The Lovely Garden (17 page)

He removed one hand from my hip and placed it on my shoulder, going deeper in my pussy. I nearly came undone right there. He was hitting all the right spots with this angle, and I was letting him know. Quickly, I started to build toward my release. I could feel he was too, his thrusts becoming harder and as well as his grip on my shoulder.

Charles came first with a grunt. Feeling his warmth spill inside of me sent me over the edge, and I cried my release. He thrusts into me a few more time, my pussy milking him. “God,” he moaned, resting his head on my shoulder once again. His arms wrapped around my waist and took me down to the floor with him, somehow still staying inside of me. I burrowed myself into his warmth. “I love you,” he whispered in my ear.

“I love you, too,” I replied back, squeezing his hands in place of a kiss. It felt great saying that to him and meaning it, and to know he loved me back.

He sat up to stare down at me. “Amy, you’re crying,” he said, brushing his fingers across my cheeks.

“I’m just so happy.” I smiled up at him though my tears.

“I am, too.” He leaned down and kissed me. “I am, too.”

We spent the next few hours wrapped in each other’s arms, basking in each other, and getting to know each other even more.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

In the living room, Charles stared across the table at me, our knees nearly touching we were so close. He had been doing it for several seconds now, head tilted to the side, and it was starting to make me uncomfortable. Just a little bit.

I gave him a nervous smile. “What?” Maybe I had something in my teeth? We were eating breakfast so it is entirely possible. Though what was in eggs and bacon that could possibly get stuck. Bacon. It’s always the bacon. Damn that delicious pork to hell!

He tilted his head to the other side. “I don’t know. I just have this sudden urge to buy you things.” If my eyes could roll any higher, they would be giving me a great view of my brain. It earned me a chuckle. “What?! I can buy things for you if I want.”

“Just didn’t expect you to be one of
those
men.” You know. The ones that want to take care of you and never let you do anything for yourself and shower you with gifts. “Are you going to make me quit my job, too?”

“Only if you want to, and only when we’re married.” When, not if. He really expected this relationship to go far. “Otherwise, you’re just a freeloader.”

The piece of bacon I was eating nearly came out of my nose. “Me? A freeloader? Who’s the one that’s been living in
my
apartment rent free for the past three months?”

He grinned. “You do have a point there. Though, I
am
the one buying the groceries.” And dinner every time we go out and eat. Some of those places he takes me to have to cost more than my rent. I never say anything because, well they’re nice places and I liked going to them. It made me feel like I was worth something, a feeling I wasn’t too used to.

“Fair enough.” I could admit defeat. “What do you want to buy me, Mr. Obscene Amount of Money?” Charles was wealthy. Not billionaire wealthy. Just, could afford a yacht if he wanted one wealthy. We had discussed his bank account the day after our love confessions. He wanted to lay it all out on the table for me. I didn’t care and told him that, but he thought it was fair for me to know. It would have been preferable if he had waited until at least we were engaged or something.

“A ring.” I froze mid-chew. Please, don’t be the kind of ring I was thinking of. I love this man, and want to spend the rest of my life with him if possible, but it was way too soon to think of marriage. Way too damn soon. A sweeping romance was not something I was ready for.

The expression on my face must have revealed everything that was going through my mind because his eyes widened. “No! Not that kind of ring.” Oh, thank god. That was not something I was ready for. “I just thought it would be nice if you had some jewelry. You are extremely lacking in that department.” That was an understatement. A broken necklace and a pair of earrings I can’t even wear are the only pieces of jewelry I own.

“Hmm,” I finished my piece of bacon. “What if I don’t want you to buy me jewelry?”

“As my father used to say ‘too bad.’” His father sounded like he had been a great man. “So, finish up your breakfast and get dressed. We’re going to spend the day shopping.”

A sigh left me and I rested my chin in my hand. “I didn’t think men were supposed to enjoy shopping.”

He grinned at me. “This one does. Especially, when he’s shopping for someone he loves.” I couldn’t keep the blush creeping up on my neck down, which got me an even wider grin. “Pink is a good color on you.”

“Shut up,” I muttered, taking an aggressive bite out of my bacon.

Forty-five minutes later found us at the biggest, most expensive jewelry store I had ever walked into. Men and women in nice black suites with cheery salesmen smiles on their faces. All of them were white, and most of them were blonde, making me question the owner of this establishment, who happened to be a friend of Charles’ late father.

I turned to my boyfriend. “Is this guy a racist or something?” It was so quiet in the room it was hard to keep my voice down. Pretty sure one of the salesmen heard me since his head whipped in my direction. I gave him a nervous smile, but my question still stood.

Charles turned, his light brown eyes narrowed in confusion. “What?! No!” A little louder than I would have appreciated. He was shaking his head vehemently. “Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know, maybe because everyone working here is white.” I left the blonde hair, blue eyed part out.

He opened his mouth to reply, but then clamped them closed and looked around. “I haven’t been here in years, I never noticed that before.” His eyes fell back on me. “It doesn’t mean he’s racist. His customers probably are.” That I hadn’t thought about. Most business are catered toward their customers, not the owner’s personal tastes. Most.

Before I could open my mouth, a man burst from the back room. He was tall, wide, and round in the middle. There wasn’t a single hair on his head and his smile was so genuinely jovial it made me sick. His bright blue eyes landed on Charles and sparkled with recognition. “Little Charlie!” His voice boomed across the wide space. The way and speed he moved forward almost made me believe he was about to tackle Charles. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Charles’ torso and squeezed him so hard I thought his head would fly off. “What brings you here today?” He asked once he released Charles.

“Hey, Uncle Bob.” Uncle Bob? Seriously? It took everything I had not to burst into a fit of laughter. Why it tickled my fancy, I have no idea, but it was hilarious. My face was turning red from my attempt at holding the laughter in. “This my girlfriend, Amy,” he introduced without. I gave Uncle Bob a small wave while swallowing my laughter. “We’re here to get her some jewelry.”

Uncle Bob’s attention fully turned to me. His bright blue eyes ran up and down my body, as if taking stock, and finally settling on my face. The expression on his face stayed the same, but his eyes did not. Disappointment was something I was used to seeing in people’s eyes and it was easy for me to catch, even when they tried to hide it like Uncle Bob did. I wasn’t pretty enough for Charles in his opinion, and that was fine. He could just go fuck himself, as my expression told him. Hopefully, he could read expressions just as well as me, though I was making it pretty obvious.

Seemed like he didn’t like that one, since he turned back to Charles and asked, “So, what happened with Rose?” Well, aren’t we a spiteful asshole. Yeah, me and this guy were never going to get along.

“It didn’t work out.” Short and to the point. If Uncle Bob knew Charles, which I was kind of doubting he did, he would leave it at that. Rose was not a subject Charles liked to speak about, especially since it went hand-in-hand with talking about his sister.

“Really? I thought you guys were good together.” And Uncle Bob didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. Charles’ hand clenched into white-knuckle inducing fists, and his jaw muscles screaming to be relaxed.

Fucking asshole. He was lucky I decided to save his ass. I gave Charles’ shirt a tug. “Hey, I thought we were here to look at jewelry.” He turned his attention to me, relaxing his hands and jaw. A smile returned to his face, a proud one at that.

We were graced with a smile. “You’re right,” Charles said making me internally sigh in relief. “I’m sorry, Uncle Bob, but we’ll have to catch up later. We actually have a full schedule after this.” Liar. We weren’t doing anything after jewelry shopping. At least, nothing that we had discussed. Wouldn’t be the first time Charles decided we were doing something on his own. Though usually it was something I liked. Picnics, dinners, walks through the park. Stuff like that.

A salesman smile appeared on Uncle Bob’s face. “What kind of pieces are you looking for?” He was looking at me when he asked that. My eyes turned to Charles, not exactly sure what I was supposed to say.

It got me a grin, but he also took the hint. “She’s not too big into jewelry really, but I wanted to get her some things for when we go out.”

Uncle Bob gestured for us to follow him while saying, “Are we matching to dresses?” I made a noise in the back of my throat that got Charles laughing. “Not too big into dresses either?” We were standing at one of the display cases, Uncle Bob making his way to the other side.

“No, she’s not.” Charles shook his head. “We’ll have to get some of those for you, too.”

“There are a few dress shops down the road,” offered Uncle Ben.

“Or, I could just stick with the dresses I have.” I had to say it. This wasn’t supposed to be a day of buying me things, and I didn’t want him to get into the habit of it. I may not be super rich, but I could buy my own damn dress. Though, it did feel kind of good that someone wanted to buy me stuff. Damn it. I hadn’t wanted to be that girl. And Charles could be pretty stubborn about the whole lavishing me with expensive things. In the three months of living together, I have learned that letting him do things for me is sometimes easier than arguing. But there is a small part of me that still likes to argue no matter what, even if I give in anyways.

Charles shook his head. “Nope. Not how this is going to work. You’re going to let me buy things for you, and you’re going to like it.”

The hell I was! “Or, I could just leave.”

A devious smile spread across his face. “You could, but I drove.” Damn, he was right. It wouldn’t be a short walk either and I didn’t think the buses ran over there either. “And I would just buy them for you anyways. I don’t need you here to buy you stuff.”

That was true as well. Damn him and his logic. “So, I’m just supposed to stand here and let you spend a ridiculous amount of money on me and pretend to like it?”

“Sounds about right,” he replied, staring down at several rows of beautiful necklaces. Beautiful, but a little gaudy for my tastes. Too many diamonds and too big.

I shook my head. “Alright, I’ll let you do this, but it’s going to be on my terms. This,” I tapped a tail on the glass, “is too much. I like simple things.” Simple, but elegant, as my mom liked to put it. And less expensive. Just because he had a lot of money didn’t mean he had to spend it all.

“So, please,” he gestured around the room, “show me what you like.” I knew it wasn’t meant to be condescending, but it sounded like it. Just a bit. And Charles heard it. “Sorry, didn’t mean it to come out like that.”

“Uh-huh,” I said, winking. As he was shaking his head, I turned to glance around the room. My eyes fell on a piece and a smile broke my face. “That one,” I pointed toward it. A silver chain with a small heart-shaped pendent and a sapphire, the only stone in the necklace, resting in the center of the heart.

All of us moved toward the necklace in question. “Simple, yet elegant,” I told Charles.

He shrugged. “If it’s what you like, I’m not going to argue with you about it.”

There was a weird smile on Uncle Ben’s face. “I designed this piece.” Charles stared at his uncle with a blank expression on his face. “What?” A little red was making its way up the older man’s neck. “It’s way I started this business in the first place. I was hoping to start selling my own designs.”

“Huh. Never imagined you in the jewelry making business.”

“Didn’t really announce it to the world. ‘Specially since I never sold anything.”

“Looks like you made a sale today. My lady seems to like it.” Charles shot me a teasing smile that I would have taken great pleasure in wiping off his face.

I deadpanned. “Don’t call me ‘my lady.’ It gives me the heebie-jeebies.”

A bigger teasing smile. “What? You don’t like it, my lady?” It earned him a jab in the side with my forefinger. It was my go-to attack, knowing it was painful, and I was good at catching between the ribs. “Ow! Dear God, that was like the finger of death.” Not the first time I poked him in the side, but he reacts the same way every single time.

“There’s plenty more where that came from.” I brandished my weapon, making sure he had clear view of it. He conceded. The taste of victory was sweet in my mouth.

When I turned back to Uncle Bob, there was awe on his face. I had to assume that he hadn't seen Charles act like that before. As if he were enjoying life. From what he had told me, he wasn’t much fun when he was with Rose. She was all about appearances.