Charlotte (Marked Heart #2) (31 page)

Almost mocking him, Emerson stated, "As heartfelt as that is, life is not always that simple."

Slightly agitated, Auggie adjusted himself in his chair, replying, "I happen to think it is that simple."

Emerson glared at him, reminding, "Your mother seems to have a problem with her."

"Have you ever known a person my mom didn't have a problem with?"

"You do not see that as a challenge for your relationship?"

"Nope."

Growing agitated himself, Emerson, questioned, "I was under the impression family is important to you. Was I wrong?"

"No. My family is very important to me."

"Then how do you expect to please everyone when your family is not welcoming to her?" Emerson asked with an 'I've got you cornered expression'.

"I'm not a people pleaser."

"Who do you aim to please?"

"Charlotte."

With a short exhale, Emerson stated, "You have an answer for everything don't you."

"No disrespect, Mr. Roberts but you know me. And I think you already know how I'm going to answer every question you have. For some reason you feel you have to ask anyway. The long and short of it is, I love Charlotte. She loves me back. I want you and your family to be happy for us and I want my family to be too. If that happens, great. If not, oh well. Because I gave her my word that nothing would ever come between us and whether it's a party of two or a whole congregation, I'll be keeping that promise."

"Very well then, allow me to rephrase the question. What are your plans?"

"My family has a tradition that I intend to uphold."

Emerson cracked a smile, "Then is there something you would like to ask me?"

Auggie nodded as he replied, "Yes sir, there is."

The End

Epilogue

Sitting behind the desk in the office at the back of The Dog House, Charlotte was going over the weeks receipts when her cellphone vibrated against the desk.

A: Happy Anniversary-its 12:01

Smiling at the text message, Auggie
sent, she texted back.

C: You're so sweet ♥ Happy Anniversary.

A: I love you.

C: Love you ;) almost done.

A: I got you something.

C: Like a present?

A: Sort of.

C: What is it?

A: Can you please just come out here? I hate texting.

Rolling her eyes at her phone, she set it back down and walke
d to the main area of the bar.

Finding him standing next to a table in the corner,
she gave a happy sigh making her way over to him.

Glancing at the bouquet of peacock feathers on the table, where they sat on their first date, Charlotte leaned in to kiss him, saying, "I love you."

Auggie gave her his squinty eyed smile as he reached out, holding onto her arms to keep her from coming too close as he said, "You know in the six months you've forced me to date you," before she cut him off.

Giving him a crazy look, Charlotte snapped, "Oh, now I've
forced
you to date me?"

"Yep. And I'm still pretty insulted you'd rather live with my sister," he fussed back at her.

With a slight huff, she griped, "Well, what do you expect from someone who
forces
you to date them."

"Gah damn woman, just... Do you want your present?"

Smiling
with the satisfaction of frustrating him, Charlotte nodded.

"Okay, but you have to find it," he informed, taking another step back.

Eyeing the front of his pants, she questioned, "Is it on your person?"

"It's not there," he blurted with a laugh.

"But that's the gift that keeps on giving," she said with a mischievous smile.

"Damn it Lotte, I'm trying to have a serious moment with you," he fussed at her with an uncontrollable smile.

Giving him a wink, Charlotte said, "Hmm, let's see."

Stepping directly in front of him, she placed her hands on Auggie's shoulders.

Sliding her hands down his chest, she felt something under his shirt. Nervous and excited she quickly unbuttoned his shirt to find a white bandage taped over the left side of his chest.

"It's not the prettiest wrapping but what's underneath belongs to you," Auggie shared as she stood there staring at it.

He
flinched a little as she slowly pulled the tape away. In awe of his permanent declaration to her, Charlotte felt like she was falling in love with him all over again. Auggie had marked his heart with a black peacock feather and keeping with tradition, there was a Celtic heart where the eye of the feather would be. The stem was her name and on the left side of the heart from the top all the way down there was a thin strip missing from it, signifying the scar on her lips.

Wishing it wasn't brand new so she could touch it, Charlotte placed her hand on the center of his chest
, holding his shirt away from his tattoo with the other.

"There's no way for me to top that."

Auggie gently kissed her before running the tip of his finger across her ring finger as he suggested, "You can always get an A right here."

With a laugh she assured, "Yea, I don't think so," before kissing him.

Reaching into his back pocket, Auggie informed, "I guess I'll give you this instead," handing her a small black box.

Holding her breath C
harlotte slowly opened the box. Inside was a princess cut peacock blue diamond engagement ring. A slow smile spread across her face as Auggie went down on one knee in front of her. Taking the box out of her hand, he pulled out the ring.

"Charlotte Persephone Roberts, you are worth more than I will ever have to offer but if you marry me, I swear I'll do everything possible to be worthy of you."

Nodding as Auggie slid the engagement ring onto her finger, she breathed, "Kiss me."

Auggie was on his feet with Charlotte in his arms
in an instant. Kissing the woman he loved, just like he was going to for the rest of their life together.

Acknowledgments

As always, thank you to my family for continuing to put up with my craziness on a daily basis.

Thank you to my readers! Without
y'all my characters would never see the light of day.

All the INDIE blogger/reviewer/supporters out there, I appreciate everything that you do to keep writers writing.

Thank you to my editor Margaret Civella, who keeps me from getting all verb-y and has the best editorial comments.

And very special 'thank you' to my beta readers Susa
nne Lancello, Nicole Griffin, Kasey Fitzgerald, Lucii Grubb, Katelynn Luna, Addison Kline and Charity Sembera for taking
Charlotte
with me one step at a time. I am honored to have each of you in my corner, loving my characters.

Playlist

Music has a way of inspiring the smallest ideas. It allows me to create an entire scene or chapter from just the right song. For me, music is one of the most important creative tools there is. These are the songs that brought C&A to life.

Hey Brother-Avicii

Oh Love-Green Day

Wake Me Up-Avicii

Come With me Know-Kongos

I Don't Love You-My Chemical Romance

Bartender Song-Rehab

Stay-Rihanna

Let Her Go-Passenger

Special Playlist additions

Lucii Grubb~This is War-30 Seconds to Mars

Katelynn Luna~Human-Christina Perri

Margaret Civella~Glitter in the Air-Pink

Kasey Fitzgerald~I Chose You-Sarah Bareilles

Addison Kline~
Poison & Wine-The Civil Wars

Nicole Griffin~
You and Me-Lifehouse

About the Author

M. Sembera was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and now lives in Brazoria, Texas with her husband, three kids, three dogs and two cats. After writing her first short story when she was in high school, M. instantly fell in love with writing. However, life sometimes gets in the way of aspirations and it wasn't until years later, when her life calmed down, M. was able to start writing again.

'For me, each new book I write or character I create feels like the first time and I find myself falling in love with writing all over again'

Past works include
Enduring Everything, 'The Rennillia Series', 'Life with Him: Novelette' & 'Louisiana Spice, Italian Intrigue, and Texas Bull: A Memoir'.

www.BrokenBirdMedia.com

Work in Progress