Charlotte (Marked Heart #2) (24 page)

30

Plans

Charlotte's bed shook, startling her awake. Rolling over she saw Silvia lying next to her.
Even though they had sort of buried the hatchet, Charlotte didn't find her intrusion pleasant in anyway.

"Do you not understand the concept of knocking," Charlotte griped.

Silvia rolled her eyes in a 'whatever' fashion as she asked, "What are we doing today?"

"No idea what you're doing, I have plans with Penny," she replied, dragging herself out of bed.

Making her way to the bathroom, Charlotte stopped dead in her tracks when she heard Silvia taunt, "And where did you sneak off to last night, Mrs. Caffrey."

Looking over,
Charlotte caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was still wearing Auggie's dog house shirt.

After mumbling a curse word under her breath, Charlotte reminded, "Guess it's good we're friends now, right."

Silvia started to say something when Lola pranced in the room with Jenna right behind her.

Thinking 'When did my room become so popular', Charlotte hurried into the bathroom. Sitting down on the edge of the bathtub, she had to laugh at the situation. In what world is a grown woman afraid of children tattling on her. She had been dead set against anyone knowing she had anything to do with Auggie even when it was nothing more than fulfilling a promise. Although she still liked the idea of having him as her little secret, she was never big on sharing her personal life. The fact that she was thinking about staying, made her wonder if it would always be this way or if there was a chance of them going out together in public without all hell breaking loose.

As Charlotte started to brush her teeth, the bathroom door swung open and Silvia popped her head in.

"Seriously?" Charlotte tried to blurt with a mouth full of toothpaste.

Silvia gave her a stupid look
, handing her a t-shirt.

"By the way, we're not friends. We're sisters. I kinda think that's better."

Charlotte nod
ded at her sister and gave her an appreciative glance as Silvia left the bathroom.

As the door closed, she heard Silvia shout, "You're welcome."

After
brushing her teeth, Charlotte leaned against the counter staring at herself in the mirror. She wasn't just Charlotte anymore. She was Emerson and Amila's daughter, a sister, a friend and Auggie's girl.

~

Laughing so hard, Charlotte didn't know whether she was going to pee her pants or spit her drink all over the table she and Penny were sitting at. The stories of her growing up were hysterical.

Like the time Auggie and Braden wouldn't stop
arguing so Sarah decided she would force them to get along by duct taping their hands together. After only an hour, Auggie had two broken fingers and Braden's shoulder was dislocated. Sarah gave up and cut them apart.

Then there was the time they glued Ailin's hand to the side of his head
. Sarah shaved his head but couldn't get all the hair off his hand and he spent two days walking around with a hairy palm. And of course, the first and only boy Penny ever brought home, Auggie and Braden took him out back and showed him a few crosses in the backyard, where various childhood pets were buried. They told him that's what happened to the other boys that took their sister out. He was so terrified he sat a seat apart from her at the movies and brought her home two hours early.

When the waiter brought their food
, he gave them both a polite smile before winking at Penny. Pursing her lips into a smile, Penny gave him a little wave as he turned and walked away. Charlotte turned and looked back at him, noticing how he kept looking back at Penny.

"I think he likes you," Charlotte shared.

Penny let out a deep sigh, informing, "I liked him too, a year ago, when he took me out. That was before he asked me to call him Ramone and spank him." Charlotte's eyes were wide and she didn't know if she should laugh of feel bad for Penny as she continued, "Which I guess would have been fine to try if it wasn't our first date or if his is name wasn't Danny."

"How do you do that?" she asked.

"What?"

Smiling, Charlotte replied, "You make everything sound good. Even when it's not."

"I like to be happy. Things happen or they don't and there's no good reason not to look for the best in every situation. I get upset like everybody else, but I never dwell on anything negative because I'm alive and I have a family that loves me."

"I'm glad we're friends," Charlotte assured.

Penny gave a laugh, saying, "Told ya, I'm a lot of fun to be around."

Charlotte swore, "You are but you're also a really good friend."

Giving her a suspicious look, Penny questioned, "Are you buttering me up for something."

Charlotte frowned, assuring, "No, I really mean it," then smiled, "Well, there is something."

Giggling at being semi right, Penny said, "Let's hear it."

"I was thinking about staying," Charlotte shared in a quiet voice.

Penny's eyes
and flew open wide as she clapped her hands and bounced in her seat.

"I knew it! Y'all are in love and y'all are going to get married and have lots of babies and..."

"Whoa!" Charlotte blurted at her before fussing, "First of all, shush. None of that is going on."

With a pouty expression, Penny complained, "Awe, you got me all excited for nothing."

Charlotte couldn't help laughing a little at Penny's reaction.

"Second, I'm still not completely sure, so don't say anything to anyone. But I thought if I did... Would you want to get an apartment with me?"

Penny looked like she was about to cry as she replied, "Really?"

"Yea," Charlotte stressed, not fully understanding why Penny was so emotional.

A happy sigh, preceded Penny saying, "That sounds great."

It was strange to Charlotte how making other people happy could bring her so much joy. First with Amila and her sisters and now with Penny.

She was almost one hundred percent sure about staying. The only question left was how would Auggie feel about it. He kept telling her to stay but would that change if she wasn't going to leave. It's easy to say you want something when there's no real commitment involved.

~

After finishing the day off by having dinner with the family and family movie night, Charlotte sat on her bed. Working on Sophia's baby shower present, she decided she just wanted to sit and think. Her visit home had gone nothing like she thought it would. In fact it was turning out not to be a visit at all.

Deciding she should get some sleep, Charlotte slid under her covers.
Grabbing her phone off of her dresser, she was about to send Auggie a goodnight text when his picture flashed across the screen.

"Hey," she answered with a smile on her face.

"Did I wake you up?"

"No, I was just about to text you goodnight."

There was a hint of amusement in his voice as he asked, "Yea, are you already in bed?"

"Yes."

"So, any chance you sleep naked?"

Laughing, Charlotte answered, "No, I don't."

"Whatcha wearin'?"

"My awesome dog house t-shirt and panties but not the grandma kind you like."

Auggie laughed before saying, "I like that."

"That I'm not wearing granny panties?"

"Yea, that too," he replied, laughing again.

Charlotte liked the fact that he liked her sleeping in his shirt.

"Just so you know, I am naked underneath."

His tone lowered as he said, "Is that right."

Curling up in her sheets, Charlotte offered, "Would you like to come over here and check?"

There was a long pause before he questioned, "If I did would you let me?"

Realizing, she suggested he would get under the shirt privileges, she corrected herself, saying, "Hmmm... No but you can touch me here."

"Where is here?"

"Right there."

"Where is right there?"

"If you were here, I could show you," she teased in a soft tone.

"Woman, you're lucky I know your messin' with me. Otherwise I'd be under the sheets with you right now."

Charlotte gave a slight laugh as she said, "Sweet dreams Augustus."

"Yea, like I'm gonna be able to sleep now," he griped with a hint of humor in his tone.

"Goodnight Charlotte."

Ending the call, Charlotte tucked her phone under the covers with her.

31

Marked

Somewhere between sleep and reality, Auggie felt at ease. The last two nights he'd dreamed about Charlotte but not the usual, he had his way with her kind. Twice she'd disappeared while he was holding her and once his door actually ate her. They weren't nightmares, more like bad dreams that made him feel uncomfortable when he woke. Keeping his eyes closed, he took a deep breath, swearing he could smell her. It was relaxing and soothing until he heard the alarm on his phone go off.

Slowly opening his eyes, Auggie reached to grab his phone. Not fully awake yet, he looked at his empty night stand. His phone wasn't there but when he looked up, Charlotte was.

"Nice background," she said, waving his phone at him.

Without a second thought, he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her onto the bed with him. She let out a squeal as he rolled them both over keeping his arms and legs firmly around her.

"Good morning," Charlotte whispered, most likely because he was squishing her against the bed.

Burying his face in the side of her neck, he breathed her in, saying, "Morning."

Charlotte's arms slid around him
, pulling herself even closer as she rested her head against his.

It felt so amazing to have her curled up with him in his bed. He didn't want to ruin the moment
, but the possibility of making it better was driving him crazy.

Sliding his hands down to her hips, Auggie pushed her down into the mattress, whispering, "Stay right here."

As he started to let go, Charlotte softly asked, "Where are you going?"

"I wanna kiss you."

Charlotte appeared confused, then smiled as she let go. He hated to tear himself away from her
, but there was no way he was going to do anything else without kissing her. Kissing Charlotte was better than anything in this world, only because he hadn't had sex with her yet. That would be the best feeling and kissing her would become a close second. Still, the two weren't separate for him. He needed to kiss her. Before her, he'd always viewed kissing as a means to an end, not that he disliked it, it was never his goal. Until Charlotte. Gah, he could kiss those perfectly imperfect lips of hers for hours.

Leaping into the bathroom from the bed, he swung the door closed. He wasn't nervous
, but he was so excited he dropped his toothbrush in the sink a few times and had trouble squeezing the toothpaste on. After taking care of a few other morning necessities, Auggie swung the door open ready to climb back in bed with her and show her the kind of man he was. The kind of man he wanted to be and would only be with her.

Instantly deflated when all that was waiting for him was an empty bed,
he didn't understand what was going on. Had he imagined the whole thing? Was he hallucinating? Walking out of his room, Auggie stepped in the living room and found her on the couch. It was hard for him not to be irritated with her. He told her to stay in bed. It couldn't have taken him more than five minutes to come out and she bailed on him.

As the
unpleasant feeling of 'It's not going to happen, again' set in, Auggie noticed a look of regret on Charlotte's face. Her eyes were saying she was sorry but since her ass was still on the couch instead of in his bed, he continued to be frustrated with her.

"What the hell?" he griped at her.

Patting the spot next to her on the couch, she replied, "I'm not trying to mess with you. I actually came over to talk to you."

With a heavy scowl, Auggie made his way to the couch and sat down, informing, "You're gonna end up giving me a damn stroke. I hope you know that."

"Well, I didn't know you were going to tackle me into your bed when I got here," she argued.

"What did you think I was gonna do with you in my room?"

Giving a slight huff, Charlotte rolled her eyes, answering, "I went in there to wake you up. When your alarm went off, I saw the picture on your phone and got distracted."

"Distracted?"

There was a sweet smile on her face as she shared, "You have a picture of us on your phone."

Auggie was still upset with her but between the look on her face and knowing he was responsible
for it, he slowly got over his feeling of being hung out to dry.

Shaking his head at her, he couldn't help but smile
back. He leaned in to kiss her, stopping half way when he remembered he had something for her.

"Sit tight," he blurted, patting her on the leg as he hopped up.

Swiftly making his way back to
his room, Auggie opened his dresser drawer. He pulled out a small black box and headed back into the living room.

Handing her the box as he sat down, he said, "I got this for you."

"What is it?" she asked, holding the box in her hand.

"It's a present," he replied, confused by the way she was acting.

Nodding at him, Auggie could tell she was holding her breath as she opened the box.

A slow smile spread across her face as she looked over at him. That expression on her face and the anticipation she built by holding her breath as she opened her gift made him want to go out and buy her something to open every single day.

"Will you put it on me?" holding her hand out to him.

Auggie took the thin silver bangle that had a silver peacock feather and a tiny letter A hanging from it
, out of the box and slid it over her hand onto her wrist.

One moment she was sitting there admiring her gift and then in the next
, Charlotte was straddling his lap kissing him like she was going to eat him alive. Still in his pajama bottoms, there wasn't a whole lot between them causing him to feel every movement, no matter how slight, she made.

Pressing his hands into the small of her back, Auggie breathed out, "You're welcome," as her kiss made its way down his neck to his shoulder.

Pulling up, Charlotte placed her hands on the sides of his face, asking, "Is this your way of marking me?"

Knowing she was referring to the little A that hung next to the peacock feather on her bracelet, he replied, "Yes."

Closing her eyes, she leaned her forehead against his, whispering, "Then I'll never take it off."

She acknowledged what he was doing and was happy about it.
A sense of peace settled over him, knowing whenever she left no matter where she went, she would still be his. Auggie's insight was quickly replaced by urgency. He had a distinct need to christen the moment and physically claim her as his own.

Auggie wrapped his arms
around her tight and kissed her while standing up. Her legs were wrapped around his waist as he hurtled the coffee table, heading straight for his room. His heart was pounding and his mind was racing as everything he planned to do to her flashed in his mind. A sudden jolt stopped him as he noticed her grab hold of the doorframe before they could enter his room. Pulling back out of the doorway, he continued to kiss her as he turned around and pushed her up against the wall.

Breaking their kiss, Charlotte breathed, "Wait."

Pressing into her, Auggie leaned his forehead against the wall, pleading with her, "Lotte, please."

It was
at that moment, as he heard himself beg for her, he knew she had him. It was an irrational and unreasonable thing that he had made fun of all his life. When someone has you so strung out all you can do is want them. There's nothing rational about it and it makes no sense whatsoever but right then and there he knew, she could have him on his hands and knees begging if that's what she wanted. She had him.

~

Guilt among other things settled in Charlotte's chest as she unwrapped her legs from him, letting her feet fall to the floor. Earlier, he was just being Auggie in bed but this was all on her. She couldn't help it. Staring at the bracelet, he gave her and knowing the meaning behind it, twisted her insides to the point to where she felt like she would explode if she continued just to sit there. He was going to start hating her if she kept this up. Hell, she was starting to hate herself for stringing things along.

Taking a few moments to catch her breath and try to relax, Auggie hadn't let up.

"Hey," she soothed as he continued to breath heavy, shaking his head against the wall.

Slowly loosening his grip on her, he breathed, "Stay."

Charlotte's hands started to shake as she slid them to the sides of his face, saying, "I know this is going to sound a little crazy coming from me, but I want it to be special."

Scowling, he blinked a few times before asking, "You want me to take you out? On a real date or somethin'?"

"No. Well, I wouldn't say no but that's not what I meant."

Auggie was still so close to
her it was hard for her to concentrate.

"I was thinking, Sunday."

"Sunday?"

"Yea, this Sunday. After the baby shower."

Appearing confused, he questioned, "Any particular reason?"

Taking a deep breath she gave him a soft kiss before sharing, "We'll be all dressed up and you won't have to go to work."

A light smile played on his lips as he confirmed, "Special."

Nodding, she gave him another soft kiss.

~

After walking Charlotte out to her car, Auggie sat in his chair thinking. Sunday. She said Sunday. Although today would have been better, he was glad to know it would finally happen. He honestly didn't know how many more times she could bring him to the edge of sanity and then
body slam him to the ground before it killed him.

Charlotte
wanted special; he could do special. Getting up out of his chair, he walked to the bathroom. Looking at himself, he decided it wouldn't hurt to trim his beard a little neater and maybe while he was out getting the suit he forgot to buy, and get a haircut.