Chapter 3
ONE WEEK LATER
Charlie
“Just set the boxes on the floor according to the room,” I told the movers as they unloaded their truck.
“Damn, Charlie. Look at this place. You have really outdone yourself, my friend.” Chase, my best friend and president of my company, smiled. “When you first showed me this place, I wasn’t sure. The décor, the walls, and everything about it sucked. Adalyn Grant transformed this place into a bachelor’s palace.”
“Thanks.” I chuckled, handing my friend a scotch. “She did excellent work.” I held up my glass.
“That she did.” Chase tipped his glass to mine. “But, why so big for a man who never plans to marry or have children? I mean, come on. What does a bachelor who is never getting married or having children need with all this space?”
“I love the layout, the location, and it was a hell of a steal. I wasn’t about to turn away from it just because it has five bedrooms and five bathrooms.”
“Yeah, I guess. I probably wouldn’t have either.”
“Besides.” I grinned, placing my hand on his shoulder. “You’ll always have a room here for when Lila kicks your ass out. But first, I’ll need to buy an extra bed.” I smirked.
“Thanks.” He rolled his eyes. “You’re going to have some good, sexy times in this palace. Speaking of. What happened with Christine? We really haven’t had a chance to talk since you returned from Chicago.”
“She’s nuts.” I tipped the glass to my lips. “She called me while I was at the airport going on about how I didn’t call or text her during my whole two-day trip and wanted to know who the beautiful woman was I had dinner with.”
“Was she talking about your cousin Meg?” His brow arched.
“Yes. Then she told me she was sick and tired of my disrespecting her and to never call her again.”
“What is with women always saying the exact same thing to you?” Chase asked.
“Who the hell knows, and who the hell cares. We’ve only been seeing each other on and off for three months. The last night we were together, she commented about my meeting her parents and how she felt it was time.”
“Shit. That’s enough to make the great Charlie Stone run in the opposite direction.” He chuckled.
“I was going to tell her I didn’t want to see her anymore when I got back, but she saved me the trouble. I want to show you something. Follow me.”
I led him down the hallway and opened the six-panel white double doors.
“What the fuck!” Chase exclaimed as we stepped into my office/gaming room.
“My bachelor pad is now a three-bedroom, four-bathroom home,” I grinned. “I had the wall knocked down between the bedrooms and removed the bathroom.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this, Charlie. This is awesome. I may have to start picking fights with Lila, so she’ll kick me out.”
I laughed. “Let’s test out our new game system.”
We sat on the Italian leather recliner couch that faced the 150-inch TV hung on the wall. After testing our new game system, I walked over to the bar and poured another drink.
“This system will blow out every Nintendo, Sony, and Xbox out there. We’re talking millions, baby.” Chase’s face glowed.
“I hope so. I kind of met this woman at the Chicago airport.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“Her name is Marley.”
“That’s a cool name,” Chase said.
“She’s weird.”
“What do you mean?” He laughed.
“I don’t know. She’s a beautiful woman but weird. She told me I was arrogant.”
“You are.” He shrugged.
“Shut the fuck up. She had a one-night stand in Chicago with some guy. He ended up on our flight, and when he tried to talk to her, she kept asking him why he was making it weird.”
“Making what weird?” Chase tipped the glass of scotch to his lips.
“I guess the fact they had sex, and he was trying to talk to her. Anyway, it turns out he lives here in New York and has a girlfriend.”
“That bastard.” He smiled. “What does this Marley girl do?”
“I have no clue. I didn’t ask.”
“Where in the city does she live?”
“No idea. She was driving me nuts, so I told her I had articles to read and to stop talking.”
“If she drove you nuts, why are you telling me about her?” A smirk crossed his lips.
“I don’t really know. Maybe because she was beautiful and very opinionated. I don’t know.” I let out a sigh. “I wouldn’t have minded fucking her as long as she kept her mouth shut.”
“You’re such a douchebag.” Chase laughed, pulling his phone from his pocket. “That was Lila. I have to go.”
“You’re so pussy-whipped.”
“What can I say? That’s what love does to a man. Not that you’d know anything about that.” He patted my shoulder as we walked out of the room.
“And I never will, my friend. I’ll see you tomorrow at the office.”
After Chase left, I stood in the middle of the kitchen and stared at the boxes that still needed to be unpacked.
“Charlie, Preston is here to see you.” My assistant, Julia, opened my office door.
“Send him in. By the way, I need you to go to my new penthouse, unpack the boxes in the kitchen, and get everything put away. Take one of the interns with you to help.”
“Okay. I’ll go now.”
Preston walked into my office with a disc in his hand.
“We fixed it, Charlie.” He handed me the disc.
“You’re sure this time?” My brow arched.
“Yeah.” He smiled.
“Thank you. I’ll test it out now.”
I slipped the disc into the game system, sat on the leather couch, and began playing. My office door opened, and Chase walked in.
“Did they fix it?” he asked.
“It appears they did.” I smiled.
“We need to leave for that meeting now with Walsh Software,” he said.
“Shit. I forgot about that.” I shut the game off, grabbed my suitcoat, and we left the office.
“After our meeting, I want to stop at this coffee shop. It’s right near where our meeting is,” Chase said.
“Why?”
“Lila keeps talking about it. She said they have the best coffee—better than Starbucks.”
“What’s this place called?” I asked.
“Love At First Sip. Cute, right?” He grinned.
After our meeting ended, I had my driver, Mateo, take us to Love At First Sip. When we stepped inside, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the barista behind the counter.
“What’s wrong?” Chase turned his head.
“That’s her.”
“Who?”
“Marley. The beautiful woman from the airport.”