Page 28 of Never Finished

Charlie laughed. “You’re making it sound like he was having sex on the bar in front of everyone.”

“He might as well have been. I am man enough to admit I had to take a cold shower when I got home.”

“Ugh,” Charlie and I both said in union.

Joey didn’t seem embarrassed one bit, looking at me hesitantly before asking, “Is it true she’s the heiress of Pine Crest Resorts?”

Charlie jerked towards me, alarm in his eyes. “Emma? You were with Emma last night?”

I smiled at him tightly, addressing Joey. “I need you to finish rolling that silverware before the party across the way wraps up, shouldn’t be much longer.”

Joey looked between me and Charlie for a beat before nodding and excusing himself.

“Did I hear that right?” Charlie asked once Joey was out of earshot.

“He’s making a bigger deal out of it than it is. We were just talking at the bar, catching up,” I said, not really in the mood for Charlie’s “realism” at the moment. He was my best friend, and I valued his opinion, but the guy was not the most positive person to talk to when it came to matters of the heart.

Charlie huffed out a laugh. “You know, everyone knows what an honest guy you are, but most don’t realize it’s because you’re a shitty liar.”

I could feel my jaw clench. “No offense, brother, but I don’t need to defend who I spend my time with to you.”

Charlie let out a frustrated sigh. “I get it. You’re a grown man and I’m not your keeper but…” he trailed off, his face mottling with color.

“But what? Spit it out,” I demanded, just wanting to get this over with.

He hesitated before saying, “I just want you to be careful. You remember last time…”

I laughed humorlessly, “Are you serious?”

Charlie put up a placating hand. “Maybe that was a poor choice of words. It’s just… look, I know a lot of time has passed, but she’s still working for her old man, right?” he asked, letting the question hang in the air between us.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“It has everything to do with it. She threw you over for the family business. Now she’s well established in that business. If you weren’t the first choice then, what makes you think you’ll be the first choice now?”

I felt my hands clench at my sides and never had a stronger urge to punch my best friend in the face than I did right now. He had no right to throw all these things in my face and yet…

Yet, they were all valid concerns. I just wasn’t willing to let this euphoric bubble burst.

“Are you done?” I asked tersely.

Charlie scrubbed a frustrated hand over his face and let out a sigh. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Good,” I said, staring over his shoulder, not ready to look him in the eye and reveal my own reservations. “We need you behind the bar. It’s getting backed up.”

Charlie clucked his tongue and said begrudgingly, “Whatever you want, boss.”

I shook my head, because there was a chance I wouldn’t get exactly what I wanted so badly.

Emma

“Well hello sunshine, nice of you to join the land of living,” Caroline sang out to me as I strolled to her table in The Lounge. “I hope you don’t mind, but I already got us plates. I expected you’d be famished after all your extracurricular activities,” she said before taking another bite of her brunch.

I sat down in the chair across from her, busying myself with arranging my napkin on my lap. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I answered coyly before grabbing my fork because she was right—I was famished.

“Please, don’t act like you haven’t been having Olympic-style coitus with the hunky bartender of boyfriend’s past for the past couple of days. How you’re balancing that with your meetings and deadlines, I don’t know, but I have to admit I am feeling a tad neglected,” she sniffed before shoving a smoothie bowl my way. “By the way, have you tried this? The server said they just added to the menu… and you could use the protein,” she said, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

I swallowed the bite of food I’d just taken, clearing my throat. “Really? You feel neglected?” I asked, disbelieving.

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