Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
CHARLOTTE
I couldn’t seem to get away from him.
Try as I might.
Since the unfortunate reality of that kiss, it seemed like everywhere I went, Nolan was right there, smirking and being sarcastic and being a damn know-it-all, and it was driving me insane.
Ignoring him didn’t work.
And not even just regular ignoring him—ignoring him to the point of it being embarrassing for both of us didn’t seem to deter him either. The man was like an ingrown hair in the most sensitive of areas—hard to get rid and too unbearable to simply tune out.
I wasn’t sure what I’d done to deserve it.
My only relief came during lunch breaks and at the end of the day—usually, I might hang around for the midday break to talk with the crew about what else was up for the day. Due to recent events, I was not passing up my opportunity for a bit of escape.
“ Logan ,” I gushed, relieved to see part of my lunch trio as soon as I walked into the restaurant. She was waiting right up front and greeted me with a smile and a desperately-needed hug. “I didn’t know how much I needed to see a friendly face today,” I told her once we’d parted.
“Okay, and what the hell am I then?” I heard from behind us and turned to see Elodie had just walked in as well, right on time to hear that statement.
“ Not on the shooting schedule this morning,” I reminded her, laughing as I hugged her too. With Pierre being a good friend and peer of mine, it had been natural to gravitate to his sister and his wife, even though Elodie was a bit younger.
“Oh. I guess you right.” She giggled as the hostess stepped out to walk us to our table—a private booth near the back, so Elodie could have lunch in peace without being recognized and interrupted for autographs.
“What has you all bothered?” Logan asked once we were seated. “Aren’t the next few days the final episode? I’m surprised you’re away from set at all—I thought you’d be one to just grind it out.”
I sighed. “And you would’ve been thinking right…if Nolan Brinkley wasn’t so insistent on being everywhere I am.”
Logan’s eyes went wide. “Nolan…as in…the showrunner? Babe, he kinda has ?—”
“I don’t wanna hear that, girl!” I laughed. “I know he’s doing his job, but like…can a bitch get some space?”
“What’s up with you and him?” Elodie asked. “Everybody knows he can be kind of a jerk sometimes, but it seems like something else for you. Especially lately.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Lately? Uh…”
“Okay, what happened?” Logan spoke up, sitting forward in her seat. “’Cause with a reaction like that, you’re not fooling anybody.”
“I literally said a single word and made a sound!”
“And look like a deer caught in headlights.” Elodie laughed. “And it’s giving very much I fucked my boss at the office. ”
“Okay, that’s too much,” I argued. “It was just a little kiss!”
Elodie and Logan gasped. “ You kissed him ?!”
“Are y’all freaking twins now, what is this?!” I said, annoyed by their unison response. “And no—I didn’t kiss him. He did the kissing. I just…stood there.”
Logan sucked her teeth. “Oh please , Char. Just stood there ? Sounds like a lie.”
“Okay, well, what do you want me to say?” I tossed up my hands.
They both gave me looks as the server dropped off drinks for us, and then as soon as we had our relative privacy again, Logan started with, “I want you to tell the damn truth. I want all the details. What came first, what was it like during, what happened after. Leave nothing out.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” I insisted. “He was being an asshole, per usual, before, during, and after. I’ve made all these changes to the show, and it’s still not good enough for the execs for some reason. They’re still looking for some stupid fucking manufactured viral moment that doesn’t even fit the vibe of this show. So we—me and Nolan—go into this meeting, and I’m getting my ass handed to me while he’s not really saying anything. So I stand up for myself. And then that’s when he wants to come in like freaking captain save-a-hoe, talking about, well if you fire her, you have to fire me too .” I huffed. “Isn’t that some bullshit?”
Logan and Elodie just stared for a moment, open-mouthed, before Elodie spoke up. “He…put his job on the line for you? Oh, that man is in love.”
I scoffed. “He’s not in love, he’s a narcissist,” I argued. “You can’t pay me to believe his job was ever actually on the line—he was just flexing. Making a damn point. I would have much preferred that he hung his hat on preserving the integrity of the show the same way I have, instead of—allegedly—banking everything on some weird protector…hero shit. I don’t like the position it puts me in.”
“And what position might that be?” Logan asked. “Missionary? Doggy? ’Cause that’s definitely what he’s aiming at.”
“Oh please ,” I groaned. “Don’t tell me that! I don’t need this man thinking we’re about to get down like that. I don’t get down like that .”
“Okay, but maybe you should be getting down like that,” Elodie argued.
“Yeah,” Logan agreed. “If you were getting down …I doubt you would be this high strung. You’re not usually this high strung.”
“I am not high-strung,” I reasoned. “I’m focused and don’t need distractions right now. I’ve got enough going on.”
“The amount of stuff you have going on is even more reason to need distraction,” Logan countered. “How old is your nephew again?”
I rolled my eyes, already knowing where she was going with this. “He’s four.”
“Mmmhmm,” she said. “Char…babe, you went from no kids to a freaking four-year-old. That’s a big adjustment out of the blue. You didn’t get any lead up, or warning, just a phone call that changed your life. Not to mention, you are deep in the weeds on this TV show, plus whatever else is on your plate, and I know you like to juggle a lot,” she said. “Honestly, it probably wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for you to get a happy ending or five. And I’m sorry— Nolan Brinkley . That salt-and-pepper hair? That skin? Those eyes? Those big-ass hands? That is one sexy, distinguished-looking motherfucker. I mean…come on. You’d only have to do it once or twice and have spank bank material for years.”
“ Logan !” Elodie gasped. “I'm going to tell Pierre!”
“Girl, you can tell your brother whatever you want to tell him—I know where home is, but I am not blind.”
“Neither am I,” I laughed, “but Nolan is legitimately old enough to be my father.”
Logan’s nose wrinkled. “Yeah, if he had gotten your mother pregnant when they were young-ass teenagers. Don’t try to stretch it like that and make it weird. It’s not. It’s not like you’re some 20-year-old girl.”
Elodie shrugged. “Nolan is what, forty-seven, forty-eight?” she asked. “And you’re…?”
“Thirty-five,” I supplied.
Elodie was quiet for just a second, doing the quick math in her head before she sucked her teeth. “Girl! Talking about that man could be your damn daddy, can you not with the reaching?!”
“I didn’t say it was probable , just possible,” I defended myself. “Not that any of it matters. It’s not like me and this man are about to become a couple.”
“Even more reason to let him be your… daddy ,” Logan quipped, putting a lusty emphasis on that last word that made me roll my eyes.
“Not happening,” I countered, shaking my head as the server came back to deliver the tapas we’d added to our lunch reservation. As good as everything looked and smelled, my appetite was nearly non-existent between nerves about the show, auntie duties, and now, frustratingly…thinking about Nolan.
Of course I’d wondered if my big issue with him was closeted attraction, but was it really “closeted” if I was willing to admit it to myself?
Yes, the man was fine; yes, his lips were impossibly soft; yes, his hands had been a perfect fit for my ass.
Yes, yes, yes.
But did that really mean I should fuck him?
Absolutely not.
Did I… want to fuck him?
…
…
Shit.
“Hey, are you going to eat?” Elodie asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
I nodded, snatching up a triangle of pita bread to dip into the crab dip at the center of the serving dish, so I could shove something in my mouth.
I could certainly get with this distraction.
* * *
NOLAN
“Did something happen with you and Charlotte?”
My eyes went wide before I turned to find Alec and Shaw standing behind me, both wearing expressions that landed somewhere between curious and amused.
I couldn’t even pretend I hadn’t been caught red-handed—Charlotte was very animatedly talking through the lighting for the next scene, and though I was giving the courtesy of not interrupting her conversation, I was very much tuned in to every word.
Even though I couldn’t hear it.
It was…strange.
I couldn’t stop fucking looking at her.
“Why would you ask that?” I said instead of answering the question, scrubbing a hand over my head as I gave them my full attention.
Alec smirked and shrugged. “Friendly wager.”
“Based on what exactly?”
“You staring Charlotte down like you want to soak her up with a damn biscuit,” Shaw chuckled, and I shook my head.
“That’s the countriest shit I’ve ever heard.”
“But you get the message, don’t you?” he asked.
Alec elbowed him in the side. “And didn’t deny the shit or argue either—did you catch that?”
Shit.
“Man, I don’t know what y’all are talking about. Do you have your lines down and ready to jump in this scene?” I asked.
It was another intense one, set in a bar owned by Jude and his people—not his family, his crew. The same one Kima had ran up on him in, wielding a gun. With the recent attack on Luna and Shannon, tensions were beyond high, and everybody was scrambling.
Luna was still in the hospital, recovering, and Silas was at a bit of a reckoning point.
He tried hard to keep his distance from his brother’s criminal activity and anything adjacent, but grief and anger had driven people to much wilder things.
And everybody had their own vigilante revenge on their minds, one way or another.
“Daaamn—something definitely happened,” Shaw said, cackling. “You see that subject change?”
“Whatever happened must’ve been wild too,” Alec chimed in, and I shook my head.
“Nothing happened except Charlotte looking good as fuck in her jeans today—is that what you want to hear?” I asked, still trying to deflect—what else was I supposed to say?
Yeah, I got caught up in a moment and kissed a woman I know for a fact should be well off limits, and haven’t been able to stop thinking about the taste of her mouth, the feeling of her ass in my palms since?
Absolutely not.
Alec and Shaw exchanged a look then glanced over to where Charlotte was standing.
“She does look good today,” Alec admitted, but Shaw shrugged.
“She looks good every day, so that’s not new—I think he’s trying to play us off.”
“And I think Elodie and Vanessa would both find it a little interesting that y’all are on set looking at ass instead of focusing on your lines,” I warned, crossing my arms—none of which fazed either of the two youngins.
“Damn, I almost forgot you were an elder,” Shaw said, clapping me on the shoulder. “You really had to pull out the old head energy, huh?”
“Motherfucker—” I started, shaking my head when they both started chuckling at me, because…shit.
They were right.
I was bringing out the “Dad” energy better reserved for my damn kids.
Luckily, I was saved by the “bell”—it was time to get to work again.
Charlotte breezed right past me, still pretending I didn’t exist.
For now, I didn’t have a choice except letting it right.
Later though…me and her were going to have to have a conversation.