Chasing Charlie (3 page)

“Shit!” 

I heard that angelic, sassy voice from somewhere in the backroom and spun instantly, racing to find her to see if she needed my help. I was frantic with the idea that she could have hurt herself. When I reached her, she was half-dropping a heavy box as she maneuvered through the door.

“Let me, love.” I pulled the box from her arms, allowing her to get through the door without the unwieldy load. 

“Thanks. It’s flyers for the live band we have playing next week. Dad always ships bar stuff to my house.” She explained as she walked to the small cubby where she apparently stuffed her things. “I’ll take that.” She returned, arms outstretched. 

“I’ve got it. Where do you want it?”

She rolled her eyes before responding. “Over there.” She pointed at a stack of similar boxes in the corner. “You’ve got to stop being so nice to me.”

I set the box on the top of the stack and turned with a cocky grin. “Does it make you hot?”

“What? No, Liam—” 

I laughed as I watched crimson slowly spread on her beautiful creamy skin. 

“I’m kidding, but I won’t stop being nice to you. ‘Fraid it’s just not in me to be an arsehole, especially not to you. Unless anyone hurts you, then who knows what kind of animal could be unleashed.”

“There’s a shocker,” she commented under her breath before crossing her arms and turning away. 

“Hey, I don’t know what happened to put that chip on your shoulder, but I promise you, I’m not that guy. Give me a fair shot, Charlie. You might be surprised.” I dusted a palm along her lower back.

“I don’t like surprises.” She arched a petulant eyebrow, and it made me laugh in a way I hadn't laughed in so long. 

This was why I’d come here, to meet people just like her. Smart, sassy, and so down to earth. It was remarkably refreshing, considering the world I came from.

“Everyone likes surprises.” My palm was still at her back. I couldn’t stop touching her. “For instance, last night… that was a nice surprise. Bet you went home and thought about it, right?”

“No.” She shifted just out of my touch. 

“Bullshit, love.”

“Stop calling me love.”

“Stop being lovely.”

“Liam.”

“Charlie?” came a bellow from the other side of the bar, and it jolted us out of our bubble. 

“Yeah, Dad?” Charlie called, sending me one final angry eyebrow arch before speeding out of the room. 

Christ, she was beautiful. This situation was bad news. Vince Sr. liked to work the day shift at the bar, and for that reason, I hadn’t seen much of him since he’d hired me last week. Still, I got the rough, gruff, no-filter vibe from him.

“New guy! Get in here!” 

New guy? I rolled my eyes then let loose the smile pulling at the corners of my lips. Charlie was a challenge, a beautiful challenge, and her dad was a hard-ass of the first order. Something told me to win her over, I’d have to win Daddy over too. I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked out to the front of the bar with a smile. I thought I was just the man to take up that challenge. Charlie had said it herself—I had European charm oozing out of my ears. 

I’d make Charlie mine, or I’d sure as hell die trying. She was going to see that I was here for the long haul. Nothing and no one could drag me away from her. The idea of not being with Charlie was already unsettling and foreign to me. My entire life had gone by without a woman affecting me this much. But then again, I’d never met someone quite like Charlie.

“I don’t know about the work ethics where you come from, but come starting time, you’re here with a rag in hand, ready to sling brews, got it?” a loud baritone called from behind me. 

I turned around to see Charlie’s father barreling toward me. 

“I was here, sir.”

Vince Sr. narrowed his eyes at me then slapped a rag in my hand. “Don’t be late again. Ain’t got time to train someone else.”

I sucked in a breath and went to work drying glasses and putting them away as Vince Sr. walked to the opposite end of the bar, all but dismissing me. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he took Charlie by both shoulders and placed a kiss on her forehead before mumbling a few words to her. 

Her eyes darted toward me over his shoulder before a frown ticked across her face and she nodded. Eyes downcast, she twisted a rag in her hand before he popped another kiss on her cheek and patted her shoulder before walking away. 

What in the hell had that conversation been about? And why did it feel as though it maybe had to do with me?

When she walked back toward me, I asked, “Everything okay?”

“Fine.”

“Pardon my saying so, but it didn’t look very fine from this angle.”

“Daddy’s a hard-ass, that’s all. Worried about protecting me and all that. He must not realize that a twenty-four-year-old can make her own decisions.” She rolled her eyes. 

I loved her stubborn streak. 

“He’s just looking out for the most precious thing in his life. Wouldn’t be a good dad if he wasn’t.”

“He told me to stay away from the Irish playboy.”

“Okay, now he’s just an arsehole.” When a giggle escaped her mouth, my stomach flipped. “That’s the most beautiful sound on earth. You should do it more.”

Charlie’s giggle died, and her eyes landed on mine again. “You can’t keep doing that, Liam. I told you, you and I will
never
happen.”

“I appreciate your honesty, I really do, but I like a challenge. And I’m a very persuasive man.” 

She worked her bottom lip between her teeth before narrowing her eyes at me. “Persistent too, huh?”

“Very.”

“You’re wasting your time, I can promise you that.”

“Until you tell me to bugger off, I’ll be the judge of that.” I nabbed her chin between my thumb and finger and planted a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. 

“Are all Irish people so stubborn? I’m pretty sure I tell you to
bugger off
rather frequently.” Her eyes flickered with amusement. 

“Are all Italians so mouthy?”

“Yes,” her eyes twinkled as she answered. 

“Then I guess we have the answer to both of our questions.” I chuckled as she turned away, and I pulled the towel through my hands and softly snapped her bottom. 

“Liam!” She rubbed at the swell of her arse cheek, and my cock jumped in my pants. 

Fuck, she was gorgeous, curvy, and sweet with just enough lip to make me want to pull her hair and press my lips against hers in a possessive kiss. I didn’t want a single motherfucker in this city to lay eyes on her. Charlie was mine; I just had to open her eyes to the inevitable. 

I turned the corner of the bar a while later and was surprised to find a new customer had sat down. I watched his eyes rake up and down Charlie's body before my blood hit a full boil. As if fireworks were singeing my skin, my nerves screamed and my muscles flexed. I'd never had a problem dealing with my temper, never showed violent tendencies before now, but damn if this low-life eye-fuckin’ my girl didn't make me want to commit murder.

Charlie passed me then, her eyes gesturing to the prick as she approached indicating she’d caught his leering gazes.

“You okay?” I placed a hand at her lower back, hoping he'd see and leave her the fuck alone.

“I'm fine. Just another lonely guy looking for a smile.”

I pressed a finger to her lips. “Don't you even think of giving him my smile.” 

“I smile for tips. It's my job.” She laughed before heading back out to the front of the room, broom in hand.

I watched him watch her. 

“Motherfucker.” The word left my lips before I could stop it.

Thankfully, neither of them heard me.

 Unfortunately, his gaze traveled south the closer she got to him.

 She avoided his gaze, moving around the almost-empty room as she swept. She finally reached the small corner he'd perched himself in, and she passed him a friendly nod, her eyes turning back down to her work.

His gaze landed on the generous view of her cleavage, and I grit my teeth so hard, my jaw ached. I was restraining myself from taking that broom and sending her upstairs to change. Into a goddamn parka preferably. I didn't give a shit if it sounded jealous and possessive; I was. And since I'd already had the pleasure of making her come once, I figured I was allowed.

Charlie turned and bent to pick something up off the floor, and in that split second, the perverted fucker was standing behind her, his hands on her hips. 

“Hey!” I called across the room, my steps carrying me at lightning speed. “Get your fucking hands off her!” When I reached him, I breathed fire down his neck. With both hands on his shoulders, I pushed him against the wall, a barstool crashing to the floor. “Get the fuck out of here. If you come back, I'll carve those fucking fingers off your hands. Got it?” 

I barely contained the desire to pummel my fist through his skull before I felt Charlie's hand at my bicep. I dropped my hands from his scrawny form instantly.

“Liam, I'm fine.” Her small voice reminded me how fragile she really was.

“Why aren't you gone yet?” I barked at the customer.

He stumbled around us and tripped his way out of the front door. I turned, willing my breathing to return to normal when my eyes locked with hers.

“I don't know if I should be mad at you or kiss you.” Her eyes roamed up and down my body, making the blood in my veins throb with thick arousal.

“I think I know which one I prefer.”

“I bet you do.” Charlie's grin deepened, her eyes fixed on mine. “That was pretty hot, Irish.” 

Her nickname for me sent my excitement into overdrive. I wanted her in my arms and under my body. I wanted to discover every last dark secret she had and lick her wounds clean until she couldn’t tell where she stopped and I began.

“You're a bold little thing.” I caged her against the wall and placed a soft kiss on her lips. My tongue probed past her lips while her hands trailed up my torso. “Looks like the place is empty now.” I dragged my teeth across her bottom lip. “Now that we've got a little alone time…”

“We can clean the kitchen?” She smiled and tugged playfully at my hair, breaking the intoxicating hold she had over me.

I sighed. “Not what I had in mind.”

“Hm… look who's being cheeky now.” She patted my chest before stepping by me. 

I hated the loss of contact instantly. I had to get my hands on her again. She’d awakened something raw and untamed deep inside me that I couldn’t turn off, and I damn sure didn’t want to.

“Mm…  Irish slang sounds so pretty rolling off your tongue.”

She shook her arse before shooting me a silly look over her shoulder. “You know for an Irishman, you sure know a lot of cheesy American pick-up lines.” 

My laugh echoed around the small room. “I’ve been in Cambridge for four years now. I’m practically an Irish-American at this point.”

She slid the lock closed on the door and turned to me, this shift had flown by with her. “What made you come here?” 

The way the black de Rossi’s tank top hugged her tits made me want to cover her up with a tablecloth, take her in back, and put her over my leg for being so goddamn gorgeous that an eejit like me didn’t stand a chance at deserving her. 

“School.” I averted my eyes, sensing she wouldn’t be too keen on the type of life I’d come from. 

“Harvard boy?”

“Is it that obvious?” I grinned when she passed me and ducked behind the bar. 

“It’s definitely that obvious.” She scrunched her nose adorably before flicking me with her damp rag. “But I like smart boys.” 

As soon as she said that, my chest puffed up in some show of pride. If Charlie de Rossi liked smart men, then I definitely had a chance. 

“Oh?” 

My eyes danced with flirtation. I wanted to lunge across the space and lay her out on the bar, spread her thighs, and make her call my name. Then we could really shut this place down. I couldn’t help the grin splitting my lips at that fantasy. Her, hot and sweaty and begging me to lick that sweet pussy until she couldn’t think straight. God, I wanted her tied up and coming all day long. I wanted to give her so many orgasms, then lock her up and keep my tongue latched to her body in one way or another. 

“No, no, not that look again. That’s the look you had in your eyes the last time you—we…” 

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. She was upset. I’d upset her. I didn’t want that look on her face ever, and the fact that I’d put it there somehow ruined me. 

“Don’t sweat it, Charlie. I won’t touch you again until you beg me to, but it does leave me curious…” I crossed the distance between us. Not grabbing her and kissing her was the most unnatural thing in the universe. 

“Curious?” She tipped her chin up. She was intrigued. I loved that look on her face. 

“Who put you off men? Is it just your father and big brother playing the protective role, or did some arsehole hurt you?” I traced the pad of my thumb along her jawline and watched a shiver roll through her body. 

I was praying that it was just a macho Italian thing from the men in her family. The idea of another man touching what was mine was unbearable. It also made me want to find that piece of shit and beat him within an inch of his life. No one hurts my woman, no one. 

Even though I didn’t know her then, she’d always been mine. 

Her eyes fell closed as she sucked in a fortifying breath. “It’s not them.” She shook her head before one tear hovered at her eyelash. 

“Hey, love. Come here.” I swiped at the tear then pulled her into my arms. I was waiting for her to push me away, but she surprised the hell out of me by wrapping her arms around my waist and pulling me in for a tight hug. “Whatever happened is in the past. You’re safe here.” 

She would be safe from this day forward. Anyone who dared to hurt her would have to kill me first. 

She nodded and swiped at her cheek while I ran a comforting palm down her long silky hair. 

“I want to go out and find whoever hurt you and pummel him straight into the fucking ground. I don’t care what he did. If he hurt you that much, he deserves to eat cement.”

Her smile cracked and warmed my heart. “Vince already did that.”