I definitely need to get rid of this boot and get back to running. How can people eat all this?
After dessert and a flurry of toasts, Missy drew her aside, offering to take her on the promised tour of the house. Charlotte was delighted by the chance to see the house and walk off some of her dinner.
“It’s ridiculous really, almost 12,000 square feet, but Stephen fell in love with it. The schools are fantastic and it is halfway between his work and my family,” Missy explained as they moved from room to room admiring the artwork and the architecture. Missy poked her nose in the kitchen bustling with caterers only to step back out to the doorway before being knocked over by a fast-moving server. “I guess I can’t really show you the kitchen tonight.”
“No problem,” Charlotte laughed. “I almost got run down earlier. They are working so hard, we should just leave them to it.”
“You guys did fantastic, as usual,” she hollered into the kitchen from the safety of the entryway. Pointing to the man in the chef’s hat she asked Charlotte, “Do you know Theo? No? He and Keeli are fast friends and he is the best caterer for miles and miles.”
“Well, dinner was fantastic, so I would have to agree. Too much food, but so delicious. I ate it all.”
Moving back through the family room, Missy suggested they start on the lower level “where all the fun stuff is.” Using a sturdy bannister to make her way down a wide stairway, Charlotte followed Missy into a huge hallway with doors and entryways in every direction. Missy guided her through the temperature controlled wine cellar, the media room with large recliners and the biggest screen Charlotte had ever seen.
“It’s a 90-inch screen. Ridiculous, isn’t it, but we couldn’t resist.” Charlotte loved how easy-going Missy was and pictured them becoming good friends.
“We all have our weaknesses.”
“Exactly!” Missy agreed with a laugh. “Speaking of…” With that Missy opened the door to a moderate sized room, flicking on the light to reveal a golf practice room.
Charlotte was speechless.
“OK,” Missy admitted, “even I think this is over the top. But it makes Stephen happy, and he is starting to show my oldest how to hold a club.”
“Maybe I should use it too. I stink at golf,” Charlotte confessed. “I see what you mean about all the fun stuff. This floor is like a mini-amusement park.”
Wandering up to the top floor, Missy stopped to tell Charlotte about all the artists as well as how they had acquired the art pieces on their walls. Charlotte was on sensory overload until they stepped into a serene pale blue master bedroom and stepped to the window to admire the gardens below. The views were muted by the waning light, but Charlotte could imagine what it would look like with the sun rising outside the large picture windows.
“This is a magical place,” she told Missy on a whispered breath.
“Let me show you my favorite room,” she told Charlotte taking her into the master closet, a huge square space with an island of drawers in the middle. It was the size of Charlotte’s living room, with a wall of shoes, a built in, lockable jewelry safe and clothes hanging neatly in a row, sorted by type and color.
“This is my dream room. I want a closet like this and I want to have the fashions to fill it. I have no fashion sense at all,” Charlotte confessed without shame. “Oh, and I want to make love on the floor, like Carrie and Mr. Big did in that ‘Sex and the City’ movie.”
Missy laughed at her and suggested she be sure to get all the designer shoes, too. “I knew I would like you the moment we met,” she added honestly. “You don’t seem at all stuffy like most of the Boston-Brahmin people I have met. I really want you to stick around. Do you think you and Alex will keep things going when you move back home?”
“Well, you don’t pull any punches do you?” Charlotte felt the pink rising into her cheeks.
“It’s just that I want to be sure we will get to see more of you in the future. I see a strong friendship forming between the two of us. I would hate to see Alex ruin it,” she joked.
“We will have the Regan connection either way,” Charlotte responded, evading the original question.
“Cagey, but I will accept it unless you want to share more?”
“No. I think you know what I hope for with Alex, but frankly, I am as clueless as you are.”
“Did you all grow up in houses like this?” Charlotte asked Missy, changing the subject as her curiosity was getting the better of her.
“Pretty much. This is a bit much, but it’s not that different from how we lived. Lake Forest has neighborhoods of winding wide streets and big houses. Tyler lived around the corner from Randall, who lived about a block away. A big block, because the yards were huge, but close enough. Alex lived another five minutes past that. The guys were friends, and Aubrey and Ethan were in school together, so I got to know her along the way. She’s a lovely girl, smart and quiet. Alex completely dotes on her.”
“I can tell that they are great together, despite the age difference.”
“Yes, I guess his mother miscarried before she had Aubrey. She and Charles were desperate to have children together, or so my mother always said.”
“But they had Alex,” Charlotte corrected.
“Oh, Alex is Laurel’s son, but he is not Charles’. His father was from California but he died when Alex was still an infant. I am not actually sure how he died since no one ever talks about him, but I remember Alex going to spend a summer break or two with his father’s family in California when he was a teenager. Nothing ever came of it, though, and when Laurel married Charles they arranged for Alex to be adopted.”
“Well, that explains the lack of resemblance,” Charlotte remarked. “He’s so reticent. I have known him for four months and he never once has referred to any dad but Charles.”
“I guess he doesn’t even remember his own father,” Missy theorized. “Charles would be the only father he ever knew.”
They completed the house tour by peeking in on the children, tucked safely in their beds with an obviously competent Au Pere watching over them. Charlotte looked at the cherub faces surrounded by toys and stuffed animals and smiled at the thought of them wielding golf clubs.
Backing quietly from the room, the women made their way back to the patio where coffee and pastries were still being served. Only a few guests besides the families remained. Regan had left while they were touring, but Wyatt and Keeli were sitting holding hands on two lounge chairs, their heads close together in conversation. Ethan had turned ESPN on in the family room to get ‘the scores’ and he and Stephen were discussing the upcoming Bears season. Senator Jensen and his wife were saying goodnight to Missy’s parents and once they were gone, it was just another Friday night of hanging out at home.
The caterers had cleaned up until the only things remaining of the party were the aromatic flowers, a few bottles of wine that were being quickly consumed and Theo, emerging from the kitchen to say goodnight.
Keeli jumped up to give him a big hug and they talked for a few minutes while Alex explained that they used to share an apartment “in their poorer days.” It was evident that the caterer and the jeweler had come up in the world and that they had missed one another. They were animated, laughing and punching each other like siblings might.
“This was great, Alex, I really enjoyed meeting everyone. Thank you so much for including me.”
“It was my pleasure,” he said, looking her full in the face for the first time in hours. Charlotte saw the heat flare in his eyes as they locked with hers. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” he suggested in a low, seductive voice.
They said quick goodnights. Charlotte thought they were almost rude, but Alex was almost dragging her out the door. He helped her into the car and sped down the driveway, tires screeching as he pulled onto the winding lakefront road heading back to the city.
They drove in silence for about a mile before Alex turned the wheel sharply left, driving into a small, public park that was deserted.
He stopped the car with a jolt, spanning two parking spaces. Then, as if he hadn’t just driven like a maniac, he calmly suggested a short stroll before the drive back.
Helping Charlotte from the car, Alex kept hold of her hand as he moved, surefooted, along the beachfront path while she limped alongside in her boot. He stopped at the base of an old gnarled elm tree and pulled Charlotte toward him, holding her around the base of her spine so that she could feel the hard length of him against her.
“You look so beautiful,” he told her in a husky voice. “I have been wanting to do this all night.”
His head lowered to hers, pulling her close against him as he leaned back until all her weight was leaning on his and she had no choice but to twine her arms behind his head or the tree trunk. His lips captured her slowly, softly pressing against hers. One hand rested low, on the curve between her back and her behind. The other came up to tangle in her short hair, holding her head still as he deepened the kiss. His lips demanded response, plundering her mouth with his tongue. He tasted of expensive wine and Alex as his tongue explored the recesses of her mouth, hot and insistent. Her breasts were flattened against his rock-hard chest, her hips tight against his as he held her to him.
When he lifted his head, shadowed by moonlight behind him, Charlotte was unable to read his expression. Unsure and unsteady, she waited, catching her breath. Blood was coursing through her veins, hot and urgent. Her heart was pounding from just one kiss.
“God, I want you,” he rasped, the words torn from him, raw and insistent before he dipped his head to kiss her again. She returned the kiss, opening her lips to his insistent ones, entwining her tongue with his, increasing the pressure against his mouth as she ran her hands up into his hair. She held fast to him, feeling his hand move from her hair to the nape of her neck, down along her bare arms, tracing a pattern there with his fingers. The feel of his hands on her skin was warm, strong and sure. She had longed for his touch and now desired it everywhere.
Alex lifted his head reluctantly. “If we don’t get back in that car now,” he told her, his voice hoarse with longing, “I will not be responsible for my actions.”
He lifted her away from his body, steadied her and then hefted himself away from the tree and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to lead her back to the car.
She felt bereft without the solid warmth of him hard against her. Neither of them said a word until he opened her car door and closed it again, without allowing her inside. Instead, he pushed her gently against it.
“Sorry, I can’t make it home without one more.” Alex took Charlotte’s mouth in a searing kiss that took her breath away, sucking her lower lip into his mouth then sliding his tongue over it and into the moistness of her mouth. He kissed her senseless until she would have happily made love there in the sand, and the world be damned. She wanted this man as she had never wanted anything before.
Charlotte kissed him passionately, running her hands up and down his muscular back as she tightened her hold on him, wanting to get closer, to feel his bare skin, until finally they mutually agreed to some restraint and dragged apart from one another. He kept his fingers touching her lightly until she got in the car and he closed the door behind her.
“Jeez,” he stated with a rough chuckle as he folded himself into the bucket seat, “I hope there are no cops out, cause I am planning to break speed records getting you home.”
CHAPTER TEN
Alex was careful to keep the speed reasonable by his standards, not more than ten to fifteen miles over the posted limit. The car handled the twists and turns like a dream, first on the almost deserted back roads and then as he weaved between slower cars in his quest to get Charlotte home. Soon they were back on straight open roads with bright lights overhead and light traffic.
When they emerged from the darkness of the residential areas, Charlotte finally broke the silence.
“You only date models? I thought that was a joke when I heard everyone say it. I mean I did see you with that woman from L.A, but only models?”
“Not only, sometimes actresses, too.”
“Was that sarcastic?”
“No, honest.”
“Is there a reason? Why only models and actresses?” Charlotte strived hard to keep the jealousy and insecurity from her voice.
“I generally try to avoid entanglements. I mean…” he trailed off uncomfortably in light of the kisses they had just shared. “I travel so much and I am busy.”
“But don’t you want to settle down at some point and have a family? Do you plan to do that with a casual fling from Hollywood?” She didn’t mean her voice to sound so accusing. “I mean, I am sure many of them are really sweet. That didn’t come out the way I meant it to.”
“No, the ones I date are pretty dumb, actually,” he admitted, getting a relieved laugh from her in response. “I have just resisted letting anyone get close. It’s a habit now.”
“And me? What about me?”
“Yeah, what about you? I have to admit,” he shook his head, “you sure as hell don’t fit the mold.”
“Is that good or bad?” She held her breath waiting for his response.
“At the moment, it is very, very good.” Alex reached over to run his fingers lightly up the skin of Charlotte’s thigh, and, after several strokes, rested his hand there heavily. “You are an enigma, Charlotte Roche. You seem to have wiggled under my skin when I wasn’t looking.”
“Well, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, Alex.” When he said nothing she added in a disappointed voice, “How about we just see what happens after tonight. No strings, okay?”
“No strings,” he agreed slowly, working over the words. “For now, no strings.”
He moved his hand from her thigh to her arm, running his fingers up and down, up and down in a mesmerizing pattern, inching closer to her neck, her breast, her face, then returning to the back of her hand before repeating the movement. He stroked the soft silkiness of her skin, the long lean muscles underneath, felt the shiver of her response. He kept his other hand on the wheel and his eyes on the road, but his right hand fingers seemed to have a will of their own, feeling every available inch of Charlotte they could reach.
“So you never mentioned that you were born in California. I just assumed you were born here. I thought Charles was your father.”
Alex’s head whipped around, trying to decipher Charlotte’s expression. “Who said he wasn’t?” Charlotte saw a brief panic cross Alex’s face in the strobing streetlights, then it was gone.
“Missy told me.”
“Why were you discussing me with Missy?” Alex barked. Taking a calming breath he continued, “Charles has raised me since I was an baby. I think of him like a dad.”
“But what about your real dad?”
“What about him?” Alex took another deep breath. “There isn’t anything to say about him. We moved here when I was just a baby and my mother left all that behind. I was still an infant when she remarried.”
“But Missy said…”
“Damn Missy and her big mouth!” Alex cursed in the small space causing Charlotte to cower back into the leather seatback. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”
“It’s okay. Obviously, I have hit a nerve and I apologize. I didn’t mean to snoop.” Charlotte had never expected such a strong reaction, even from the highly private Alex. “It’s none of my business, Alex. Just forget I asked.”
“No, it’s not you. It’s just a touchy subject for me right now. I still have family out west. I tried to have a relationship with them, spending a few school vacations and stuff. But you know how boys are at that age. I wanted to be with my friends here and my California cousins felt like strangers.
“Besides,” he continued, “my mom really felt strongly that she wanted me here with her. She believed the California side of the family was a bad influence on me so she pretty much made sure I stopped hanging out in L.A. Once Aubrey was born, that was it, regardless of what my California
family might have wanted. As far as Charles and my mom went, once I had a sister my life was here, period.”
“Do you talk to any of them, now that you have all this business in L.A.?”
“Why are you so interested In California? Really, it’s not significant and we don’t need to talk about it. What did you think of Aubrey? She’s great, isn’t she? I think Adam will be a good husband for her too, steadying. She can be a bit flighty for such a smart girl.”
“She’s only 26, Alex. She’s allowed to be flighty.” Charlotte recognized that Alex was diverting her attention from something, but he was clearly rattled, so she let him change the subject.
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