Charming: The Coast Book 9

by Hart, Eve R.

  I thought back to what I’d said to Charming before I’d left. I had been sad and confused, saying that I needed some time and space to figure things out. I had to believe that he was respecting that.

  Curiosity finally got the better of me and I turned on my phone. As childish as I might have been, I hoped for at least one text from Charming or Blade. Maybe even Iron.

  I did get a bunch of texts from Laurel, Chris, and Claire. Also, a few from Bridget and Ingram. Cami had sent me two. One asking if I was okay and the other asking if I was coming back. Gwen even had sent me one.

  It was enough to have me not wallowing in self-pity.

  I’d spent time with Melody and Troy. Strangely enough, even ate dinner with them. It wasn’t as awkward as you might think. I could see the true love between them and there was no hiding the fact that he was excited to be a father.

  At first, I wanted to yell at Melody and try and slap some sense into her, but only because she had always told me that this wasn’t the life that she wanted. She had plans of doing something bigger even though she only halfheartedly filled out her college applications. I knew this because she had been honest with me. I could see it now, she wanted something greater than what her parents had planned for her but she wasn’t sure how to break the cycle. And as funny as it was, she found a way to get the happiness that she craved without breaking the wheel. Her parents were happy. His parents were happy. And it was clear from the look on their faces, that they both had found their happy too.

  So how could I even hate that?

  I couldn’t. Especially since it wasn’t like I was holding out some kind of buried feelings for him. I wasn’t. The more I was around him, the more I realized that we were never right for each other.

  It also was like a slap to the face as to who I had those feelings about.

  Charming.

  Simply thinking his name made me smile, despite the inner turmoil I was feeling.

  I truly believed that he wouldn’t have done anything to intentionally hurt me. That he had kept it from me to save my feelings.

  Who I friggin’ hated was Detective Mullins. Yeah. All of my anger shifted from the club to him. While I was smart enough to get that he was just doing his job, there was a part of me that screamed that he was out to get the club. Why? Well, I had no clue.

  As if that wasn’t enough, I started to really think about the club. It might have been because I wanted to figure out the reason why Detective Mullins could take them down. I felt this burning deep inside to protect everyone attached to the club. It might have hit me that they weren’t so… well, good wasn’t the word I wanted to use, but something along those lines. Lawful? Perhaps that was a better word. Because they were all good men. I had no doubt in my heart about that.

  Still, it made me see that I’d been kept in the dark all this time. There was something that went on that I didn’t know about.

  Oh, who the heck was I kidding? There were a lot of things that went on that I didn’t know about. I’d gotten feelings before. Like when I’d walked into a room and conversations came to an abrupt halt. And knowing that Claire had gone through something big was another clue. Something that I suspected the club had something to do with, but not in a bad way. Like they had saved her from a bad situation. Then finding out about Petra. Wow, that was a shock. Even the connection that Claire had to her.

  All of that weighed on my mind but I wasn’t judging. I had meant the words I’d said to Claire. Sure, I didn’t know Petra all that well, though I suspected I knew her about as well as most people in the club, I saw that she wasn’t the type to leave people unprotected. Meaning she probably ran her business well and wouldn’t let anything happen under her watchful eye.

  So, yeah, all of this was on my mind. And I couldn’t stop thinking about it the last few of days.

  I decided it was time to go back. To go home. I couldn’t deny that was how it felt. So late on the third night, I headed out because I couldn’t wait any longer.

  “You’re not going to see your parents before you leave town?” Melody asked as she hugged me goodbye. It might have been late but here she was, sending me off with a huge smile.

  With a deep, cleansing breath in, I shook my head.

  “No, I don’t belong here and there’s no sense in stirring up trouble.”

  “I get it,” she said as she hugged me tighter. “I won’t mention that I saw you.”

  “Thanks,” I mumbled as I pulled away.

  I knew she’d make good on her word but it didn’t matter if she told them or not. Even if they did come after me, I would just turn them away again.

  “Wish me luck,” I said as I slid in behind the wheel. “I’ll call you.”

  “Sure you will,” she said with a playful roll of her eyes.

  “I will. I was wrong to take my distaste of this place out on you. I’m sorry. You were the only good thing I had here.”

  Tears welled in her eyes and she managed a nod.

  “You guys should come visit sometime,” I said with a wide smile.

  Yeah, we’d done a lot of catching up. It had been really great actually. I realized that when I talked about the club, I wasn’t ashamed of it at all. And even when I told her about Charming and Blade, I didn’t feel like I should hide the experiences we’d had together. I would say though, that the look on her face had been comical. I got it, I did, if you would have asked a younger version of me if I thought I’d ever do something like that, she would have been too embarrassed to tell you not in her wildest dreams.

  In the end, I was glad that I’d been honest with her about all the things I shared. She might not have understood it, but she didn’t judge me. I couldn’t begin to tell her how sorry I was that I’d dropped her like I had. I truly believed her when she said I didn’t need to worry about it. Did I think we’d be BFFs again? No, because our lives were headed in completely different directions. But I thought there was a bond there that was worth holding onto. Was worth putting in the effort to keep her in my life in some way.

  I started my drive with a happy song in my heart. I was headed back to the coast. Back to the compound. Back to the club that I saw as home.

  Again, I knew I was in for a long drive. And so I made sure to make many stops and get my blood pumping and drink everything caffeine.

  When I stopped to get gas and some snacks for like the sixth time it felt like, I checked my phone. I hadn’t told anyone I was coming back, not yet at least. I did send out messages to everyone that had sent me one, letting them know that I was safe. I couldn’t leave them hanging. It was cruel that I did as long as I had. Especially, Claire and Laurel. I knew being pregnant didn’t make them any weaker but I would never be able to live with myself if I caused them any kind of stress that would hurt them or the babies.

  I saw that I had a couple of missed calls from a number I didn’t know. There was one voicemail too. Worried that something had happened to someone that I cared about, I checked the voicemail without any thought.

  It was Detective Mullins.

  Just hearing him say his name popped the nice, happy bubble I was in. The longer I listened, the more the excitement of returning turned to dread.

  He wanted to see me. He had ‘a few questions’ to ask me.

  My hands were shaking and I had no clue what I should do. I gave myself twenty minutes to calm down. I was still shaky as I pulled back out onto the highway.

  I still had time to think about it. After all, I had a long drive ahead of me, plenty of time to come up with some kind of plan.

  Yes, I know, my plans were usually… shit. Yeah, I said it. And I knew it. But maybe just this one time I could do something right.

  Truthfully, I just wanted to get back. I needed to see Charming. I had to forgive and move on. I believed I’d gotten to that point. I think it took me getting away to see the big picture clearly. Or… accept it was probably more right.

  I rolled up to the compound sometime late afternoon. It might have take
n me a minute or two to actually get out of my car. I was a tad bit nervous. I had acted like a child and ran off, leaving everyone to worry about me. I was going to make it right but I wasn’t sure how to do that yet.

  It turned out that I didn’t even need to worry about it.

  Blade ripped my door open. His face was hard but that was normal. He pulled me out and hugged me for a long moment. Then, with a kiss on my forehead, he released me.

  “Don’t you ever work?” I asked with a small smile.

  His lips twitched and it made my smile grow.

  “When I feel like it,” he said with a shrug. “Had a feeling I should be here, so I came back.”

  I looked around hoping that Charming would pop out somewhere like Blade had.

  “I told him not to go. He’s an idiot.”

  “He left?” I asked with hurt in my tone. What did that mean? Like he was gone?

  “Left to get you.”

  “Oh,” I said as I breathed out a shocked breath. “When?”

  “Late morning. I called him when I saw you pull up.”

  “Well, call him again!” I said desperately. “Please.”

  He chuckled and pulled out his phone. It was clear by the huge pause that there wasn’t an answer. He hung up and called again. And then a third one.

  “One more and I’m sure he’ll get it,” I said jokingly. If he’d left earlier today, he was probably still on the road. “Wait, how does he know where I was?”

  “Tracker,” he grunted out as he actually called again. Then he put his phone away. “Give it a minute.”

  “I should have known. Where is it? What does it even look like?” I asked talking about the tracker.

  “Not sure. Probably wired to something. Maybe under the third brake light.” He gave a shrug like it wasn’t a big deal that I now knew all of this. I ran around to look.

  His phone rang while I was looking into the back windshield trying to see if I noticed anything odd around the light. I heard him say something low but I didn’t catch what it was. Then he dropped the call.

  “He’ll be here soon,” he told me.

  Blade’s definition of soon and mine were different. He didn’t tell me that it seemed like Charming had made it nearly halfway there. Luckily, I had a bunch of people to keep me distracted. I even jumped in and made dinner, with help, of course. I apologized and Bridget filled me in on how it was while I was gone. I felt bad, but it was also kind of funny to know that the men had suffered a little. It made my heart feel warm that they stood up for me like that.

  Detective Mullins had been temporarily forgotten about. He wasn’t completely out of my mind but I was determined to enjoy this time with my family. Yeah, that was what they were, I saw it now. I didn’t have a for sure plan yet. Whatever it was, it might not go well and this might be the last time I have all of this around me. So, yeah, I was going to soak up every second of it.

  “Glad you’re back,” Iron said right as I was putting the lasagna into the oven. He hugged me the moment I closed the door.

  “Me too. I’m sorry. I needed some time.”

  “Don’t be sorry.” His body shook as though he’d let out a silent sharp laugh. “You shouldn’t be apologizin’. I’m not sorry that I did what I did, but I’m really fuckin’ sorry I hurt you.”

  “No more secrets. I mean, not about something like that. Please?”

  “You got it, sweetheart.” He finally released me with those words. “He was a real wreck with you gone.”

  I winced and ducked my head, knowing exactly who he was talking about.

  “Well, hopefully, he’ll be back soon and I can make it all better,” I said and closed my eyes tight after it was out.

  Iron chuckled but luckily, he didn’t make a comment on how wrong that could have been taken. Or right… you know? That was kind of how I meant it anyway.

  When dinner was ready, I sat down and ate with everyone. Usually, I would wait until most of the dining area was cleared out. Again, I knew it was my fault that I was on the outside of everything. I was to blame for keeping myself there. So from now on, I wasn’t going to stand back. Not like they were going to let me right now. Which, I really needed.

  Everything felt right.

  Well, mostly.

  As soon as Charming was back, I’d feel whole again. Not the kind of whole like I couldn’t be myself without him. The kind of whole where I felt settled and complete when I was next to him.

  I hoped he felt the same.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Abigail

  Charming wasn’t home by the time dinner was done and cleaned up. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long though. I said goodnight to everyone and slipped out the back. I was really glad to be back but I was also feeling exhausted. The love was nice, and I’d never say that I didn’t want a single ounce of it, but I was ready for a breather.

  I climbed the stairs to the second floor leading to Charming’s room. I could have gone inside, I had a pretty good idea it was probably unlocked. However, the night was nice and the fresh coast air felt good in my lungs. I was sure I wouldn’t be saying that tomorrow. But right now, it was everything I needed. I sat on the top step and leaned back so I could look up at the darkening sky.

  I didn’t know how long I was there. Blade came out of his room and walked over to me.

  “I’m headed up to the bar,” he told me with an almost soft look.

  “I’m fine,” I reassured him with a smile.

  “Know you are. He should be here any second now.”

  “I’m hoping so.”

  I studied him for a long moment. I hadn’t really thought about it but I knew things were different now. I wasn’t hurt by it and to be honest, it felt right. Again, it wasn’t something that had been talked about. Maybe it should have been. Maybe now was the perfect moment to open my mouth. Or… maybe it meant something that we didn’t have to talk about it.

  “We good?” I asked with a half-smile that was almost on the verge of being teasing.

  “We’re good. We’ll always be good, baby girl.”

  “You’re the best, Blade,” I said and this time my smile was cheesy.

  He chuckled, shook his head at me, and then walked down the stairs.

  “Is he mad at me?” I asked as he reached the bottom.

  “You’re the world to him, Abigail. He could never be mad at you.”

  Yeah, okay. Well, dangie. I swore I wasn’t going to cry.

  “Well, then maybe we’ll be trying to out sex you later. Better pick carefully,” I warned him playfully.

  I wasn’t dumb, I knew exactly what he was going up to the bar to do. And I wasn’t mad or jealous or any of those feelings that you would think might be there. Things with us were over, at least like they had been. I didn’t doubt that he’d possibly be open to a time or two in the future, but it would be just for fun. The three of us, yeah, we had something more. It might have been brief but it was right for the time. I didn’t regret any of it and I didn’t think he did either. I’d say the same for Charming too.

  But it was done.

  And it was done perfectly because I still had my friendship with Blade. Nothing had changed there. I also knew that Charming and Blade’s relationship was still the same. Beautiful moments had been made with no damage done. Blade cared about me, but not enough to give me the empty space in his heart, and I was alright with that.

  “You are something else,” Blade said with a chuckle as he carried on. I just knew his lips were twitching. That wonderful Blade smile. I couldn’t wait until the day he found that one person that made that twitch turn into a wide upturn. Heck, maybe he’d even show teeth.

  I sat there smiling for a long time after he was gone.

  “Abigail,” Charming’s voice called from down below.

  I got to my feet in a flash.

  With as fast as I’d stood you would have thought I’d be running. However, I couldn’t get my body to move.

  He saw me and he was ac
tually running in my direction like he couldn’t get to me fast enough. There was a lock of hair that had broken away from the rest. It bounced around right in front of his eye. I didn’t know why that was what I focused on but for some reason, I loved it. It made my heart all fluttery. Okay, maybe it wasn’t just that rebellious chunk of hair.

  I watched him as he took the stairs two at a time, his eyes on mine the whole way up.

  I barely got in a breath before his mouth was on mine and his arms were wrapping around me to the point of being crushing.

  “Fuck, baby,” he breathed out and his lips went to my neck.

  His face was rough against my skin and I couldn’t help but bring my hand up and feel his scruff. This was more than a day’s worth. Oh, yeah. Charming smooth was hot, but Charming with scruff was out of this world. I couldn’t even deny that I was wet between my legs.

  “If this is too much, tell me to stop,” he said against my neck, then went back to sucking and licking and kissing me there. Somehow, we were backing up, you know, in the direction of his room.

  I let out a little giggle and started to walk backward faster. I reached for the handle once we were at his door. We both seemed to tumble inside.

  “I’m sorry, Abs. Please tell me I haven’t fucked us up,” he said as he pulled himself away from me to meet my eyes.

  My hands were on his face, cupping his jaw and loving the tickle that shot through my palms.

  “I’ve done a lot of thinking. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left,” I said and looked away because I was ashamed of how I’d acted. My hands dropped from his face and I stepped away. “I get it now, I do. The reasons behind it all. I can’t say that I’m okay with it because I think I’m still in shock. I’m struggling, to be honest.”

  I turned my back to him and started pacing.

  “Baby…” he whispered softly.