Chapter 2
THE SPRING EVENING air smelled like warm honey spread generously on a piece of home baked bread. Gavin sat on his side of the porch with his feet up, computer on his lap, a beer, and the last cookie Charlotte had given him. He nibbled at the tasty treat, savoring the sweet mix of chocolate and peanut butter exploding in his mouth.
The sun had dipped below the horizon, lighting up the great Texas sky with a soiree of orange, yellow, and even a splash of pink. He nursed a long neck while glancing between Charlotte’s door and his computer screen.
She was the only one he knew that used the words: that’s sweet. So, when AngelaBennett used them, it had made him spill his milk all over his lap.
Of course, the woman he’d talked to online couldn’t possibly be Charlotte. The likelihood he’d just met his neighbor on a dating site was pretty slim considering the thousands of users online right now, and the number of people in the state of Texas. It would be like plucking a needle from a haystack without even looking.
He checked the time: 8:05.
Getting stood-up online was worse than in person. It was certainly less humiliating than in public. Ping.
Well, well, well. He smiled at the name blinking on his screen and opened the message.
AngelaBennett: Hey there. Did you have a good day?
Sexyfirefighter: It was uneventful. You?
He didn’t want to tell her he slept all day, but couldn’t come up with a lie, since he was never very good at that, so he went with vague.
AngelaBennett: Other than my boss was being an asshole, it was pretty good.
He rubbed his forefinger and thumb together wondering if he should ask her what she did for a living or go with something else.
Sexyfirefighter: It’s Friday night, do you have big plans? A date?
The second after he hit send, he regretted asking the latter.
AngelaBennett: I haven’t been on a date in 6 months. Last guy I went out with turned out to be an egotistical turd. I’m a little on the shy side, so I don’t do the bar scene and, well, here I am.
He chuckled.
Sexyfirefighter: I can relate to the shyness.
AngelaBennett: What about you? Big plans for the night?
Sexyfirefighter: Just flirting with you.
He let out a long breath. Bad choice of words and probably made him look desperate.
AngelaBennett: This could be fun. I like flirting.
Sexyfirefighter: ☺ I am meeting up with some friends for drinks a bit later.
AngelaBennett: Are you married, or have a girlfriend?
He scowled. The site was meant for singles to meet and chat. He supposed there were married people hanging around, but it bothered him that she’d think he was that type of guy.
Sexyfirefighter: No. Why do you ask?
AngelaBennett: Just being sure. People here lie.
Sexyfirefighter: I can tell you I’ll always be as honest as possible.
AngelaBennett: As possible? What does that mean?
What did that mean? Geez, even online he wasn’t very good with his words around women.
Sexyfirefighter: I just meant I won’t lie to you, but I might not answer certain questions.
AngelaBennett: Understood. What do you like in a woman?
Looking toward the sky, he thought about that for a long moment. He liked everything about Charlotte. But describing her to another woman would be a rotten thing to do to both women.
Sexyfirefighter: Intelligent. Funny. But also, pretty.
AngelaBennett: What’s pretty to you?
He wanted to type my next-door neighbor, but decided that would be in poor taste.
Sexyfirefighter: Not sure I have a ‘type’, but I guess I’d say athletic, long hair, pretty eyes. What about you? What do you look for in a man?
AngelaBennett: Sensitive eyes. Kind of partial to tall and muscular. Clean cut, but I do have a thing for tasteful tattoos. Not afraid to laugh at himself.
Sexyfirefighter: Not sure about the sensitive eyes, but you just described me ☺.
AngelaBennett: Nice! Where is your tattoo and what is it?
Sexyfirefighter: Plural. I have three. A fireman’s hat with my station number on my biceps. An American Flag with a Bald Eagle across my shoulders and a compass on my chest.
AngelaBennett: As long as they aren’t on your dick, we’re all good.
He coughed.
Sexyfirefighter: I can’t imagine why anyone would do that to the most sensitive part of a man’s body.
AngelaBennett: Or nipple piercings. Ouch.
He took another swig from his beer, staring at Charlotte’s door, wondering if she had a tattoo. The light from the office filtered through the window, casting a glow on the light green deck. The idea she was on her computer, possibly talking to him, spiked his pulse like a shot of cappuccino.
But that was quickly squelched when some guy jogged up the front steps. Gavin shouldn’t be thinking about her, while talking online with a potential date. He blinked. Now he was turning into his little sister who tended to have one on the hook before she released the last one.
“Hey,” the guy said before knocking on her door.
Gavin nodded, eyeing the man, who looked like he could be fifteen years older than her with his greying hair and deep-set lines around his eyes.
AngelaBennett: BRB, need to get a glass of wine and use the bathroom.
Sexyfirefighter: OK
This would give him some time to size up the weasel on the porch.
Charlotte’s front door squeaked opened.
“Ethan, what are you doing here?” She stuck her head out the door. Her long, curly hair bounced playfully over her shoulders. “What part of I’m fine, just extremely busy do you not comprehend?”
“Mom sent me to check on you. She’s worried.”
“I talked to mom this morning and told her the same thing I texted you.”
“She doesn’t believe you,” the man said.
“Well, you can go back and tell her you saw me and I’m fine. Now if you don’t mind, I’m busy.”
Gavin let out a long breath, thankful the man standing at her door was her brother and not a suitor.
“Busy doing what? And if you say working, I’m going to have to—”
“I’ve got a date.”
Gavin nearly choked on his beer.
Both Charlotte and her brother snapped their heads in his direction.
“Sorry. Went down the wrong pipe.”
“See, even he doesn’t believe it,” Ethan said with his hands on his hips.
“I didn’t say that,” Gavin set the beer on the table, glancing at his laptop.
“You didn’t have to. She’s been holed up in this apartment for months.” Ethan wiggled his finger at his sister. “Actually years, and mom and dad are worried.”
“Mom and dad just want me to go out on dates with their friend’s kids so they can marry me off and I can produce grandbabies. No. Not for me. And do you remember what happened the last time they fixed me up on a date?” She poked her brother in the chest. “You do remember Ralph? Oh, of course you—”
“And you wonder why we’re worried.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bluffing on having a date. I can tell,” Ethan said with a smug grin.
One that Gavin would love to wipe off her brother’s face. He had no right to judge his sister’s decisions in life.
She shook her head. “Tell mom and dad I’ll be over tomorrow for the party.”
“Coming to the monthly party, dateless, as usual, if you even come.”
“Because all that matters is me having a man. Seriously, I don’t need a man to be happy. And for the record, I made a promise to be there, so I will be.”
Gavin could understand her frustration with family and dating. His mother constantly hovered over him, trying to find him a sweet girl. But at least his mother didn’t belittle him, as it appeared Charlotte’s family did.
“No one is saying that having a man in your life will make you happy, it’s just that you seem lonely and—”
Gavin had enough of this asshole. “She’s not lonely and she has a date for the party tomorrow.” He couldn’t believe he’d opened his mouth and that his brain allowed him to speak at all, because that’s not what he intended to say when he’d interrupted the conversation.
By the wide-eyes and gaping mouth on Charlotte’s face, she too, was stunned.
“Oh really? Who might that be?” Ethan asked.
“Me,” Gavin said, committing to the crazy concept. He raised his beer, downing the last few gulps, keeping his gaze locked with Charlotte’s.
“Who are you?” Ethan asked, his brow wrinkled with a puzzled expression.
“He’s my date,” Charlotte said quickly. “You’ll get to know him tomorrow, now really, I’m busy, so I’ll see you later.” She gave a quick nod at Gavin with a weak smile, before retreating into her house and slamming the door shut.
Ethan stood there for a long moment. “My sister is so weird.”
“Not really.” Gavin’s computer dinged a little more loudly than he would have liked.
“What the hell is she so busy with that she can’t invite me in and why are you sitting out here if you’re her date?” Ethan rubbed his temples. “Are you on a date now, because that would almost make sense knowing Charlotte.”
“Nope. But I live in the apartment next door.” He pointed in the entryway of his home. “Which is why I’m sitting out here.”
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ethan shoved his hands in his pockets and took the steps one at a time, glancing over his shoulder a few times before disappearing into a small SUV.
Gavin focused his attention to his laptop. He was going to have to say goodnight to AngelaBennett.
AngelaBennett: Sorry that took so long. Had to open a new bottle, but got my wine. I’m happy.
Sexyfirefighter: Thought maybe you found someone sexier and with a tat on his dick.
AngelaBennett: Ha ha! I’m a one conversation at a time woman and you and me, we’ve just begun!
Sexyfirefighter: I like the sound of that ☺.
He glanced up, wondering if Charlotte would come out and talk with him, or if he was going to have to go her. Part of him hated leaving this conversation with his online friend, but he really needed to talk with Charlotte about what had just happened.
Sexyfirefighter: I really want to keep this going, but I have to take care of something.
AngelaBennett: Take care of something? Sounds ominous. Or kinky.
Sexyfirefighter: LOL. Neither. When might we chat…flirt…☺ again?
AngelaBennett: I’m in and out all weekend, but I’m an early riser, so how about around seven in the morning?
Sexyfirefighter: OK. Talk soon.
He didn’t wait for a response, logging out, closing his computer, and making his way to Charlotte’s door, pounding twice.
She stepped out onto the porch, with a wine glass.
He arched his brow and swallowed. For a second, he thought about asking her if she was AngelaBennett, but not only was that crazy, because lots of women drank wine on a Friday night, but if he did question her, and she wasn’t? Wow, would he look like a pervy asshole.
“I take it my idiot brother is gone.” She raised up on tiptoe peering over his shoulder. “I was going to come out in a minute. You don’t have to go tomorrow, but I appreciate you defending me and getting my brother off my back.”
Her lips moved fast as the words tumbled out of her mouth. He kept trying to find an opening, but she just kept on talking.
“My family is overbearing at times. I’m the youngest of five and everyone is married and has kids. Well, my one sister, who is just a little over a year older than me is pregnant with her first kid, and here I am the last child and I have no prospects for a husband, which is fine with me, but not my family. And now my cousin is about to get married and that puts the focus on the one person who isn’t married yet.” She sucked in a deep breath.
Time to cut her off at the pass.
“Thanks for the information. It will come in handy tomorrow. I just need to know what time we’re leaving, what should I wear, and when it might be over.”
“Ha ha. You’re funny.”
“I’m not trying to be.” He scowled. “I said I’d be your date and I stand by my words.” He tried not to fumble over the word date. It was so much easier to talk with a woman online than in person.
“You’re serious about going with me to a big family gathering that is the epitome of monthly insanity, worthy of putting any outsider in a straight-jacket.”
“Yes. It’s the least I can do for those cookies.” He winked.
What the hell had come over him?
She lifted the glass to her lips. “I think I need another drink.”
“You’re not finished with that one.”
“The glass isn’t full. It needs to be full. Would you like one?”
“I wish I could, but I’m heading out. You could come with me if you’d like. I’m going to meet with some friends and their wives and I’m always the third wheel.”
She shrugged. “Sure. I kind of owe you one.”
***
Gavin pushed open the door to the Roadhouse Brewery trying not to be offended, or even hurt, by Charlotte’s remark about ‘owing him one’, but he supposed if the tables were turned, he’d feel the same way, only he wouldn’t, because he’d actually want to go out with her.
“You know, I’ve never been here before,” she said, breezing past him, the scent of coconut lingering in the air from her long, silky hair.
“I love it because it’s walking distance, so if I want a third beer I can have it.” He placed his hand on the small of her back, guiding her toward a table where his cousin and his wife were seated with… “Fuck,” he muttered.
“What’s wrong?” She tilted her head, catching his gaze with her golden eyes, which glowed with growing concern.
He’d take that as a positive sign.
“My little sister is here with her latest boyfriend—”
“And you hate the boyfriend.”
“Nope. He’s a good buddy of mine, but my sister is going to break his heart and I suspect soon because the moment they fall in love with her, she gets bored and moves on to the next unsuspecting nice guy.”
Charlotte arched a brow. “Didn’t you warn your friend?”
He nodded. “What’s worse is that he saw what happened with the guy before him and he went out with Renee anyway. My sister is actually a really nice girl, she’s just got commitment issues.”
“And what about you? Do you have commitment issues?”
“Nope. I just have issues.” He stopped in front of the large table off to the side of the room, far enough away from the band that you could have a conversation, but still enjoy the music. “Hey y’all,” he drawled. “This is my neighbor, Charlotte.”
“Did you just say y’all?” Renee scooted from the table like the pint-size firecracker she was with her long blonde hair, petite, but muscular frame.
“That I did.” He curled his arms around her, lifting her feet off the ground. His family might have a collective death wish, since all of them were either firemen or policemen, with the occasional parole officer tossed in, but they were also very close and affectionate, even when they didn’t agree with what the other person was doing. “I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”
Renee patted his shoulders. “I’m glad I decided to come out.” She glanced in the direction of Charlotte. “It’s not every day I see my big brother on—”
He wasn’t going to let her finish that statement. “This is my kid sister, Renee. And that over there is Devon, a co-worker. On the other side of the table we have my cousin, Rowen, and his wife, Heather. If you need a dentist, she’s the one to go to.”
“Good to know,” Charlotte said.
Heather rested her hands on her protruding belly. “I can always count on the Clarks to toss me business.”
He pulled a chair back and sat down beside her, making sure his chair was close enough that he could comfortably loop an arm over the wooden back.
“Wasn’t sure you were coming,” Rowen said, pouring a couple of beers from the pitcher and pushing them toward Gavin. “But glad you did.”
“We can’t stay long. We’ve got plans tomorrow pretty early.” Gavin took a healthy chug from the frosty glass, avoiding the shocked gazes from his friends and family.
“We? Who is we?” Renee asked with narrowed eyes and a smirk, which lifted the right side of her mouth slightly, her lips pursing forward.
A family trait.
“As in you two?” Renee asked, waggling her finger between him and Charlotte.
“Yes, the two of us.” He glanced at Charlotte, who stared at him, her lips slightly parted. She didn’t look like she’d been shocked by this conversation like she had in front of her brother, but she didn’t look thrilled, or amused by it either.
“Where are you going?” Rowen asked with the same family smirk that all the Clark’s had. Someplace special?”
“Romantic?” Heather asked.
“No. No. Nothing like that.” Charlotte sat up a bit taller, resting her hands on the table. “We’re just going to my parent’s house for a gathering.”
“You don’t say.” Renee leaned into Devon, folding her arms across her chest. “Does my big brother finally have a girlfriend?”
He wadded up a small piece of napkin and tossed it at her.
“He’s just doing me a favor,” Charlotte said.
Ouch.
He was about to say they were friends, which could have meant anything. However, Charlotte, it appeared, barely saw them as acquaintances.
Renee tilted her head, drawing her lips into a tight line and wrinkling her forehead, much like their mother would do when she felt bad about something that happened to one of her children.
“That’s what friends and neighbors are for.” Based on the looks from around the table, he needed to shrug this off as though it was hunky dory with him that the beautiful woman sitting next to him essentially saw him only as a means-to-an-end.
The waitress came by and took another drink order and they ordered a few appetizers to share, pausing the conversation, which gave Gavin a chance to attend to his bruised ego. He’d pushed himself into a family party with a girl who obviously wasn’t into him.
The band began their first set and an old Creedence Clearwater Revival song bellowed through the loudspeakers.
“So, what do you do for a living?” Leave it to Heather to find the ice-breaker after an awkward dialogue, followed by an uneasy silence.
“I’m a systems analyst for Yielding Software, but I also do contract work for other software and hardware companies.” The moment Charlotte began talking about her work, her eyes lit up like the star filled sky. Her face relaxed as she leaned over the table.
“What exactly does that mean? Is that like IT or something?” Devon asked.
“Really? Did you just ask that?” Renee nudged Devon with her shoulder.
Devon was a good man and a great firefighter. If you needed someone on your six, he was your man. Loyal. Dedicated. Hardworking. But sometimes, he didn’t come off as too bright.
“What? I’m supposed to know what that is when I can barely even turn on a computer? It’s not like I need to know all that in order to fight a fire.” The best part about Devon was that he never took on a defensive tone and he hadn’t in this case, but Gavin could tell he was annoyed with Renee, who sometimes could be rude, especially when she was about to dump someone, always hoping they’d do it for her.
“Well, there are a lot of aspects to being a systems analyst depending upon which part of the process one prefers to work in. I generally like to be in the testing and implementation of a system, but my boss prefers me to be on the developmental side, and since it pays the bills, for now, that’s where I’ll stay.” Charlotte had slowed her speech to a rate at which Gavin actually understood every word and didn’t suffer exhaustion by the end of the sentence just listening to her.
“You mentioned earlier…” wait. Did she mention that to him, or did the chick online say her boss was being an asshole? Fuck, that wouldn’t be good if he confused the two.
Thankfully, the waitress came over with their food and second round of drinks. Hopefully, everyone would forget he had even been talking.
“What were you saying?” Charlotte asked, resting her warm hand on his biceps.
He glanced from the sweet, deft fingers wrapped around his arm and her adorable face with a half-smile that made him tipsy with the desire to kiss them. “I have no idea.”
She released his arm and dug into the plate of nachos.
He tried not to stare at her eating, but the way her pink tongue darted out to greet the food with a hungry fervor only made him want to kiss her more.
Reaching up, he ran his index finger over the raised scar on his face. While still noticeable, it wasn’t something that people focused on anymore when he walked into a room.
But he always knew it was there and never forgot his ex-girlfriend Lydia’s visceral reaction to it, or all the looks and stares he got the first few years before many surgeries and an enormous amount of pain, had reduced the scars to more of a large blemish.
Well, it was a little more pronounced than that and often people, women, said some pretty stupid things to him regarding the scars, and the accident.
“I’m stuffed,” Charlotte said, shoving a plate to the center of the table. “And I’ve got to get up early and do some work before we head to my parents.”
“We can head home,” he said, pulling his wallet from his back pocket. “I take it you guys are staying for the game, so will forty do it?”
“More than enough,” Rowen said.
“I’ve got to use the little girl’s room before we head out,” Charlotte said.
“I’ll go with you.” Heather pushed her chair back and stood, racing off to the back of the bar.
“Aren’t you going with them?” Gavin asked his sister.
“And miss the opportunity to find out what the fuck is going on with you? Hell no.”
“Nothing is going on.”
“You’re going to meet her parents! That’s like marriage shit.”
“Not even close,” he said, shaking his head. “And I’d appreciate it if you refrained from telling the rest of the family. Like Charlotte said, I’m just doing her a favor.”