Page 88 of Mr. Charming

“We don’t have to put any rules into action, but I’m being serious. I want to take this slow.”

He blows out a breath and puts out his hand. “Fine, Tedi Douglas, I promise to abide by your rules while I try to court you into falling in love with me all over again.”

“Dramatic much?”

He wiggles his hand in the air. “Come on. The faster we agree on the terms, the faster I can work my way around your rules.”

I have no doubt he will.

I shake his hand, then he pulls me in a bit closer. “Looks like me and you are best buds again.”

I playfully push him, and we both laugh.

“Do we have a time limit here?” he asks, and I blow out a breath. “I’m kidding. But can we at least seal this agreement with a kiss?”

“Sure.” I lean forward and kiss him, but he places his hand on the back of my head, keeping me there. I wait for his tongue to slide into my mouth, but he keeps the kiss respectable.

Our phones vibrate again, and we pull apart.

“What the hell?” Tweetie says, both of us leaning over to grab our phones.

We’ve been added to a group message asking us to go to breakfast.

“Well, thank you, Jade.” Tweetie fiddles with his phone. “I just scored your number. Unless that’s against the rules. Can I text you, madam?”

“You may text me twice a day,” I say in my best version of an English accent.

“I negotiate for at least ten.”

I shake my head. “You can text me whenever you want.”

My phone vibrates in my hand, and his response in the group pops up with his name.

He peers over to see. “Uh-oh, someone’s a little liar. You didn’t delete me.”

I hold my phone close to my chest. “I needed it for work.”

“Bullshit.” He gets me on my back, tickling me. After I fall into a fit of giggles, he remains over me. “I’m going to win you back. You know that, right?”

I smile and put my hand on his cheek. “Maybe I’ll win you back.”

“Babe, you never lost me.”

Tears well in my eyes, but I try to push them back. Could we really get to where we need to be? I hope I’m not crazy for believing we can.

“Will you let me take you to breakfast with everyone?” he asks.

“I don’t know.”

“Hey, you said we could do coffee. I’ll starve myself and just drink coffee if that makes you happy. Plus, we’ll be in a group. And you’ll get to see Rowan’s neurotic pancake routine. You don’t want to miss that, do you?”

“Fine, but no hand holding, and you have to sit across the table from me.”

He holds up his hands. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“Doubtful.”

“Come on. Let’s go.” He gets up and holds out his hand.

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