Chapter Fifteen
Take a breath. He’ll be here. Don’t worry. He said he’d be here, and he will. He’s never been late or absent from a job and he won’t start now.
Charity repeated what had become an internal mantra for the tenth time since arriving at Inn Heaven.
The couple marrying tonight had chosen the inn for their ceremony and small dinner reception since it was a second marriage for both, and they were in their sixties.
Local lawyer, Cathleen O’Dowd Frayne was due to officiate at the inn, which belonged to her younger sister Maureen O’Dowd Alexander.
The middle sister in the O’Dowd clan just happened to be Charity’s boss, the much pregnant Colleen O’Dowd Harrington.
Small towns were alike everywhere you went, Charity mused. A little insular, a little territorial, and even a little nepotistic.
She glanced down at her phone to check the time. Again.
The ceremony was due to begin in just a few hours and the bride had requested preparation pictures of her, her daughters, granddaughters, and soon-to-be step-daughters, and the hair and makeup people were due to arrive in less than a half hour.
Kolby was nowhere to be seen.
Since Tom had driven her back to Heaven, she’d texted Kolby daily to check up on him. She hated having to leave him all on his own to deal with everything, but she couldn’t do much except offer moral support. She wasn’t a family member and had no cause to visit his mother or deal with her issues.
Having said that, she knew he was hurting, and her heart broke for him.
To be alone without family support or even friends was something she just didn’t have a reference for.
Her tightknit family, love them and be annoyed by them at the same time, would never allow her to flounder on her own.
The opposite, in fact, was true. If they knew she was in any kind of trouble, they’d all flock north, camp out in her apartment, and do whatever needed to be done to help her.
The first year she’d been in Heaven, a terrible flu season had broken out and she’d fallen victim.
CarlieRae, Rory, and two of her unmarried brothers had driven to town, taken an Air B her dad did the grocery shopping and cooking since he was the expert in that area.
Her brothers, bless their hearts, had tuned up her car, changed the oil, rotated her tires, and entertained her with humor filled stories of back home when she could stay awake for more than five minutes at a clip to listen.
If they hadn’t come, she would have survived. But just having them in her sphere made everything better.
Discovering she wanted to do that for Kolby was a surprise. Almost as much as the unleashed desire they’d shared in his kitchen.
During the ride back to Heaven, with a delighted and not hiding it Tom smiling and talking non-stop, all she could do was think about that little interlude and what, if anything, it meant.
Emotions were running high and fast in Kolby due to all the mama-drama. She reasoned he’d probably kissed her because of all the pent-up frustration bubbling through him and she was the only available one to unleash it on.
That was understandable.
What wasn’t was how she’d responded. Operation Ignore the Beast was totally defunct. If it hadn’t been before that hot make-out session in his kitchen, it certainly was now. She couldn’t ignore him. Not as a colleague nor as a man.
And that just burned her britches because she didn’t want to be another notch on his leather belt, nor a conquest he’d make, then discard.
No. The desire running rampant within her for Kolby O’Brian was something she could see herself fostering.
With her next breath, she knew it would never happen because of the man he was.
Charity was as monogamous as a person could be.
Swans had nothing on her sense of a soulmate.
Kolby didn’t know the meaning of the word.
Charity wanted a future with family, kids, a house, and career.
Kolby wanted a few fleeting hours of pleasure and then to be set free to move onto the next woman like a bee in pollination mode.
She needed to forget about the kitchen-kiss; needed to stop thinking about how his lips had taken possession of hers and branded them. She needed to forge ahead with her plans for the future and go back to ignoring him except while they were working.
They weren’t friends.
They weren’t lovers. Well...that one time she still couldn’t remember. But that was it, and all in the past.
They were coworkers and there were rules for things like that. Rules she’d abided by, once upon a time.
Charity needed to concentrate on the man Liv had found for her, the man who’d dropped everything at her call. The man who was interested in the woman she was, and who wanted to spend time with her.
The man who’d made no bones about the fact he wanted to take their relationship to the next level, a ridiculous phrase that had her turning away from him and rolling her eyes when he’d made it.
He wanted a physical relationship with her, something she had to consider.
Greatly consider, too, because it was obvious to her she didn’t desire him as much as he did her.
Far from it, in fact.
They’d gone out to dinner after he drove her back to Heaven and at the end of the night he’d taken her back to her apartment. She’d begged off inviting him in for several reasons, the most pressing was the need to get ready for the workweek ahead.
Disappointment covered his face. She’d have been blind not to see it, but he’d nodded as if understanding and then, without any kind of preamble, pulled her into his arms and kissed her more ardently than the simple pecks on the cheek he’d given her previously.
His hands held her fast against his body, drawing little circles on her lower back as he deepened the kiss.
Charity felt as if she were watching the scene unfold as she floated from the ceiling above them, dispassionately dissecting the kiss, their body language, and the fact she felt no stirring anywhere within it.
His kiss was...nice. Simply that. Nice.
He knew what he was doing.
But...
It wasn’t heart-shattering like Kolby’s had been.
It didn’t fry her brain synapses and take away all logical thought.
It certainly didn’t make her want to jump into bed with him.
She shouldn’t be comparing the two. They were different men with different personal styles and different ways of seducing a woman.
Why she preferred the playa to the good guy, had her giving the thought too much time and consideration this past week.
Finally giving in to her nervous tension, she sent off a text.
Where are you? The glam team will be here in a few minutes.
When the three conversation dots danced across the screen she held her breath.
2 mins out. brT.
brT – be right there. She blew out the breath she’d been holding, closed her eyes, and said an internal prayer of thanks.
True to his texted word, precisely two minutes later, she saw his truck pull into the parking lot of the inn. Relief pushed through her system.
She jogged out to greet him as he was getting his equipment from the back seat.
“I was starting to worry,” she said, placing a wry smile on her face, no hint of censure in her voice.
“I told you I’d be here.” His tone was gruff, something she wasn’t used to, and it took her aback. He shifted from the cab and she got her first look at him. Her stomach sank to her toes.
Deep, purple half-moons colored the skin under his eyes, the lines fanning out from the corners of them etched more deeply than a few days ago.
His cheeks were sunken, the unshaven scruff lining them and his jaw showing his face hadn’t met a razor since Aruba.
The mouth that had tortured and pleasured her grooved downward, with deep lines fanning out from the corners.
In his usual “uniform” of graphic T and jeans, the shirt and the pants looked baggy.
Every caregiver gene in her body went on hyperalert.
She wanted to grab him, drag him inside and have Maureen cook one of her award-winning meals for him and then force him to eat every last bite.
She wanted to pull him into her arms and soothe away all the pain and anguish so vivid on his face.
She wanted to make him tell her what had happened since she’d left four days ago to cause such a physical transformation.
But she did none of those things because his expression – moody and dark and closed- told her not to push. So she didn’t, instead nodding once and saying in her most professional voice, “The bride and her party are all upstairs in their suite, waiting for glam. Let’s get started.”
Turning on her heels, she walked back inside the inn.
***
That he was distracted wasn’t in question, she thought several hours later.
But Kolby was nothing if not a professional.
While his usual charm and easy smile weren’t as readily on display, he was kind and patient with the nervous bride when she requested dozens of posed shots of the two families, then changed her mind on the settings and asked for something different.
He never lost his cool, but Charity could tell it was wearing on him.
When the guests all sat down to lunch, she pulled him into the hallway off the ballroom.
“How are you holding up?” she asked.
He fiddled with the lens on one of his cameras, shrugged once, and said, “Fine,” without looking at her.
Not the word I’d use to describe you.
“We’re almost done here. Want to go grab something to eat afterward?”
He shook his head, his attention still on the camera. “I’ve gotta get back to my place. See what’s what. I haven’t been home since...” Another shrug.
“Kolby, look at me.” She placed a hand on his arm.
He startled at her touch, but she kept her hand in place. When he lifted his gaze to hers, she almost gave into temptation and dragged him into her arms.
She pressed her lips together, flattening them into a line as her eyes swept across his haggard face.
“It’s plain as day you’re not feeling well.”
He started to protest, but she raised a hand to halt him.
“You haven’t been sleeping or eating, and it shows.”
Another shrug, then he dropped his gaze to his camera again. “It’s been a rough week.”
“Your mama?”
He nodded.
“She still lashing out?”
Another nod accompanied a jagged inhale.
Charity squeezed his arm. “When we’re done here, we’re getting something to eat and you can tell me about it.
” When it looked like he was going to beg off, she shook her head and nailed him with a hard glare.
“No excuses. Now, go get some candids and I’ll find out if the bride and groom want any more family shots. ”
A tiny spark of animation flittered across his face. He rolled his eyes, something she’d never seen him do before. “If she does, she’ll change her mind sixteen times before I get one shot.”
“Let me handle her. She’s easily persuaded, bless her heart. Trust me. I had to deal with her through the entire plannin' process and I learned early on how to focus her ever changin’ mind.”
She hadn’t realized it, not until he smiled and said, “That accent,” that she’d lapsed into her Southern cadence again, something she only did around him. Why, was a thought to ponder later on after the day was done. For now, they had to power through the rest of the afternoon.
“You good?” she asked.
He stared down at her for a moment, and it was then it hit her she was still holding on to his arm. She squeezed it, then let go.
Kolby blinked. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”
With a head bob, she went to move past him, but his hand shot out, halting her.
“What?”
He bit down, his teeth gnawing on his bottom lip, another gesture she’d never seen him make before.
Kolby O’Brian, nervous. Mindboggling.
“Just thanks. For everything, Charity. Thanks.”
The sincerity and warmth in his voice enchanted her, and before she could stop herself, she stretched up and pecked his cheek.
“You’re surely welcome. Now go back to work.”
The grin that split his lips made her feel ten feet tall.