Charming: The Coast Book 9

by Hart, Eve R.

  “Abs,” I said and I couldn’t hold in my chuckle any longer. I think Petra probably had a lot to do with whatever happened in there but I wasn’t about to tell her that. I hoped it was done. I was ready to move on from this whole thing and I knew I wasn’t the only one. “It’s all good, baby. I think he got the message. But please don’t ever do something like that again.”

  “Oh, I can assure you that I won’t. I feel like I’m going to throw up. I don’t even know who that girl was in there. I mean, I’m not crazy. I know it was me. But to use my brother’s death like that. I’m going to be sick.”

  Her head went between her knees.

  “I’m sure he’d be proud of you,” I told her, not really sure if it was the right thing to say.

  “No, he’d probably have me committed,” she said and then blew out a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to protect the club.”

  “I know. Everyone knows. I’m not going to tell you that it made me happy because I love you and I can’t lose you, but I’m thankful that you feel that way.”

  She gasped, her head flying up and her eyes going to mine.

  “You love me?” she squeaked.

  “Well, yeah,” I said as I reached for the back of my neck. I hadn’t realized I’d said it. I felt it, I wouldn’t deny that. I was just wanting to be a little more smooth when I told her.

  “I love you too!” It all kind of came out as one word but I got it.

  “I guess that works out then, huh?” Wow. I realized that sounded lame but to be fair, she just told me she loved me. It was so perfectly her that it made my brain off balanced.

  She giggled and leaned into my side.

  “You think we do? Like, is this going somewhere?”

  “Will you be my old lady, Abs?” I couldn’t see her face but I had a feeling she was rolling her eyes at me. “I’m serious.”

  “Can I think about it?” she asked. Her eyes met mine and there was a teasing twinkle in them. “I mean, are you sure you can put up with me? Making me your old lady is a big deal. It’s saying that you want all of this for a long time.”

  I laughed. How could I not? She was so fucking adorable.

  “And I might be demanding… you know, with sex.” Her eyes drifted to the side as she continued her little ramble. “Are you sure you’re up for the challenge? Because, I’ve got to tell you, that stuff is like crack to me. Though, I won’t be snorting your junk. That’s a little weird, I think. Injecting… however… yeah, that could work. And I’ve gone off again. Sorry.”

  I kissed her. I didn’t care that it was in the middle of the night. Or that we were sitting on the dirty sidewalk outside the fucking police station. Or that she hadn’t exactly told me she’d be my old lady. I kissed her like it was just the two of us left on earth.

  “I love you, Abigail,” I said as I pulled away and looked down into her eyes. “I’ve never felt like this about someone before. I know life with you will be interesting and that’s what I’m hoping for. I don’t ever want you to lose this part of yourself. When I say I love you, I mean every single part.”

  “Okay,” she said looking a little dazed. “Take me home, my Prince Charming. Show me how you would ravage your old lady.”

  I hopped up, pulling her to her feet with me.

  “We’ll get your car later,” I said as I walked to my bike and grabbed my helmet. After I plopped it on her head, I made sure it was secure. I had to keep my girl safe, after all. “My old lady rides on my bike.”

  She squealed excitedly as I tossed my leg over my bike. She clambered on behind me and I wasn’t shocked at the clumsiness of it. Yes, I found it incredibly adorable.

  Then I took off.

  With my woman behind me.

  My old lady.

  The girl of my fucking dreams.

  You bet your ass I was going to go ravage my old lady until she was satisfied. Then I was going to do it all over again.

  For the rest of our lives.

  I was going to give her a fairytale to rival all the rest.

  Because I loved her.

  Because she was worth it.

  Because this was forever.

  Epilogue

  Charming

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”

  I took in a deep breath as I settled down beside the cold, marble headstone.

  “I’m sorry I never came to you. I wish you could see how happy she makes me.” My arm came up and I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m pretty sure I make her happy too. I try my hardest to.”

  I let out a nervous laugh.

  “I’m not good at this. Damn, brother. Why the fuck did you have to leave us?”

  A bird took flight and my eyes followed it until it was hidden away in another tree.

  “I’m not worthy of her but she thinks I am. She calls me her Prince Charming. Me. Yeah, I know, right? But she makes me want to be that. I want to give her that life with the singing and the happily ever after and all of that.”

  This was a lot harder than I thought it would be. It shouldn’t have been, it wasn’t like he could talk back to me. Maybe that was why it hurt so bad.

  “I can’t believe you’ve been gone a year, man. Fuck, I just can’t believe you’re gone period. It sucks. You were a hell of a brother and a friend. I hope you know that. You protected her. You loved her. You showed her that you were her family. Yeah, she came here because you were hurt but we both know that’s not the only reason she stayed.”

  My eyes went to the sky. The clouds slowly drifted across my vision looking like thin wispy lines strung together without any rhyme or reason behind it.

  “I don’t want you to worry about her. I’m going to love her and protect her for as long as I live. I’m here, promising that to you, brother. I’m going to give her everything she wants and even all the things she doesn’t know she needs.”

  I pulled the box out of my cut and fiddled with it.

  “I wish you were here to be a part of this. I wish I could ask you for your blessing. I wish…”

  The words faded off in the breeze.

  It didn’t matter what I wished for or how hard I wished for it, Dade would never be here to make them come true.

  So why was I here?

  It wasn’t like he could really hear me. Right? I wasn’t all that sure of how I thought things went after someone was gone. Now was not the time to think about it. Or maybe it was.

  “I guess, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve got her. And I’m going to let her know that I’m there to catch her every single day. I’m going to love and cherish her every second. I know… I can just hear you telling me that you get it and to shut up and ask her to marry me already. Okay, brother. I’m going.”

  I stood up and tucked the box back into my cut.

  I cupped my hand around the corner of his headstone.

  Then I turned on my heels and headed off to keep my promise.

  Abigail

  Laurel and Cami came at me with makeup brushes in their hands. My eyes were wide as I took in the two different colors in front of me. This felt really familiar. I took a deep breath and tried to remind myself that it had turned out well the last time it had happened. Then again, we weren’t headed to a dark club this time. This occasion was not going to be in a club. Or dark— not even a little.

  Oh, and there were going to be pictures to hold this moment in time.

  So yeah, I was more nervous about it now.

  “No, this will look better with her eyes,” Cami said.

  “It will clash with the flowers in her hair,” Laurel told her sister with an arched brow.

  “Fine, what if we tone it down with the gray?” Cami shot back.

  Laurel thought about it for a minute.

  “Okay, you go first and then I’ll blend it in,” she told Cami and I could tell that she had plans to do more covering it up than blending.

  I trusted them.

  I had to.

&nb
sp; First, Charming asked me to be his old lady.

  Then, he asked me to marry him.

  And today, he was keeping all of his promises and making me his wife.

  Oh, my…

  I’m getting married.

  “To the love of your life,” I told myself out loud.

  Cami snorted like she knew what was going on in my head and why I’d said that.

  “Okay, I got it out,” Claire said as she walked into the room holding my dress high over her head.

  Yeah, I’d somehow already messed up my dress and I hadn’t even put it on yet. It was a bad idea to pull it out to look at it when I was drinking champagne. It wasn’t like I didn’t already know what it looked like.

  “Makeup is done,” Laurel said as the sisters stepped out of the way.

  “Wow,” I breathed out. Look at that, I was pretty. I mean, I wasn’t ugly before, but now… I looked like I should be on the cover of a magazine.

  Hey, my fantasy! Leave me alone.

  “Alright, let’s get this thing on you,” Bridget said as she stepped up and helped Claire hold the dress for me.

  It was a struggle, but we finally got it up and in place perfectly over my small boobs. Bridget pulled the laces on the back until I felt like I couldn’t move. Okay, not really. But it was close.

  I checked myself out in the full-length mirror in the corner. I still didn’t have any curve to my body. But you know what, it didn’t friggin’ matter because I had flowers in my hair, perfect makeup on my face, and my dress was amazing. I looked like a dang princess!

  And I was off to marry my Prince Charming.

  Yeah, cheesy, right? Sorry about that. Not really.

  There was a knock on the door. I blinked away the tiny amount of wetness that had slicked my eyeballs.

  Blade poked his head in after Claire had cracked open the door.

  “Need a minute,” he said to the room causing all of the girls to kiss my cheek and scurry away.

  “You look beautiful,” he said as he bent down and placed a light kiss on my forehead.

  “Thank you, Blade.”

  “I know he’s not here to see this but he’s here in all of our hearts,” he said softly. Oh, crap. There came the tears for real this time. “We had this made for today. He wanted me to sneak down here and give it to you.”

  He didn’t have to explain the we part to me because of course, I knew.

  He circled around me. I watched as the metal heart hanging from a delicate chain lowered down to my chest. Blade fastened the clasp, then fixed my hair.

  My fingers reached up to touch it as I turned around to look in the mirror. Blade was still behind me and his big arms reached around and opened the heart up.

  I gasped as I saw the two tiny pictures there. The one on the left was a smaller version of the one I had of Dade and me. The one with our happy smiles. It was just the thing that was missing from this day. My brother might not have been here in body, but he was still a part of this day.

  The other one was a picture of my two best friends with their arms slung around each other’s shoulders. Of course, Charming had that stupid smolder look going on. The one that I loved so much. And Blade, well, he had a smile. Like a real one. If you looked hard enough you could even see a hint of teeth. I knew this picture too because I had a bigger version of it as well. Blade’s eyes weren’t looking at the camera. It was close but just a little off. Which I didn’t mind because I knew that smile was aimed right where it should have been.

  “I love this,” I told him as I turned around and reached up to give him a kiss on his cheek.

  “You ready for this?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I breathed out with a wistful sigh.

  “Then let’s go get your Prince Charming.”

  “He made you say that, didn’t he?”

  “Yeah,” he grunted but I could tell he didn’t really hate it.

  “Ready?” Iron said as he poked his head into the room.

  “I am,” I told him with a wide smile.

  Blade went first, going to take his place beside Charm. Iron and I headed to the spot we were to wait until the right time.

  “What, no last words of encouragement or wisdom or something?” I said to Iron as the last bridesmaid headed down the aisle.

  Iron chuckled and with his free hand, he patted my hand that was draped over his arm.

  “Nope,” he said as we took our first step. “Think you’ve got everything you need.”

  Well, he wasn’t wrong.

  My eyes locked onto Charming’s and I knew I had a stupid wide smile on my face.

  Yeah, I had everything I needed.

  I had a family that watched out for me. That protected me. And loved me for who I was.

  I wasn’t almost good enough any longer.

  I was perfect the way I was.

  And I had a man that showed me that true love was a real thing.

  The End

  Acknowledgements

  First, I have to thank all my readers. You guys are so awesome. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you and I hope you know just how much your support means to me.

  Chloé, girl, you rock! You keep me going and laughing and even remind me to take a break every now and then so that I don’t go insane. Thanks for helping me catch the little things that I miss and for always giving me honest feedback.

  Jordan, I’m glad you think I’m funny, or at least pretend that you do. A million thanks for reading this thing in its unfinished form and helping me to bring it together. I don’t think it would be just right without your help.

  Beth, thanks for letting me make you a boob. You truly are the best one but don’t tell Bonnie that. Also, thanks for distracting me when I need a break.

  Janie, I know life is crazy for both of us but you’re always there when I need some help. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.

  I have to give a huge thanks to my family. They are so supportive and awesome. I’m really lucky to have them.

  I have an amazing ARC team. Thank you ladies for always taking the time to read my stories early and for all the amazing excitement about them. Julie, Shari, Sanjana, Brittany, Beth, Krissy, and Tina— huge hugs to you.

  About the Author

  Eve R. Hart does her best writing while downing coffee and munching on chips and salsa. Her days are filled with lightsaber fights, saving the Lego city, and tea parties with her kids. By night, she switches out her cape for heels and writes steamy love scenes.

  She lives on the coast of North Carolina with her husband and three children. When she needs a break from everything she loves nothing more than to sit down and play video games with her husband. She also enjoys cooking, baking, and singing Disney songs while driving.

  Find Her

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/EveRHartAuthor/

  Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/EveRHartAuthor

  Email: eve.r.hartauthor@gmail.com

  Other Works

  Steel Paragons MC

  Moon Hill Chapter

  Loch

  Diesel

  Tank

  Axe

  Bocca

  The Coast Chapter

  Knight

  Brand

  Ky

  B-ry

  Lake

  Cable

  Mouse

  Iron

  The Tainted Saints Series

  Clean Hack

  Standalone Stories

  Masked Desires