The women gasped.
“You had to be rescued?” someone asked.
“You were stranded with that hottie?” Ally asked. “What happened?” She waggled her brows, which disappeared under her blonde bangs.
“Nothing happened,” Charlotte lied. “He was a gentleman.” Only a gentleman would’ve given her such a fantastic orgasm and then asked for nothing in return.
“Bummer,” Mad said. “Sorry. My dad drummed the gentleman thing into all my brothers. I didn’t think it took with Ty that much. He usually does whatever the hell he wants.”
Charlotte took a long drink of green tea, working on toning down the heat she could feel creeping up her neck. “Anyway, since we were stuck in deep mud, we had to cut the engine, which meant the sunset dinner cruise had no dinner. He couldn’t cook the spaghetti—”
“Spaghetti, ha!” Mad exclaimed. “I knew he couldn’t cook a real dinner.”
“He had good intentions,” Charlotte snapped. She took a deep calming breath. “The spaghetti sauce was frozen, so we couldn’t eat that.” She stopped for a moment, barely registering the murmurs of sympathy, as she realized she’d forgotten all about the sauce once things had started heating up with Ty. It was unusual, her response to him, even thinking about him gave her a hot flash. Some part of her wished they’d had a chance to have a little more naked fun time. She never did get to—
“Let me guess,” Mad said, “you crunched raw spaghetti for dinner.”
Charlotte quickly wrapped up her story, not wanting to dwell on Ty and her unusually lusty thoughts. “We found some jellybeans. I have hypoglycemia, so it made me feel really tired with the sugar highs and lows. I even took a nap, and when I woke, the police were there to rescue us.”
Hailey gave her a skeptical look. “I feel like we might’ve missed part of the story. You guys just napped, stranded out on a yacht all alone in the dark for hours?”
Charlotte crossed her legs and focused on straightening out her tunic. “Yup.” They had napped after a lot of naked time that would never be spoken of again for a variety of sexy and dark reasons.
“Are you going to see him again?” Hailey asked.
“I’m pretty busy now at work,” Charlotte said, avoiding everyone’s eyes. “I’m trying to build up clients for one-on-one work and he’s busy too, heading back to LA soon.” She forced a laugh. “It was a crazy date, but that’s it. Let’s hear chapter one, Hailey.”
Hailey, always eager to get them started on a new book together, immediately stood with her e-reader and launched into the story. Charlotte let out a breath of relief.
After book club, they headed across the street for a drink at Garner’s. It was their Thursday night tradition now. Josh was behind the bar, as usual. Now that Charlotte had spent so much time with Ty, she saw him in his older brother Josh too. Ty was a bulky inked version of Josh, though Ty had an exuberant outgoing personality, whereas Josh was the definition of low-key. Except tonight, Josh’s eyes shot fire as Hailey approached the bar.
Charlotte stuck close to Hailey because the pair were always entertaining. Josh had once been a paid escort for Hailey at the many weddings she planned and, since their falling out, he’d spiked Hailey’s nachos with a super-spicy pepper and “run out” of the ingredients to Hailey’s favorite mojito whenever she tried to order it. Hailey was no innocent in all this, starting a rumor that he was impotent. A truce a few months ago at the New Year’s Eve party had settled on Josh’s part when he finally granted Hailey her favorite mojito, all ingredients accounted for.
Hailey ordered in a cheerful voice. “Hi, Josh. I’d like a mojito, please.”
“All out of mojitos,” Josh said in a low measured tone that spoke volumes. He was pissed, all right, in his low-key way.
Hailey stared. “What?”
He leaned close, palms on the dark cherrywood bar top, practically nose to nose with Hailey. “Every single ingredient is gone, even the mint wilted.”
A low murmur ran through their group. Everyone knew what that meant. The women took seats near Hailey for a good view of the fireworks. They’d all been waiting for this moment since last summer. It had taken Josh a good ten months to catch on to the impotence rumor. Of course, they’d all kept it secret (girl code), and the usually flirty women that frequented the bar had been extra nice to Josh. Charlotte couldn’t wait to find out who blabbed to him.
Hailey’s pale blue eyes widened in a show of innocence. “But you’ve had all the ingredients since New Year’s. Four months now.” She tilted her head with a sweet smile. “I thought we took care of that little problem.”
Josh’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Turns out to be bigger than you thought.”
Charlotte suppressed a laugh. Her friends fell silent.
Hailey blustered on. “I’ll take a chardonnay.”
Josh straightened. “All out.”
“Then I’ll take a pinot grigio,” Hailey said gamely. When Josh didn’t move, she added, “Please.”
“Out of that too,” he snapped.
“Sauvignon blanc?”
His lip curled. “Out, out, out.”
“What can I get, then?”
He crossed his arms. “You can get a glass of water that may or may not contain my spit.”
“Josh!”
He leaned close, his voice fierce enough to give a less oblivious woman chills. “I know what you did.”
“Me?” Hailey squeaked.
He straightened and jabbed a finger in Hailey’s direction. “And you know how I found out? Because Maggie O’Hare, that sweet seventy-something grandmother, took it upon herself to bring a sex therapist in here to meet with me today. And she wasn’t quiet about it either!”
Everyone laughed. Oh, if only they’d been there for that! She could only imagine when Josh—
“It’s not funny!” Josh snapped, shooting them a dark silencing look. It worked. His eyes landed on his sister, Mad. “And you knew about this all this time?”
Mad fidgeted on her bar stool. “Yeah, but I couldn’t tell you. Girl code.” She went to fist-bump Hailey, who shook her head, apparently still working the innocent angle. Mad turned back to Josh and added in a small voice, “It was just a joke.”
Josh’s focus shifted back to Hailey, and Mad visibly relaxed. “Now it all makes sense.” He paced behind the bar. “I’ve had very few dates in the last—” he stopped and looked to the ceiling before his gaze landed back on Hailey “—since last July when I ran out of your mojito ingredients!”
Hailey kept a straight face, giving nothing away.
“And the dates I’ve had have been sugary sweet, which I now know is because they felt sorry for me.”
Hailey tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Really, Josh, if any of those women had a lick of sense, they wouldn’t believe a silly rumor—”
“That you started! Don’t deny it!”
Hailey continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “And would get to know you and see you’re almost normal.”
Josh spoke through his teeth. “You crossed the line, princess. I wondered why my tips were so high yet I was getting turned down left and right. I haven’t had decent sex in months because of you.”
“But you have had sex,” Hailey spat.
“The gentle crappy kind,” Josh snapped.
Hailey bristled, her color high. “Well! I wouldn’t know anything about the crappy kind of sex. That’s on you.”
Josh glared again. “You’d better watch your back.”
Hailey smiled her all-teeth beauty-queen smile. It popped up under high-pressure situations, a callback to her pageant training when she was a teen. “This is fixable.” She turned. “Attention, ladies!” She had the full attention of their friends and a few other groups spread out around the other side of the bar. “Josh is not, I repeat, not impotent. That was just a little—” she brought her thumb and forefinger together to show how little “—joke.” Unfortunately, it looked like she was saying he had a little, er, pa
ckage. And then Hailey made it worse with a big exaggerated wink.
Giggling and whispering spread around the bar. Charlotte covered her mouth in a vain attempt to keep her own laughter quiet.
“Put your hand down!” Josh barked at Hailey’s tiny-banana gesture. “And what’s with the wink?”
“So they’d know it was a joke,” Hailey said brightly. She was either completely oblivious or an evil genius. Charlotte was beginning to suspect the latter.
A muscle ticked in Josh’s jaw, yet his voice was deadly calm. “No, when you say I’m not that thing, and then you wink, it sounds like I am.”
Hailey waved that away. “No, silly. The wink means a joke. Like when you say there’s no mojito ingredients with a little twinkly wink in your eye.”
“There’s no twinkly wink,” he growled.
Hailey pushed up on the bar top and leaned over, looking around behind the bar. “I’m sure there’s some mojito—”
Josh got in her face. “You owe me hot sex!”
Hailey gasped and scrambled back so fast she lost her footing. Josh moved lightning quick, reaching across the bar top and grabbing her by the upper arms. They stood like that in an almost embrace, separated by the bar, staring at each other.
Hailey’s lashes fluttered down. “Thank you,” she said softly.
Josh grunted and dropped his grip on her arms. “You can get a drink over at McGinty’s from now on.” That was a bar in Eastman, the next town over.
Hailey smiled sweetly. “I surely will.” Then she gave him a big wink.
Charlotte laughed out loud. Hailey refused to leave her hometown bar. It was where she networked with a lot of people in town for her wedding planning business, whether or not a surly bartender tried to deny her sustenance.
Josh muttered some choice words.
“You’re here!” a masculine voice boomed.
The hair on the back of Charlotte’s neck stood up and she slowly turned to see Ty holding a black motorcycle helmet under his arm in a black leather jacket, black jeans, and black leather boots. He looked like an avenging angel.
“Can you order a chardonnay for me?” Hailey whispered to Charlotte, but she was too shocked by Ty’s sudden appearance to respond. What was he doing here? He was supposed to be working in the city. Her entire body heated, every nerve tingling and on edge. Be cool.
Ty’s gaze locked on hers from across the room. He swaggered over. “You weren’t at book club. Anyway, I’ve got a three-day weekend. Let’s go to Bermuda, soak in some sun, and drink piña coladas on the beach.”
She felt woozy. Not just from the outrageous invitation and his sudden appearance. He had a black eye. She raised shaking fingers to touch his cheek. “What happened?”
“Caught a punch in a fight scene. No big. Swelling went down. You should’ve seen me yesterday.” He looked around at all of her friends, who were watching with interest. “Hey, everybody.” He turned back to her. “Well?”
She shook her head. “I’m not going to Bermuda with you.”
“I will,” her friends said in near unison.
Ty grinned at them. “Thanks, ladies.” He turned back to her. “How about that steak dinner, then?” He was sneaky, going in with the outrageous offer only to make dinner seem an easy choice by comparison.
“Ty, no,” she said quietly, not wanting to embarrass him with a public rejection. His injury, though relatively minor, was a reminder that he wasn’t a good bet for a relationship. She was still considering being a mom before her window closed, and a stuntman would not be a reliable dad.
Ty turned to her friends. “Ladies, help me out here. Tell her my virtues.” So much for a private conversation.
“He’s shameless,” Josh said.
“Reckless,” Mad said.
“Okay, anything a little more positive?” Ty asked. He spotted Lauren. “C’mere, I remember you from the wedding. Lauren, right?”
Lauren nodded and crossed to his side. Ty dropped his arm over her shoulders. Lauren flushed pink and pushed her long light brown hair over her ears. “Tell her,” Ty instructed.
Lauren smiled at Charlotte and said sweetly, “He enjoys happy endings.”
Ty’s head whipped toward Lauren. “We never…she doesn’t mean—”
“And romance with the right girl,” Lauren added, smiling widely. “Ty confided in me at Claire and Jake’s wedding.”
“Yeah, that’s good,” Ty said. “Keep going.”
“I can’t think of anything else.”
Ty took his arm off Lauren’s shoulders and frowned.
Hailey piped up. “He’s inked and muscled.” She turned to Charlotte. “You like that.” She turned back to Ty. “She said she likes that.”
“Ooh!” Lauren raised a finger. “I just thought of something. He can rearrange your furniture.”
Ty gave Lauren a strange look. “Sure,” he said slowly. “If you want me to.”
“Take off your shirt and show her your muscles,” Hailey urged.
Ty set his helmet on a nearby table and peeled off his jacket, tossing it over the back of a chair. He wore a dark blue T-shirt that stretched tight across his massive chest. Charlotte’s mouth went dry. His gaze locked with hers as he snagged the end of the shirt.
“You take off that shirt,” Josh growled, “and I’ll toss you out on your ass for harassment.”
Charlotte whirled. “Don’t you dare!” She rushed over to Ty’s side, suddenly realizing that Josh had played her. He’d never kicked anyone out and surely wouldn’t kick out his own brother. Even Hailey remained at the bar, sans mojito.
Ty smiled down at her. “Hello.”
“Why are you doing this?” she asked in a low voice.
“Because we connected.” He tapped the end of her nose like she was cute or something. Like he had no memory of all the heavy stuff she’d confided. “And I want more of that connection. No pressure. Just some fun while I’m in town. I leave in two weeks.”
She went up on tiptoe to whisper in his ear, and his arm slid around her waist, tipping her into him. Her entire body melted into his despite her determination to keep her distance. “Is this because you’re hoping for second-date sex?”
His voice rumbled close. “You know how many phonies I meet? You’re real. The kind of woman I respect.”
She flushed at the compliment. It wasn’t “you’re so pretty” or “you’re sexy” like most men would say. It was about respect and who she was on the inside. “I don’t usually share like that,” she whispered. “It was an extreme circumstance.”
He released her and she shifted back to her own two feet, cooling down with the space between them. “They don’t need me on set until Monday,” he said. “Three-day weekend. I’ll be at my dad’s house in Eastman. We can just hang out.” He lowered his voice, dipping his head to her ear. “Sex is off the table unless you want another hand job or a glow job. That’s the female version of a blow—”
“Got it.” She glanced around, hoping no one heard that.
“Because you’ll glow after.” He grinned.
She shook her head. “Fine, you win—”
“I always do.” His brown eyes danced with playful good humor marred only by the black eye.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?” she asked.
“Just some bruises around the ribs.” He gestured toward his left side.
She bit her lip, staring at his ribs covered by his shirt.
He chucked her under the chin. “Hey, if you’re so worried, hang out with me for a couple of weeks and keep me out of trouble.”
She caved. It was only hanging out for two weeks, not a permanent commitment. He grinned, seeming to know the moment she was on board.
She held up a hand, about to set some ground rules, when he snagged her hand and kissed the palm. A tingle ran straight up her arm at the warm touch and the slight scrape of his stubble. “We’ll—” she cleared her throat “—hang out.”
“Great.” He squeezed her hand and then h
eld it. “What do you do for fun on the weekend?”
She gestured around the bar to her friends. “Hang out with my friends. Here or at someone’s place or sometimes we go out to dinner.”
“You want me to hang out with your girl friends?”
“You don’t have to—”
“I don’t mind. Women love me.”
“Yes, well…”
“Joking,” he said with a slow nod that said he really wasn’t.
“What do you do for fun?” she countered.
He looked to the ceiling. “Let’s see, fun that you might like too?”
“Any kind of fun.”
He met her eyes directly. “Party, long cruise on my Harley, basketball with the guys. Take your pick.”
“Hmm…I’m not sure there’s much overlap here.”
“No backing out now. Pick one.”
“We’ll have dinner.”
“That’s it?”
“The rest to be decided.”
He grabbed her wrist and lifted her arm in the air. “She said yes!” he boomed.
Her friends cheered and she blushed furiously, though she wasn’t a blusher. Geez, Ty was going to take some getting used to the way he put everything out there. But she found she kind of liked his what you see is what you get nature. It was refreshing in a guy. He played games, yes, but mostly in good fun. He’d apologized for his one misstep and since then he’d been nothing but good to her. She was cautiously optimistic for a small bit of fun in her life before she had to make the big decisions.
Chapter Ten
Charlotte was a bundle of nerves on Friday night. Ty would be coming over with dinner any minute now. Even after all of the intimacy they’d shared on their first date, this second whatever it was had her heart hammering. There was something unexpectedly sweet about him that just got to her. She paced the house, which she’d recently cleaned, and then finally sat on the sofa, staring at the door. She smoothed nonexistent wrinkles from her pale green T-shirt. She hoped the outfit—T-shirt, black jeans, and ankle boots—said casual. Just a night hanging out at home with a gorgeous sexy man in a friendly way.
So Revealing (Happy Endings Book Club, Book 3) Page 9
