Charlotte watched as Auggie's cross stretched with his arms as he lifted and flexed with the muscles on his back. After briefly considering pulling up a lawn chair and setting up camp there to watch him all day, she looked down at Honey who was tugging the leash to go back inside. Frowning at Honey, she thought 'Well you're no fun' before walking back towards the house.

  She only made it a few steps before a, "Say girl," caused her to stop.

  Blinking a few times at the boy who stepped around in front of her, she asked, "Can I help you?"

  Puffing out his chest he introduced himself, "I'm Shawn. Big Shawn."

  Remembering her conversation with the guy at Legacy Ink, Charlotte stared at the tattoo on the side of his neck, saying, "Shawn, huh. I'm Charlotte, just Charlotte."

  The fact that Silvia was seeing someone that referred to himself as Big Shawn was slightly amusing to her and she smiled.

  Assuming she was smiling at him, Shawn took a step closer, saying, "You got plans later."

  "Excuse me?"

  "You got plans," he repeated.

  Offended he was hitting on her while dating her sister, Charlotte replied, "Is that a statement or were you asking me a question?"

  Shawn gave her a confused look before saying, "I get it, you're funny girl. Yea, you got plans with me."

  With a sarcastic smile, she assured, "Not gonna happen."

  "Don't be shy now girl, I saw you starin'," he shared before a masculine voice came from behind them growling, "It sure as hell wasn't at you."

  Charlotte whipped around as Honey instantly pulled her in Auggie's direction, darting towards him.

  Taking a knee in order to pet Honey, who apparently was overjoyed to see him, Auggie looked up at Charlotte. Pulling her lips into her mouth, she winked at him.

  Clearing his throat, Auggie stood up and glared at Shawn, ordering, "Get back to work."

  Charlotte turned to look at Shawn as he gave Auggie a dirty look but did exactly as he was told.

  After waiting a moment for Shawn to be far enough away, Charlotte said, "Awfully territorial these days, aren't you Augustus."

  "You were starin'?"

  "I was."

  Holding back a smile, he complimented, "You look pretty."

  Itching to touch him, Charlotte placed her free hand behind her back, saying, "You look sweaty."

  Auggie's expression changed from pleased to a scowl as he shared, "I'll only have enough time to run home and take a quick shower before I go to the bar."

  With a mischievous expression, Charlotte asked, "Are you implying if you had time for a long shower, I would be invited?"

  His scowl intensified as he griped, "Knock it off."

  "Why? Are you picturing me in the shower?" she questioned, thinking it was only fair for him to suffer a little after what seeing him hauling branches with his shirt off did to her.

  "Go inside," he fussed.

  "And take a shower?" Charlotte taunted.

  Raising his voice at her, Auggie snapped, "Damn it, you're..." before Ren's voice came out of nowhere asking, "Is there a problem?"

  Charlotte cringed as Auggie looked past her at Ren stating, "Nope," and walked off.

  Knowing it more than likely looked like they were fighting, Charlotte turned and led Honey
back inside without saying a word. Ren was close behind her with a frustrated look on her face.

  "What is wrong with the two of you? It's like y'all seek each other out just to be mad! And you're just as stubborn as he is," Ren complained as Charlotte unhooked Honey's leash from her collar.

  Nodding as she hung the leash up and walked to the table, Charlotte said, "Sorry."

  Ren turned and gave her an 'I'm not really mad' expression before saying, "Just stay inside. I'll be right back."

  Watching Ren walk out of the kitchen, Charlotte felt her cellphone vibrate in her back pocket.

  Pulling her cell out, there was a text from Auggie.

  A: You're making me crazy woman!

  Charlotte thought for a moment before replying.

  C: Me? Whatever, Mr. Sweaty Muscles.

  A: Yes! Miss Sexy Legs.

  Trying not to smile wide at Auggie's reply, she texted back.

  C: That was hard for me ;)

  A: You wanna talk hard? I'm dyin' over here.

  C: Bahahahahah!

  A: My pain is funny to you?

  C: That's what you get for telling me to go inside :p

  A: Did you just stick your tongue out at me?

  C: Yep

  A: You make me smile! See you later?

  Charlotte much preferred his words to a smiley face.

  C: Sure thing ♥

  Sticking her phone in her back pocket, Charlotte wondered if attaching the heart was too much. In her next thought, she shrugged off her concern. A smile formed as she realized she could now stay for dinner and have some delicious strawberry cake. Seeing Auggie today was sort of delicious also. Laughing to herself, Charlotte thought, 'I get to have my cake and eat it too'.

  23

  Worth

  When Auggie made it to The Dog House, he was surprised to find Jackson was already there. Sitting behind the desk in the office, he stood up when Auggie walked in.

  "Still need some advice?" Jackson asked.

  Nodding, Auggie leaned against the wall, saying, "I can't get a handle on her, man."

  "Hold on. You have to do me a favor first," Jackson shared.

  Laughing, Auggie asked, "Your advice comes with a price?"

  Shaking his head with a smile, Jackson answered, "No but I promised Ren I'd talk to you about Charlotte."