“Are you certain?”
She simply winks at me and listens as the phone rings against her ear. “Hello, Linda? It’s Charly. I could use some help at the shop today. Would you be willing to come in and stay until closing?” She nods and adjusts a display as Linda talks. “Perfect. No, that’s just fine, sugar, thank you. I’ll see you in an hour.”
Bloody hell, her accent just about brings me to my knees.
She hangs up and turns to me. “Are you really here?”
“It appears so.”
“Linda will be here in an hour. Are you already checked into your hotel?”
“No, I came here first. Why don’t I go do that while you get things handled here, and I’ll pick you up in an hour?”
“I’ll come get you. Where are you staying?”
I cross to her and pull her in my arms, rest my forehead on hers, and say, “If you come to me, we won’t leave the hotel room, love.”
She shivers. “Okay, you pick me up. I’m hungry. And I’m not that easy.”
I kiss her gently. “I’ll see you soon.
Chapter Nine
~Charly~
He’s here.
Simon is in New Orleans. The minute I saw him, my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth and I was just…numb.
I haven’t felt like an excited teenager over a boy since… Well, ever. I’ve never felt quite this way before, and I’m not quite sure what to do about it.
And I’m not going to overthink it now.
Because he’s here.
“Thanks for coming in, Linda.” I smile at the other woman and finish the display I’d started when Ben came in. “It’s been pretty tame today.”
“Oh, I don’t mind at all.” She grins and ogles a new pair of orange sling-backs. “Being surrounded by beautiful shoes is never a bad thing.”
“That’s the truth.”
The bell over the door dings, and in walks Simon. His dark hair is damp from a shower, and he’s changed into a Henley T-shirt and cargo shorts and good God, I want to climb him like a tree.
He flashes a smile at me, and I hear Linda gasp.
“Is this why you need the rest of the day off?” she asks, not bothering to whisper.
“Yes.”
“Good girl.” She offers her fist for a bump, which I accept with a laugh and wave at Simon.
“I just have to grab my bag.”
“No problem,” he replies and admires the display. “You did all of this while I was gone?”
“It doesn’t take long.” I shrug and duck into the workroom to retrieve my things. “I plan it out ahead of time, so putting it together goes relatively smoothly.”
“It’s a work of art,” he says, his hands on his hips as he stands back and stares at the wall. “The way the colors flow, how you have them arranged. I like it.”
“It’s just a shoe display,” I reply.
“Charly isn’t good at taking compliments,” Linda says and I feel Simon’s gaze turn down on me. “Just smile and say thanks, honey.”
“If you need me, I have my cell,” I reply, ignoring her comment. “Call for anything at all.”
“I’ve got this,” she says, shooing us away. “Have fun.”
“Shall we?” Simon holds his arm out for me, and I slip my hand through, loving the feel of his strong bicep under my hand.
Good God, what he does to me.
“Did you eat?” I ask when we’re on the sidewalk.
“Nope, I waited for you.”
“Good, I’m starving.” I stop and glance around. “Where’s your car?”
“I walked.”
“You must be staying nearby?”
“A few blocks away.” He takes my hand and links our fingers. “Lead the way to something delicious.”
Café Amalie.
I haven’t been there in ages, and I just heard that they’re serving lunch on the weekdays.
“I know a place.” I wink up at him before slipping my sunglasses on my face.
“I’m sure you do.” He takes a deep breath. “I thought it would be hotter.”
“Have you been here before?”
“Once, but only briefly.” He shakes his head and stops to look at some artwork in a storefront window. “It’s a beautiful city.”
“It really is,” I reply with a nod. “It’s been a mild summer. The afternoons will get hot, but it cools off nicely at night. In another few weeks it’ll be miserably hot most of the time.”
“Are you okay in those shoes?”
I glance down, surprised at the question, then chuckle. “I’m fine. I’m on my feet in shoes like this ninety percent of the time.”
“The sidewalks are a mess.”
“I’m holding onto you,” I remind him. “I’m pretty sure you’ll catch me if I start to fall.”
A few minutes later, we come to Café Amalie. “I love this place.”
He looks down at me in surprise and then starts to laugh. “Would you believe me if I said that I’m staying right across the street?” He points to the bed & breakfast with the cornstalk fence just across the street and I grin.
“I’ve always loved that place.” It’s haunted. I don’t mention that to him. “This restaurant is amazing. Come on.”
The hostess meets us. “Would you like to sit inside, or in the courtyard?”
“If Joe is working, I’d like to sit in his section,” I reply.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Joe doesn’t come in until dinner.” She smiles at me, then glances up at Simon and her smile widens, her flirt game turned up high. “But I’m happy to help you with anything else you might need.”
“Great,” I reply and smile sweetly. I will cut you. “Let’s sit outside.”
She seats us in a corner, under a magnolia tree so we have plenty of shade from the sun, and leaves us be.
“This is a beautiful place,” Simon says and leans over to kiss my cheek. “Are you sure it’s okay that I came?”
“I’m honestly shocked,” I reply and set my menu aside, already knowing what I want. He follows suit and takes my hand, but before he can ask me anything further, the waiter comes to take our order.
“Tell me how you’re feeling,” he says after we’ve ordered.
“Like I said, I’m surprised. Maybe a little overwhelmed. I didn’t expect to see you again.”
“I know.” He nods and sips his water. “I should have asked you for your number.”
“Why?”
He blinks, perplexed. “So I could call you.”
“It would have been less expensive than flying to New Orleans. Were you all the way in London?”
“I was. I’ve been all over the States in the past month, and I had just returned home for a few weeks. I don’t have anything pressing at the moment, and to be quite frank, I just couldn’t stop thinking about you, and I knew I had to come find you.”
That could be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.
Our drinks are delivered with the promise of our food coming out shortly, and I take a long sip of my lemon drop martini.
“Is there anything special you want to do while you’re in town?”
“I’m here to scope out a place for the retreat this fall, and spend time with you.”
“Are you telling me that you don’t have people who can find a place for the retreat? I don’t believe that you do that yourself.”
“Not usually,” he concedes. “But I’m here, and it’s convenient. I don’t expect you to take the whole week off of work, so I’ll work too.”
“Well, after this we should walk over and get some beignets. It’ll be the best thing you ever put in your mouth in your life.”
“No, that’s happened already,” he says, his voice perfectly calm. “When you were naked.”
And just like that, my body is on high alert all over again. I take a deep breath, then let out a gusty laugh.
“You certainly know how to turn me on.”
“Likewise.” He sips his own dir
ty martini. “All you have to do is look at me and I want you.”
“And you might have me. If you play your cards right.”
He smiles and kisses my hand. “I like it when you’re sassy.”
“Good, because I’m always sassy, darlin’. I have a degree in sass.”
“I thought it was philosophy?”
“I minored in sass.”
“Good to know.” He’s looking at me with such humor and lust, I just want to fucking climb him right here and now.
“Well, hey there.”
“Gabby!” I stand and hug my sister tight and whisper in her ear. “He came.”
“I know, Ben called all of us.”
“Hi, Aunt Charly,” her son, Sam, says and hugs me around the waist. Ailish, her little girl, is sitting on my mama’s hip, grinning.
“Hey there, sugar. It’s been a minute since I saw you. Looks like you grew a foot.”
“I’m a growing boy,” he reminds me.
“I’m Gabby,” my sister says to Simon and I shake my head.
“I’m sorry, I’m so rude. Simon, this is my sister Gabby, her children Sam and Ailish, and my mother.”
He stands and shakes their hands and kisses their cheeks. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Well, you’re new to me,” Mama replies and glances at me with shrewd eyes. “But it’s a pleasure all the same.”
“Cha cha!” Ailish says and reaches for me, so I take her and prop her on my own hip, kissing her smooth cheek.
“This perfect angel is Ailish.” I brush her light hair off her forehead.
“She’s not an angel,” Sam says. “She ruined my Lego thing that I spent all day building.”
I laugh and glance at Simon. He’s staring at me with hot eyes. Not with anger, but with lust and something else I can’t quite figure out.
“What are y’all up to?” I ask my family.
“Well, yesterday was Sam’s last day of school, so we decided to come into town and take Maman out for lunch,” Gabby says.
“Is Rhys gone already?” I ask, then turn to Simon. “Gabby’s husband is Rhys O’Shaughnessy. He plays baseball for the Cubs.”
“I’ve heard of him,” Simon says.
“You follow baseball in England?”
“I follow all sorts of things,” he replies. “Would you like to join us?”
“Oh no,” Mama says, but I can tell that she has an arsenal of questions for him. “But I would love it if you came to dinner before you leave town.”
“It would be an honor,” Simon replies and kisses her hand, and for the first time in my life, I see my mother blush.
“Aunt Charly, are you still taking me on the gator tour this weekend?”
Crap. I forgot.
“You don’t like gators,” I reply, teasing him.
“I do too! And you said that you’d take me to celebrate school getting out. You’ve never gone to see ’em! I have to show them to you.” His face is earnest and excited, and there’s no way I’m going to tell him no.
“You know, I’ve never seen them either,” Simon says, surprising me.
“You’d want to go with us?”
“Well, it sounds like something I should see while I’m here,” he says and winks at Sam. “And you promised him.”
“Right on!” Sam exclaims and high fives Simon.
“Sounds like we’re going to see the gators this weekend.”
“Better you than me,” Gabby replies and takes Ailish from me, who reaches her little arms out for me and pouts. I kiss her fingers.
“I’ll see you soon too, love bug.”
“Call me,” Gabby says.
They say goodbye and go inside to their table and I sit back down and finish my meal, feeling Simon’s eyes on me with each bite.
“Go ahead and ask.”
“Ask what?”
“Whatever it is that you’re thinking because it’s really loud.”
“I don’t know if it’s a question as much as an observation.”
“Okay.”
“A few observations, actually.”
I laugh and sit back to sip the rest of my martini, watching him.
“Go ahead.”
“You and your sister look a lot alike.”
“We do, yes. And Savannah looks similar as well. My father’s genes were strong.”
“And your family is closer than I realized.”
“We are incredibly close.” I nod and tilt my head. “What else?”
“Her children adore you.”
“They adore all of us.” I smile and think about my brothers with Ailish. She has them wrapped around her tiny finger. “Let’s be honest, they’re adorable.”
“They are.” His eyes smolder again as they find mine. “And you’re bloody gorgeous with a baby on your hip.”
I cock a brow and ignore the fluttering in my stomach. “Am I?”
He nods once and finishes his drink, then waves the waiter over and gives him his card.
“I need to walk off some of this energy,” he says after he signs the check.
“Let’s walk over to Café du Monde,” I suggest. “I could use some sugar.”
He takes my hand and leads me down the street. “Me too.” He kisses my head, and I know he’s not talking about the same sugar I am.
I grin and hold his hand tightly, enjoying our banter and our conversation.
Enjoying him.
***
“I’m so damn tired.” I’m in his car later that night, my head leaning back. I roll my head on the headrest so I can look at him. “You’re really here.”
He glances at me and grins. “I’m here.”
“Crazy. Turn left at that light.” It’s dark now. We spent all day in the Quarter, eating, shopping.
Wandering.
We talked endlessly and laughed more than I have in years. I loved showing him my city.
“I’m up here on the right. The yellow house.” I point to my place and smile. I know that I’m not home much, spending most of my time at work, but I love my house.
“This is a beautiful neighborhood,” Simon says as he pulls into my driveway. “Where’s your car?”
“At work,” I reply and yawn. “I’ll get it tomorrow.”
“What time do you go to work?”
“I’ll leave here around nine. That gives me an hour to settle in at the shop before I open.”
He nods and pulls himself out of the rental, circles the car, and opens my door.
“Help.” I hold my hand out to him and he practically pulls me out and onto my feet. “I think I’ll sleep well tonight.”
“Good.” He kisses my nose and follows me up the steps to my front door. I unlock it, but before I can push it open, he turns me around and kisses me chastely, and pulls away.
“If you’re going to kiss a girl, kiss her right.” I grip his shirt in my fist and pull him back to me, kissing him the way I’ve wanted to all day. Our mouths are hungry for each other, devouring lips and tongues. My leg climbs up around his hip, and the next thing I know, I’m boosted up against the door, his hand is up my skirt and on my bare ass, and I’m ready for him fuck me right here, in front of all of Louisiana.
Suddenly, he lowers me to my feet, kisses my forehead, and backs away, panting and swallowing hard.
He pushes his hand through his hair and smiles. “Good night, Charlotte.”
“Good night?” I’m shocked. “You’re not coming in?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “I told you, I’m not just here for sex.”
“Let’s be honest, Simon, we’re both adults and the chemistry is off the charts.”
“I took you out today, and I loved every minute of it. We have chemistry, yes, but it’ll still be here in the morning.”
“You’re seriously going.” It’s not a question.
“While I still can.” He reaches out to touch me, but thinks better of it, and walks down the steps toward his car.
/>
I watch him pull away, then walk into my house. This is not what I expected at all. I thought we’d spend the night together and I’d be dead on my feet tomorrow from lack of sleep, but blissfully aware of every sore muscle in my body from the workout Simon would give me.
I’m torn between being offended and grateful.
I walk up to my bedroom and immediately shed my shoes and dress, then pull on yoga pants and a tank and wash my face.
He didn’t stay.
My body is still on fire as I crawl between the sheets and flip through the photos we took today on my phone. Selfies in the Quarter. Both of us smiling happily at the camera. In one, Simon kissed my cheek.
He’s here. He’s not staying tonight, and he’s completely knocked me off my feet.
***
My doorbell is ringing.
I come abruptly awake and wake my phone to look at the time.
Eight-thirty. Damn it, I was supposed to be up an hour ago.
I’ve also missed one call and three texts from Simon.
I pad downstairs, not in any hurry, and open the door, blinking against the sunlight and a fresh-faced Simon, smiling and holding a brown paper bag and a drink carrier full of delicious-smelling coffee.
“Good morning, love,” he says. “I was getting worried when you didn’t answer this morning.”
I yawn again and step back, giving him room to come inside. I close the door behind him and lead him back to the sunroom off the kitchen. The furniture in here is colorful and comfortable, and this is where I like to start every day.
“Are you not speaking to me?”
“Not awake yet.” I scrub my hands over my face, stretch my arms over my head toward the ceiling, then touch my toes.
“I’m beginning to get the message that you’re not a morning person.”
His voice is dry, but his eyes are warm as I stand and they leisurely travel over my body.
“I didn’t fall asleep until about three,” I reply and gratefully accept the coffee he offers me. “And then I slept so hard, I didn’t hear my alarm or your call. I’m sorry.”
“I’m the sorry one for waking you,” he replies and sits on the couch, then takes my hand and pulls me down with him. He pulls me into his arms and hugs me close, nuzzling my temple and kissing me softly there. “Waking up like that isn’t fun.”
“I’ll be okay.” But I don’t move away. It feels too damn good to be in his strong arms. “You must have gotten up early.”
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