And he’d made it perfectly clear we weren’t finished…
Fourteen
Eli
Donovan answered the phone quickly, and I immediately hit the Speaker button. He greeted me in his typical easy-going manner. Charlotte sat up in bed quickly, looking a bit like a teenager about to be busted by a strict parent. No doubt she was worried what Donovan would think about the fact that she was with me, but I didn’t share her concern.
I knew my brother-in-law would be happy for us, and I was feeling a strong urge to stake my claim on her as loudly as possible to anyone who would listen. I didn’t even care about the interrogation I would endure from my mother or the dubious looks I’d get from my employees. My priorities had shifted completely. Mind-blowing sex with an amazing woman could do that to a guy, I suppose.
“Hey, man. You got a few minutes to talk?” I asked. We could hear the easily recognizable background noise of the restaurant kitchen.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“There was an incident at your restaurant last night.”
“What? What kind of incident? And why am I hearing about it from you?” His alarm and concern were predictable. Charlotte stayed silent and tense.
“Because I was there. One of your managers… Sullivan?” I said the name like a question, looking to Charlotte for verification. She nodded just as Donovan confirmed it as well.
“Yeah?”
“He assaulted one of your waitresses.” There was a moment of relative silence, and I knew I’d shocked him.
“Who?! And what the hell happened?!”
“That’s why I was there… It was Charlotte.”
“Motherfucker,” Donovan growled under his breath. “Hold on a second.” There was some shuffling, and the voices in the background became suddenly muted. “Okay, sorry. I’m at work, but I’m alone in the office now. I’ve got a pen and paper, and I need details. I’ll need to call Charlotte about it too.”
“She’s here,” I replied, and Charlotte’s eyes widened. “She can explain it better than I can, since I didn’t see everything.”
“She’s there? Wait… Where are you?”
“At home.” My eyes held hers, and she gave me a little smile that reassured me.
For a moment, I’d been afraid she’d expected me to lie. I’d apparently shocked Donovan into silence, but when he finally spoke again, he didn’t comment on my revelation. Still, I knew I’d hear about it later. Probably from Kennedy too.
“Okay, well… Let’s hear it. Can you put her on?”
“You’re on speaker,” I replied.
“Hi,” Charlotte spoke up. “Sorry to interrupt your morning.”
“Don’t be. Why don’t we start from the beginning? This happened when you came to pick up the food donation?”
I heard the slight change in his voice, a more formal tone I recognized as that of an employer speaking to an employee. I kept mostly silent as Charlotte filled him in on Brent’s actions. She explained that she usually tried to arrive before the last of the cooks leave, but she’d been running a little late last night. He’d openly propositioned her and made her feel very uncomfortable, and when she recited his words back to Donovan, I had a hard time containing my anger.
How fucking dare he speak to her like that? I should’ve hit him harder...
Charlotte relayed the incident up to the point that Brent had trapped her against the side of her car, but then she paused, seemingly unable to put the next part into words. My face was stony as I filled in the blanks.
“He put his hands on her,” I growled. “And none too gently. I was across the parking lot, but I saw enough. He grabbed her… between her legs… hard.”
“Son of a bitch,” Donovan cursed, his professional composure slipping. “What stopped him?”
“My fist in his face sent a pretty clear message.”
“Shit. You’ll be lucky if he doesn’t go to the cops. If he’s the kind of guy to put his hands on a woman like that, I’m sure he’d love to go whining to the police that you assaulted him. Nevermind that he deserved much worse… Wait, I thought you said you were across the parking lot?”
“I moved pretty quickly when I saw him corner her like that. You would have too.”
“He went back into the restaurant after that,” Charlotte added, clearly wanting to move on. “And we left to take the food to the shelter.”
“Eli, why didn’t you call me about this last night?”
“It was late, and I know how Kenn is about people screwing with Ethan’s sleep schedule.” I might have minimal experience with kids, but even I knew better than to call after midnight. Whoever had coined the phrase ‘waking the beast’ must have been talking about mothers of infants.
“Yeah, okay,” Donovan sighed. “Damn, Charlotte, I’m sorry. I had no idea Sullivan was the type to do something like this. Was this the first time he’s been inappropriate with you?”
I saw her hesitate, and I gave her what I hoped was a stern but encouraging look.
“No… But he’s never really put his hands on me.” I narrowed my eyes, and she amended, “Not like that, anyway. It’s usually just crass comments and suggestions. Maybe the occasional light touch that he passes off as an accident… Things like that.” We heard Donovan sigh again.
“Why didn’t you say something before?”
“He’s a manager,” Charlotte said, shrugging despite the fact Donovan couldn’t see her. “I wasn’t sure anyone would believe me, and I didn’t want to risk losing my job if he came out on the positive side of it. He never seemed to do it to anyone else, and he never acted like that when other people were around to see or hear. So, I just tried to avoid being alone with him as much as possible.”
“Of course I would’ve believed you. We have security cameras too. I could’ve verified your story with the footage from any one of them.”
Charlotte looked pleasantly surprised by that information, but my mind was momentarily elsewhere. Had there been a camera in that secluded little hallway where we’d shared our first kiss? I wouldn’t have minded a copy of that for myself…
“Are you going to press charges?” Donovan asked, reclaiming my attention. “And can you tell me where you were when this was happening? It will be easier to go through the most recent footage if I know which cameras might have caught it.”
“We were mostly just in the kitchen last night. He tried to corner me in the office, but I got away pretty quickly. Everything else happened in the parking lot.”
“I’ll see what shows up and let you know. Any other locations I should check for other incidents?”
“Um… The walk-in, dry storage, near the restrooms, both wait stations…”
“Fuck. Is there anywhere he hasn’t harassed you?!” Donovan exclaimed. I shared the disgust I could hear in his voice. Charlotte seemed to take it as a rhetorical question, though, and didn’t answer him.
“I wasn’t planning on pressing charges,” she admitted quietly.
I frowned in disapproval but wasn’t really surprised. If she reported it, the cops would have to investigate. They’d want her address, which she wouldn’t be able to provide, and when they discovered she was homeless, her credibility would drop to zero. They’d be likely to take Sullivan’s word over hers. I understood her situation… But that didn’t mean I agreed with her decision. I was prepared to let her use my address as her own, if that was all that was stopping her.
“Honestly, I’m hoping that Eli’s right hook was enough to scare him off. He’s really a coward underneath all that bravado,” she muttered, rolling her eyes. “And if you fire him, he’ll have enough to worry about trying to find a new job. He’ll figure out I’m not worth his trouble.”
I frowned again at her wording but opted not to address it for the moment, speaking to Donovan instead.
“What happens now? When’s he getting the ax?”
“Well, he’s on the schedule to close tonight, but I’ll fire him as soon as he shows up and c
over the shift myself. Kennedy’s going to be ticked that I’m getting out of dad duty tonight. I was supposed to take Ethan to play at my sister’s for a few hours so Kennedy can get some writing done.”
“Tell her what happened. I’m sure Kenn will understand.”
“Yeah, I know she will. Charlotte, I see you’re on the schedule tonight too, but I want you to take the night off. You work too much as it is.”
“Oh, no, I’m really fine. I need the tips, and—”
“I’ll cover the lost tips myself, but I want you to take a break this evening. And more than that, I want to make sure you and Brent don’t inadvertently cross paths. We don’t need this escalating.”
I perked up, pleased with this turn of events and in complete agreement with my brother-in-law.
“In that case, what if Kennedy drops the baby off with us? Or we can go pick him up, if that’s easier for her.”
“Oh,” Donovan was audibly surprised. “Thanks, but my niece has been looking forward to seeing the baby. Miranda can probably just come pick him up.”
“Another day, then. I really appreciate the way you’re handling this. It keeps Charlotte out of this asshole’s path, and that makes me feel better.” Not to mention that he was giving her the night off, and that meant a lot to me too.
“Yes, thank you so much, Donovan,” Charlotte said sincerely. “I was actually planning to talk to you tonight about my schedule. I found a different day job during the week, so I’ll need to switch to weekends only. Evenings, if possible, but I’ll take whatever.”
“Congratulations. And that’s fine. I’ve got a few new trainees starting this week, and Jessa was just asking for more weekday hours, so it won’t be a problem. Why don’t you come in tomorrow as scheduled, and then we’ll just see you back next Saturday?”
“Oh! That would be great, but I’m happy to work an evening or two this week if you need me.”
“Nah, we should be able to manage. I’ll keep you in mind though, in case someone calls in. And hey… I really am sorry about what happened to you. I wish I’d known about his behavior before, but I understand why you were nervous about reporting it. You don’t need to worry about him anymore, though, okay? He’s done here.”
Charlotte took a deep breath and thanked him again, her hand tightening around mine. Once I’d ended the call, I pulled her into my arms again, kissing her long and deep. We still had a lot to discuss, but I already felt like it had been too long since I’d had her.
“How about we grab that shower I was talking about earlier?” I asked between kisses. She smiled against my lips and nodded.
Judging by her look of astonishment as she stood in front of my shower, I assumed she hadn’t looked around when she’d been in the bathroom earlier. Charlotte’s eyes were wide as she counted each of the adjustable water jets on the wall. There was a large, recessed shower head in the ceiling that could be set to spray from four different places or all at once, and six smaller jets sprayed from either side on the walls. There was a detachable shower head as well, and the whole thing was controlled by a panel set into the wall where a normal set of knobs would be.
“Are we showering or washing a car?” she finally asked. I laughed and reached in to touch the panel. My favorite setting was saved, but I hadn’t yet tried it with two people.
“I know. This was the selling feature that hooked me.”
“I can see why. You could fit another five people in here and still not have to fight for the water.”
“Well, at the moment, I’m only interested in one. A certain raven-haired angel who’s got me wrapped around her perfect little finger.”
I stood behind her and bent my head to kiss her shoulder, pushing the robe away and letting it fall to the floor. Jesus, I groaned inwardly. I would never tire of looking at her. She was like an addiction. I’d had her less than an hour ago, and already I felt like I was experiencing some sort of withdrawal.
“You called me that earlier. Angel… Why?” She turned her head to meet my eyes, and I kissed her upturned nose.
“Because that’s what you are. I’ve thought of you that way since the first moment I saw you.”
“Snooping through one of your legal files without permission?” she snorted.
“Yes,” I grinned, dropping kisses along the curve of her neck as I reached around to cup her mound. My fingers brushed her folds gently, and she trembled in my arms. But a few seconds later, she was stepping away from me.
“Come on, then. Let’s clean up before we get dirty again.”
“We could do both.”
Charlotte turned and gave me a flirtatious smile, backing into the shower and letting the water cascade over her beautiful curves. I followed in after her and closed the door behind us. My hands immediately went to her hips, and I watched the way my fingers interrupted the flow of the water over her skin. She leaned up onto her toes to kiss me, but the contact was far too short for my liking. When I tried to pull her back, she danced away from me with a laugh.
“Wash,” she chastised playfully. “Give my pussy a rest.” I immediately felt guilty.
“Did I hurt you? I didn’t mean to be too rough with you or—”
“You weren’t. I promise. But it… It had been a pretty long time for me. And you’re not exactly small.” She aimed a pointed glance at my dick, which was still hard as a rock despite my concern.
“Oh.” I relaxed, reaching for the shampoo and silently willing my erection away. “It’s been a while for me too, to be honest.”
“I have a hard time believing someone like you doesn’t have women beating down your door all the time. How long has it been since your divorce?”
“How do you know I’m divorced?”
I wasn’t ashamed of it or anything, but I couldn’t remember it ever coming up before now. Charlotte’s eyes lowered in embarrassment as she continued to wash. She was using my soap, which meant she would carry my scent throughout the day. Something about that felt inexplicably right. Not to mention sexy as fuck.
“I Googled you,” she admitted with an apologetic shrug. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s flattering. I tried to do the same to you, but I came up empty. I was expecting social media profiles full of sexy selfies and cat memes. Pictures of seasonal lattes or sensible salads at trendy restaurants…”
“Just how basic did you think I was?” We laughed together and continued to wash.
“I’m just teasing. You’re not at all like most women your age, and I figured that out pretty quickly. Though, I did think I’d at least find a boyfriend of some sort.”
“You’re not exactly what most people would expect you to be either, you know.”
“Because I don’t live in a penthouse or have a chauffeur?”
“That, and… Well, take your apartment, for instance. It’s in a nice building, and I’m sure it didn’t come cheap. But when you were giving me the tour last night, the first thing I noticed was how warm and inviting it is. I could tell someone lived here and had worked hard to make it a home. You hadn’t wasted a ridiculous amount of money on extravagant possessions or more space than you need. Though, judging by how clean this shower is, I’m guessing you have a housekeeper or something.”
I pressed my hand flat to my chest and gasped dramatically.
“I most certainly do not. I clean this shower myself, thank you very much.”
“Really?” Charlotte looked genuinely surprised and glanced around the spacious enclosure again. “Then I’m even more impressed. Especially considering how much you work.” I shrugged and finished rinsing.
“I thought about having someone come in once a week to tidy up, but I don’t like the thought of a stranger cleaning up after me. I think I’d be embarrassed. I wasn’t brought up that way. We were comfortable enough, but we never had that kind of money.”
“But you do now.”
“Maybe, but that doesn’t change who I am. And I guess I don’t really feel like I have a right
to spend it like that. I didn’t build RPC from the ground up. I didn’t pour my own resources into it to get it to where it is today. I inherited all of it, and to act like some millionaire playboy would be an insult to the man who made RPC his life’s work.”
Charlotte gave me a soft smile and hummed thoughtfully but didn’t comment. When she’d finished rinsing, I reached behind her to turn off the water and stepped out of the shower first, grabbing towels for both of us. As I watched her dry off, I realized I hadn’t given her an answer earlier.
“To answer your question… My divorce went through almost two years ago, but I’ve been more focused on work than women since then. It was finalized a couple months before Rowan died, which was lucky. I’m sure the process would’ve been a lot messier otherwise. Communal property and all that.”
“Florida doesn’t do that. She would’ve had a hard time convincing a judge to give her part of your inheritance.”
“She could have made life difficult for me by trying, though. June wasn’t really the materialistic type either, but large amounts of money can do strange things to people. It can change them.”
“I’m glad it didn’t change you,” she said softly, and I got lost in her dark eyes yet again. I leaned down to kiss her, and our tongues played lazily for a few moments before she pulled away again. “Come on. I need to get dressed.”
“Got somewhere to be?” I asked, confused. She’d been given the day off, and I’d assumed—perhaps foolishly—that I would have her to myself all day. Charlotte hesitated as she ran my brush through her inky black hair.
“Well… I can’t remember the last time I had a whole day free, to be honest. As much as I’d like to spend all of it with you, especially since there’s still so much to talk about, I should really take the opportunity to go visit my mom.” She was wincing as though she expected me to be offended, and she rushed on to say, “It shouldn’t take more than a few hours, and I could be back by dinner time.”
Fortune's Angel (Fates Aligned Book 2) Page 10
