“I can’t do this,” I tell him before turning away. “I’m sorry.”
And then I walk down the street, not looking back. My heart breaking with each step I take.
This is my decision, but as I check into the motel at the end of the block, all I can think is how bad I feel.
And right decisions never feel so wrong.
Chapter Nine
Charlie
I want to run after her, but I am not going to face the woman I adore without fixing a few things first.
Still, as I watch her walk away, I know it is for the very last time. When I face her next, it’s gonna be on different terms. It will be with a proposal she won’t want to refuse.
Of course, I can’t let the woman I love check into that seedy hotel without some protection. So, I walk back into my bookie room, Johnny is already taping cardboard up in the shattered window. Vince is sweeping up the glass, and Danny is taking the bets from my paying customers.
When they see me, everyone pauses, a giant question mark in the air.
“So, who the hell was that girl and where is she now?” Vinny asks.
“Yeah, she was all sorts of beautiful,” Danny adds, elbowing his buddy.
I clench my jaw; eyes set firmly. “That’s Candy, and we’re getting married.”
“Where is she now?” Johnny asks.
“That’s what I need you for. I have a few things to deal with, and until I get back, I need you, Johnny, and Vinny to watch over her.” I tell them that she had walked into the Ace Line Motel and they grimace.
“Why’s your girl at a shitty place like that?” Vinny asks. “I thought they only rented rooms by the hour.”
“The thing is, she hasn’t agreed to be my bride quite yet. However, this bookie thing, she isn’t having any of it. And I understand that. After the shit that went down here today, there’s no way in hell, I’d let my woman get close to the thugs who want to mess with us.”
“What are you saying?” Vinny asks.
“I’m saying that I’m done with this life.”
“And what are you gonna do instead?”
“Sell the place.”
Johnny twists his lips, clearly thinking about something. “Can I buy it?”
I shake my head. “It’s time you got married, Johnny. I’m not selling you a business that’s gonna ruin your life. My ma left my dad because he chose gambling over his family. I understand now why she did it. She knew this wasn’t the place to raise her kids.”
Eyebrows raised, Johnny chuckles. “I don’t want to run a bookie shop, and I don’t know about wife and kids, but I do know I’d like to open up a dog grooming shop.”
“A dog what?”
Johnny grins, bends down and kisses the ole mutt at his knee. “Yeah, I wanna have a grooming shop. Maybe I’ll call it Doggy Style.”
I shake my head, laughing. Then I offer my old friend a hand. “But it’s a package deal. The building is all one unit. And the bigger issue here is Angelino Ichivetti is gonna be pissed that I’m closing shop. He’s not gonna too happy with you.”
Ichivetti is the mafia boss in town. Running this place means I’ve worked alongside him for years.
“I can handle him,” Johnny says. “I want this building.”
I shake my head, knowing that the idea of Johnny starting a new, decent life, is more than I could hope for. He’s been through hell and back and I know being one of my paid thugs isn’t helping things.
“Can I work for you?” Vinny asks him.
I scowl. “What? I can’t lose another one of my men.”
“What do you mean?” Vinny asks. “What business are you going into?”
I smile, thinking about my girl. “I’ll let you know, but I gotta tell Candy first. Speaking of, you guys gotta go watch over her, understand? And if anything shady goes down, you need to call me right away.”
I leave the bookie shop with Danny in charge of closing for the day, and Johnny and Vinny head towards the Ace Line Motel. Me? I jump in my car and take off.
There is one place I need to go, and it’s for two reasons. The moment I pull up at my mom’s house, I begin to wonder what she’s gonna think of what happened to me since we last spoke on the phone.
“Ma?” I call out, knocking on the door before pushing it open. “Hey, Ma, it’s me.”
She rounds the corner, apron on, smiling. “Oh, Charlie, what are you doing here? Dinner isn’t for another few hours.”
“I know, but I needed to talk to you about a few things first.”
“Should I be worried?”
I shake my head. “No. This is gonna make your day. Month. Year even.”
Ma’s face brightens. “Okay, my curiosity is piqued. What is it?”
I tell her my plans, tell her about Candy, and she presses a hand to her chest.
“You have a girlfriend??”
I nod. “Nearly. I sold the bookie shop. I’m closed for business. I need to be an honest man with a safe and steady line of work.”
“Why now?” She sets her hands on her hips. “After all these years of me telling you it was a bad business?”
I feel my face flush. “Truth is Ma, I made a mistake by not listening to you. But then I met Candy.”
Ma nods, trying to catch on.
I continue. “I met Candy when she came to interview at the chocolate shop and I knew then. Knew I needed to be a better man so I could protect her, take care of her.”
“This is the girl from your interview today?” Ma’s eyes widen. “Charlie, you’re changing your life for a girl you just met.”
“We may have just met, but I’m gonna know her for the rest of my life.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“I asked her to be my wife.”
Ma nearly faints at that. “Oh Lord, Charlie, what did you go and do?”
I smile. “I found the girl I’ve been waiting for.”
Chapter Ten
Candy
I shower, wash and dry my hair, shave my legs. I take my time, focusing on the perfect time I spent in Charlie’s bed, and not the moments after. The moments when it all changed so fast.
I messed up by running away and telling him not to follow. It didn’t take me long to realize what I did wasn’t what I want. I don’t want to be here in this motel. I want to be with the man whose eyes locked with mine and made my heart fill with love, joy, and promises. I want Charlie.
And if that means being the wife of a thug or a gambler or whatever he is, then so be it. A life without him isn’t a life I want.
Wrapped in a towel, I run the iron over the uniform Charlie gave me earlier. It’s crumpled, but it’s the only thing I want on when I march back down to his apartment.
Dressing, I view myself in the mirror. The dress is so tight, and the buttons pull at my breasts, but I smile, thinking of the way Charlie looked at me when he saw me in it. I hate the idea that I might have ruined a chance for him to look at me like that for the rest of my life.
He asked me to marry him.
But did he really mean it? Could he have?
First things first. I need to go back to him and figure out where we stand.
Reaching for a coat from inside my suitcase, I put it on, grateful it covers my backside. Then I grab my purse, placing my room key in it, and then open the motel room door. Staring straight at me are two men I vaguely recognize.
“Can I help you?” I ask them.
“I’m Vinny, and this is Johnny,” a man with dark black hair says.
Johnny clears his throat. “We met earlier.”
I nod slowly, remembering him barging in on Charlie and me when I was naked, a sheet held tightly against my body. “What are you here for?”
“We’re just keeping an eye out.”
“Eye out for what?” I ask, looking around.
“For you. Charlie sent us here to watch over you until he gets here.”
“He’s coming?” I ask, shaking my head in confusion.
&
nbsp; “I’m already here,” Charlie’s voice calls out from down the stairwell. I turn my head and watch as his impressive frame reaches the top of the landing near my room. He has a dozen red roses in his hand and when Vinny and Johnny see him, they give him a nod. “Everything good here?” he asks them.
Vinny nods. “Not a noise. But you better believe we’d have taken care of things if there had been.”
“Your girl is fine, but you can’t let her sleep at this motel. It gets seedy at night,” Johnny says, talking about me as if I’m not here.
“You don’t think I know that?” Charlie asks with a raised brow.
“Right, boss, of course, you do.” The two men walk away, leaving me with Charlie. Before they reach the stairs though, Johnny turns back and smiles. “Make sure you invite me to the wedding.”
My belly flip flops. Wedding? Charlie is here with roses, clearly looking for me. He’s already proposed. Is he assuming I will go back to him? Part of me wants to be annoyed at the presumption. Another part — the bigger part — is thrilled at the idea of him fighting for me.
“You asked those two to sit outside my door? How long were they there?”
“I had to, Candy,” Charlie says, stepping toward me, handing me the roses. I take them, bringing the blossoms to my nose. “I had to make sure you were safe. They came here while I took care of a few things.”
I bite my bottom lip. I want to tell him I don’t care about his job or his sketchy resume. That I just want him, but before I can, he continues.
“I’d understand if after everything this afternoon, you never wanted to speak to me again. I should never have put you in a position where you doubted your safety. But damn, Candy, I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“You don’t have to apologize for who you are. I shouldn’t have run. I should have stayed until I understood. Until I understood you.”
Charlie’s eyes soften, meeting mine. “You’re too good for me, Candy. But God, I want to be the man you need. It’s why I’m moving on.”
My eyes narrow. “What do you mean?”
“I sold the chocolate shop and the bookie business to Johnny.”
My heart falls. “You sold the chocolate shop?”
He reaches for my hand, even though I’m not sure what will come next, I let him take it. His grip on me is solid and confident, and I don’t want him to let go. “Yes, and before you say anything, let me explain a few things.”
I lick my lips, loving the way Charlie looks at me, his smile teasing, and the touch of his fingers against my skin. I want him to run his hands all over me, and I feel like I am hanging on his every last word.
“I’ve been running a bookie joint ever since my father passed. I took over the family business, so to speak. Only my ma and pops broke up because he wouldn’t quit his life of crime. I don’t want to be the same kind of man who loses out on the good things in life because of my job. I can do other things. Support you, us, in other ways.”
My breathing hitches in my throat as I realize Charlie does genuinely want to care for me. Take care of me.
I open my mouth to speak, wanting him to know exactly how I feel. “It’s crazy to imagine you coming to this conclusion in the small space of a day, Charlie, but we can’t choose the moment we fall head over heels for someone. We can’t pick out the day of the week we meet the person we are meant to spend forever with.”
Charlie’s eyes go wide. “Do you realize what you’re saying?”
I smile as hope bubbles in my chest. “I do, Charlie. I want to go all-in with you. And if it means supporting us until you get a job— “
He cuts me off. “No, Candy, that wasn’t what I was saying. We have a job that will keep us plenty busy. I sold the chocolate shop — it was just a front for my bookie business — and I bought us a factory.”
My mouth falls open. “Charlie, you bought a factory?”
He grins. “A chocolate factory.”
I laugh. “Charlie owns a chocolate factory?”
He smiles. “It’s not Charlie’s Chocolate Factory; it’s ours.”
I frown, confused. “You really bought us a chocolate factory?”
He runs a hand over his jaw. “I know it’s crazy, but my ma is a real estate agent and I knew it was for sale, and you said you love making chocolate and it felt -- right. “He chuckles. “I know. Maybe it’s the strangest coincidence in the world, but it’s our strange coincidence. Our version of fate. Our serendipity.”
“You really did this?”
“Yes, Candy. I did. And I want to do a hell of a lot more.”
“Like what?”
“Like make you my wife.”
“We literally just met,” I whisper, even though it doesn’t scare me to dive in headfirst. I just want to be sure he knows what he’s saying.
“And you and I are meant to spend forever together. You said so yourself.”
“Just because the stuff that happened at your shop today was scary doesn’t mean you have to feel indebted to me.”
Charlie pulls me into his arms, the roses crushed between us. “I know what I am saying, what I am asking. I took one look at you, Candy, and my mind was made up. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, but I won’t wait until then to say it — I love you.”
“We haven’t spent a night together. What if — “
“You snore?”
I laugh. “Yes. Because I do.”
He grins. “Great, because I sleep like a log.”
“I get moody when I’m hungry. And I like to take long showers that use up all the hot water.”
“You think you are gonna scare me off with this list? I get hangry too. And I take cold showers so there.”
I shake my head, savoring the weight of his arms around my body. “So, we are gonna do this? Run a chocolate factory together? Live in your apartment?”
He shakes his head. “No, I gave the apartment to Johnny. I need to get my woman a big house for all those babies we’re gonna make.”
“I like the sound of that,” I giggle, nuzzling closer. My body is suddenly hot with a fire only he can tame. “We could get started now,” I pull back my jacket, revealing the tiny uniform. I see the top buttons have popped open. My breasts are now openly on display. My nipples are hard, and I feel his cock against my belly. He’s plenty hard.
He grunts. “Two things first. One, you still have to say yes to my marriage proposal and two, we have to go somewhere else to make love, because Candy, this motel is not where I want to spend my night with you.”
I laugh. “Fair enough.” I exhale, looking him over, My mouth salivates at the thought of his cock between my lips, his hot come sliding down my throat, his big, muscular body rubbing against mine. “I will marry you,” I whisper, on my tiptoes, my words in his ear. “So long as you promise to come inside me every time I ask.”
Charlie laughs. “That is the easiest promise anyone has ever asked me to make.”
“Then yes, Charlie, I will marry you.”
Charlie pulls a glittering diamond ring from his pocket and slips it on my finger. “It was my grandma’s ring.” My eyes water, I have never had anything like a family heirloom, and this is so special. I will cherish it forever.
Charlie squeezes my ass, then lifts me off the ground, and he kisses me deeply. “God, I love you woman.”
“Good,” I say between kisses. “Then take me somewhere with clean sheets and prove it.”
Chapter Eleven
Charlie
She said, ‘yes.’
Yes.
She is wearing my grandmother’s diamond ring, and she is in my arms and she said yes.
“God, Candy, I’m so fucking happy right now,” I say, taking her suitcase in one hand, my other arm around her waist.
“Me too,” she says, eyes bright with excitement. As we drive toward the chocolate factory, we can hardly keep our hands off one another. God, I want to kiss every single inch of her.
When we get to the factory, we get out of the car and st
and, hand in hand, looking at the large building before us. She smiles broadly. “This is what you bought us?”
I nod. “What do you think?”
Tears fill her eyes and she squeezes my hand. “I don’t understand how it happened so quickly.”
“What part? The falling in love or the factory?”
“All of it,” she says, breathlessly. She turns to me, and I pull her into my arms. She wraps her arms around my neck, holding on tightly and I hold her still, in my arms. I know she is crying, and I want to be the man who always does the right thing when it comes to her, who holds tight, refuses to let go.
“Candy, this is just the beginning of our love story.”
She looks up at me. “Charlie, thank you.”
“For what?”
“For waiting for me. All your life. It makes this even more perfect. We saved ourselves for the one perfect day. This moment right here. I’m so thankful.”
I kiss her nose. “Wanna go inside and see?”
She nods, and I pull out the keys, explaining how my ma is a real estate agent and how this property came to me so quickly.
“Wow,” she says as we step inside. She’s jaw dropped as she looks around. “What did you do? How did you… Charlie!” She turns in a circle as she takes in the foyer of the factory. There are hundreds of red roses surrounding us. “It’s what took me so long to get back to you at the motel. Ma and me, we did this.”
“She knows?”
I nod. “Of course, and she expects us for dinner so…”
Candy laughs, plucking a red rose. “This is insane. So wonderfully insane.”
I pull her to me, this time with a deep kiss. “Want a tour?” She nods, and we walk down a corridor, through the factory, taking it all in. “Of course, we will need to learn a lot, and there will be tons of things to decide, but we have the bones of a business.”
“It’s amazing,” she says breathlessly. “And what’s down here?”
Sweet Spot Page 4
