Embrace Me (8 page)

“
Something is wrong. Tell me,” I pleaded

“
Leave it, Shannon!” my mother glared. It was the first time I had ever been scared of her. I instantly dropped it.

“
Don’t worry. She has mood swings like this from time to time,” Rachel muttered as we entered the boardroom. I stared back at her, feeling completely numb. Why did it seem like my mother was angry with Charlie?

My mind was racing, trying to work out what was going on. It took me a few minutes when we entered the boardroom to realise that I had already met Harry before, but he went by the name of Mac.

“
Lovely to see you again, Shannon,” Mac smiled, holding his hand out towards me.

“
You have met Shannon before?” my mother asked, shocked by the news.

“
Yes. I had the pleasure of bumping into her at the airport while I was with Tim Scott a month or so ago.” Mac smiled at me.

“
I had no idea you were Harry Mac. I should have introduced myself properly,” I replied, embarrassed. I had been off with Tim and Mac that day at the airport.

“
No, it was fine, Shannon. Tim has that effect on women,” Mac laughed. I smiled and nodded.

“
Well, shall we get to business?” Rachel suddenly questioned in an annoyed tone.

“
Yes, let’s,” Mac replied, pulling a chair out for me. “Shall we sit?”

The meeting went well and the net profit was looking very healthy. My mother was going into so much detail that I wasn’t sure how Harry Mac could keep up with her, but he did.

“
I guess that wraps everything up,” my mother replied, smiling and clapping her hands. “I am so glad you decided to join us Harry, and I am going to tell you something that will make you realise just how much I trust you. I know you were very good friends with the Field family.”  

“
This is business, Miss Downing. I can’t be ruled by friendship. You simply gave me a better deal,” Mac smiled.

“
Shannon is not just my youngest Marketing Director at Headcom…she is also my daughter.” I turned to look at my mother. I knew Rachel was doing the same. Why was she telling Harry Mac this now? “Now can you see how much I trust you? This news will not be going public for another six months. I want to ease her into this way of life, which I know you’ll understand.”

“
I don’t know what to say, Miss Downing, but I can assure you that your secret is safe with me.” Mac smiled then turned to me. “If you ever need my advice or help, Shannon, I would be happy to assist. I didn’t realise we had so much in common.” Why did I suddenly feel a little uncomfortable with the way he was looking at me?

“
Thanks, Mr. Mac,” I smiled, turning to look at Rachel, who was glaring daggers at my mother.

“
Call me Mac,” he smiled.

“
Okay, Mac.”

I could feel him watching me as I walked out of the room and I understood why Rachel had been wary. Harry Mac was a lady killer, and if I hadn’t been totally besotted with Charlie, I would have seen the draw.

Mac wasn’t too different from Charlie in looks. You would have put them in the same category in many ways. Mac’s hair was perhaps slightly darker, and he was maybe a little taller. His eyes were a warm dark brown—nowhere
near
as hypnotizing as Charlie’s dreamy blue-green. The one big difference between them was that Mac was arrogant about his looks, whereas Charlie had no idea just how stunning he was. I suspected it was because of who Mac was. He
could
be egotistical. He had the money to back it up, and I expected women fell at his feet on a daily basis.

“
Harry is a lovely young man,” my mother commented as we walked towards the private jet. We had been in total silence for the last hour while I watched Rachel and my mother glare at each other.

“
Are you saying my son suddenly isn’t good enough for Shannon?” Rachel asked in annoyance.

“
Of course not,” my mother chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Isn’t Charlie up for a little rivalry?”

“
There is no competition. I love Charlie,” I replied, suddenly irate. “Is that what all of this is about? You want me to be with someone like Mac?” I questioned.

“
I just worry you are too deep and can’t see straight. You have so much to deal with this year without Charlie clouding your mind.”

“
He doesn’t cloud my mind,” I argued. “He is the only thing that makes sense at times.”

“
I just think you two need to slow down.” My mother looked stressed as she spoke.

“
I thought you liked Charlie. He saved me…and you, for that matter,” I replied angrily.

“
That was before he was thinking of taking you away from me!” my mother shouted aggressively.

“
What are you shouting about?” I asked in confusion. None of this made any sense.

“
You need to ask Charlie.” She crossed her arms and refused to look at me. I couldn’t believe she was actually sulking.

“
I’m asking you.”

“
He wants to marry you,” she finally stated.

“
I thought you knew in a few years we would…”

“
Shannon, Charlie wants to marry you sooner than that,” my mother interrupted. “Why else do you think I would be this angry?”

“
That’s hardly fair, Jennet. Charlie loves Shannon. Of course he would want to marry her. They are in love. Where is the harm in that?” Rachel complained.

I sat immobile, not really listening to their argument anymore. Why hadn’t Charlie spoken to me about this? What was he playing at?

Chapter Six

Charlie was in the shower when I got back. It didn’t really help matters when he came out dripping wet with a towel wrapped around his waist. My eyes automatically followed the droplets of water as they waved down his perfect chest. I needed to focus. I was angry with him.

“
Hi, Sweetheart. How was your meeting?” he smiled, walking towards me.

“
What the hell have you been saying to my mother?” I blurted out before he even reached me.

He stopped in his tracks, a worried expression crossing his face. “She told you?” he whispered. “I asked her not to.”

“
Charlie, she is totally freaked out. What the hell did you say to her?”

“
I only wanted her approval. I wasn’t expecting her to be offended.” I could see the hurt in his eyes.

“
Charlie, we talked about marriage. I thought you understood we needed to wait.”

“
Are you angry with your mother, or me for wanting to marry you sooner?”

“
Both,” I glared at him. “In six months, my identity becomes public. I have enough to deal with without thinking about a wedding.”

“
I just wanted to be there for you.”

“
You’ve just made things ten times worse. My mother was so
angry
, Charlie. I have never seen her like that before.”

“
I’m sorry for wanting to be with you,” he moped, moving to get changed.

“
Why are you making this so difficult?!” I yelled. Why couldn’t he understand?

“
I think I might go for a drink with Brad,” he stated. It was his only response as he started walking towards his wardrobe to get changed. So angry with the situation, I left him alone to get ready.

Charlie came out a few minutes later, not even meeting my gaze.

“
You don’t even want to talk about this?” I asked as he picked up his car keys.

“
We will, but we both need some time to think. It’s clear we want different things from this relationship.”

“
What does that mean?”

“
I want to be with you, Shannon. I would marry you tomorrow if I could, but judging by your reaction, I can see you’re not ready and that hurts a little.” I wanted to cross the room to reassure him but I couldn’t. I knew he was right. Charlie nodded sadly, and my heart stung as I heard the door slam behind him.

I stood in the apartment alone, wondering what had just happened. I wasn’t ready to marry him now, but that didn’t mean I never would be. My life was going to change so much in the next six months. How could he not realise his timing was all wrong? No matter how much I loved him, I wasn’t ready to marry him yet. I wanted to be able to enjoy that part of our lives when it happened. How could we plan a wedding in the middle of a media circus?

I had a shower and then put on some old grey jogging bottoms and a baggy black jumper. I wanted to relax in front of the TV with a bottle of wine until Charlie came back.

The doorbell rang a few hours after Charlie had left. It was unlike him to forget his key, but he had stormed out.

I wasn’t really surprised to see Lorna on my front doorstep instead as I opened the door.

“
What happened?” Lorna asked with a bottle of red wine in her hands. “Charlie is a mess back at ours.”

“
We had a fight,” I sighed, following her to the front room.

“
No shit!” She rolled her eyes at me dramatically. “What happened?”

“
He told my mother he wanted to marry me before we go public about my identity.”  

“
Oh my God!” Lorna gasped in shock.

“
Yeah. She flipped, and I mean
flipped
.”

“
But I don’t get why you and Charlie are fighting. So what if you guys want to get married before you go public with the announcement? Jennet must have known you would get married in the end.”

“
Lorna, I don’t want to get married yet.”

Lorna looked at me, her eyes searching. “Ah, okay, now I understand.” She took a large gulp of wine. “Charlie didn’t take that too well, I guess, by the state of him.”

“
No. I wish he’d realised he doesn’t need to put a ring on my finger to prove we love each other. After what we have been through, I thought he would want to wait.”

“
Charlie thought he’d lost you once, Shan. I think he just wants to make sure you’re not going anywhere ever again.”

“
He should already know that I am his for keeps.” I threw my head into my hands. “I wish he had spoken to me before my mother.”

“
Was she really mad?”

“
Lorna, I seriously understand why people call her the iron dragon now.”

“
You just need to talk to Charlie. Brad has taken him out for a drink.”

“
Sorry to bring you guys into this.”

“
We are your friends. You have done the same for us in the past.”

“
I hate fighting with him, but I need him to understand that now isn’t the best time for marriage.”

“
Forgive me for asking, Shan, but why not?”

I had to think about it before I explained. I loved Charlie, and I wanted him to be mine as much as he wanted me, but truthfully, I just didn’t want to rush everything. “When I marry Charlie, I want it to be about him and me. I want to be selfish and concentrate on just us. How can I do that when I am taking over half of a billion-dollar company? With all this change, I want to be settled before I marry him. I think Charlie forgets that all of this is still so new to me. I have lived almost my whole life alone, and now I have a family, friends and him. It is still difficult for me to get my head around.”

Lorna nodded, smiling at me. “You two really are like Romeo and Juliet. It’s so romantic what you guys say about each other.”

“
When you get back, if Charlie is still at yours, can you ask him to come home?” I whispered as I hugged her goodbye later that evening.

I opened the door for her to find Charlie already standing there, trying to find his key.

“
Seems I won’t need to,” Lorna smiled. “You two need to sit and talk. God, you have been through enough drama to last you a lifetime. Sort this out, or you will have me to deal with, too.”

“
Night, Lorna, and thanks!” I shouted as I watched her leave. I could feel Charlie’s eyes on me so I turned to look at him. “Hi,” I breathed.

“
Hi,” he replied, looking down at the floor as he walked in. I shut the door, wondering where to start.

“
You know I love you more than life itself, don’t you?” I blurted out.

“
But not enough to want to marry me,” Charlie added, walking towards our kitchen to pour himself some red wine.

I stood watching him for a moment, trying to judge the mood he was in. I didn’t want to fight anymore. I wasn’t sure why we were even fighting in the first place.