Her aunt smiled over at her, taking the bottle.
“That’s so kind. You know you didn’t have to, darling. Your uncle will be so happy to see you. And don’t you apologize one bit for being busy with the bakery, you have dreamed of this for so long!” Charlotte followed her aunt into the kitchen where her uncle was waiting to wrap his arms around her in a huge hug. She had missed her family, though being around them made her miss her parents even more. Charlotte made a mental note to figure out a way to plan a trip to see them as soon as she could. Things would need to get more settled at the bakery and she would have to figure out a way to get the money together to fly out to see them, but it had been far too long since she had been able to spend time with her mom and dad for her own taste.
“Hello, dear girl.” Uncle Howard finally let her go from the big bear hug, and she pulled away, tugging her skirt back down with a huge grin.
“Nice to see you too, Uncle Howard. Sorry I haven’t been around for lunch lately, but things have been so busy with the new bakery.”
“I see. I know it’s been a huge success. Your little bakery is the talk of the neighborhood around the Pierce Building. It’s the place to be for breakfast and lunch from what I hear. I hope you’re not running yourself ragged, but I know you take after me there. I wouldn’t ever trust running my businesses to anyone else unless I really and truly trusted them to make sure they were going to do as good a job as I would have.”
Charlotte smiled and shrugged a little. Her uncle wasn’t wrong there. The bakery was Charlotte’s baby, and she didn’t trust it to anyone else’s hands at the moment. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her employees exactly, but she didn’t know if either of them would have run things with the same care as she would have. On top of that, she was more than a little bit of a perfectionist, which just made things that much harder to let go and let someone else do.
“Well, I did hire a new person on Friday. I spent most of yesterday getting her acquainted with the bakery. Fortunately, she had quite a bit of experience before coming to work for me, so I think she’s going to work out nicely.”
“Well done. It’s about time you got some help around there. I know you’re going to be a success. It’s in your blood anyhow. But please, do tell me that you haven’t been devoting all your free time to the business. You’re too young to spend every moment of your life worrying about a bakery and not get out and have any fun.”
Charlotte thought about the last time she had told her aunt and uncle what she had been doing in her free time and the reaction that had come out of it. It had nearly been the thing that came between she and Preston, though she only had herself to blame for that. She’d let her uncle’s opinion of Preston’s intentions go to her head. It was one of the things she really blamed herself for, but she really wasn’t certain how much information she wanted to volunteer to her aunt and uncle, even if she was certain she wasn’t going to be able to lie to them if she was asked.
“Oh, I get out from time to time and Andy keeps me company.” She smiled and toyed with some small trinket she found on the countertop, trying to change the subject by referring to her cat.
This time it was her aunt that started questioning her.
“Please don’t tell me you spend all your free time with the cat, dear. You can’t work yourself into the ground and not make some friends. With as beautiful as you are, I’m sure there’s no shortage of young men trying to get the privilege of taking you out from time to time, even if you’re behind the counter of that bakery day in and day out.”
Charlotte wasn’t sure she liked the direction that the conversation was taking, but she had very little control over it. She took a deep breath and decided to just go ahead and give them some of what they were asking for.
“Well, I mean…” Charlotte shrugged and glanced down at her hands. “There are a few people who’ve asked me out. I’ve just been kind of seeing someone lately.”
She hoped that would be the end of the conversation, but she knew better than that. The look in her Aunt’s face told her that she was going to keep pushing until Charlotte told them everything.
“Oh? Anyone we would know?” Aunt Amelia walked over to the stove, pulling a pot off the heat and resting it on a trivet before turning back to face Charlotte.
Of course, it was someone both her aunt and uncle knew and she knew there was going to be another uproar when it came out, but there was really no stopping the track this conversation was taking now.
“Yeah, it is. I know you both know him as a matter of fact.” Her uncle’s eyebrow went up immediately, and he opened his mouth to ask the next question when Charlotte just kept going an interrupted him.
“Before you ask, it’s Preston Pierce. He came by the bakery a few weeks ago, right after we first opened. We’ve been seeing each other ever since.” She could see Uncle Howard’s face go red as she let out the story.
“I thought I warned you about him before, Charlotte. He’s a lech, nothing more, and you can do so much better than that. What in the world are you thinking?” He practically shouted as he brought his hand down on the counter with a loud smack.
He wasn’t quite yelling, but he may as well have been with the disapproving tone his voice took on. It reminded her of the few times she had gotten in trouble as a teenager and her father told her he wasn’t angry with her, just disappointed. Somehow, that was always worse, but she knew Uncle Howard was wrong about Preston. She just didn’t know how to tell him so without making things worse.
“Uncle Howard, I just think he’s different than what you’re thinking. I know how he’s been in the past. We’ve talked about all of that, and…” Her uncle interrupted her, his voice growing more furious as she tried to contradict what he was telling her.
“And what? He told you that you were different than all the rest? I’m certain that’s exactly what you’d like to believe, but I’ve known him far longer than you have, my dear girl, and I can assure you that there is no one in Preston Pierce’s life that is more important to him than himself.” Uncle Howard’s finger wagged as he pointed it at Charlotte. “As soon as he gets bored, he will be off to the next new toy to play with. Maybe because you’re young and inexperienced, you hold a little more shine to him than other women might, but in the end, you’re going to be the one who is left behind. I’d much rather you be the one that left him behind. I just wish you’d listen to me.”
Aunt Amelia had stood frozen in place while Uncle Howard went on about Preston and Charlotte, but she took it upon herself to step in between them when she saw Charlotte’s face fall.
“Now, now, Howard, look at the poor girl. You’ve berated her enough. She didn’t come to dinner to get attacked. She’s never going to come and visit us if you fuss at her every time she shows up. Charlotte is a smart girl and I’m sure she can figure things out for herself.”
Charlotte watched her uncle’s chest rise as he took in a deep breath to continue talking, but Aunt Amelia walked over and placed a finger in the middle of the much larger man’s chest. If Charlotte hadn’t been the one who was in the middle of being fussed at, it would have been almost comical to watch.
“Don’t start, Howard. I mean it. I intend to have a nice Sunday dinner with our niece who we haven’t seen in weeks and I don’t want it tarnished with you going on and on about Preston Pierce. Now, take that plate of brussel sprouts into the dining room and pick something else to talk about, please.” She walked away, untying her apron and draping it over the handle of the oven before grabbing the dish of roast beef and carting it off through the doorway into the dining room without another word.
Uncle Howard followed suit, shooting Charlotte a last glance before following his wife into the dining room. Charlotte half wanted to walk out of the room and burst into tears. She could have gladly gone home and curled up with Andy for the rest of the afternoon after that conversation, but, she was here and she was going to be expected to be sociable with her family until she could manage
to excuse herself and get home. She could only hope that her aunt would be able to steer the conversation to less tumultuous grounds for the rest of the afternoon as she followed the pair of them into the dining room.
Chapter 4
Monday morning Preston Pierce sat in his office pouring over the paperwork for his latest acquisition. He was branching out a bit with this purchase, so it had taken more preparation and work to get things going than other contracts, but he hoped it was going to turn out to be worth it in the long run. He was a little lost in reading over a few contracts when he heard a sound at the door to his office. Preston hadn’t been expecting anyone and he had warned Sophie to only interrupt him for something important, so it was a bit of a surprise to look up and find Howard Specter standing in the doorway with a serious look on his face.
Howard almost never came into the offices unless there was a board meeting. Even then, he arrived at the last moment and left as soon as business was over. He’d honestly retired years ago and merely showed up as a formality, which made it even more shocking that he had be here now, unannounced and unexpected.
Preston stood up from his desk, walking around to greet his old friend with an outstretched hand and a smile. He noticed Sophie standing behind Howard in the doorway with an apologetic look on her face.
“Well, Howard. It’s odd to see you here. I must say I wasn’t expecting you. Is there something I can help you with?” Preston was confused when Howard didn’t reach out to grasp his hand and give it a shake. The two of them had known each other for years. Howard was the reason he had gotten his start in business at all since Howard had been Preston’s very first investor. He wasn’t sure what he had done to earn the cold shoulder he seemed to be getting from the older man.
Howard shut the door behind him and walked past Preston towards the bar near the couch and chairs in one corner of the room to pour himself a glass of whiskey and turn to face his business partner.
“We have a few things we need to talk about, Preston. You’re going to want a drink for this. Trust me.” He passed the glass over to Preston before pouring himself another.
Preston narrowed his eyes, knitting his brows together before setting into one of the chairs to take a long drink from the glass Howard had passed him. He really wasn’t sure what all of this was about, but he didn’t like the look that was on Howard’s face at the moment.
“Does this have something to do with the Boynton deal? I was just looking over the contracts for that right now, but if you spotted something that I need to rework then now is the time to speak up, Howard.”
Howard settled into the chair opposite with his own glass of whiskey. His face still held that inscrutable look that it had when he walked into the room. He wasn’t giving anything away there, and he was taking his sweet time with replying to Preston.
“The deal? I haven’t had a damned thing to do with that since it started. I trust you to make sure that everything is in order for that. I haven’t really had a hand in the business decisions around here for years, you know that. No, this is about something a bit more personal, something a bit closer to home.”
Preston was starting to put the pieces together before Howard actually opened up and said what he was thinking. He didn’t want to be presumptuous but something told him that Howard had found out about he and Charlotte somehow, and that’s what this was all about. He could understand the older man’s concern for his niece, but he wasn’t certain what was going to come of all of this. Preston’s instincts told him that he might need to tread lightly here.
“Care to elaborate?”
He took a long draught from the glass and rested it on the coffee table between them. Preston wasn’t a hundred percent sure where this conversation was going, but he wasn’t going to do any more drinking than necessary since he needed his wits about him. Taking a few swallows was hopefully enough to get Howard off his guard, but Howard was his mentor. He knew the tactics for negotiation as well as Preston did and everything about this conversation was screaming negotiation in Preston’s mind.
“I’m sure you’re familiar with my niece, Charlotte Fairweather, or at least she seems to be very familiar with you.” And there it was, Charlotte, of course. He knew it, even if he hadn’t wanted to be the first one to say it. That put things in his court.
“The two of us have been getting to know each other, lately. And what of her, Howard?” Preston knit his fingers together, resting his elbows on his knees as he studied his old friend’s expression.
“She’s off limits and there’s going to be no discussion otherwise.” He kept his face flat and emotionless, trying hard not to give anything away, though Preston could see the barely concealed rage boiling just below the surface. This was thin ice, indeed.
“She’s an adult. Last time I checked, she can decide who she wants to spend time with.” Preston had a point. Charlotte was a twenty-three-year-old woman. She could make her mind up about who she wanted to date on her own.
“Contrary to what you might think Preston, this isn’t a negotiation.” He said through gritted teeth. “I think her judgement is clouded where you’re concerned for some reason. The two of us know that you’re a womanizing bachelor, Preston. You always have been and always will be. You’re far from a marrying man and my niece deserves a hell of a lot better than to be your flavor of the week, only to be discarded when the next shiny toy finds its way into your harem.” Howard made sure to use harsh language to drive his point home.
Maybe he had something of a point there, Preston wasn’t a marrying man. He wasn’t the type to settle down with one woman and he never had been in his life. He had quite a track record as far as all of that went and he knew that Howard was well aware of it. He had a point and to be honest, if someone he had cared about had been involved with someone like him, he had have been just as protective.
“I know you’re not going to believe me here, Howard, but my intentions towards your niece are far more noble than you give me credit for.”
“So, you’re telling me you want to marry her?” Howard raised one eyebrow incredulously and left Preston to think about his response.
He could have said yes, but he wasn’t going to lie to Howard. It wasn’t his style. The way Preston thought about Charlotte was different than the way he had felt about anyone else. There was a reason he had kept other women at arm’s length. Things with them could be purely physical, but there was never any emotion involved. With Charlotte, he had feelings for her since long before the first time either of them came into physical contact with each other. She was different, but marriage was a big step. The two of them had been with each other for a few weeks. Jumping straight into saying that he would be willing to marry her was a leap he wasn’t exactly willing to make at the moment.
“Now, be reasonable, we’ve only been seeing each other a few weeks here. I seriously doubt she would say she was ready to marry me if you asked her the same thing. It’s a bit fast, besides, like you said, I’m not exactly a marrying man, Howard.”
“That’s what I thought.” Howard leaned back in his chair, letting his expression darken. “And you’re not going to do the decent thing and stop seeing her, are you?”
“If she’s happy and I’m happy, then I don’t see any reason to end things just because you’re worried about some hypothetical future here. I mean…” Preston was interrupted by the older man before he could finish his point.
“I don’t think you understand, Preston. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make sure that young woman doesn’t get hurt, so I’ve got a bit of a proposition for you.” This time it was Preston’s turn to raise an eyebrow. He wasn’t sure where his business partner and friend was heading with this, but he didn’t like his tone.
“I’m listening.” It was the only reply that Preston could come up with.
“Good. You have a couple of options here as far as I’m concerned. The first one is that you give up on this foolish business with my niece and leave her to lead her l
ife without you in it, just like you found her. We can go back to the way things were without another thought about any of this unpleasantness.”
“And the other option?”
“The other option is that you continue on with your insistence in dating my niece and you put your career in danger. We both know that this is a publicly traded company, Preston. You might have been the founder and the CEO, but your job is contingent upon you making the board of trustees happy. In case you’ve forgotten, I happen to be the chairman of the board here at Preston Industries and I’m sure you haven’t forgotten how convincing I can be when I believe in a cause. I’m certain a vote of no confidence in your abilities would be an easy thing to arrange, along with making sure that you’re out as CEO of the company that you founded, with my help of course. I’ll leave you to decide if she’s worth it, but trust me that I’ll know what your decision is as soon as she does. You can end things with her in whatever way that you see fit. I’m sure it’s going to hurt, but it’s something she will get over in time and long before more damage can be done.”
Howard didn’t wait for Preston’s reply before he stood up from the chair and drained the last of the amber liquid from the glass he had been holding. Preston didn’t know what to say, but he did know that his partner was dead serious. He didn’t joke around about business matters, but he didn’t think it was Howard’s style to mix business with family. It turned out he had been dead wrong about his old friend.
“It’s always a pleasure, Preston. I’ll just leave you to make that decision on your own time. I’m sure you’ll make the right one. You always do.” Howard left the glass behind on the bar and saw himself out of the office, leaving Preston lost in his thoughts in the arm chair with his own glass of whiskey resting in front of him.
Sweet Seduction: A Billionaire Virgin Romance Page 3
