Charlotte (Marked Heart #2) (27 page)

Leaning to her ear, Auggie asked, "Table or bar?"

"Table," she whispered, loving the feel of him close in public.

When they reached the bar, a salt and pepper gray haired man was standing behind it, staring at them in complete and total disbelief.

Auggie let go of her hand and placed it on the small of her back as he told the bartender, "Ginger ale and a..." then looked at Charlotte as she replied, "Two please."

Lou laughed, "I almost didn't recognize you. This your girl?"

"Yea, this is Charlotte," Auggie introduced before Charlotte replied, "Hi."

Giving a nod as he set their drinks on the bar, Lou said, "Don't know what you're doin' to this guy. Boy you sure lucked out."

Auggie shook his head with a laugh before the
y picked up their drinks and walked to a table by the corner.

As Auggie pulled out her chair, Charlotte stopped
, looking at a wall full of pictures.

"Oh my gosh, is that Ren. Geez, she looks so young."

Stepping beside her, he shared, "Yea, she was. Jackson worked here his senior year and from what I understand she was always up here."

Charlotte inspected the picture then looked at him, assuring, "That has to be your dad. You look just like him."

Nodding, he replied, "There's the original Augustus," pointing to a hard looking man in a black and white photo.

"You look like him when you're mad."

Auggie laughed, "Alright, let's sit down."

Charlotte sat
, pleased to see Auggie pull his chair around right next to hers before sitting down.

Glancing around, Charlotte noticed although they were getting plenty of looks, no one looked like they were going to say anything. Even Braden stayed on stage after giving her a big smile.

Auggie lifted his ginger ale in his brother's direction and tipped the glass at him before turning to Charlotte saying, "I should have done this sooner."

Charlotte started
to reply but before she could get a word out, Auggie pressed his lips against hers.

As he pulled back, she noticed a look of relief in his eyes as he whispered, "I'm gonna be honest. I was half expecting torches and pitchforks."

Closing her eyes, she leaned her forehead to his, saying, "You did say it was a slow night."

Laughing together, they sat close
until it was time to leave.

Din
ner at Mansurs was wonderful. Charlotte and Auggie laughed and talked about things they had never gotten around to discussing. What music they liked, favorite movies, mostly first date stuff. As their meal ended, the anticipation of what was to come was getting the better of Charlotte. When the waiter offered dessert, she declined and Auggie followed suit. Their date had been close to perfect and the only thing Charlotte could think about was sealing their relationship before the night was over.

~

The night had gone so much better than Auggie expected. He felt relaxed and pleasantly surprised at how comfortable he felt out in public with Charlotte. It was strange to him how effortless the whole thing was. He'd always viewed taking a girl out as more trouble than it was worth because there were always the ones that were ready no matter what. Charlotte was worth whatever hoops he had to jump through but it never once felt like he was working for it. Everything about their date felt right, from the suit he was wearing, to letting her drive, all the way down to kissing her at the bar.

Auggie's fingers were tingling as he itched to get his hands on her. She was making him wait outside
of his bedroom door, he really had no idea why. Waiting for her to welcome him in, he pulled out his cellphone, that he had on silent, out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket to see what time it was. After viewing a slew of missed calls from random numbers, he saw a text message from Sheryl of all people. He almost didn't check it but since he was waiting and a little curious, he did. Scanning the rather lengthy text message, the majority of it was asking if he was blocking her calls, telling him he had missed out on her and that he must think he was better than everyone else. Laughing to himself, he assumed she was drunk texting and found it pretty funny until he read the last part.

S: Do you know what a slap in the face bringing HER to The Dog House was to everyone. I hope you enjoy your brother's leftovers you piece of sh*t.

Standing there staring at the last sentence, Auggie tried to be rational.
He turned his cellphone off and threw it. Watching it skim across his coffee table before bouncing off the edge of the couch onto the floor, he gritted his teeth trying to somehow unread the message.

Running his hand down his face, he turned away from his bedroo
m door as the same sickening feeling from the day before started to overtake him. When he did, William's door was right there, staring at him. Taunting him with the knowledge that Charlotte had been behind that door with his brother.

He turned back to his door, hearing Charlotte announce, "You can come in now."

Standing at the foot of his bed, Charlotte was wearing a red and black plaid corset that covered
only the parts he knew he wasn't allowed to touch. As his eyes appreciated the length of her, he noticed the only other things she had on were a pair of little black panties and her black heels. Auggie tried to take a breath but couldn't. She was absolutely glorious.

Every single fiber of his being wanted her with the exception of the little nagging part of his brain that was trying to conv
ince him this was wrong. Slowly walking towards her, he didn't see how being with her could be anything but right. She was beauty, lust, sweetness, sex and passion. When he reached her, she stepped out of her heels before reaching up and running her hands through his beard. Guiding his lips to hers, her kiss was soft and slow. She slid her hands up his chest and under the shoulders of his suit jacket. Once his jacket hit the floor, she made short work of his tie before starting on the buttons of his shirt. Half way down, he couldn't stand it anymore. Pulling her down on the bed with him, he kissed her, kicking his shoes off before scooting them both farther onto the bed.

Auggie
pulled her as close as possible before rolling them over. Charlotte's legs found their way around his waist. Pushing up on his hands, he leaned his head down, brushing his lips across her collar bone. The most exquisite breathy moan escaped her lips, and it was the best thing he'd ever heard until that nagging voice started messing with his head.

All of the sudden
, he wondered if that was the how she sounded with William. Knowing what thoughts like that would do to him, he moved to her side and pulled her to him. Frantically kissing her while inhaling deeply every chance he could, Auggie thought smelling her and feeling her might drown everything but her out of his mind. The harder he tried, the worse it got. His brother was fixated in his mind.

Pulling away from her
, Auggie tried to sit up.

Charlotte caught the side of his face, saying, "I trust you."

He had no idea what to say to her.

The look in her eyes damn near killed him as she declared, "I don't want anything between us."

"I can't go where my brother's been," he choked out.

Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him.
She laid there completely still, staring at him for several minutes.

Her voice was hurt and angry as she questioned, "What kind of a man does this?"

Auggie opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. He didn't know.

Charlotte jumped out of bed, yelling, "Congratulations. You are the best damn brother in the entire world."

Shaking his head, he swore, "That's not what this is."

Pulling her dress back on, she snapped, "No?"

"I didn't want for this to happen."

Offended, Charlotte questioned, "So you didn't want me to believe that you wanted me? That this was real? And then make me feel like I'm not worth anything to you?" Taking a step closer to the bed, she shouted, "Because that's what just happened."

Jackson was right. He should have talked to her before something like this happened. Jackson was right about everything.
Sliding to the edge of the bed, he stood up in front of her.

Auggie looked into her eyes, trying to make her understand, "The right thing to do is to let you go."

Instantly slapping the side of his face, she informed, "It's not right. It's not alright to break my heart."

The spot where she hit him stung
, but the hurt he felt in his heart was excruciating as he noticed the tears in her eyes. He'd made her cry.

Hearing his front door slam shut, Auggie clinched his fists. Hurt and anger brewed deep inside him until he exploded.

Rushing to William's door, he kicked it open shouting, "Why? Why would you do this to me?"

Grabbing
the picture of he and his brother from the dresser, Auggie threw it against the wall.

"You did this! You left me! Why? You left me with her!"

Going down on his knees, he leaned his forehead against William's bed.

"Why would you do this to me? You're gone! I can't have her!"

Auggie rubbed his eyes as they started to burn. Sitting back on his heels
, he looked down at his fingers. The reality that he was blaming his dead brother for losing Charlotte, hit him as he saw tears on his knuckles. He couldn't remember ever crying before now. Not when William passed or when he lost his dad, not even as a kid.

Looking around the room, he admitted, "I love her." Moving off of the floor to sit on his brother's bed, Auggie said, "I miss you."

~

Curled up in Amila's arms the tears wouldn't stop. Charlotte now understood all of Silvia's howling sobs when her heart was broken.

Nothing had ever hurt this bad. There was no physical pain that could match the crushing feeling she felt on the inside.
She wanted to tell her how badly it hurt, but she couldn't stop crying long enough to make a sound come out of her mouth.

34

Timing

Curled up in bed, Charlotte was on her fourth box of tissues when Amila left the room, to make breakfast for everyone.
She held her cellphone in one hand swiping through pictures of her and Auggie with the other. Charlotte was glad Amila had stayed the night in her room, loving on her as she cried. Especially since she had no idea what was wrong. Every time Amila asked, Charlotte tried to answer but couldn't. Now, that she was alone all she wanted to do was look at pictures of him and remember what it felt like to be in his arms.

Pulling her cell
phone to her chest, Charlotte squeezed her eyes closed, hugging her phone. When it vibrated, the thought that it might be him sent chills down her arms. She was new to this feeling and her heart felt so raw and broken, it didn't matter what he had to say, she just wanted him to talk to her.

Lifting her phone,
she blinked a few times surprised at who the message was from.

T: Hello my beauty.

Shaking her head, Trace always had impec
cable timing.

T: All meetings have come to an end. Would you like me to fly down and bring you back early or are you enjoying your stay?

Pausing for a moment, Charlotte swallowed hard.

C: No, come now. I want to go home.

T: I am pleased to hear that. I look forward to seeing you and resolving your concerns considering our future.

There was no future with Trace, at least not for her
, but she wanted to get as far away from her heartache as soon as possible.

C: We can have a conversation.

T: Your father will expect a proposal when I arrive.

C: He'll get over it.

There was a few minutes delay before his reply.

T: I may not...

She didn't have the patience to deal with his ego.

C: Are you coming or not?

T: Will you at least wear the dress I sent?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes.

C: Sure.

T: Thank you my lovely. I will arrive Friday morning. We will depart at seven that evening.

C: Perfect!

Turning her cell
phone off before placing it on her nightstand, Charlotte's heart hurt at the thought of everything she would be leaving behind. There was no way she was going to allow herself to stay in this stupid town feeling heartbroken and lovesick for someone who didn't give a damn about her.

~

Loading a box into the back of his truck, Auggie had stayed up all night talking aloud to Will as he packed up his brother's room. He talked to him about how much it sucked to manage the bar, how crazy Charlotte made him before he realized how wonderful she was and even told him he was sorry for not being a better brother to him when he was alive. Will's mattress and dresser went into the garage while he packed bags for Goodwill to pick up. Aside from a few things he decided to keep, he was bringing the rest to his mom.

It was actually a relief to have the door to his brother's room open and as he pulled up to his mom's house
, he had a feeling he needed to stop closing doors and leave a lot more open. Something about getting everything off his chest the night before made him realize he had always closed himself off. He was still a stubborn judgmental ass but now he knew what it was like to fall and hit the ground, onto rusty spikes that twisted into you as you were being hosed down with lemon juice just to remind you with the added sting, no matter how much pain you're in, it was your own damn fault.

Carrying the box
into the house for his mom, he set it on the coffee table when he saw Sarah standing there.

"Hey, Ma."

She appeared angry, snapping, "What's this?"

With a shrug, he replied, "I finally cleaned out Will's room. There's some stuff in there I thought you might want."

Nodding, she questioned, "So one night and you're ready to just throw your brother out."

Confused, Auggie said, "You've been on me for over a month to do this?"

Ignoring his reply, Sarah fussed, "How dare you disrespect your brother, not to mention our entire family by bringing her to the bar."

He honestly couldn't believe what his mom was saying to him as he blurted, "Ma?"

"You're willing to trade your brother's memory for someone like her?"

Having already lost this battle with himself, Auggie answered, "I'm not going to see her again."

Penny walked in, giving her brother a dirty look, asking, "You're not?"

Sarah seemed relieved, "At least one of y'all has some sense, that girl doesn't belong with our family."

Penny blurted, "Mom!"

"Well, it's the truth. She's a disposable mistake. That's why the Roberts shipped her off. The whole town knows it too. Not everything that looks good on the outside is good on the inside and I guess I can just be thankful it didn't take you as long as it did your brother to realize it."

Auggie couldn't sit back and let her talk about Charlotte like that, "You want some truth? I've been seeing her. Since Will's funeral. And it's no wonder she moved to another country. This whole town can go straight to hell because she is better than damn near everyone in it."

Sarah stared at Penny, asking, "Did you know about this?" Before Penny could open her mouth, Auggie replied, "No, Ma. No one knew until last night."

"Get out," Sarah stated before shouting, "Get out of my house!"

Clenching his teeth, Auggie
gave a heavy sigh, nodding as he turned and walked out of his mom's house.

Walking back to his truck, Auggie mentally questioned 'Anything else?'
wondering what was next. His mom's words were like a double blade that twisted inside his heart. Not only did it hurt like hell to hear what she said about Charlotte, he knew he was just as bad as everyone else because that was exactly the way he felt about her before he knew her.

"Auggie!" Penny called out, running up to his truck.

Stopping before he opened the door, he waited for her to meet him before saying, "Now's not a good time, Pen."

"Maybe she just got scared, hang in there, I know..." she started before he stopped her, saying, "It was me."

Scowling, she questioned, "Why?"

"I had to let her go," he replied.

Giving him a hard shove, Penny griped, "What is wrong with you?"

"It was going to end anyway."

Furious with him, she informed, "She was gonna stay."

A new level of regret burned inside him as he
clenched his teeth.

Penny had tears in her eyes as she berated, "You're such a selfish hard hearted bastard."

Looking down at the ground, Auggie nodded, confirming, "I know, Pen."

As Penny stormed back to their mom's house, Auggie opened the door and climbed into his truck.

~

Amila walked into Charlotte's room with a plate
of eggs, bacon and toast. Setting Charlotte's breakfast on her nightstand, Amila sat down on the side of her bed and patted her arm.

"Do you feel like talking, honey?" Amila asked with a sweet smile.

Shrugging, Charlotte replied, "What's there to say? It's over."

Giving her another smile, Amila shared, "Honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around your secret guy being Auggie. Not to mention, this is the first time I've ever seen a relationship outed and over, all in the same night."

"I don't know what made me think it would work out," Charlotte thought aloud.

With a concerned expression, Amila said, "It sure seems like he went through a lot of trouble to break it off with you. I doubt anyone is going to let this go for a while."

"Do you think it's possible to love someone because of how they are and at the same time wish they weren't the way they are?"

Amila made a face, asking, "Pardon?"

Charlotte stared at her for a moment before deciding to
catch Amila up to speed.

After Amila swore whatever was said stayed between them, Charlotte
shared what William had asked of her, how absolutely ridiculous Auggie was the first few times she went to his house, the day at the peacock farm and how everything changed the night he kissed her.

Amila gave a heavy sigh as she admitted, "You're right, Auggie is different...then I thought he was."

Nodding, Charlotte replied, "He said he had to let me go because of William."

Amila gave her a strange look, asking, "Because of his dead brother?"

"Because I was with him."

"Why didn't you tell him what happened?"

Shrugging, she replied, "At first, I thought about telling him... Then, I guess I wanted it not to matter. He said that wasn't what he wanted to happen, but he was doing what was right."

"Do you think he feels like he's being a bad brother?"

"Yea, I do. The worst thing about it is, I could see how hard it was for him to say those things. But he did it anyway."

Appearing to be in deep thought, Amila scooted farther onto the bed.

Charlotte noticed the apprehensive look on her face as she hesitantly opened her mouth.

"I was married before Emerson." Interested, Charlotte sat up and waited for her to continue, "I cheated on him with Emerson. It was only once and I felt terrible. Romero wasn't perfect, but he was my husband and I betrayed him. To this day, I'm sorry for that."

Shocked, to say the least, Charlotte questioned, "So y'all got divorced and you married Emerson?"

Shaking her head, Amila replied, "No, we worked through it."

"Wait, I'm confused," Charlotte replied.

As if she was trying to keep a terrible memory at bay, Amila blinked a few tears away, replying, "He died."

Charlotte thought, 'Dang, do Emerson and Amila have any stories where people survived' as she continued to listen.

"Several months later, The Society held a birthday party for Ren. She left early and a few of the ladies were being a bit tacky, so I decided to go outside to get some air. Emerson walked up, apologized for what happened and gave me a ride home."

"And y'all lived happily ever after."

Amila smiled as she shared the moral to her little story, "A lot of things, serious things were happening but in the process, I fell in love with him. He was all the things I really wanted and never bothered to look for in a man. But Emerson didn't see it that way. He felt because he had made some poor decisions he wasn't worthy of me. See, it didn't have anything to do with me. It was how he felt about himself."

"I understand what you're saying."

Nodding, Amila said, "Good. Because although it took a little time, you see he got over himself and here we are."

Charlotte nodded back before saying, "I'm so happy it worked out with you and Emerson but I'm leaving for Spain Friday, so if Augustus ever gets over himself, I won't be here waiting to find out."

"You're leaving Friday?" Amila blurted.

Wishing she was a better person, Charlotte replied, "I'm sorry. I can't stay."

Amila appeared sad but understanding as she reached her arms around Charlotte
, hugging her tight.