Charlotte had an engagement ring. He’d made sure of that as soon as he’d decided to ask her to marry him, and she honestly could have had her choice of jewelry if she’d wanted it. Charlotte just never asked for him to buy her anything. That usually didn’t stop him. Nine times out of ten he wound up surprising her with something after one of them got home from work in the evening. Sophie was quickly becoming his accomplice in his mission to spoil Charlotte silly. This had been no exception.
It struck him that they ought to have something to commemorate today. If things had gone according to their original plans, she would have been getting a wedding band today, but thankfully, they hadn’t. He wasn’t sure where they’d be right now if they’d pushed on in the direction things were going, but he knew that his fiancée wouldn’t have been nearly as happy with her life as she now seemed to be. All in all, it was the best decision the two of them had ever made. All the same, there was something about what was supposed to be their wedding day that he wanted to mark, so he’d gone shopping and with the help of his executive assistant, he thought he’d found something that marked the occasion perfectly.
“Well, darling, I don’t think he’s going to be too rumpled to have a good time at Riley’s place, so he deserves whatever he gets.” Preston chose that moment to step away on the pretense of getting something from his dresser though he’d really moved in hopes that she would see the box he’d laid on top of her bag. “Do you have everything packed for the trip? Our flight leaves in a couple of hours so we probably need to get started on our way to the airport.”
“We’re taking a private jet, Preston. I’m pretty sure they’re not going to leave until…” He heard the catch in her breath as she turned to face the bag, though his back was turned to her, and he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face before he turned around.
“Everything alright, Charlotte?” He didn’t have to ask the question. He already knew the answer, but it gave him a huge laugh to see the expression on her face when he saw her holding the box.
“What have you done?” She glanced up from the box to his face with a disapproving look on her face.
“I’ve gone and spoiled you again. Now stop complaining and go ahead and open it. We were going to get married today. You could at least let me buy you a little something to remember the day you finally agreed to go on a vacation with me.” He laughed and walked back over to where she was sitting. “Are you going to open the box or just sit there staring at it for the rest of the day?”
Charlotte shook her head and laughed as she cracked open the box though her laugh was cut off when she saw what was inside. She glanced up from the box to Preston’s face with a shocked expression, then back again.
“Preston, are those real diamonds?” If she’d been any more surprised, she wouldn’t have been able to reply to him right now, but he was happy to admit how much pleasure he got out of surprising her.
“What else would they be? When I saw it, I immediately thought of you.” Preston moved to take the box from her hands, lifting the bracelet he’d picked out from it as he moved to fashion it to her wrist. “It’s a charm bracelet. These are just ones to start with. We can add to it as we make more memories together. It means a lot to me that you want to live the rest of your life with me, and I plan to make it as good as I possibly can. This is just my reminder that you and I have a lot of life coming to us.” He grinned and ran his fingers over one of the charms there.
Sophie had helped him pick some of them out. There was a cupcake, set with a pink diamond where the frosting of a real cupcake would have been, a skyscraper that could have easily been mistaken for the Pierce building with another tiny diamond set in one of the windows as if there were a single light on the top floor that was still burning well after the rest of the office had left. The last charm was a little pineapple set in yellow diamonds to represent the trip to Hawaii they were about to embark on. He’d had all three of them made custom for her by the jewelers down the street from the Pierce building. It had taken the better part of two weeks. As a matter of fact, he’d just gotten the box yesterday evening, just in time to surprise Charlotte.
“You didn’t have to…” She admired the charms and looked back up at him, though she wasn’t able to wipe the grin off her face.
“I know I didn’t have to, and that’s exactly why I wanted to do it. Now shut up and kiss me so we can leave before we’re late for our flight.”
“I told you the plane can’t leave without… “This time he cut her off before she finished with another kiss. He wasn’t going to break this one before he was good and done with her. He was definitely going to take his time enjoying the next couple of weeks with her, but to be honest, to Preston it was the beginning of a lot more memories he planned to make. If things went according to plan, that charm bracelet was going to be filled to bursting with one thing after another they did together, and there was no one else he’d rather do it with than Charlotte.
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Temptation
Forbidden Desires Series-Book 1
A Novella
By
Alexis Winter
© Copyright 2018 by Alexis Winter - All rights reserved.
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In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
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Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
Chapter 1
Charlotte Fairweather pushed her strawberry blonde curls back over one shoulder. Now that the breakfast rush was over, she had a chance to get herself together and take a breath before things picked up again at lunch time. She’d only opened the food cart in the first floor of the Pierce Building a few weeks ago, but she’d already gotten a pretty steady business going.
A lot of people would have killed for this spot and it had certainly helped that her Uncle Howard was a partner in Pierce Industries. Charlotte had accepted the offer to run the food cart that had recently been vacated on the first floor. There were several sites to buy food, but this one was closest to the elevator bank which made it the most popular by default. Business had been good and she’d already started to make a profit. That was pretty rare for a new business, but then again, location was everything and this one was prime.
It wasn’t exactly what she’d dreamed of doing, but it was a step in the right direction. If Charlotte wanted to own her own bakery, she was going to have to come up with a way to raise enough money to get a location started and running on it’s own. For now, she was going to have to make do with baking each day in the kitchen of her apartment and bringing it in to the food cart every day.
Some customers were regulars, the ones who showed up every single day and knew exactly what they wanted. She even had a couple of their orders down to memory. She made it a point to learn as much as she could about her customers, so she could engage them on a personal level. She would ask Mrs. Jenkins, who worked up on the fourth floor, how her daughter was doing now that she was only three weeks away from her due date and she would ask how the renovations to Mr. Samson’s kitchen were coming along. It helped that she was genuinely a sweet and kind girl; it also didn’t hurt that her hazel ey
es and turned up nose, covered with a fine smattering of tiny freckles, made her cute and approachable.
That got her started, but the fact that her baking was practically flawless was the thing that cinched the deal. She got the first customers with her sweet smile and brightly colored dresses. She kept them coming with the things she woke up at three in the morning to get ready for the day. Her pastries were always perfectly puffed and her cakes and muffins were just the right amount of moist.
Charlotte started her mornings off early every single day of the week. She got to sleep in until around 7 am on Saturdays and Sundays, but she was always a morning person. It suited her just fine to be up while the rest of the world was asleep, except for her cat Andy, who watched her while she moved around her kitchen preparing the things that were going to make their way into the bakery cart at the high-rise a few blocks from her apartment every day. She had a few staples that were there every day, but she tried to rotate a selection of new things out as she experimented with new flavors and combinations. She loved seeing the expression on her patron’s faces as they indulged in some new sweet treat.
The one thing she tried to keep in stock every single day were the cinnamon rolls she’d learned to make from her grandmother back in Iowa. They were always a hit, and they sold out before lunch every single morning. It had gotten to the point where there were a few customers that she had to hide them for so they wouldn’t be gone before they’d arrived to claim them in the morning. She knew all of them by name except for one. He came twice a week, always on Monday and Thursday mornings and bought a cinnamon roll at almost the same time. He clearly worked in the building. His suit was a dead giveaway, but the times she’d tried to engage him in conversation always ended with her left standing high and dry.
Maybe he wasn’t much of a conversationalist. Some people weren’t, but it wasn’t going to stop Charlotte from being as friendly to him as she could muster, even without knowing anything about him other than the fact that he could be predicted like clockwork to show up at 9 am on Monday and Thursday to pick up his cinnamon roll. It just so happened that today was Thursday, and she was expecting him any moment.
Charlotte tugged down on the white button down blouse she’d worn to go with the skirt printed with a design of sunflowers. It was one of her favorites, and it went perfectly with the green ballet flats she’d worn. She was on her feet most of the day, and sensible shoes were a must, but Charlotte was going to make them as cute as she possibly could.
She grinned over at the man who approached and reached under the counter to pull out the clear plastic snap together container she’d stowed away for him this morning. Charlotte had sold the last of the cinnamon rolls she’d put on display fifteen minutes ago, but this one had been waiting for him since she’d arrived here this morning. She scrambled for something to say, but the mystery man had a way of intimidating her to the point of near distraction.
It wasn’t just that he was devastatingly handsome. He was more than just good looking, he was probably 15 years older than Charlotte, though his hair was still dark, almost jet black with only a little gray at the temples. His eyes were dark as well, a deep brown that she thought reminded her of tempered dark chocolate. Sometimes brown eyes could look flat, but his looked nearly liquid and deep. She wouldn’t have been hard pressed to admit that he was attractive, but there was far more to it than that. There was something about his air that made her feel a little tongue tied.
“Good morning, Sir.” That much was automatic when he approached the food stand. She could at least make her brain work on auto-pilot while she figured out the rest.
He nodded and rested his hands on the counter top as he looked around the stand for a moment before she slid the container with the last remaining cinnamon roll for the morning across the counter.
“I was just about to ask you if there were any left. Thank you.” He lifted the container before looking her in the eye with a raised eyebrow. “And how much do I owe you?” He got the same thing twice a week for the last two months. He clearly knew exactly how much it cost, but if it was the only thing he was going to say to her this morning then so be it. He wasn’t much of a conversationalist so maybe this was his way of making small talk.
“So, since you’re such a good customer, this one’s on the house.” She smiled across the counter at him and slid her hands into the pockets on either side of her skirt.
He picked up the container, and nodded towards her before taking a step back. Charlotte had half hoped that giving him the pastry would be just the thing to open him up, but that wasn’t the case.
“Thank you.” The corners of his mouth did turn up into a smile before he walked away, headed straight for the bank of elevators just across the lobby and pressed the button to signal one to call him up.
Charlotte watched him go, letting out a soft sigh. She didn’t know what to make of this man. He wasn’t unpleasant, but he was distant, as distant as she was friendly and open. She hadn’t realized how tense she’d been until he walked away and she relaxed, almost slumping down to rest her elbows on the counter in front of her.
“Can’t win them all can we?” She mumbled to herself, trying to push the interaction out of her mind, as she set about preparing the cupcakes she’d brought for the lunch crowd to fill in the empty spaces that the breakfast muffins had occupied only an hour ago.
❖
Later that afternoon, Charlotte made her way over to the elevator bank with a basket draped over one arm. After the lunch rush, she was completely sold out of everything she’d managed to bring in for the food stand that morning, but she’d been making a habit of bringing in a basket of mini muffins every couple of days to drop off at the businesses around the building to build her brand. She was busy but she could do more business, and if she intended to save enough money to get a bakery off the ground, she was going to need to raise as much capital as possible. The best way she could go about doing that was to make sure everyone in the building knew who she was.
So far, she’d managed to make it around to all of the offices in the building one floor at a time, and for a building that was forty stories tall, that was no small accomplishment. That left only one floor she hadn’t gotten around to yet, the top floor where her uncle’s office was located. She hadn’t wanted anyone to know that he was her uncle. Charlotte wanted to make it, but she wanted to do it on her own merit, not her uncle’s last name. It helped that he was her mother’s brother so they had different last names, and it wasn’t something she was going to bring up in conversation with anyone around the business.
Besides, Uncle Howard was more or less a silent partner these days. He showed up for board meetings and when he was absolutely needed around the office. The rest of the time he was content to hang out at this house and annoy Aunt Amelia until she made him go back to his office in the house. Charlotte laughed a little thinking about the two of them as she rode the elevator up to the top floor. They were her only family here. Her parents lived back in Iowa, and she had no brothers or sisters, so it was important to her to keep them fairly close. She went out to their house in the suburbs most weekends for dinner and to catch up with family.
Charlotte was a little lost in her thoughts when the elevator finally dinged to indicate its presence on the top floor of the building. It was a longer ride than she was used to taking, and this was her first visit to this particular floor in spite of the fact that her uncle did work up here when he was in the building. It might have been late afternoon and working it’s way into evening, but the office here was buzzing with people moving about. A lot of the other places would have started emptying out right about now, especially towards the end of the week, but this place showed no signs of slowing down.
She took a deep breath and looked around the place, finally letting her attention fall on an older woman sitting behind a desk and typing on the laptop set up on the desk in front of her. Charlotte put on her best smile and made a beeline for the desk, stopping just
in front of it and clearing her throat gently before speaking.
“Pardon me, but my name is Charlotte Fairweather. I run one of the food carts downstairs, and I just wanted to come around and introduce myself and drop off some muffins for you all. Just so I can get word out about my business.” She passed the basket over to the older woman who stood up almost immediately offering her hand with a matching smile.
“Well, aren’t you the cutest thing? I’m Sophie… Sophie Neal, Mr. Piece’s personal assistant.” She snagged a mini muffin out of the basket and took a bite, letting out a soft groan just before she swallowed. “And these are the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.”
Charlotte grinned and slid her hands into her pockets. “They’re my grandmother’s recipe, but I’ve put my own twist on them. I’m glad you enjoy them.”
“So, you’re far too adorable to just run a food cart downstairs.” She finished off the rest of her muffin and dusted the crumbs off her hands. “Please tell me this is just temporary and that you’re going to bring me more muffins like that.” She grinned and glanced at the basket. “I’m going to have to put the rest of these in the break room or I’m going to wind up the size of a house.”
Charlotte laughed softly. Sophie was probably the nicest person she’d met in her time at the building. Not that people weren’t friendly. For the most part they were, but a lot of them were all business when they got to work every day. It was refreshing to run into someone who made her laugh.
Indulgence: A Billionaire Virgin Romance Page 10