Chapter Thirteen
Charlotte
K eeping a professional smile on my face when I want to jump up and down and squeal like a cheerleader on game day was harder than I thought.
I was managing.
It was way too soon to judge the success of the bakery, but if how this morning had gone was any indication, I’d have that loan paid off in no time. There had been a line-up since before I’d opened.
Not just family and friends, either.
I’d had some great feedback about the location and the renovation. I was also already learning more about what would and wouldn’t sell. Overall, I finally felt like things were moving in the right direction.
I cleared the garbage off a recently vacated table and gave it a quick wipe before heading back towards the kitchen.
“Congrats, sis. This place is buzzing.”
I turned to see the smiling face of my brother. “Wouldn’t have happened without you.” I went on my tiptoes to give him a hug. I may be tall for a woman at five foot ten, but he still towered over me.
He pulled me to him but as soon as he let go his eyebrows dropped. “Is that a hickey?” His voice was entirely too loud given that my business was not very big.
I slapped my hand over my neck, but the damage had been done.
“Fucking hell, Charlotte, if you and Nick are-.”
I grabbed his hand and dragged him out the staff entrance and around the side of the building.
Once we were out of ear shot of my new customers I rounded on him.
Who the fuck did he think he was?
He was not my keeper. He was my idiot brother who hadn’t been able to get over a twenty-year-old feud with the guy that I was rapidly falling for.
This conversation needed to happen. I’d known that, but being blissed out on orgasms changed a girl’s priorities.
I hadn’t wanted to pop our happy, domestic bubble.
“Derek I’m going to tell you exactly three things about this situation and I hope you hear me.”
His nostrils flared but he kept his mouth shut for once.
“Number one, the girl you two idiots were fighting over back in high school didn’t pick either one of you. She doesn’t even live here anymore. I know that was just the start of it, but it’s long past the time you two got over it. Hell, maybe this is why you’re both single and forty.”
He pursed his lips.
“Number two, you two don’t realize how badly you’re sabotaging yourselves by fighting with each other.
You’re both accepting more work than you can handle just to prove that you won over the other one.
You should see how exhausted Nick is when he gets home at the end of the day.
Not to mention that you both keep your quotes low to beat each other.
You could be making a lot more money with a lot less stress if you just got along.
You could buy material in bulk, or, I don’t know, move crew guys around between the two businesses to keep them getting paid.
I’ve only been a business owner for a few hours, but it seems to me that getting along would save you both time, money and energy.
“And what’s number three?” He was scowling, but his shoulders had loosened. We fought, like all siblings did. But at the end of the day I did love the idiot. I knew he loved me, too. If anything could make him make up with Nick, it was me asking him to.
I ran a hand through my hair realizing that I really needed to wash it.
“Number three is that I’m falling for the guy, Derek.
Maybe I’m a traitor for saying that, but it’s true.
All the things you liked about him when you were friends as teenagers are still there.
His sense of humor, how much he cares about people.
It’s all there. You just don’t get the chance to see it.
I refuse to pick between you two. I refuse to be in the middle of a fight that doesn’t even make any sense.
If I have anything to say about it, you’ll both be in my life and it would make everything a shit ton easier if you would just learn to get along.
” My voice had gone soft as I said it and I could see Derek was actually listening despite his cranky face.
“Tell me this. Does he feel the same?”
I shook my head. “Honestly, I have no idea.”
“He does,” Nick’s voice cut through the alley and I turned to face him.
How long had he been there?
He had a box of goodies in one hand and coffee in the other.
Just seeing him brought a smile to my face.
He nodded at Derek, but once his eyes landed on me, they didn’t stray.
I watched the way the long lines of his body moved, sculpted and honed from the hard work he did.
Once he reached me, he put his boxes on the ground and pulled me to his chest.
“I wanted to talk to you about this tonight, but I guess now’s as good a time as any,” I said, breathing in the scent of him.
He laughed and I could feel the vibration through my chest. “I think I need to talk to Derek first.” He pulled away and walked towards my brother. Derek’s posture immediately stiffened, and I crossed my fingers that this would go better than every interaction they’d had over the last twenty years.
“I owe you a long overdue apology. One that doesn’t involve the words get over it .” Nick said.
Derek stood with his arms crossed over his chest for a long pause before his posture loosened. “I suppose I owe you the same.”
“I’m sorry I broke our pact way back then, and I’m more sorry that we kept it going for so long.”
“We did kind of fuck ourselves over if you think about it.”
I resisted the urge to throw my hands in the air, although that would be better than throttling the life out of both of them.
Nick rubbed at the back of his neck and his eyes darted to me before going back to Nick.
“I, uh, I’ve been working on that townhouse complex that’s going in by the University.
The deadline is pretty tight. If you have any guys who are looking for some work, I’d be happy to take them on.
I shouldn’t have bid on it to begin with.
Not with the size of my crew and the deadline they had. ”
Derek ran a hand over his jaw. “We just finished up a big project and the materials won’t be in for the next one until late next week. I could let the guys know to give you a call.”
I wanted to scream, Was that so fucking hard?
I wouldn’t kid myself into thinking that twenty years of a pointless feud would end with a few words, but the fact that they were both willing to at least fake it to keep me happy was enough for now.
They both gave each other a manly nod and then Derek gestured over his shoulder. “I should get back to it then.”
Nick gave him a small wave and then turned his attention back to me. “So, falling for me, huh?”
I was sure I’d be blushing if he didn’t have such a huge smile on his face. He wrapped his arms around me and, like always, his hands went straight to my ass. “Can you really blame me? I mean, look at you.”
“I have looked at me. I’m a forty-year-old man, who doesn’t want kids and has been fighting with the same guy for two decades. I’m stubborn. I work too many hours and, until you moved in, all my dish towels had holes in them.”
I snorted a laugh against his chest.
“You’re starting a new business. You’re not afraid to try something new or laugh at yourself. You’re friendly and sweet and I just…Are you sure this is what you want?” His tone lost its usual teasing. When his eyes searched mine, I could see the insecurity there.
“Nick, the only way I’ve gotten through these last six weeks is because of you. We helped each other, leaned on each other and besides, you are very, very hot.”
He gave me a half smile. “And the kid thing? I know that is a deal breaker for a lot of people.”
“I’m almost forty and just starting my career. I’m renting a room and swimming in debt. In terms of life’s milestones, I am basically a twenty-year-old except that I use eye cream and I know what I want. It isn’t kids. It’s you.”
Things were still a mess. The truce between Derek and Nick may or may not last. I was up to my eyeballs in debt and looking at working some long hours.
Nick’s townhouse project would take a miracle to pull off.
Despite it all, I pulled his face to mine and kissed him long and deep.
Whatever came our way I knew we’d figure it out.
We made each other’s lives easier. We were partners against everything that came our way.
It had taken us a long time to find each other and now that we had, nothing would tear us apart.