C&A Novella (Marked Heart #2.5) (3 page)

6

Running up Charlotte's apartment steps, Auggie was amazed at how fast Charlotte was able to move in those heels of hers. The session at the photography studio, to have their engagement photo in The Society Newsletter, turned out to be one of the most miserable experiences of his life. Not only did he have to wear a damn suit and tie and smile for an hour and a half but Charlotte kept whispering things in his ear. Things that made it hard for him to concentrate on what they were doing and crave the moment they were finally alone.

Now, it was time for her to make good on all those dirty little remarks she kept taunting him with.

  "You know how hard that was?" He questioned in a low tone as he closed the door behind himself.

In a sleek black dress and her black stiletto heels that drove him crazy, she wore a wicked grin as she slowly walked backwards into the kitchen.

  With a curious tone she teased, "Was?"

Following her, he stepped out of his dress shoes and unfastened his slacks, leaving them and his boxers behind along with his jacket and tie.

  "You're fixin' to find out." He swore, unbuttoning the first two buttons of his dress shirt before pulling it over his head and tossing it on the table.

Wrapping his arms around her, Auggie backed her up against the side of the kitchen table.

Auggie's hands slid down her sides before grasping at her hips as he kissed her deeply.

  "Turn around." He whispered needing to touch her skin that her dress was covering.

His hands never left her as she turned her back to him.

  Slowly unzipping her dress, he pulled it down her body until it fell to the floor mumbling, "Damn," when he noticed she wasn't wearing any panties.

  Slightly leaning forward, Charlotte placed her hands against the table breathing, "I want you, now."

Taking a moment to appreciate the sight of his beautiful fiancé in nothing but her heels, bent over the table in front of him, he wrapped his hands around her hips and pulled her to him.

With Charlotte's appreciation echoing through the kitchen as Auggie met her demand, the sound of the apartment door opening didn't register in his mind until he heard his sister's voice.

  "What the hell!"

Swiftly pushing away from Charlotte and pulling her behind him, he saw Penny with her hands over her eyes quickly leaving the doorway.

  Auggie grabbed a placemat off of the table to cover himself as Liv blurted, "Damn Auggs,"and Penny shouted from the other room, "Shut up, Liv!"

  Eyeing him, Liv shared, "Ah, now I get it." Before catching on to his get the hell out glare and excusing herself saying, "I'll just go make sure Penny's not going to harm herself."

As what had just happened started to sink in, Auggie felt Charlotte shaking behind him.

Turning to her, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.

  "Did they see everything?"

  Kissing the side of her head, he quietly replied, "No."

  Shaking her head into his chest Charlotte questioned, "Are you sure?"

Reaching for his shirt, Auggie let go of her just long enough to slide his dress shirt over her head and button the top two buttons.

  Taking her face in his hands, he forced her to look him in the eyes as he shared, "Liv got an eye full of me but that's all she saw. I promise."

Charlotte nodded with her eyes full of worry before stepping away from him so he could retrieve his slacks from the living room floor.

Auggie knew Charlotte would never believe her entire body was beautiful no matter how many times he told her. It had taken months for her to let him touch her all over without tensing up or flinching. Her scars were brutal but at the same time they were beautiful to him because they were a part of her. Truthfully, he was just as concerned about her being exposed, not because of her scars, because seeing all of her was a privilege in his mind and her incredible beauty was for only him to see.

Once Liv assured both Charlotte and Auggie were decent, Penny stepped into the kitchen.

  Noticeably avoiding eye contact with them, Penny held up her hand announcing, "The two of you have violated the sanctity of my kitchen."

  Liv started to laugh at her outlandish display then quickly admitted, "Sorry," when Penny glared at her.

  "Here is what's going to happen," Penny continued before pointing to the table stating, "I want that abomination destroyed."

Clinching his back teeth together, it was getting hard for Auggie not to start laughing.

  "And we are never going to speak of this horrific day again."

  "Penny, I..." Charlotte started to say before Penny cut her of blurting, "Never ever!"

7

Charlotte was relieved that it only took a few weeks with no eye contact for Penny to recover from the kitchen situation. It made talking to her so much easier.

Marking off a few more items from her bridal to do list, Charlotte was more than happy The Society had involved themselves in her event. It was such a relief to have them handling everything, just picking out what was needed was overwhelming enough.

  "So what's left?"

  Charlotte let out a loud huff as she replied, "I still have to pick a bouquet, place settings, linens, flowers, the wedding song, playlist for the reception, special order Auggie's vest and tie for his tux, and my dress."

  Frowning at her, Penny questioned, "Why isn't my brother helping?"

  "Every time I mention anything wedding related he either changes the subject or says 'that sounds perfect'."

  "You should tell him he needs to get with the program."

  Pausing for a moment, Charlotte hesitantly asked, "Why do you think he wants to get married?"

  "Umm, because he's in love with you." Penny laughed.

  "I know he is but do you think he's marrying me because I won't live with him or because he wants to be married."

  With a curious expression, Penny replied, "Neither, I think Auggie is marrying you because he wants you to be his wife."

  "Can I be honest with you?"

  "Always." Penny swore with a serious expression.

Charlotte glanced away deciding if she really wanted to confide in Penny.

  "I'm not so sure I'll be a good wife."

  A compassionate expression formed as Penny asked, "Why would you say that?"

  "I can't give him kids."

  "So?"

"What if he wants them?"

  "Does he?"

  Charlotte admitted, "He hasn't said but what if it's because he knows I can't."

  "So ask him." Penny all but demanded.

  "I don't want the answer."

  Hopping off of Charlotte's bed, Penny warned, "We both know ignorance isn't bliss."

Nodding, Charlotte watched her walk out of the room.

~

Sitting behind her desk at The Dog House, Charlotte appreciated Penny's advice, knowing it came from her heart, but felt like Liv might be the better one to talk to.

Picking her cell phone up off of the corner of her desk, Charlotte sent Liv a text.

  C: Hey, you up?

It only took a minute for Liv to text back.

  L: Yep. Reading.

  C: Oh, what are you reading?

  L: Porn

Letting out a laugh, she texted back.

  C: O.O

  L: 5 ways to fix a marriage.

  C: And one of them includes porn?

  L: Ha! Nah, I'm reading 5 ways to fix a marriage.

  C: It's that bad?

  L: It's not getting any better.

Taking a deep breath, Charlotte decided not to bother Liv with her problem since she had enough to deal with in her own relationship.

  C: Sorry...

  L: Eh, it is what it is. Did you need somethin'?

  C: Just wanted to say hi.

  L: Hi! Catch ya later ;)

  C: Bye :)

With a loud huff, Charlotte set her phone back on her desk and leaned back in her chair.

Not long after texting with Liv, Auggie walked in her office.

  "You comin' home with me tonight?" he asked with an in inviting smile.

  Closing out her computer screen, Charlotte replied, "I better go home so I can keep an eye on Penny."

  Scowling he griped, "What for?"

  "She's stalking the neighbor."

  "What?"

  Nodding at him she replied, "With muffins."

  Laughing, Auggie shook his head saying, "Well, alright."

Charlotte laughed with him for a moment before standing up and walking around to the front of her desk.

Tilting her head to the side she flashed a mischievous grin.

  "But, we can always say goodnight here before we go."

  "Right here?" He questioned, stepping closer to her.

  Sliding her hands up his chest and around to the back of his neck, Charlotte asked, "Are you all closed up?"

Auggie nodded as his hands circled her hips.

8

What started out as an amazing day of finding the perfect wedding dress, progressed into disappointment and then irritation before ending in an all-out mess for everyone.

Initially, Charlotte had been upset with Liv for bailing on her at the bridal shop. Then, when she showed up at The Dog House, for no other reason than to drink her marital problems away, Charlotte felt bad for being selfish.

She was excited to see Penny's stalking had finally paid off enough for Seth to show up with her and even though Auggie couldn't keep his big mouth shut they seemed to be getting along fine. That was until Brooks walked over to them. Then, everything went bad.

Seth left and Braden's ex Lily showed up. If it had been up to Charlotte, both Lily and Brooks would have been limping out of the bar for hurting Penny but instead, they both walked out unharmed after the trouble they caused, leaving Braden more broken than he already was.

The worst part was, after all that, Kieran showed up right when Liv has yelling at Braden for letting Lily, once again, get the better of him. Charlotte could see how badly everyone was hurt but for some reason her soon to be husband didn't seem to care.

Not long after Liv left with Penny, Kieran spent a minute privately talking to Auggie and then left also. Auggie walked straight through the double doors to the back, more agitated than sympathetic.

  "Some friend you got there." Charlotte heard Auggie shout from the office in the back.

  "Who are you tellin'?" Braden snapped back as she walked in on them.

  Giving him a little shove, Auggie griped, "You should have put a stop to him dating Penny in the first place."

  Quickly shoving back, Braden spouted, "Don't put this on me. Brooks cheated with Lily. I'm not responsible for that."

  "The hell you aren't. You brought all..." Auggie growled before Charlotte couldn't take it anymore and stepped in.

  "This is not his fault."

With a deep scowl on his face, Auggie turned and glared at her.

  "Are you okay?" She asked Braden in a sympathetic tone.

  Pushing past his brother, Braden spit out, "Nah, I'm pretty far from okay, but thanks for askin', Charlotte," as he left.

Shaking her head, Charlotte was furious.

Walking behind the desk to grab her purse, she couldn't believe what an ass Auggie was being.

  Shooting him a dirty look when, he griped, "What?" at her, Charlotte fussed, "Why can't you just tell him you're worried about him and sad that he's giving up, instead of yelling and blaming him for what we both know is hurting him too."

  "Braden needs to grow up. He wears his heart on his sleeve like a damn badge of honor and you see where that's gotten him. His dumbass caused all of this right down to guilting Kieran into marking him. He's too old to only be thinking about himself, he needs to stop playing around and be a man."

  Narrowing her eyes at him, she snapped, "Oh, like Kieran? Who hides behind his legacy and treats his wife like she's done something when he's the one with the problem."

  "That's between them."

  Shocked, Charlotte shouted, "Seriously? You stay on Braden's ass about everything but you can't bring yourself to say, 'hey, Kieran, maybe you should quit being a dick to your wife?'"

  "Kieran's not my brother!" Auggie barked at her before assuring, "Braden is and he needs more guidance than beer and pizza with his buddy Liv."

  "That's right! So why don't you try being his brother! You're not his dad!"

  Noticeably taken aback by her words, Auggie replied, "I know that."

  "Is this how he would want you to 'guide' your brother?"

  Auggie's jaw clinched as he scowled and looked away replying, "I don't know 'cause I'm not him and he's not here."

Charlotte started to place her hand on his arm, knowing she had hit a sore subject with him. Instead of accepting her comfort, he turned and walked out of the room.

Auggie's dad Gus was many different things, depending who you talked to. According to Emerson, Gus was a thoughtful bartender when his life was in shambles. Ren always swore that Gus was one of the best men she had ever known. Penny adored her dad and often mentioned how loving and supportive he was. Braden never said too much unless they were joking around but made it a point several times to say he was always at the bar. Gus and Kieran's dad were close, she imagined the same way Auggie and Kieran were and any mention of Gus was always started with the fact that he was cool as hell. But since getting to know all of them, Charlotte knew, Gus was more than the man he was named after, funny stories, and poignant advice, to Auggie, his dad was everything.

Stepping out of the office, Charlotte saw Auggie standing by the back door waiting for her.

  When she made it to his side, Auggie turned to her and confessed, "Braden is great at everything he does. He has the potential to be or do whatever he wants and I'm afraid he's going to waste his life being a spectacular dumbass."

Nodding, Charlotte wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his cheek.