5. charlee
FIVE
charlee
What. An. Asshole.
“He’s different,” I said.
Natalie didn’t have to ask who we were talking about. “I would think he would be,” she said as the waiter brought our burgers. This was precisely why I’d never be as skinny as I was in high school. Burger and a beer. Yum.
“Yeah, but. . . he was never mean.”
I had my back to him, but Natalie didn’t. She took a peek.
“Well, I hate to break this to you. . .”
I turned in my seat. Thankfully, he wasn’t looking. “It’s just the tattoos,” I said, not completely convinced of my own words. There was more at play here than some new ink.
“Sure. And maybe ten years in the military. Which is strange, by the way.”
“What do you mean?”
We still hadn’t talked about my father’s offer, the reason we were here in the first place. Seeing Lucas at the bar had been a surprise. Having him back when there was a time I had been certain he’d never return?
Disconcerting to say the least. Especially after that brush-off.
Natalie looked at me oddly. “Seriously?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She took a bite of burger. The whole place started to cheer as the Jets scored a touchdown.
I ate, waiting for her to finish. Pretending the same man I had dreamed about for years after he left—the one whose kisses, no matter who I dated, were never completely erased from my mind—wasn’t sitting in the same room as me.
“You really have no knowledge of military life, do you?”
I couldn’t say I did. “Since you literally know everything there is to know about me, I’d say you already know the answer to that question.”
Natalie ignored my sarcasm. “Ten is an odd number. Enlistment is usually for four years at a time. Two-year stints are fairly new and probably not in play with him.”
“So, what are you saying?”
“Don’t do it.”
“Do what?”
“Turn around. You have that ‘I want to turn around’ look about you.”
“Maybe because I want to turn around. We’re talking about Lucas. Do you know how often—”
“You masturbated thinking of him? Yeah, lots. I get it. But he just totally dismissed you back there.”
True enough. “Because he’s still pissed about how we broke up.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. “Obviously. But that’s besides the fact.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Oh, geez. Please tell me you’re not going to let this guy abuse you. Aren’t you the one who always says ‘Don’t give permission for people to treat you poorly’?”
“Yeah, in theory it’s a great idea. But I’m also the same person who lets her parents continue to control her life at the ripe old age of thirty.”
“True. Speaking of, didn’t you want to talk to me about your dad?” As she spoke, Natalie gave me another warning look. He was so close—certainly not a world away as he’d been at some points these past years. Stationed in Italy. Deployed in Iraq. Africa. I’d kept up with his whereabouts as best I could from talking to his father. But it hadn’t been easy. Mr. Warner was only sober about half the time or less, and even then he sometimes had difficulty forming a coherent thought.
“Your dad?” she prompted.
“Right.” An exaggerated sigh and long swig of beer later, I told her about the conversation we’d had. None of it was a surprise to Natalie, whose eyes went as wide as mine probably had when she heard about the salary.
“Holy shit. That’s a lot of money.”
“Agreed. Which is why I didn’t immediately say no. Actually, I did immediately say no.”
“So what are you thinking?”
“Honestly?” I rolled my eyes to indicate the bar behind me.
Natalie laughed. “About the job.”
“I’m thinking a lot less than I was earlier, to be honest. Having a hard time concentrating.”
“You are not the type to take shit from guys, Charlee. I’m surprised you’re still thinking that way after how your big reunion just went down.”
“Anything worth having is worth fighting for.”
“If you say so.” Natalie quickly looked down.
“What is it?” We’d been friends long enough for me to know that. . . something was up.
“He just looked over here.”
My heart began to race. When he’d left, Lucas had easily been the hottest guy in Kitchi Falls. But now? There was an edge to him. A decidedly alpha-male edge that made his good looks even more panty melting. The kind of guy who wouldn’t hesitate to grab a fistful of hair and dominate. But I knew firsthand he could be gentle too, and that coupled with the sheer strength that lurked beneath the surface. . .
My core clenched just thinking about it. Not having sex with him when we dated had become one of my biggest regrets. What would it be like to have Lucas Warner inside me? Probably like the feeling you got on a roller coaster—a really tall, scary one—just as you peaked the first hill and were about to descend. You knew it would be fine, that in the end, you’d be safe. But for that one split second, the possibility of falling off the edge made you forget to breathe momentarily.
Probably like that.
“Earth to Charlee.”
I needed another drink. And it was only Monday.
“How am I supposed to do this? Be in the same town with him? You know full well I never really got over him. It’s pure torture.”
“Well, the way I look at it, you have two choices. You can either keep trying, since judging from tonight he won’t be pursuing you anytime soon. Or give up. Wave the white flag and move on. My vote? Option two.”
“Option two is not an option.”
Natalie sighed dramatically. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.” Her face scrunched up as it always did when she was either frustrated or concentrating on something. “Okay, so what’s the plan? I know you, and there’s definitely a plan already forming in that pretty little head of yours.”
“Simple,” I said, knowing this was going to come out a bit stalker-ish. But also knowing there was no way in hell I’d be simply letting this drop. “I’m gonna manifest the shit out of another chance meeting. And another. And another. Until he breaks down and talks to me.”
Natalie didn’t believe in manifesting or the universe at work or anything she couldn’t measure. So naturally, she rolled her eyes.
“Great plan. Maybe while you’re at it you can manifest a pair, reach down, and grab ’em, because it’s game time, Ms. Donovan.”
I tried to decipher her meaning. . . until suddenly I could smell him, well before I saw him. Some guy’s colognes just activated a part of the brain that was a girl’s ho-mode. His was one of them.
“Can we talk a minute?”
His voice at my back was unilaterally one of the sexiest sounds I’d ever heard in my life.
“Charlee?”
Before I could even answer, I swiveled on my stool and looked up into one of the most magnificent, piercing gazes of my life.
Shit. What had I been thinking to poke this particular bear?
“Yes,” I managed to answer. “I would like that very much.”