Page 113 of Never Kiss and Tell

I told him about my dog Lucky, whom Dad had gotten for me at seven when I fell in love with him at the animal shelter. He’d also passed when I was sixteen, from a heart condition, and I was heartbroken. I could barely leave my room for months.

Charlie and I cook together and I manage to not burn the house down. He teaches me jambalaya, gumbo, crawfish étouffée — not quite as stress relieving as full crawfish, but still good. We spend the evenings curled up on the couch or in bed, watching old movies. He tolerates the old slasher films, even sitting through countless chick flicks with me, though I often catch him falling asleep.

It’s all so domestic. The only thing that isn’t is the way he fucks me at night. If I’d thought the sex would wane as time wore on, I was wrong. He kisses me endlessly, until my lips are chapped and swollen. He gives me countless orgasms, and even finally christens the pool with me.

When he’s at work during the day, I work on my novel, but find myself checking the clock until he comes home. I’ve noticed he’s started going in a little later than usual and leaving on time. Even Andi notices something is different. During the rehearsal, when Charlie and I walk down the aisle, she makes a comment about how good we look together, thoroughly embarrassing me and making Charlie chuckle.

One night, he was going over invoices for the bar. I leaned against the side of his desk and he wrapped an arm around my hip, pulling me to sit in his lap.

“Tell me what you’re looking at,” I say, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“This is how much money the bar made last week.” He points to the paperwork in front of him.

My eyes bulge at the large number. “Holy shit. That’s a lot.”

He points to another, smaller number. “That’s how much we have to put back into the business to cover the cost of the next week. That cost is based on what last year was, plus the week previously.”

My head hurts trying to make sense of it all.

I grin at him. “No one told me I was sleeping with Einstein. You’rereallysmart.” I let my finger trail down his bare chest to lower, stopping just above the waistband of his sweats.

He grabs that finger, raising it to his mouth and nipping at the pad. My breath hitches when he does so and he smooths the bite with his tongue. “And you’rereallyfucking beautiful.”

As Andi’s wedding nears, I find myself able to come help out in the restaurant less and less. My days are now filled with meeting the wedding planner, organizing the flowers, making sure all the bridesmaids dresses fit their respective woman. It’s exhausting work, but knowing I can spend my night with Charlie somehow makes up for that.

Drew never cared about making sure we had time for each other. If we did, we did. If not, oh well. That was his motto. Charlie is adamant about seeing me, kissing me the moment he gets home and not stopping until dinner is burning and we are in danger of setting the house on fire.

Saturday brings about the final meeting with Astrid, the wedding planner. She agreed to meet us at the restaurant, laterin the evening, so that Charles can be present, at least some of the time. I’m thankful that Sarah has chosen to sit this meeting out, as I’m trying to turn over a new leaf of kindness and I know she will mess that up.

“Now, the cake will be dark chocolate champagne with white raspberry vanilla frosting. The caterer is set to have it there by five, so right before you arrive from the ceremony.”

I don’t know anything about cake, but Idoknow the samples I tried last week were unlike anything I’ve ever tasted before. If I ever manage to find a man fucked up enough to marry me, I want to have a cake specially flown in to wherever the wedding is.

Charlie catches my eye from the bar and I look him up and down. He’s been distracting me tonight and I’m already thinking about what I’m going to do with him when we get home. Discretely, I check the time on my phone. Two hours till close. I can handle that. I think.

His black button-up clings to his abs and my mouth waters. His eyes shoot to mine and flash with something dark and primal. Possessive. My skin feels like it’s been dipped in molten silver under his gaze. His lip quirks up and I know he’s remembering last night when he’d ventured lower, again, making me come until my legs shook and my heart was racing.

“Also, the florist will have everything ready at one, so that should cover the room for any guests that decide to arrive early.”

“What flowers did we even settle on, Bailey? I can’t remember.” An elbow hits me in the arm and jerks my attention back to the table. “Bailey.”

“Sorry,” I murmur, shaking my head as heat blooms up myneck. “Light pink roses and white lilies.”

Andi nods, happy with her choice. “I thought the pink would look good against all the white curtains in the venue.”

The planner launches into more details about the wedding, but my eyes lock on the back of a brunette head as she saddles up to the bar.

Bianca looks like sex in high heels, with a turquoise tank top that reaches just below her breasts, high-waisted denim shorts and wedge sandals. Her hair cascades down her back, the ends reaching just above her hips and perfectly straight. God, not only is she pretty, she has the best hair, too. She leans over the bar in a way that would press her breasts together — which, might I add, are perfect, too — and Charlie’s unreadable mask slips into place. He says something I wish I could hear and jealously curls in my stomach, making me sick.

I tell myself it’s nothing because the blank expression on Charlie’s face holds none of the heat it does for me. You could have thrown a cold bucket of water on him and you would get more fire.

Bianca reaches out, running a hand down his arm and he doesn’t move away.

That doesn’t look like nothing.

Deciding I can’t watch anymore, I look away.

It’s not until I catch the two of them sneaking to the back that I look again, my gaze following the broad lines of Charlie’s shoulders as he leaves the room.

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