by Jen Talty
“Who are you?” Ethan asked, his brow wrinkled with a puzzled expression.
“He’s my date,” Charlotte said quickly. “You’ll get to know him tomorrow, now really, I’ve got to get ready so my date and I can go out for drinks. I’ll see you later.” She gave a quick nod at Gavin with a weak smile, before retreating into her house and slamming the door shut.
Ethan stood there for a long moment. “My sister is so weird.”
“Not really.”
“What the hell is she so busy with that she can’t invite me in and why are you sitting out here if you’re her date for the evening?” Ethan rubbed his temples. “Are you on a date now with her in there and you out here, because that would almost make sense knowing Charlotte.”
Gavin laughed. “Nope. But I live in the apartment next door.” He pointed in the entryway of his home. “Which is why I’m sitting out here, waiting on her.”
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ethan shoved his hands in his pockets and took the steps one at a time, glancing over his shoulder a few times before disappearing into a small SUV.
Gavin focused his attention to his laptop. Still no response from his friend.
Sexyfirefighter: Are you still there? I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to log off soon.
He tapped his fingers on the side of the chair and waited.
And waited.
Three more minutes, and he’d have to leave without saying goodbye.
AngelaBennett: Sorry that took so long. Had to open a new bottle, but got my wine. I’m happy.
Sexyfirefighter: Thought maybe you found someone sexier and with a tat on his dick.
He rolled his eyes. What a dumb thing to say.
AngelaBennett: Ha ha! I’m a one conversation at a time woman and you and me, we’ve just begun!
Sexyfirefighter: I like the sound of that ☺.
He glanced up, wondering if Charlotte would come out and talk with him, or if he was going to have to go her. Part of him hated leaving this conversation with his online friend, but he really needed to talk with Charlotte about what had just happened.
Sexyfirefighter: I really want to keep this going, but I have to take care of something.
AngelaBennett: Take care of something? Sounds ominous. Or kinky.
Sexyfirefighter: LOL. Neither. When might we chat…flirt…☺ again?
AngelaBennett: I’m in and out all weekend, but I’m an early riser, so how about around seven in the morning?
Sexyfirefighter: OK. Talk soon.
He didn’t wait for a response, before logging out, closing his computer, and making his way to Charlotte’s door, pounding twice.
She stepped out onto the porch, with two filled large glasses of wine. “Here. You deserve this after what you just did.”
He arched his brow and swallowed. For a second, he thought about asking her if she was AngelaBennett, but not only was that crazy, because lots of women drank wine on a Friday night, but if he did question her, and she wasn’t? Wow, would he look like a pervy asshole.
“I was just being neighborly.”
“I take it my idiot brother is gone.” She raised up on tiptoe peering over his shoulder. “I was going to come out in a minute. You don’t have to go tomorrow, but I appreciate you defending me and getting my brother off my back.”
Her lips moved fast as the words tumbled out of her mouth. He kept trying to find an opening, but she just kept on talking, so he took a sip of the cool, crisp, white wine.
“My family is overbearing at times. I’m the youngest of five and everyone is married and has kids. Well, my one sister, who is just a little over a year older than me is pregnant with her first kid, and here I am the last child and I have no prospects for a husband, which is fine with me, but not my family. And now my cousin is about to get married and that puts the focus on the one person who isn’t married yet.” She sucked in a deep breath.
Time to cut her off at the pass.
“Thanks for the information. It will come in handy tomorrow. I just need to know what time we’re leaving, what should I wear, and when it might be over.”
“Ha ha. You’re funny.”
“I’m not trying to be.” He scowled. “I said I’d be your date and I stand by my words.” He tried not to fumble over the word date. It was so much easier to talk with a woman online than in person.
“You’re serious about going with me to a big family gathering that is the epitome of monthly insanity, worthy of putting any outsider in a straight-jacket.”
“Yes. It’s the least I can do for those cookies.” He winked.
What the hell had come over him?
She lifted the glass to her lips. “I think I need another drink.”
“You’re not finished with that one.”
“The glass isn’t full. It needs to be full. Like all the way to the top full.”
“You can finish this one for me. I have to head out. You could come with me if you’d like. I’m going to meet with some friends and their wives and I’m always the third wheel.”
She shrugged. “Sure. I kind of owe you one.”
Gavin pushed open the door to the Boardwalk on the main drag in the Village of Lake George, trying not to be offended, or even hurt, by Charlotte’s remark about ‘owing him one’. He supposed if the tables were turned, he’d feel the same way, only he wouldn’t, because he’d actually want to go out with her.
“You know, I’ve never been here before,” she said, breezing past him, the scent of coconut lingering in the air from her long, silky hair.
“I love it because it’s walking distance, so if I want a third beer I can have it.” He placed his hand on the small of her back, guiding her toward a table where his cousin and his wife were seated with… “Fuck,” he muttered.
“What’s wrong?” She tilted her head, catching his gaze with her golden eyes, which glowed with growing concern.
He’d take that as a positive sign.
“My little sister is here with her latest boyfriend—”
“And you hate the boyfriend.”
“Nope. He’s a good buddy of mine, but my sister is going to break his heart and I suspect soon because the moment they fall in love with her, she gets bored and moves on to the next unsuspecting nice guy.”
Charlotte arched a brow. “Didn’t you warn your friend?”
He nodded. “What’s worse is that he saw what happened with the guy before him and he went out with Renee anyway. My sister is actually a really nice girl, she’s just got commitment issues.”
“And what about you? Do you have commitment issues?”
“Nope. I just have issues.” He stopped in front of the large table off to the side of the room, far enough away from the band that you could have a conversation, but still enjoy the music. “Hey y’all,” he drawled. “This is my neighbor, Charlotte.”
“Did you just say y’all?” Renee scooted from the table like the pint-size firecracker she was with her long blonde hair and petite, but muscular frame.
“That I did.” He curled his arms around her, lifting her feet off the ground. His family might have a collective death wish, since all of them were either firemen or policemen, with the occasional parole officer tossed in, but they were also very close and affectionate, even when they didn’t agree with what the other person was doing. “I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”
Renee patted his shoulders. “I’m glad I decided to come out.” She glanced in the direction of Charlotte. “It’s not every day I see my big brother on—”
He wasn’t going to let her finish that statement. “This is my kid sister, Renee. And that over there is Devon, a co-worker. On the other side of the table we have my cousin, Rowen, and his wife, Heather. If you need a dentist, she’s the one to go to.”
“Good to know,” Charlotte said.
Heather rested her hands on her protruding belly. “I can always count on the Nashs to toss me business.”
He pulled a chair back an
d sat down beside her, making sure his chair was close enough that he could comfortably loop an arm over the wooden back.
“Wasn’t sure you were coming,” Rowen said, pouring a couple of beers from the pitcher and pushing them toward Gavin. “But glad you did.”
“We can’t stay long. We’ve got plans tomorrow pretty early.” Gavin took a healthy chug from the frosty glass, avoiding the shocked gazes from his friends and family.
“We? Who is we?” Renee asked with narrowed eyes and a smirk, which lifted the right side of her mouth.
A family trait.
“As in you two?” Renee asked, waggling her finger between him and Charlotte.
“Yes, the two of us.” He glanced at Charlotte, who stared at him, her lips slightly parted. She didn’t look like she’d been shocked by this conversation like she had in front of her brother, but she didn’t look thrilled, or amused by it either.
“Where are you going?” Rowen asked with the same family smirk that all the Nash’s had. Someplace special?”
“Romantic?” Heather asked.
“No. No. Nothing like that.” Charlotte sat up a bit taller, resting her hands on the table. “We’re just going to my parent’s house for a gathering.”
“You don’t say.” Renee leaned into Devon, folding her arms across her chest. “Does my big brother finally have a girlfriend?”
He wadded up a small piece of napkin and tossed it at her.
“He’s just doing me a favor,” Charlotte said.
Ouch.
He was about to say they were friends, which could have meant anything. However, Charlotte, it appeared, barely saw them as acquaintances.
Renee tilted her head, drawing her lips into a tight line and wrinkling her forehead, much like their mother would do when she felt bad about something that happened to one of her children.
“That’s what friends and neighbors are for.” Based on the looks from around the table, he needed to shrug this off as though it was hunky dory with him that the beautiful woman sitting next to him essentially saw him only as a means-to-an-end.
The waitress came by and they ordered a few appetizers to share, pausing the conversation, which gave Gavin a chance to attend to his bruised ego. He’d pushed himself into a family party with a girl who obviously wasn’t into him.
The regular band began their first set and an old Creedence Clearwater Revival song bellowed through the loudspeakers.
“So, what do you do for a living?” Leave it to Heather to find the ice-breaker after an awkward dialogue, followed by an uneasy silence.
“I’m a systems analyst for Yielding Software, but I also do contract work for other software and hardware companies.” The moment Charlotte began talking about her work, her eyes lit up like the star filled sky. Her face relaxed as she leaned over the table.
“What exactly does that mean? Is that like IT or something?” Devon asked.
“Really? Did you just ask that?” Renee nudged Devon with her shoulder.
Devon was a good man and a great firefighter. If you needed someone on your six, he was your man. Loyal. Dedicated. Hardworking. But sometimes, he didn’t come off as too bright.
“What? I’m supposed to know what that is when I can barely even turn on a computer? It’s not like I need to know all that in order to fight a fire.” The best part about Devon was that he never took on a defensive tone and he hadn’t in this case, but Gavin could tell he was annoyed with Renee, who sometimes could be rude, especially when she was about to dump someone, always hoping they’d do it for her.
“Well, there are a lot of aspects to being a systems analyst depending upon which part of the process one prefers to work in. I generally like to be in the testing and implementation of a system, but my boss prefers me to be on the developmental side, and since it pays the bills, for now, that’s where I’ll stay.” Charlotte had slowed her speech to a rate at which Gavin actually understood every word and didn’t suffer exhaustion by the end of the sentence just listening to her.
“You mentioned earlier…” wait. Did she mention that to him, or did the chick online say her boss was being an asshole? Fuck, that wouldn’t be good if he confused the two.
Thankfully, the waitress came over with their food and second round of drinks. Hopefully, everyone would forget he had even been talking.
“What were you saying?” Charlotte asked, resting her warm hand on his biceps.
He glanced from the sweet, deft fingers wrapped around his arm and her adorable face with a half-smile that made him tipsy with the desire to kiss them. “I have no idea.”
She released his arm and dug into the plate of nachos.
He tried not to stare at her eating, but the way her pink tongue darted out to greet the food with a hungry fervor only made him want to kiss her more.
Reaching up, he ran his index finger over the raised scar on his face. It was nowhere near as bad as it used to be, but people still noticed and he always knew it was there and never forgot his ex-girlfriend Lydia’s visceral reaction to it, or all the looks and stares he got the first few years before many surgeries and an enormous amount of pain, had repaired his skin, but never took away the scars.
“Aren’t you going to have another surgery?” Devon asked.
He shook his head. “I’m done. The scars are as good as they are going to get, and I don’t want to torture myself anymore.”
“I don’t blame you,” his sister said with a slight nod. She’d stood by him every step of the way.
“What does the doctor say?” Heather asked.
His cheeks heated. He hated being the center of attention, especially when it was about his physical appearance. Even more so when it happened in front of a woman he wanted to date.
“He thinks he can reduce the scaring even more, but that requires more skin grafts but I’m just not willing to do it again.” Gavin rubbed his side, remember the last one. Recover was more than a bitch. “I can live with the scars as they are.” He kept his gaze everywhere but on Charlette. He had no idea if she picked up on how uncomfortable the conversation had become for him, or what, but she said not one single world.
“I’m stuffed,” Charlotte said, shoving a plate to the center of the table. “And I’ve got to get up early and do some work before we head to my parents.”
“We can head home,” he said, pulling his wallet from his back pocket. “I take it you guys are staying for the game, so will forty do it?”
“More than enough,” Rowen said.
“I’ve got to use the little girl’s room before we head out,” Charlotte said.
“I’ll go with you.” Heather pushed her chair back and stood, racing off to the back of the bar.
“Aren’t you going with them?” Gavin asked his sister.
“And miss the opportunity to find out what the fuck is going on with you? Hell no,” Renee said.
“Nothing is going on.”
“You’re going to meet her parents! That’s like marriage shit.”
“Not even close,” he said, shaking his head. “And I’d appreciate it if you refrained from telling the rest of the family. Like Charlotte said, I’m just doing her a favor.”
Chapter Three
Charlotte swayed slightly as she stepped through the door of the pub into the warm Texas air. She shouldn’t have had that third drink, except for the fact that it cured the disease of diarrhea of the mouth, which she got every damn time she’d been around Gavin.
The toe of her shoe slammed into something and she lurched forward.
“Shit,” she mumbled.
A strong arm looped around her middle before she could tumble to the ground.
“I gotcha,” Gavin said with a deep voice that made her shiver. He had this quiet reserve about him that made her nervous. It wasn’t that he seemed or looked serious all the time, but he was tough to read, not giving away too much with his facial expressions. But around his family and friends, the muscles in his face relaxed and he smiled more.
She glanced up at him, the parking lot light shined down on the scar on the side of his cheek and down his neck. She’d noticed it before, but never in direct light, nor at this angle.
“You okay?” he asked.
She blinked, forcing her gaze from the red, raised skin that looked almost like a large birthmark. “I’m good.” Her cheeks flushed from shame. She’d noticed the scars the first time she’d met him, but she never focused on them.
Until now.
She straightened, smoothing her hands over her jeans.
He palmed his cheek. “We’ve been neighbors for a while now and you’ve never once stared or asked and at the table, when they were brought up, you remained silent.”
She swallowed.
“Most people are curious.” He laced his fingers through hers, tugging her across the parking lot. “I’ve gotten used to people pointing, whispering, or asking, but no one has ever ignored them before.”
“I made an assumption, based on your profession, that you were injured on the job. I didn’t feel like it would be appropriate to ask during the few short conversations we’ve had.” The fog that coated her brain from the beer might have cured her blubbering at the speed of light, but it didn’t stop her from saying exactly what she thought, when she thought it.
His thumb gently rubbed her hand with tender strokes, spreading heat to places in her body that had only been stimulated by her friendly hand held personal device in the last few months.
“Your assumption is correct.”
“Must have taken a lot of courage to go back to work.”
“I never thought twice about it. Being a fireman is in my blood. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
They crossed the street into their neighborhood. One of the reasons she chose this particular area had been because she could walk into town and the streets had sidewalks and were lined with lights. Living alone, she needed to feel safe. Another couple walked down the sidewalk on the other side of the street.
