Charlotte (Marked Heart #2) (20 page)

"Did you call the police?"

With a slight laugh, Charlotte replied, "No, I didn't."

"How did you end up with the Roberts' then?"

"I did the best I could to clean myself up. Some of the petals were pretty deep and I couldn't get them out. I knew it was getting worse because I started to feel sick but my mom acted like nothing happened so I did too. A couple of weeks later a girl who sat behind me in class told the teacher I was bleeding. I was sent to the nurse's office. When I got in there, she tried to pull my shirt up and I shoved her. She called the police and it took four officers to hold me down and when they saw me, they called an ambulance. I don't remember a lot from the hospital. As soon as they examined me, I was rushed into surgery. The infection from not being treated properly could have killed me they said. I was sedated most of the time because whenever they would come in to check me I had to be restrained. A Social Worker showed up at the hospital and said they arrested my mom because she was high when officers questioned her and there were drugs in the house," Charlotte paused thinking 'Almost done' before continuing to say, "They sent me to the juvenile detention center because I wouldn't say what happened. The hospital said I was hostile and under the circumstances, I was a detriment to myself. I didn't mind it there. I was in the infirmary the whole time. They ended up sending me to the foundation because they didn't know what else to do with me and that's when the Roberts' adopted me."

~

Auggie sat still trying to absorb what he had heard. He wanted to react and felt like he should, but he had no idea how. It was the most horrific thing he had ever heard. Through her entire story, Charlotte rubbed his back and the only inflection in her voice was humor. Understanding now why she questioned his reasons for wanting to know. Auggie would never be able to look at her the same again. She was damn near righteous in his eyes.

Charlotte
clearly didn't want sympathy. She didn't need it. He wanted to assure her that although he'd never hit a woman before, if he ever ran into her mom, he'd gladly beat that bitch to death but it seemed like the wrong thing to say. Then it hit him, what Jackson said at the bar. He knew something she was worthy of.

"I respect you."

Sliding her arms around his waist, Charlotte pressed her lips against the center of Auggie's back before saying, "That's a nice thing to hear."

Auggie shifted in her arms to face her.

"I really like you," he swore placing a soft kiss on her lips.

Scooting closer, she tightened her arms around him, saying, "I like you a lot too."

Smiling at her, Auggie let go of his urgency to have her. He still wanted her
with a need that he knew would end up eating him alive, but he was no longer in a hurry. Whatever pain she caused him simply by being herself was worth it if he got to share little moments like this with her. She was now worth his patience too.

When
Charlotte started to yawn, Auggie realized how late it was getting. He'd agreed to help his cousins finish up in the morning with the trees at Jackson's place and being too tired to work hard would give them a good year's worth of lazy bartender jokes. As much as he hated to, Auggie needed to call it a night.

"I have to get some sleep, you wanna stay?" he asked, knowing she was going to say no but still feeling the need to make the offer.

Appearing to give it serious consideration, Charlotte replied, "Everyone was still up dealing with Silvia when I left so I better not."

Nodding, Auggie stood up before holding his hand out to her.

Auggie held Charlotte's hand as he walked with her out of his front door and onto the porch. Standing on his doorstep with her, kissing her goodbye, Auggie thought about her standing there waiting on him to arrive home.

"I wanna give you something."

With that mischievous little smile of hers, Charlotte questioned, "Out here on the porch?"

An instant mental image made Auggie want to push her back into the house.

"Anywhere you want. Just say the word."

"And what word is that?" she asked, pushing to see how far he was willing to take this.

Knowing she was
taunting him, Auggie drew in a deep breath before leaning closer.

Stopping before their lips touched he breathed, "Want. Tell me you want me."

A look of pure lust coated Charlotte's expression as she stared at him.

Thinking, 'This is going to hurt me more than it does her' Auggie gave her a quick kiss before stepping away saying, "I guess since your speechless, I'll just give you something else."

Narrowing her eyes at him for a moment, she said, "That wasn't nice."

Auggie reached down behind a potted plant and grabbed his spare key before turning back to her saying, "It wasn't meant to be."

"You are very lucky I like you Augustus Caffrey," she assured with a smile.

Closing his fist around the key, he replied, "That sounded a little threatening."

"Watch yourself, if you make this into a game, I will show up at the bar in my little turquoise shorts that you pretended to hate so much."

Auggie was desperate to come out on top for once as he swore, "If you do, I'll take you right over the bar."

"Promises, promises," she laughed not taking him seriously.

Shaking his head at her, Auggie admitted defeat saying, "I'll never be able to get to sleep if we keep going."

A satisfied expression appeared on Charlotte's face as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Kiss me goodnight then."

Auggie did as she asked before holding his spare key between them, offering, "This is for you. I don't want you to have to wait outside on the porch for me."

Charlotte seemed genuinely appreciative as she said, "Thank you."

Feeling good about it, he added, "You can use it anytime you want."

Charlotte wore a soft smile as she nodded, taking the
key from him.

24

Falling

An early morning wake
up call from Penny, that originally irritated an exhausted Charlotte, turned out to be a fun day of shopping with a friend. They shopped and laughed until both found perfect dresses for Sophia's shower. It was a great day and after stopping for lunch, Charlotte and Penny headed back to town.

Charlotte sat in the passenger seat while Penny drove them at what Charlotte considered a snail's pace.
At this rate, a forty-minute drive was going to take them two hours.

"You know you drive like an old grandma," she laughed.

Penny pursed her lips into a smile, firmly holding the steering wheel at the ten and two position, saying, "There is nothing wrong with being a cautious driver."

"You know they give tickets for going too slow."

Laughing, Penny swore, "Excuse me, I go the speed limit."

"I'm just saying you're allowed to go with the flow of traffic."

Penny smiled, asking, "Got somewhere special to be?"

Auggie instantly entered Charlotte's mind as she replied, "Next time I'm driving."

"Ah, you're going to see your secret boyfriend," Penny teased.

Rolling her eyes with a smile, Charlotte replied, "Oh please, he's not my boyfriend. We are just seeing each other."

"I get that. So are y'all seeing other people too?"

"No," Charlotte answered, disliking the question but pleased at what she and Auggie had decided.

"Just so you know, that's what
we
call, having a boyfriend."

Charlotte sighed with a laugh, saying, "Well,
we
doesn't know everything and should not make more out of this than what it is."

Penny started to pout before blurting, "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you!" Charlotte jumped a little at her outburst as Penny shared, "Sophia is naming the baby Keely but spelling it K-e-y-l-e-e."

"Any particular reason?"

Shrugging a shoulder at Charlotte, Penny explained, "She doesn't want people to call her Kelly by mistake."

"Oh-kay."

Penny gave her a scolding expression saying, "Look, I know you don't like Sophia but she is my best friend and you're my friend, I don't want that to be a problem."

Charlotte mentally counted back from ten before she replied, "Well, you won't have a problem from me. I don't have an opinion of her at all. She's Ren's daughter, that's it."

With a curious smile, Penny asked, "Are you still going to feel that way if things work out with you and Auggie?"

"Things are working out with us."

Penny laughed, shaking her head, "Long term."

Suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation, Charlotte replied, "There is no long term. I'm leaving in a month and a half."

Appearing sad at first, Penny nodded before asking, "Just out of curiosity, what would you do if he asked you to stay?"

"He won't."

"You sure about that? When the Caffrey men fall, they go down hard," Penny imparted.

Penny's words filtered down into Charlotte's heart causing her to wonder
if he was really falling hard for her and if he would ask her to stay.

Charlotte knew they agreed to keep their relationship a secret but recognized the fact that she really needed to talk to someone about it.
Since Auggie knew that Penny knew and if no real details were shared, maybe it would be okay.

"How would I know?" Charlotte questioned before adding, "If he was falling for me."

Rolling her eyes with a laugh, Penny replied, "Oh you mean the fact that my brother has never spent more than a few hours with a woman even once in his life and wants to spend all his free time with you isn't convincing enough."

Hesitant, Charlotte said, "William said he loved me but once I was gone he moved on."

With a light sigh Penny shared, "Look, I hope I don't hurt your feelings but I'm gonna be honest with you. Will moved on because he was never in love with you." Charlotte gave Penny a confused look as she continued, "There's no doubt in my mind he loved you until the day he died but... Okay, none of the girls around here would give 'Weezy Will' the time of day until you, which is a shame because as far as brothers go, I think he was the cutest one. Then here you came all blonde and long legs wanting to get with him. Do you see what I'm sayin'."

"So he really was okay after I left?"

Penny gave her a 'Don't be silly' look as she replied, "He was sad that it didn't work out but yea, he was fine. And... I happen to know having you go to the hospital to say goodbye was for you, not him."

Nodding, Charlotte offered, "I thought I really screwed him up."

"You're not Lily," Penny cheered with a smile.

Letting go of something she didn't realize she was still carrying around, Charlotte exhaled, leaning back in her seat.

The car was silent for a few moments before Penny decided to share some background information on the Braden and Lily situation.

"By the way you know how I said we're forgiving people, that doesn't apply to her."

Charlotte found that somewhat
interesting. She honestly couldn't see Penny disliking anyone.

"Lily?"

Nodding, Penny had an irritated expression as she shared, "She didn't just break my brother's heart, she crushed him."

"Braden doesn't come off as wounded," Charlotte replied.

With a heavy sigh, Penny informed, "That is because he's the dumbass brother." Charlotte started to laugh before Penny continued, "I'll admit we all loved her at first, even mom. She cheated on him a few times in high school. She complained he was too busy playing every weekend, wasn't paying attention to her, but that was between them and he forgave her, so it was whatever. High school stuff."

Listening to Penny, Charlotte tried to remember what she had overheard between Auggie and Braden when she was hiding in his bedroom.

"Lily always made a big deal about marriage. She said it was just a piece of paper and she didn't agree with labels or institutions. So they got a house together. About three years ago Braden and the rest of the band had the opportunity to be the opening band for six months on a tour. Everyone was so excited for them, except Lily. He wanted her to go with them, Sophia was going too. Lily said no and told him they were done if he went."

"He went anyway?"

Shaking her head, Penny answered, "Nope. He didn't want to lose her. Ailin and Brooks didn't want to go without him so they turned down the offer. They were bummed but we're a pretty understanding bunch, Lily was his girl and he had to do what he felt was right."

A thought quickly occurred to Charlotte as she blurted, "Wait, isn't she married now?"

Making a 'Mmhmm' face, Penny said, "Hold on, I'm getting to that," before continuing, "About two months after that, Braden bought her a ring. He thought even though she didn't want to get married he could still make it official, ya know. Mom drew out his heart and he left work early to go surprise her. He walked in and caught her cheating with Keven. He went back the next day and found all his stuff packed and on the curb. A week later Lily and Keven got married."

"So Lily's house, down Auggie's street..."

"Was the house Braden bought and he just gave it to her. He moved in with Brooks but it was horrible. For six months he didn't leave the house, play or anything. Finally, we had an intervention. It was mostly Auggie cursing at him and shaking him until he got mad enough to take a swing. They got in a fight and then we had our Braden back."

"And now?"

"Keven's in jail. There are rumors but I don't know what really happened. She told Braden that Keven beat her up. He probably did, he had steroids and some other stuff on him when he was arrested. At least that's what I heard."

Charlotte sat straight up, suggesting, "We should go kick her ass."

With a laugh Penny replied, "Gah, if my brother doesn't fall for you I will," before taking a more serious tone saying, "We've all tried to talk him out of her. He just won't listen. Still carries the heart mom drew around in his wallet. You know how they say love is blind? Well, I know Braden can see so apparently love's a dumbass and so is my brother."

Feeling sad for Braden
, didn't stop the laughter that poured out of Charlotte as they pulled up to her house.

Penny dropped Charlotte off at home with a cheerful goodbye and an invitation to hang out anytime. Finding it hard to believe that she actually did William a favor as Penny had implied, by
hurting him, she was relieved she hadn't ruined his life. Feeling like a little less of a bad person, Charlotte planned on hanging out at the house for a while. However, when she walked into the house, Silvia burst into tears. More howling and violent crying ensued before Charlotte decided she had to get out of there.

The disappoint
ment Charlotte felt in not getting to use the key Auggie gave her was quickly replaced by excitement. His truck was in the driveway. When she turned the knob and found his front door locked, she was excited all over again. After using her key to open his door, Charlotte stepped inside. Closing the door behind herself, she glanced at Auggie asleep in his chair and smiled.

Late nights and early mornings had Charlotte worn out also and she hadn't spent the last two days doing manual labor. Imagining how tired he must be,
she decided not to wake him. Looking him over while thinking she might take a nap, she noticed not only was he wearing plaid pajama bottoms, of course, his hair was still wet. She couldn't help herself as she set her purse down and stepped closer.

Running her fingers through Auggie's damp hair, Charlotte leaned
closer. Just as she was about place a light kiss against his temple, Auggie pulled her over the arm of the chair sideways onto his lap.

"I was trying not to wake you," Charlotte shared with a smile.

Resting his forehead against the side of her head, Auggie whispered, "Stay here with me."

Closing her eyes, Charlotte drew in a slow breath before asking, "For how long?"

"I set an alarm on my phone."

Feeling both r
elief and disappointment, thinking to herself, 'Damn Penny putting that in my head' Charlotte curled into him, resting her head against his shoulder.

~

Slowly opening his eyes, it took Auggie a minute to figure out what was going on. Charlotte was on top of him in his chair. The recollection of waking up to her fingers running through his hair had nothing on the feeling of her soundly sleeping against him. Wrapping his arms around her, Auggie kissed her forehead.

Her eyes fluttered open as she whispered, "Don't get up."

"I gotta open the bar."

Charlotte pulled away with the most beautiful still half asleep expression on her face.

"You suck, I was sleeping good."

Auggie wanted to laugh but instead blurted, "Wait," as she stood up.

Stretching her arms high above her head, she yawned, "I need to go."

Slowly getting up, Auggie asked, "Are you coming back?"

"We'll see. Depends on how Silvia's melt down is going."

Auggie looked at her and nodded before a sudden realization struck him.

Pulling her to him, he slid his arms around her and leaned to her ear, quietly informing, "We just slept together."

Charlotte's voice was soft and low as she shared, "That makes you my first."

An unbelievably territorial instinct
caused him to tighten his arms around her. Wondering if he should admit to the same for him, he'd never even passed out next to a woman much less snuggled to sleep with one.

Surprised that a word like 'Snuggle' entered his mind, Auggie cleared his throat and let go of her saying, "You got a key now so come by whenever."

Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. As she flashed a sarcastic smile and reached down to grab her purse, Auggie knew
he was a jerk for responding that way. Instead of making it right or even telling her goodbye, he turned and walked to his room to get ready for work.