CHAPTER 8

MRS. WALTERS

Brandon

If there was a way for someone to screw everything up two nights in a row, I just became the king of it.

I knew the moment when Livy text me after Charlie had only been gone for five minutes that I was in trouble. When I read her words, I realized just how badly I was screwing things up.

Why do you even have a wing woman? Do you want Charlie to ever talk to you again? I don’t know what you’ve done, but I know you’re an idiot. Tell Parker to hurry. I’m hungry.

I just replied back with two words.

Yes, ma’am.

I was smart enough not to fuck with Livy when she was hangry, but apparently, I wasn’t smart enough not to be a complete ass when it came to Charlie.

I didn’t know what it was about her that turned me into some sort of caveman. I swear I didn’t normally act like this. I had no intentions of acting like this with her, but when I looked over and saw David’s truck and saw him lowering his mouth toward hers, I just reacted.

Was it my best moment?

No.

But I panicked.

She was pushing me away from trying to kiss her the night before, but here she was about to kiss David fucking Hall.

The thought infuriated me.

It more than infuriated me. It drove me fucking insane.

I thought that maybe I was just moving too fast for her, but maybe it was the fact that I was making a move at all.

Maybe Charlie just wasn’t into me.

That was a pill I wasn’t used to swallowing.

It wasn’t that I was God’s gift to women, but it was the reason I didn’t date.

I hated that damn feeling. I didn’t have time for women to fuck with my head and my emotions and my game. But Charlie walked in and stomped over them all. Then put a fucking cherry on top.

When I woke up this morning, I knew exactly what I needed to do. First, I needed to make sure that Livy was still on my side then I needed to apologize to Charlie. There was no way in hell she was going to ever be interested in me if she just thought I was an asshole most of the time.

It was time to lay on the charm.

I didn’t just pull it out for anyone. Hell, I was going to have to dust it off before I could even use it, but Charlie was worth it. She was the first woman in for as long as I could remember that had truly caught my attention.

She was the first woman that I had truly wanted to date.

Shit, I wanted to date her.

Date.

I had no damn clue what the hell I was doing. Woo a woman for a night? Done. I had that one in the bag.

But convincing the most gorgeous girl I had ever seen to actually consider dating me? That was a whole new ball game. My ass wasn’t even warming the bench in this game.

The first step was definitely getting Livy back on my side and getting her advice. She would know exactly what I should do. But I would need cupcakes. It almost felt like I was cheating on Charlie to go grab Livy some cupcakes from another bakery, but if I knew nothing else, I was sure she wasn’t interested in making me some cupcakes to help convince Livy to help me win her over.

Second-rate cupcakes it was.

I had no damn clue what type of food I needed to get to use as my apology to Charlie. Livy and Staci were easy as hell. All I had to do was throw some sweets their way and those two would cave before they even got a taste.

But I didn’t know Charlie’s weaknesses.

Hell, the more I thought about it, I really didn’t know much about her at all. But I was absolutely certain that I wanted to.

Even though Livy forgave me, she wasn’t much help either. She didn’t know Charlie enough either to give me any real advice. She just lectured me on how I needed to keep my head out of my ass and how most women didn’t care for the whole “caveman” act. Her words, not mine.

But I wasn’t acting like a caveman, I was just not willing to let David Hall put his hands all over her. Especially not in front of me. I told Livy as much, but she only replied with “Her mine” before beating on her chest like a lunatic.

So, I walked out of the shop empty handed.

But then the stars aligned and before the door could close behind me, I saw a flash of red curls that I knew would be my saving grace.

Charlie’s mama.

“Good morning, Mrs. Walters. How are you?”

“Lord have mercy. Call me Maggie,” she said before she readjusted the box in her hands.

I quickly made my way over to her and grabbed the box before she could refuse.

“Handsome and a gentleman, huh?” She put her hands on her hips, and I knew that I absolutely adored this woman. I knew it from the moment I first met her.

“I don’t know that your daughter would say the same.” I shrugged my shoulders as much as I could with the heavy as hell box in my hands and listened to her laugh.

“So, you must be the reason why she’s been up baking since seven this morning and she called me in a panic that she can’t get the recipe right.”

“Shit,” I said the word under my breath, but when her eyebrow cocked, I knew she had heard me. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

When she didn’t immediately answer, I rephrased. “What I mean is there anything I can do to make her forgive me?”

I pulled out my megawatt smile for her, and she grinned before she patted my cheek.

“You think I’d just give out my daughter’s secrets so easily?”

I started following her to the door.

“No, but I was hoping since I’m a gentleman and you find me so handsome.”

She laughed then. So hard that she had to bend over and grab her stomach.

Then she pulled the box out of my arms and nodded her head toward the parking lot. “When you come back, you better have a bag full of watermelon Jolly Ranchers and a vase full of daisies.”

“I can do that.” I nodded my head.

“I hope so. My husband and I took bets last night, and I put my money down on you. Don’t you make me regret wasting my money on a pretty face.”