Once a Charmer

by Sharla Lovelace

  Bash nodded and ran a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up and making me want to run my fingers through it. Touch him. Hug him. Do mouth-to-mouth. I couldn’t stand the awkwardness between us. I needed normal back, our new normal in particular, and both had sailed. I glanced back at the front door where Bailey had exited. Apparently normal had sailed on a lot of things.

  “See you later, Allie,” he said, brushing past me to the door as I breathed him in.

  “Bash, what were you going to say earlier?” I blurted out. “Before,”—I gestured toward the air around us—“all that.”

  He forced a grin that didn’t go very far. “It doesn’t matter.”

  Then why did it feel like his leaving took all the air from the room.

  * * *

  It was a whirlwind afternoon. Business was hopping and so was my brain. Lange was gone—gone! Free of strings, free of everything. I could hardly wrap my mind around it. While the logical side of me said it was too good to be true, I was beginning to notice that when it came to certain things in Charmed, logic wasn’t necessarily part of the equation.

  The diner was mine again, and suddenly I felt full of ideas to make things better. Oddly, Lange’s presence had created that. I’d just been going through the motions of what had always been done, before. Things were different now. I was different, now.

  I’d had a taste of a tiny bit of freedom, of someone else taking on a few of the managerial responsibilities, and while I hated how it was done, some of those moments had been liberating. I had to recognize that. I wanted to relish being solo again for a bit, but I needed to make a plan for the future. I didn’t see Angel following in my footsteps. She cared about it, but not in a career sort of way, whereas Nick… It was a thought to ponder on, taking on a real partner one day. Someone who would love the place like I did, that could split the responsibilities so that I could have a life outside of it.

  I pulled up to Dad’s trailer at dusk, chuckling as I saw him sitting outside in his robe and slippers, kicked back in his lawn chair and smoking on the tiny deck he’d built years ago that would kind of hold two chairs. I felt the need to check on him, knowing that Bailey had come by, and since Angel was at a sleepover tonight (at an actual girl’s house, I checked with the mother), I had nowhere to be anytime soon. I took out my hair band and fluffed out my hair with my fingers.

  “It’s not time for you to visit,” he said, attempting to put out the cigarette so that I wouldn’t see it.

  “I know,” I said. “This day’s crazy like that, so breathe through it.” I held up a hand. “Quit stressing about the cigarette, it’s not a secret, Dad.”

  “I take a shit every day, too,” he said, grinding it out on a rock he’d set next to the chair. “Doesn’t mean I want you watching me do it.”

  I lifted my eyebrows in agreement as I grabbed the extra fold-out chair leaning against the trailer and set it up next to him.

  “I guess you have a point there, Confucius.”

  “I’m popular today,” he said. “So what brings you here during my quiet time?”

  I was always hesitant to bring up hot topics when he was being semi-lucid. I didn’t like stirring him up.

  “Remember the money?” I asked.

  “From the trees,” he said, his eyes going a little sad. “It’s for you.”

  “I know,” I said, patting his arm. “And it’s legit. Bailey told me the story.”

  “Bailey came by today,” he said, rubbing at his stubbly jaw.

  “Yeah?” I said, playing innocent of that knowledge.

  “Yeah,” he said. “He told me that Landon Lange is out of the picture; that you didn’t need to worry about him anymore.”

  I closed my eyes and blew out a breath. “That’s the rumor.” I looked at my dad. His stubble was white now, to match his hair. He looked so much older and more frail in the last year, it broke my heart. “Bailey was a good friend to you, wasn’t he?”

  “He was,” he said. “He is.” Dad gave me a sideways glance. “So, what did you do with that money?”

  “Put it in my dryer,” I said. “Where Angel then found it, and I had to tell her you won it gambling because she thought I was part of the mob.”

  My dad looked at me for a moment, and then started laughing. I got goose bumps at the sound. I hadn’t heard him laugh in—I didn’t know how long. I chuckled with him.

  “And now?” he asked finally.

  “It’s in the bank, drawing interest.” His expression changed to alarm. “I told them it was old family money, a gift from eccentric old people who hoarded cash and didn’t trust banks,” I said. “I’ll pay some fees but it’s fine. It’s safer there than in my dryer. Or your drawer, or—trees.”

  I almost told him about the Honey Queen thing, but I figured that could be a discussion for another visit. This was about the most normal conversation we’d had in a long time, and I didn’t want to push it.

  Instead, I just enjoyed sitting with my dad, chatting about the squirrels he’d been feeding, Angel’s life (minus the condoms and the night of the storm), the kids a row over who kept losing their Frisbee, and who was cheating on who three trailers down.

  “It’s entertaining, how much you witness when people think you’re too crazy to notice,” he said, a grin pulling at his lips.

  I gave him an amused look. “Well, look at you.”

  He gave me a look right back, as clear as what was now a sky full of stars.

  “Say yes.”

  Chills covered my skin.

  “What did you just say?” I breathed.

  Your dad had his dreams…

  “I said, say yes,” he repeated.

  I stared at him, blinking. This day was weird enough, I couldn’t take much more.

  “Yes to what, Dad,” I managed.

  “To all of it,” he said. “For starters, go talk to him.”

  I laughed nervously. Possibly maniacally. “Him.”

  Dad pushed up out of his chair with a grunt, and looked at me wearily. “What did I just tell you? My girl, you wear me out sometimes.” He stretched his back. “Go on now, it’s time for my chocolate pudding before my shows.”

  I just stared at him, unable to move. How could he possibly know—

  “Or just sit there, then,” he said, shrugging. “Makes me no difference. Just put the chair back where you got it. Night.”

  He shuffled in and shut the door, clicking it locked.

  “Night,” I whispered in stunned response.

  I don’t know how long I sat there on my dad’s little porch, trying to make sense of yet one more thing that wasn’t supposed to make sense. Eventually, I got up and folded my chair, put it back in its place against the side of the trailer, and got into my Jeep.

  I started it, turned toward home, and kept driving.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Bash’s house was on the same property as Anderson’s Apiary. He’d built the business small to begin, and grew it into what it was now, never dreaming it would have come this far. He was on the edge of town, off the beaten path a little, and his home was even further tucked back. There was no traffic through here, so my headlights coming down his graveled street was a dead giveaway.

  He was standing in his doorway in sweatpants and a T-shirt when I got out, and by the time I stood in front of him, even my insides were shaking.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Angel?”

  I shook my head. “She’s at a sleepover.”

  I had no plan. No speech. No thoughts to lead with. No anything.

  All I had was myself and my heart that was currently knocking around inside me like a rogue pinball on crack.

  “I lied, today,” I said, the last word coming out silently. “When I said I was okay. That things were okay.” I took a deep, trembling breath and let it out slowly. “N
othing is okay without you, Bash. I miss you.”

  The last three words were barely spoken before he crossed the few feet between us and lifted my mouth to his.

  All my worries, my stresses, my fears dissolved in a puddle at my feet as he kissed me. Soft and tender. Harder. Softer again. And again. And again.

  I melted against him right there on his front porch, languishing in the feel of his body as my hands ran up his back and his tucked me tightly against him. One came up to my face and went into my hair, angling my head so that he could kiss me deeper, longer, more thoroughly. More lovingly. I never wanted to stop. Not this moment, this night, this man. Ever. That thought rocked me and I took a deep breath.

  “Bash,” I breathed.

  “Sshhh,” he said against my lips. “No words.”

  “But—”

  “No arguing,” he said, kissing my top lip. “No endless reasons not to do this,” he said, running his tongue over my bottom lip. “I don’t care.” He kissed me softly. “Just shut up, because God, I need you.”

  He gave me a slow, deep, wet kiss that curled my toes and made me sigh with more wanting than I’d ever felt in my life. No one had ever kissed me like that. Unhurried, yet so full of desire it made my head swim.

  Bash lifted me off my feet as we came up for air, carrying me inside and kicking the door closed, his mouth never leaving mine. He didn’t set me down until we were in his bedroom, and by then I had his shirt off and he had my bra unhooked. It all came over my head in a lump, and he turned me around, palming my breasts as he wrapped his arms around me and dragged his mouth slowly down the side of my neck. Oh God, it was magic, his hands on my body, the addictive smell of him filling my senses. I stretched like a cat, arching my back, settling my ass against him while I reached up behind me to fill my fingers with his hair.

  He made a seductive growling noise, his hands leaving my breasts to slide down my belly, pressing me back harder, teasing me with sliding below my jeans for just a moment then back out to unzip me and slide them over my hips. His hands followed them, as his mouth trailed kisses down my spine.

  It was erotic and primal, concentrating on sensations without words. I turned and stepped out of my jeans, and let him kiss his way back up, unable to hold back the gasp as he ran his hands up my thighs and pressed a kiss to the tiny piece of fabric covering me.

  I had barely recovered from that when I found myself lifted into his arms and placed in his bed. I opened my mouth to tell him there were things I wanted to do to him first, but he covered it with a finger, running it along my lips and looking at me with so much—oh my God, the words were bursting inside of me with that look. And my world changed.

  Right then. Right there.

  Tears burned the backs of my eyes as I pulled him to me and held his face in my hands as I kissed him with my unspoken words. As I tried to put every thought, every emotion, every feeling I had for him into my touch, my kiss. It physically hurt my chest as I looked into his eyes and knew. This was what it was like. The real thing. Our bodies tangled as we dove into one another, taking our time but yet needing, kissing like there was no tomorrow, caressing, touching, licking; bringing moans but no words. His pants were history as I made love to him with my mouth. My panties were tossed across the room somewhere as he tasted and sucked me to almost incoherency.

  I was to the point of begging him to bury himself inside me when he did just that, groaning as he pushed deeper into me, and the feel of him stretching me to squeeze around him as he lifted my legs over his shoulders and pumped into me, harder and harder, sent me tumbling over the edge.

  My whole body arched under him as the waves rocked me, and I cried his name out in ecstasy in my first broken rule of the night. He was right there with me, his fingers digging into my thighs, his eyes closed as the thunder rolled through him.

  We collapsed together in a tangle of limbs and sheets, spent and so satisfied, the only thought coursing through my mind being please keep up the silence. Words ruined this the last time. I didn’t want anything to ruin the amazing, over-the-top, beautiful thing we’d just experienced.

  It was as if he heard me. He lifted his head and moved a wild lock hair from my eyes; that look burning through me. We stayed like that for several long moments, both of us realizing that may be the only way to do this.

  Then he ran his thumb along my cheek.

  “Stay,” he said. “Stay the night.”

  The impact of those simple words—from this man—it brought tears to my eyes and they blinked free, tracking back into my hair.

  “Okay.”

  * * *

  Waking up sore and creaky, but with warm man solid against my back, his arms around me and one breast in his hand—it was something out of my fantasies.

  It was real. It had happened. Bash Anderson, the perpetual bachelor who never let anyone sleep over, had asked me to stay. To make love all night, in every possible position, until we had nothing left, and fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  We didn’t do the whole night in silence, obviously, but we kept it to sex and laughing banter. Only our eyes said other things, and that’s when we’d go quiet.

  I tried to disentangle myself without waking him, but he stirred when I nearly fell out of the bed and had to grab the nightstand.

  “You okay?” he asked sleepily, rubbing at his eyes.

  “Just a little rigor mortis,” I said, wincing as I stretched. “I think you might have broken me.”

  Bash chuckled. “What a way to die.” He balled up a pillow under his head and gazed at me. “What a sight to wake up to. Why are we awake, though?”

  “I’m awake because I have to pee,” I said. “And it’s daylight, and non-vampires tend to move around at that time.”

  “That’s assuming said non-vampires actually slept during the moonlight hours,” he said.

  “And I do have to be at the diner in a couple of hours,” I said. “Nick can open, but I need to show up.”

  “You need a day off,” he said.

  “I’m—looking into plans for that,” I said. “Right now, I just want to enjoy having my office back to myself again.”

  Bash got up and brushed his teeth, and I did the only thing I could do, which was to pop a piece of gum in my mouth so I didn’t blow fire. I found all my clothes and put them back on, waiting for the dread to hit me. Waiting for that thing that was going to kill the wonderful.

  When he padded back in, barefoot, wearing the sweatpants and a fresh T-shirt, I sighed.

  “What?” he said.

  “You can look that hot getting out of bed,” I said. “It’s not fair.”

  “You should be on my side,” he said, pulling me into his arms playfully. “You have no idea how hot you are to wake up to. And how much I want to put you back in that bed right now.” He took my hand and settled it against his rock hard dick. “Yeah,” he said. “That much.”

  My thoughts went a little fuzzy as I moved my fingers along him.

  “Hmmm.”

  “Keep that up, and there will be no work today,” he said, his hand sliding down to my ass.

  “Okay, okay,” I said, shaking my head free of naughty thoughts and letting go of him amongst groans of protest. “I have to go be a grown-up now. Quit teasing me.”

  “I’ll walk you out.”

  He kissed me before I shut my door, and I was just marveling at how well we’d managed the night and the morning without drama, without saying the things that were screaming to be said. Especially last night. Then he tapped on my window again as I went to back out.

  I rolled the window down.

  “You rang?”

  He leaned in to drop another soft kiss on my lips, and then backed out slowly, locking eyes with me in that—

  “I love you,” he said.

  He touched my cheek and backed up, a small smile pul
ling at his lips before he turned and walked back into the house, and shut the door.

  “Holy shit,” I whispered.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Really?

  You drop that on a girl and send her on her way to work with a kiss and a smile and just walk in the house like nothing happened?

  Kerri had to nudge me four different times as I just stopped mid-activity and stared into space.

  “Miss Greene, are you okay?” she asked, the last time. “You don’t seem yourself.”

  I wasn’t myself. Myself wasn’t a person who normally got completely and thoroughly fucked all night and then told I love you the next morning. Myself didn’t know what the hell to do with this person she was walking around in today.

  Carmen called me.

  “It’s beautiful out, let’s take the day off,” she said. “I was going to work on some briefs today, but screw that. Let’s grab Lanie and go play at the Lucky Charm and just have some fun. Bring Angel.”

  Normally, I would have laughed at everyone’s attempt to get me playing hooky, knowing it was something I’d never do, but today I was—I was a looped out freak on a sex hangover. Maybe I did need to break away and clear the cobwebs. And when was the last time I brought Angel to do something that carefree?

  That was the selling point.

  I asked Nick to cover, Kerri to back him up on the floor (and crossed my fingers on that), called Angel that I was picking her up, and I was off.

  I almost texted Bash, was so tempted, but no. This was a girl’s day, and my stomach was already in knots from this morning. I needed to ponder that more. When I was alone. Because—I was an idiot.

  We played for hours. Rode kiddie rides like fools, rode the bumper cars so everyone’s brains could get knocked a little loose, and we all looked at the roller coaster construction going on. They could have that. I wouldn’t be going up there.