Charlotte (Marked Heart #2) (25 page)

32

Drunk

Stepping into her silver heels, Charlotte turned and looked in the mirror.
The floor length sundress that she found while out shopping with Penny was a perfect peacock blue, matching some of the feathers from Brennen's peacock farm, she attached to the band of her white sun hat. She still thought having a baby shower tea at a bar was a crazy idea but it turned out to be a great set up for what was to come that evening.

Checking her eye makeup in the mirror one last time, she smoothed her chubby stick across her lips as she smiled at the A hanging from her bracelet. Laughing to herself at how she had to pinch Silvia to remind her to keep her mouth shut when she saw it,
maybe it wouldn't always be a secret. Hopefully, when she told him tonight that she was staying, they could ease everyone into the idea of them being together.

~

Standing behind the bar in his dark grey Glen plaid suit and tie, Auggie watched the door like a hawk, waiting for his first glimpse of Charlotte for the day.

"You gotta date comin' or somethin?" Braden asked, startling Auggie away from his thoughts.

Giving his brother an unhappy glare, he answered, "Quit being stupid."

"You still pissed at me?"

Glancing back at the door before turning to Braden, Auggie replied, "Yea, but it's your life do whatever you want with it."

Braden looked shocked as he blurted, "Since when?"

"What do you mean?"

"You get a new suit, cut your hair and trim your beard and suddenly you're a new man?"

Checking the door again, Auggie informed, "I'm never gonna like her but she's your girl and I can respect that. What's going on between the two of you is your business. So yea, it's your life."

"Who the hell are you?" Braden laughed.

Shaking his head at his brother,
Auggie made a 'Shut up' face at him before focusing back on the door.

Auggie's keeping a watchful eye on the door paid off, the second he saw Charlotte walk in with her family. No way he was going to make it through the shower pretending to ignore her. She had a flow to her walk and with that dress, she
was a classy kind of gorgeous.

"Hey, Charlotte!" Braden shouted out to her, causing Auggie to growl at him under his breath.

Charlotte turned to her parents for a moment before heading towards the bar. For a second, Auggie wondered if she was going to punch Braden in the eye like she said. The thought made it hard for him to keep a straight face and he decided if she did, he just might grab her and kiss her in fro
nt of everyone for being such a bad ass.

Keeping a reasonable distance, Charlotte replied, "Hi, Braden."

Auggie stood up tall, stating, "Charlotte," with a nod.

Lifting her hand, to adjust her large white sunhat with peacock feathers that he was sure came from their day at the farm together, she wiggled her wrist making the bracelet he gave her move against her arm as she replied, "Augustus."

Out of nowhere there was a clapping sound as his sister suddenly appeared in front of them, cheering, "Charlotte!"

Charlotte instantly held her arms in the air, "Penny!"

Auggie watched in a daze as P
enny and Charlotte laughed, walking away from the bar together.

Once again, Braden's voice interrupted his thoughts, asking, "You alright?"

Auggie scowled at him, snapping, "Did you want somethin'?"

Braden smiled wide, "Nah brother, not a thing," as he stepped away.

Rolling his eyes at his brother, Auggie stepped from behind the bar to find a spot where he could keep an eye on Charlotte without being obvious about it.

Quickly finding a spot next to Kieran and Liv against the wall, it was crazy how fast the bar was filling up for a baby shower.

"What's up sexy," Kieran laughed, reaching out to shake Auggie's hand.

Laughing back, Auggie said, "Damn, you clean up nice."

"Y'all need a minute to go make out with each other?" Liv teased them as she bumped Auggie with her shoulder before saying, "Wow, who is that?"

Auggie scanned the room wondering who she was ta
lking about.

Kieran asked, "Who?"

"Peacock girl over there sitting with Penny."

Kieran and Auggie glanced at each other before Kieran answered, "Charlotte Roberts."

"No way," Liv blurted before sharing, "I'm going to go introduce myself."

Kieran laughed, shaking his head saying, "Serious man, I can't take her anywhere."

With a loud exhale, Auggie thought 'It's gonna be a long day'.

~

Once all the greeting formalities were over, Charlotte sat at a table with Penny off to the side. Everyone
, including her family, were taking turns oohing and aahing over Sophia. It was her shower so that was expected. When Sarah walked by she looked so much like an older version of Penny, it made Charlotte want to smile at her. She settled on a polite 'Mrs. Caffrey' instead. Sarah turned and although there was sort of a smile on her face it was more 'Why are you speaking to me' than anything else. Also to be expected. What Charlotte didn't expect was company at their table

A
woman with long black hair, colorful full sleeve tattoos wearing a blue and white striped tank dress, aviator sunglasses and a navy blue sunhat pulled out a chair and sat down across from them.

"Hey beautiful," she greeted Penny with a wink before asking, "So is this the outcast table?"

Penny laughed, answering, "Men are men and boys will be boys but us girls are the black sheep of this family."

Nodding in agreement, she asked, "So, are there drinks at this thing?"

"It's a baby shower," Penny reminded, pointing to Sophia.

"Ah, that's right. You know this having it in a bar just throws the whole thing off."

Charlotte started to laugh thinking the exact same thing as Penny introduced them, "This is Liv by the way. Kieran's wife."

Remembering the framed heart on the wall at Legacy Ink, Charlotte replied, "It's nice to meet you."

Liv made a clicking sound with her mouth and winked before asking, "So, Charlotte Roberts, what brings you to our festive family gathering?"

"Ren made Sophia invite me," Charlotte replied.

"Don't you just love her! She's so badass!" Liv practically shouted, receiving a few glares in the process.

Penny placed her hand across her face and shook her head, warning, "Mom's gonna kick you out if you don't behave."

"Oh yea?" Liv asked before looking at Charlotte saying, "Watch this." Holding her hand high in the air, Liv shouted, "Hi, Sarah!" waving at her.

Sarah looked like it actually hurt her so reply as she stated, "Liv."

Turning back to them, Liv shared, "She secretly loves me," with a nod.

Charlotte tried not to laugh but couldn't help it as she though
t, Liv might be the most awesome person she'd ever met.

As Liv chattered away
, poking fun at various family members, they heard a whinny voice call out to Penny.

Sophia had a helpless look about her as she said, "We ran out of cups. Do you know if there are more in the back?"

Penn
y gave her a sweet smile as she started to stand up.

"Where are you going?" Charlotte asked.

"Oh, you don't know. That was code for 'Penny to get her highness more cups'," Liv shared.

Charlotte thought 'You have got to be kidding me' as she offered, "I'll go look."

"Are you sure?" Penny questioned.

"Yep, I'll be right back," she assured, not because she was just dying to go get cups but because she disliked the way Sophia was sending Penny instead of Braden, who was standing right next to her.

~

Breaking off his conversation with Kieran the second he saw Charlotte walk through the swinging doors to the back, Auggie tried to be covert in making his way in the same direction. Taking a look around before pushing through the doors, it didn't appear anyone was paying him any attention. Being as quiet as possible, he crept down the hall and up to the storage room.

Charlotte was staring at the wire shelving against the wall with her back to him. He watched her for a moment, place her hands on her hips and look up at the top shelf.

Leaning against the doorframe, Auggie complimented, "You are lookin' mighty fine today, Miss Lotte."

Slowly turning around, she peeked up at him from the brim of her hat, saying, "Why Mr. Caffrey, are you flirting with me?"

Auggie could feel the side of his face scrunch up into a smile as he took a few steps closer, sharing, "You look beautiful."

A mischievous grin formed as she replied, "Do you know how hard it was for me not to pull you over the bar by your tie and give you a proper greeting?"

Closing the distance between them, he dared, "So what's stopping you now?"

"I came in here to grab some more cups, not fool around with you," she said with a laugh.

Charlotte reached up to grab a sleeve of cups off of the shelf when Auggie caught her
by her forearm. He smiled at the little A on her bracelet before pressing his lips against her wrist.

"You may have come back here for cups. I came back here for you," he shared in a low tone before lowering her arm, whispering, "And I do intend on greeting you properly."

Her
opposition faded into a welcoming expression as she looked into his eyes.

"Hey, did you find the cups," Braden chimed from the doorway, causing Auggie to turn his head and scowl at his brother.

Charlotte jerked her arm away from Auggie and grabbed the sleeve of cups, confirming, "Yep, got 'em," and turned to walk out.

Auggie watched her leave the storage room when Braden stopped her, saying, "Sophia wanted me to make sure y'all were behaving yourselves."

She gave him a crazy look as she snapped, "Excuse me?"

"She doesn't want y'all causing a scene at her shower. We all know how you feel about each other," Braden shared with a wide smile.

Charlotte flashed a sarcastic smile as she stated, "I'm bringing the princess her cups, now."

Auggie wanted to smile but the fact that his brother interrupted them
kept an unhappy expression on his face.

Shaking his head at Braden, Auggie started to walk out of the storage room.

"Seriously, you've got to like her at least a little."

Glaring at his brother, Auggie snapped, "You need to shut up."

"Come on man, she's gorgeous and she always smells nice. Not only that, she seems like she'd be a lot of fun to be with."

Charlotte was all the things Braden was saying and so much more. He started wondering why he was still pretending to hate her when
it was just Braden.

Auggie started to confess when his brother added, "I mean Will thought so. Gah, can you believe our Will got with her in the first place."

Suddenly, Auggie felt his mouth start to water like he was going to be sick.

Grabbing Braden by the front of his suit jacket, he growled, "I said, shut your mouth," then let go with a little shove.

As he walked out of the room, Auggie heard his brother gripe, "Damn, lighten up."

All the things that brought Charlotte into his life
seemed to assault him as he made his way back through the swinging doors.

How could he have forgotten? Another wave of nausea hit him as he changed his course and headed straight for the men's room.
Loosening his tie as he stepped in, his guilt was suffocating him. Charlotte wasn't his girl; she couldn't be. She was Will's first. Trying to catch his breath, he clinched his fists remembering all he was supposed to do was look out for her. What kinda of a man was he? He was a sorry excuse for a brother, a disloyal son of a bitch that was dishonoring Will with every move he made. And he was in desperate need of a drink.

Pulling himself together
, as best he could, Auggie headed behind the bar. He pulled a bottle of whisky from the top shelf before heading into the kitchen. He opened the cooler and grabbed a box of Guinness. Heading to the office in the back, where he planned to drink himself into oblivion, he caught sight of Charlotte. She was watching him with a concerned expression on her face. Everything he felt for her was still there, except now, his head was telling him what a low down dirty excuse for a brother he was for feeling that way. Auggie slammed the office door and locked it behind him, pulled his suit jacket off, rolled up his sleeves and took a long swig out of the whisky bottle.

~

Sitting still as Liv and Penny continued on with their conversation, Charlotte didn't understand what had happened. Auggie appeared upset and when he came through with his arms full of alcohol, he glared at her like he couldn't stand the sight of her.

"Hey, I think something's wrong," she whispered, leaning closer to Penny.