Owen
I lie back in my bed, trying to get comfortable. Something is missing, so I grab another pillow and stick it in the stack behind my head. Holding onto the thickest one, I roll over onto my side and try to get comfortable.
But no amount of pillows or blankets is going to help.
Because I know exactly what’s missing. Charlie. I haven’t slept so well, haven’t felt so peaceful and comfortable, as I did last night with her in my arms. It would have felt better if she were naked, but I’ll take what I can get for now.
It won’t be long until she’s back in my arms sans clothing. I’m sure of it.
Maybe.
At least I hope so.
Why is my confidence wavering? The better question should be why is she resisting me like it’s easy to do?
Tulip meows from the hallway, and I look up to see her limping into the bedroom. I get out of bed and scoop up the black-and-white cat, gently putting her on my bed. She starts purring and rubs her head against me.
“Are you going to help Charlie fall back in love with me?” I ask her, running my hand over her fur. Letting out a deep sigh, I roll back over and try to fall asleep. It’s going to be a late night at the bar and—shit. Charlie needs to get back into the house and I didn’t leave her a key or tell her the code to the alarm system. I’ll be at the bar when she gets off work.
I flop over again and kick the blankets down. Tulip growls and goes to jump off the bed. I catch her at the last second and help her down. I don’t want the cat to hurt herself, and I know how devastated Charlie would be if anything else happened to her cat.
After tossing and turning and pushing away the deep feelings of regret and fear that Charlie means what she says and doesn’t want to give things another go, I get up and get dressed for the gym.
Dean and Archer are finishing up their last set of weights when I walk in. This is the only gym in Eastwood and is usually busy. Every once in a while, I’ll show up at the same time as one of my brothers, and even rarer are the times when we all get here together. Logan and I used to go together almost daily, finding it almost fun to have an accountability partner.
“Hey,” Dean says, exhaling heavily as he lifts the weights up. “I heard Charlie spent the night with you last night.”
“Way to cut to the chase.” I move over by the leg press. “And how the fuck did you hear that? She only left about half an hour ago.”
“I had to drop something off at one of the construction sites and saw her car. So she did spend the night?”
“Yeah. She did,” I say and Dean and Archer exchange glances. “But it wasn’t what you’re thinking. Unfortunately.”
“But she stayed the night with you.”
“I invited her over for dinner and she stayed so she wouldn’t have to drive in the storm. In the guest room. Alone.”
“You didn’t try to make a move?” Archer looks at me skeptically. “Or did she flat our reject you?”
“No one rejects me,” I spit out and then shake my head. “No, I didn’t make a move.”
“You must really like her then.”
“We have history,” I say, and leave it at that. I start my workout, mind drifting to Charlie the whole time, of course. I stop by the law firm on my way home from the gym to give Charlie a key to get into the house.
The firm is downtown, in one of the historic buildings along the main road that goes through Eastwood. The building is three stories high, and Charlie works on the top floor. I go up the stairs, stopping on the second level when I step into the office.
“Hi, welcome to Williams and— Owen?” the secretary cuts off. She peers up at me over the top of her glasses. “That is you, isn’t it?” Her top teeth sink into her bottom lip, and it takes me a second to place her face. Mostly because I didn’t see much of it that night.
She came home with me from the bar one night and I fucked her from behind. And then we had sex again that morning. I always lead my escapades with making it clear things are no strings. I never want to lead anyone on, and I never wanted anything more from anyone anyway.
The closest I’ve come to dating since Charlie and I broke up was Meredith James and the three months we spent naked in bed together. She’d just gotten a divorce and wanted to make her ex-husband jealous, which I was happy to assist with. Then I started feeling sorry for her and unwelcome feelings started to form. She’d been treated like shit and put up with it for five years.
She got back together with her ex after we broke things off.
“Yeah, it’s me.” I flash the secretary a smile, needing to look down at her badge to recall her name. “How have you been, Amy?”
“Oh, you know. Same old, same old.” She tugs at her shirt, moving the collar down to expose more cleavage. “What can I do for you?”
“Is Charlie here?”
“Charlotte Williams?”
“Yeah. I suppose she goes by her full name when she’s working. Is she in?”
“She is. She’s upstairs in a meeting with a client, I believe. I can buzz you in up there if you’d like. There’s a lobby right outside the elevator to wait in.”
“That would be great.”
“Are you in some sort of legal trouble?” She bats her eyes. “You have that bad boy air about you.”
My first reaction is to flirt back with her. It usually gets me what I want while giving whoever is flirting with me what they want in that moment. “Bad? I’m the devil.” I smirk, wink, and walk past her desk to the elevator.
Amy lets out a deep sigh and picks up the phone, calling up to the third story to let me in. The old elevator shakes on its way up, and the doors hesitate just long enough to make me think I’m stuck before they finally open.
Charlie is sitting in the lobby, leaning back on a leather couch and looking bored.
“Owen,” she exclaims, sitting up so fast she almost slips off the couch. “What are you doing here?”
I step out of the elevator, not wanting to get in that thing again. I wouldn’t say I have a fear of elevators…just a fear of getting stuck somewhere. But if Charlie were with me, I might purposely jam the door or something.
“I forgot to give you this.” I pull the key out of my pocket. “I’ll be at Getaway by the time you’re done here.”
Her eyes go from mine to the key and back again. “Right. Tulip is at your house.” Charlie doesn’t move, but instead pulls her arms in closer to her body. “I’ll, uh, I’ll stop by on my way home and take care of her.”
“You can stay,” I offer. “I won’t be home until two or three, depending on how easy it is to clear out the bar.”
“You really don’t mind?” She’s asked me if I mind a dozen times. She knows I don’t. She’s trying to convince herself that she shouldn’t mind.
“I wouldn’t have offered if I did.”
Taking a tentative step forward, she holds out her hand. “Maybe I will.”
I put the key in her hand and close my fingers around hers. Stepping closer, our hips touch and Charlie’s eyes flutter shut. Lips parting, she tips her head up, looking right at me when she opens her eyes.
I bring my other hand up and rest it on the small of her back. My heart skips a beat in my chest, and I swear Charlie’s starts to beat faster.
“I miss waking up with you in my arms,” I whisper, bending my head down so my forehead rests against hers. She brings her free hand up and rests it against my chest, splaying her fingers.
“I’m sorry,” she says back so quietly it’s hard to hear her.
“Why are you sorry?”
“I’m sorry that it won’t happen again. It can’t, Owen.”
“Why not? We’re good together, Charlie. We always have been.” I pull her tighter against me until my cock is up against her pelvis.
She takes in a shaky breath and balls my shirt in her hand. Her eyes fall shut again and her jaw tenses.
“We haven’t always been good.” She pushes away, and not having her against me is like someone ripped my oxygen mask off and I can no longer breathe. “If we were, we wouldn’t have broken up.” She turns the key around in her fingers.
“I made a mistake,” I blurt, heart in my throat again. It won’t take much for it to come tumbling out, bloody and bruised on the floor.
Charlie’s eyes get glossy. “I know you did. And now I’m trying really hard not to as well.”
CharlieThe door to the conference room opens behind me. I whirl around, blinking back my emotions. I’ve been out here waiting to come in and be briefed on the case. Jack Richards, our client, is old and sexist and “didn’t trust a woman” to do his legal work. Being old and sexist is exactly why he’s a regular client.“I need to go,” I tell Owen. Closing my fingers around the key, I walk forward trying to block Owen from my dad’s point of view.“Owen Dawson,” Dad says, and I know I’m too late. “I haven’t seen you in years. How have you been?”Gritting my teeth, I step into the conference room and let go of everything else around me so I can focus on the client and case at hand. In New York, I specialized in real estate law. Here, I’ll be more of a Jack-of-all-trades when it comes to counseling clients, and right now I want to tell Jack Richards he’s a big bag of dicks and deserves to be sued for firing a flat-chested cashier from his store after telling her she should consider getting
OwenThere’s no way Charlie is going to be at the house. I pull into the neighborhood with my heart beating faster and faster the closer I get to home. I want to hold her again, to see her pretty smile and sparkling eyes.The garage lights illuminate the front of the house, and to my surprise, that old Mustang is parked in the driveway. My heart leaps and I have to talk down my dick. It’s late and I’m sure she’s sleeping. She’ll be up and gone by the time I wake in the morning, and it’ll be like she wasn’t even there.I pull into the garage, kill the engine, and grab the pizza and bag of fries and onion rings. Every once in a while, we’re left with a ton of food at the end of the night. We offer it up to the staff for free, and depending on what kind of food is left, we take it to a homeless shelter.Balancing the bag of fries and onion rings on top of the pizza box, I unlock the door and step inside, the house is dark and quiet, and I silently move through the mudroom and into the ki
CharlieI braid my hair as I walk down the stairs. I couldn’t fall back asleep after going to bed last night and finally drifted off about an hour before my alarm went off. I hit snooze twice and then just shut off my alarm, waking fifteen minutes later in a panic. Luckily, I washed my hair last night. It’s long and thick and takes forever to dry.I secure a hair tie around the end of my braid and throw my blonde locks back over my shoulder. The house is quiet, and Owen was true to his word last night: he did leave his bedroom door open. I looked in when I walked down the hall, seeing him in all his glory sprawled out on his stomach on his mattress.He sleeps naked, like he always has, and the sheets were barely covering up his ass. The sight of his naked body sent a jolt through me, awakening every single nerve in me. Physically, there’s no denying that Owen is a gorgeous man. He’s tall and fit, with deep brown eyes, full lips, and a strong jaw that’s always covered in the perfect am
Charlie“Do you need help with anything?” I ask Danielle, going into the kitchen to get a glass of sangria. So much for waiting until dinner, right? Danielle is standing at the oven, stirring the sauce to pour over enchiladas.“Oh, you don’t need to do anything,” she tells me.“I know I don’t, but I don’t mind, either.”“I feel bad inviting people over and putting them to work.”I laugh. “I offered, but I totally understand. Though I haven’t invited people over in a while. My apartment in New York was so small. We could hardly fit guests over.”“So those roomy apartments you see on TV are all a lie, right?”“Totally. Well, the lie would be how regular people afford them. I loved the area I lived in. It was close to Central Park and to work, but holy shit it was expensive.”“The whole east coast is crazy expensive.”I pick up the pitcher of sangria and fill up a wine glass. “Oh right, you said you went to Yale.”“I did, and before that, I was born and raised in Connecticut. I have to s
Owen“You know how you asked me if I missed the city?” Charlie rests her head against the seat and looks out the car window, watching farmland pass us by.“Yeah?”“I miss one thing right now. Guess what it is.”“Easily accessible strip clubs?”She lets out a snort of laughter. “Oh, totally.” She’s drunk, and it’s fucking adorable. “Takeout.”“Takeout strippers?”“No,” she laughs and hits my arm. “Takeout food. I could really go for some fried rice right about now.”“How are you possibly hungry?” I ask, chuckling. “You had two pieces of cake.”“Are you judging me?” She straightens up and tries to look like she’s mad, or more like she thinks she should be mad.“Not at all. I never judge you, Charlie.”Her expression softens. “I know. You never have. Thank you.”She turns back to look out the window and I take my eyes off the road for a second to admire her beauty. Her hair is down, blowing in the wind from the open window.“You don’t happen to serve orange chicken and fried rice at Geta
Owen“You…you should get some rest,” I tell her, forcing myself to break away. I help her pull the t-shirt over her head and then untuck the sheets. She nestles down into the covers and reaches for me.“Will you stay with me?” she asks, brows pinched together. “I’m not too drunk to know I like having you with me.”“Of course.” I kiss her forehead and get up to get her water. My cock is still hard and throbbing against my jeans. Charlie is in my bed, wearing my t-shirt, and was all too willing to have sex.I turned her down.Hell has frozen over.Pigs are flying.I guess there’s a first for everything.But I meant what I said. I care about Charlie too much to let her be a drunken hook-up. Burying my cock deep inside of her, feeling her pussy contract around it as she comes…fuck, I’m getting even harder just thinking about it.I want to fuck her.But I want to love her more.I awkwardly go down the stairs and grab a water bottle from the kitchen. Charlie is almost asleep when I get back
Charlie“You’re in a good mood today.” Amy opens the box of donuts I brought into the office.“I am,” I agree. “Which is surprising since I didn’t get much sleep last night. I get a little cranky when I’m tired.”“Were you getting a little something else?” She wiggles her eyebrows, and I laugh. Before I can tell her no, my dad comes into the office and we both stop talking about where I was last night. I don’t know Amy well, and the fact that she’s slept with Owen weirds me out, but she’s nice and I get along with her just fine.Though it seems like Owen has slept with most of the women in this town, so if his ex-lovers weird me out, I’m going to be limited to talking to only those he’s related to. But the past is in the past, and I can’t hold that against him.He asked me what changed my mind about being together and I couldn’t give him a clear answer. Because I don’t really know, and when I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.I thought things would only work if he changed and was
Owen“Shall we?” I hold out my arm for Charlie to take. She loops her arm through mine and looks up, smiling.“We shall.”I parked on the street, and we’re walking up the sidewalk to her parents’ house. Chaos reigns around us as soon as we step foot inside. Two dogs come running, and one wags its tail so hard it knocks over a decorative vase on the coffee table in the living room. Charlie’s niece, Libby, is upstairs in what I think is supposed to be a timeout. She’s screaming and crying and banging on a closed door.Her youngest nephew cries from somewhere deeper inside the house, and the TV is blaring Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.“I have no idea why you left,” I say and take my shoes off. “It’s so quiet and peaceful here.”She rolls her eyes and takes off her heels. “Right?” Taking her phone out of her purse, she turns just in time to see one of the dogs pick up her shoe and run off with it.“Drop it, Chewy!” she calls, chasing after the dog. “Those are Gucci!”The other dog jumps up at m
OwenThe next year…“What about this one?” I point to a pink-and-purple sheet set. Charlie looks at it and then shakes her head.“It’s too girly.”“We’re buying it for a girl.”“I know,” she agrees. “But I don’t want to set her up with gender stereotypes from infancy.”“Babies don’t even see in color when they’re born.”“Aww, you did read the books.”“Cover to cover.” I motion to another sheet set that’s white with colorful birds on it. “This one?”“Ohhh, that is cute!”“It’s not too girly?” I give her a smirk and she playfully nudges my arm. “These birds look pretty girly.”“I like them.”“That’s the whole point of this,” I whisper-talk. “We get to pick out what we like.”Charlie rests her hand over her stomach. She’s just now starting to show, and we found out we’re having a girl only this morning, continuing with what Quinn insists is karma for being raised in a house full of older brothers. Though she’s expecting her third and they’re not finding out what they’re having. My money
CharlieI pace back and forth on the front porch, swatting away bugs. Owen ran to Walmart to get a pregnancy test. I don’t feel pregnant. Not at all. I have zero symptoms, and while many women can go through the whole nine months without “feeling pregnant,” I know I wouldn’t get that lucky.Still, we want to be sure.I chugged a big glass of water when he left, and now I really have to pee. Headlights illuminate the street and I hold my breath, hoping that truck belongs to Owen. It doesn’t, and it goes right past our house. Getting close to needing to do the potty dance, I decide I’m going to give Owen five more minutes before going to the bathroom. Luckily, he pulls into the driveway only a minute later.He stands outside the bathroom door, waiting for me. The test said to wait a few minutes until you check, but I look at that baby right away. The control line pops up first. I watch, waiting for the second line. I don’t see one, so I set the test down and pull my pants back up. After
OwenThe front door opens, and I spring up, half expecting it to be Carly telling me to fuck off. But it’s Charlie. Her eyes are red and swollen from crying, and it kills me to see her like this.“Can we talk?” she asks, voice thin.“Of course.”She motions to the porch swing and we both take a seat.“What do you want to talk about?” My heart is beating so fast I fear it might beat right out of my chest. I’d pick it up, dust it off, and offer it to Charlie. It’s hers to keep. It’s always been hers.“First things first,” she starts. “Do you still feel like you know what’s best for me?”“No. Though if I were to give you advice right now, it would be to come home with me tonight.”Her lips curve into a half-smile. “Okay. Did it hurt when you broke up with me?”“Yes. And I hurt every day since then. I’ve had a void in my heart, Charlie, and nothing could fill it. Nothing but you.”She nods and looks down at the boards on the porch. “Do you want to get married and have kids?”“Yes. I do. P
CharlieA slight breeze rustles my hair, and I look out at the street. My heart is sitting at the bottom of my chest, and all the cracks are starting to separate. It won’t be long until it shatters into a million pieces again, and this time, there’ll be no putting it back together.My ex-fiancé is sitting on the porch next to me, waiting for his ride to come pick him up. He cheated on me. Embarrassed me. But it’s not him who’s hurting me.It’s Owen, and I don’t understand how I could have been so wrong. Again. Things were so perfect between us. And then he didn’t even have the decency to call me. I need to get Tulip from his place, and it’s going to be so fucking awkward.“I can put in a good word for you at another firm,” Todd says. “It’s the least I can do after…after…”“After fucking your assistant while you were in a relationship with me?”“Yeah. That. I’m sorry. Really, I am.”I hold up my hand, stopping him right there. “What do you want me to say? That it’s okay and I forgive y
Owen“Fuck.” I rub my wrists where the cuffs had been.“Sorry,” Weston says, shaking his head.“It’s not your fault.”He shakes his head and runs his hand through his hair. “You’re free to go now.”“Took long enough. That little shit got out of here hours ago, didn’t he?”Wes opens the holding room door for me. “His lawyer screams scumbag but had good connections.”“What good is the legal system when rich assholes can buy their way out of situations like this. He hit me first. Well, tried to hit me.” I smirk. “That cocksucker can’t throw a punch to save his life.”After Todd tried to hit me, and I easily blocked it, he stepped back and fell right onto Marty Pickens, one of our resident drunks. Along with being a drunk, Marty is paranoid and thinks the world is out to get him. We serve him at Getaway because he’s safer in the bar than out on the streets, and we’re able to give him food and a cool place to wait out the sun in the summer.But the second Todd touched Marty, he freaked out
Charlie“Hey,” I say to Owen’s voicemail. “I know you’re still working, so I’ll go ahead and meet you at the restaurant so we don’t miss our reservation. If you’re going to be late because of work, no big deal. Just let me know and I’ll order an extra glass of wine and bring a book to keep myself entertained.” I walk out of the office and head toward my car. “And I feel like saying I wanted to talk this morning was more dramatic than it needed to be. I do want to talk, but not in a bad way. It’s in an ‘I want to be with you and still want what I wanted before’ way. Marriage and children—not right away,” I add quickly. “But they have to be on the horizon, and this time…this time I don’t think it’ll be an issue. I’m looking forward to seeing—and doing you—later.”It’s an awkward as fuck voicemail, but whatever. It’s Owen. He never makes me feel awkward. Putting my phone in my purse, I pause at a crosswalk.“Charlotte!”I look up, not sure if someone is talking to me or someone else. Eve
OwenThe day has never gone slower. And the night? The night is dragging by so slowly I’m starting to wonder if I died in a freak accident on the way to work and went right to Hell. Charlie isn’t here, so there’s no way this is Heaven.A group of guys are out celebrating a twenty-first birthday. They’ve spent a ton on beer and shots, and we’ve been watching them closely to know when to cut them off. It’s late and the crowd is starting to dwindle, but they’re still going strong.This happens every now and then, and usually it doesn’t bother me. If we’re making money, I’ll stay open for another half hour or so. But tonight, tonight I want to go home, strip off my clothes, and feel Charlie’s body against mine.Everything feels right in the world. Charlie is back, and this time she’s staying. I want to tell her I love her, but won’t. It’s too soon. She wants something serious this time around, and I do too. But freaking her out isn’t the way to go.I turn on the lights, giving the birthda
Charlie“I feel like such a lush,” I laugh, settling into Owen’s arms. We moved into his bed and he just brought me a glass of wine. “Sex, wine, and staying up past my bedtime.”He brushes my hair back. “I’m turning you into a rebel.”I take a sip of wine and set the glass on the nightstand. “You really are.”“I should be punished.”“Oh, you definitely should be.” I move on top of him, and tingles run down my spine. We’re both still naked, and I’m still floating high on adrenaline and sex. I don’t know why I resisted, why I waited until now to finally relent and do what I wanted to do since the moment I saw Owen again.And admit that I’m still very much in love with him.Owen’s hands land on my hips and his cock starts to get hard again. I lean over, breasts in his face, and rub myself against him, getting off before I reach down and guide him into me. My breath comes out in huffs as I ride him hard and fast. Owen presses me down onto him, then brings one hand down and gently rubs my
CharlieOwen isn’t in the kitchen anymore when I come back down the stairs. The house is dark, with the exception of a soft glow coming from the screened-in porch. A single candle is lit and sitting on the table out there, and Owen’s back is to me as he looks at the fountain in the pond behind his house. There’s a light in it, making the simple fountain look much fancier at night than it actually is.Silently, I slip into the room. The candle is one of those meant to repel mosquitos, and the smell reminds me of summer nights spent on the front porch, both with Owen and my other friends. Life was simpler then, and while I can’t get rid of my adult responsibilities, things don’t have to be complicated.Owen turns right when I get up behind him, and firelight flickers in his eyes. He takes me in his arms, and my heart skips a beat. I hook my arms around his neck and step in close. Being in his embrace feels so right.It’s like I never left.He tips his head down, lips brushing against mi