Jason’s lips wavered as he inhaled heavily. “You’re right, I just don’t know how to do it. How to grow up.”

  Charlie found himself lost for words. He hadn’t expected the conversation to take a serious turn. Jason looked to the ceiling and when he looked back to Charlie the shimmer was gone from his eyes. “Should we order breakfast?”

  The two of them had never discussed feelings, and Charlie realized just how superficial their relationship had been over the years. Just like Jason didn’t know how to grow up, Charlie didn’t really feel equipped to talk about it either.

  “The lumberjack special works wonders for a hangover.” Charlie tapped the menu card.

  “That’s what I was thinking,” Jason smiled and patted his belly.

  Charlie met Mable’s eyes and nodded. She returned to the table and took their order. Jason went with the lumberjack and Charlie stuck with his usual, a BLT.

  Jason took a sip of his coffee and his eyes shot open wide. He pounded his chest with his fist and then whispered, “This stuff is awful!”

  “It will get your motor running,” Charlie laughed. The diner’s coffee was infamously strong. He heard that someone had once mistaken it for Turkish coffee. Charlie slurped his coffee and wondered how it would taste mixed into a hoppy fall IPA.

  “Tell me about this woman you want to bring to Adam’s wedding,” Jason said. He poured a heaping teaspoon of sugar onto a spoon and stirred it into his mug. “Is she twelve-year-old scotch?”

  “She is,” Charlie smiled.

  “Whoa. I haven’t seen you smile like that since Karlie.”

  Charlie had been so heartbroken over Karlie all those years ago, but the way he felt for Emma made what he and Karlie had had seem like a joke.

  “Her name is Emma. She’s so smart and driven. She’s inspiring.”

  “Yeah, but is she hot?” Jason asked.

  “Gorgeous,” Charlie said, remembering who he was talking to. “But she’s so much more than that. I can’t wait for you to meet her.” This was a lie. Charlie didn’t know whether thoughtful Jason or crass, chauvinistic, frat boy Jason was going to be at the wedding.

  “I’m heading back to the city today. When I come back maybe we should all have dinner together. That’s a grownup thing to do, right?”

  “Let’s do it.” Charlie had his doubts, but the man was his brother after all.

  Mable set down their plates of breakfast and refilled their coffee mugs. “Enjoy, boys.”

  “Thank you,” they replied in unison.

  Jason started to work on his platter of greasy goodness. As Charlie crunched into his sandwich, he saw Jenni walk into the diner. She scanned the room and when she saw the two of them, her face lit up and she practically jogged to the table.

  She seemed out of breath. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. We’ve got a problem.”

  Eleven

  The bell jingled over Emma’s head and she was met with the aroma of cinnamon and fresh coffee as she stepped into the Sugar Peaks Café. She had been up until three in the morning finishing the painting at the store and needed a serious caffeine fix to get through the day.

  “Emma,” Megan smiled. She brushed her hands and came around the counter to hug her. Emma was still getting used to the hugginess of her new friends. “How’s the painting going? Are you happy with the gray that you picked?”

  “How did you know I was painting it gray?” Emma asked. No one had been in the shop since last night, and the butcher paper windows had kept all of the Rapidian’s prying eyes from checking out her shop before it was done.

  “Oh,” Megan laughed. “I was at the hardware store yesterday and Norm who works at the paint counter told me. He was surprised you didn’t go with something brighter.” Emma shook her head. Everyone in this town seemed to have an opinion about how she should be running her business. Norm had been reluctant to mix the gray paint, insisting that something bright like a flower made more sense.

  Emma groaned. “He almost refused to mix it.”

  “He told me,” Megan said. “Cappuccino?”

  “With an extra shot of espresso, please. It was a late one last night.”

  Megan went behind the counter and continued talking as she prepared Emma’s drink. “I heard you weren’t the only one who had a late night.” She paused as she steamed the milk, the high-pitched gurgle mixing with the coffee shop jazz that was playing through the speakers.

  “Oh yeah?” Emma wasn’t really listening. Her mind was already thinking about the last steps of the project. Trying to figure out how to coordinate the finish carpenters with the delivery of her appliances and fixtures, and when she should put up the sign on the storefront.

  “Officer Augusta was in here. Charlie’s brother almost got arrested last night.”

  As soon as she heard his name, Megan came back into focus. “Charlie’s brother is in town?”

  “You didn’t know?” Megan said. “I think he was here to meet with Jenni about some wedding details.”

  Emma shrugged lightly, trying to play it cool. She and Charlie were new. And while it was possible that Megan hadn’t heard that they were spending every second of the day together, she didn’t think that it was likely. “I’ve been busy with the renovations.” That part was true. Although she had waited an extra hour for Charlie to show up. She had been slightly pissed that he hadn’t shown by three a.m. and hadn’t bothered to call. She had even walked past the Last Chance Tavern to see if he had been held up at his bartending job. The tavern was dark, and when she checked the side alley and Charlie’s bike was nowhere to be found her mind went into overdrive – and overdrive was putting it lightly. Her hands were shaking so violently, she had to grip them together to try to stop them from shaking. She had to stop twice on her way home to double over, as dry heaves overtook her body. ‘Stop it. You’re being crazy.’ When she got home she stripped out of her gray spattered paint clothes and even though all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and pull the duvet over her head, she knew that she needed to calm herself down. She drew a hot bath and dumped in Epsom salts and some lavender. Why was she reacting like this? She had never had a panic attack and wondered if that’s what was happening to her.

  Her hands stopped shaking once she’d completely submerged her body in the steaming bath. Even though the water was hot tub level hot, she could feel her nerves calming down, her heart rate slowing to a normal thump in her ears.

  ‘Charlie hasn’t done anything to you for you to feel like this.’ She repeated this three times. She scolded the doubting voice in her head. ‘There are plenty of reasons why he didn’t show up or call. And you know that.’

  She lowered her shoulders under the water and turned the faucet with her toe to add a little more hot water. It took about twenty minutes, but when she had stepped out of the tub, she felt like herself again. A rational human being who wasn’t going to jump to conclusions.

  “Are you okay?” Emma blinked and realized that Megan was staring at her, the paper cup of coffee in her outstretched hand.

  “Yeah,” Emma sighed. She glanced around the coffee shop to make sure that no one else had come in. “I just had a rough night.”

  Megan handed her the coffee and then poured another into a big round mug. “Want to talk about it? The morning rush won’t start for another half an hour and everything is under control in the kitchen.”

  “I feel ridiculous.”

  “Is this about Charlie?” Megan asked.

  “You’ve heard?”

  “Sweetie, of course, I’ve heard.” She took Emma by the forearm and led her to the barstool seats in front of the cash register. “He’s crazy about you.”

  “He is?” Emma sat and took the plastic lid off the top of her cup and blew on the foam. “I’m crazy over him too,” Emma said. “But I mean, really crazy. It might be too soon?”

  “Too soon?” Megan prodded.

  Emma wrung her hands in her lap. “If I tell you something do you promise not to tell anyone.”

  “Your secret is safe with me.”

  Emma was dubious but needed to get the weight off her chest. “I moved here to get away from a man. My fiancé cheated on me.”

  Megan nodded but didn’t say anything.

  Emma continued. “I thought that I was ready to move on. But last night, Charlie was supposed to come and help me paint, and he didn’t show up. He didn’t even call or text.” She took a sip of her cappuccino. “It sounds crazy when I say it out loud.” She shook her head and pursed her lips. She felt like an immature little girl.

  To her surprise, Megan reached out and gripped her hand. “Emma. The same thing happened to me.”

  “Your best friend slept with your fiancé?”

  “Well, no. A business client slept with my husband. I only found out because I found the ultrasound picture in his gym bag.”

  “Oh my god.” Emma inhaled heavily. “That’s terrible.”

  “Like you, I came to Chance Rapids to get away. To hide. You’ve been through something traumatic and it’s going to take some time to get over it.”

  Emma played with the seam on her coffee cup. “That’s what I thought. I’m not ready to be with anyone, let alone someone as great as Charlie.”

  “No.”

  Emma looked up, surprised by the hard tone in Megan’s voice.

  “That’s not true at all,” Megan said. “Charlie is just what you need. The terrible thing that you went through was in the past. Charlie isn’t. What was your fiancé’s name?”

  “Adam,” Emma whispered. She hadn’t spoken his name in months, and it tasted foul on her lips.

  “Charlie isn’t Adam. You can get over what he did to you, but you can’t put it on Charlie. You need to trust him. When those doubts come up, and trust me, they will – you need to find a way to look at the situation without applying that lens from what happened with Adam.”

  “How did you do it?” Emma asked. “Get over that betrayal?”

  Megan smiled. “It sounds cheesy, but I just let myself feel. And when those bad feelings came up, I let them and then I let them go. Seeing a therapist might help too. There’s no harm in that, it might help you get there faster.”

  The bell over the door jingled and the two of them looked to see some strangers walking in.

  “I’ll be right with you.” Megan took her apron from the bar counter and slipped the strap over her head. She whispered, “I have it on good authority that Charlie is over the moon about you. No one has seen him like this. Ever. Let yourself feel, Emma. Let him love you.”

  Emma gulped the tears down. “Thanks, Megan. I knew there was a reason I came in here this morning, and it turns out it wasn’t coffee that I needed.” She reached out and squeezed Megan. For the first time since she moved to Chance Rapids, she was the hugger, not the huggee.

  She clomped over to the flower shop in her work boots, but this time there was a spring in her step. She could do this. Charlie wasn’t Adam. “Charlie isn’t Adam,” she whispered to herself out loud and felt the sides of her mouth turn up. It was true. In the depths of her soul she knew it was true, she just needed to keep her overanalytical brain in check.

  The finish carpenters had already arrived and had started nailing on the wide baseboard trim. She set her coffee and keys down on the flower shop counter and turned on her point of sale computer. For the first time, she was working at her desk and not hunched over on the floor looking at her laptop.

  The first couple of hours went by in a flash, and at nine the flower coolers arrived. Once they were plugged in, she stood back, a swell of pride rushing through her body as their bright lights flickered on. She was doing it. She was really doing it.

  She was interrupted from her thoughts by the chime on her phone. It was a text from Charlie. As soon as she read it, she knew that she had to take Megan’s advice to heart. He had lost his phone, had to rescue his brother from the drunk tank, and the car had gotten stuck on a rut in the field. If ever there was a reason for someone not to text or call, Charlie had three solid reasons.

  Charlie ISN’T Adam.

  When Charlie walked through the front door, she flung herself into his arms.

  “Whoa, flower girl.” He squeezed her tightly. “You almost knocked the wind out of me.”

  She pulled back and looked into his eyes and all she saw was love. She grabbed his head and kissed him hard. The angst and pent up misdirected emotions from the past twelve hours swirled inside of her like a tornado and they had to get out.

  She grabbed Charlie by his hand and dragged him to the back-storage room.

  “What are you doing?” he whispered into her mouth as hers was on his again.

  She fumbled with the belt buckle on his pants. She wanted to tell him that she loved him but knew that it was too soon. Instead, she unhooked the clasp on the shoulder of her overalls and let the heavy fabric fall to the wooden floorboard of the storage room without taking her lips from his. She could feel his hands on hers, helping her with the buckle on his Carhart pants. The generator for the framer’s air nail gun, droned loudly in the next room. The voices of the workers faded into the background and all Emma could hear was Charlie’s raspy breaths beside her ear.

  He dug his thumbs into her hips and then nipped her lips before turning her around and pulling her cotton boy shorts down to her knees. His beard brushed on her thigh as he nipped her ass cheek with his teeth and then slapped the spot with his rough hand. Emma moaned loudly, knowing that any sounds from the back room would be masked by the construction out front.

  “Charlie, I. Need. You. Inside. Me. Now.”

  She was barely finished her breathy sentence when Charlie’s left hand gripped her hip while his right pushed her upper body toward the storage shelves. Emma held on tightly. Her body was tense and tingling, waiting for his warmth, needing it. She arched her back and couldn’t stop the whimper that escaped from her lips when she felt the tip of Charlie’s manhood lingering between her legs.

  She arched further, the skin on her lower back prickled with goosebumps of anticipation. Her thighs started to shake. “Do it, Charlie.”

  “Do what?” he growled.

  The compressor stopped and the contractors' voices were audible as Emma growled, “Fuck me.”

  The room went completely silent, but Emma didn’t care, and it didn’t seem like Charlie did either. Emma gasped as he thrust hard, stretching her body, and sending waves of shivers through to her fingertips. She moaned, not caring who heard. Charlie pulled back slowly and then thrust into her again, this time even harder. The shelves shook and unused paint rollers rained down beside the two of them, rolling around on the floor as Charlie increased the tempo. The shelves rattled as Charlie thrust, with his left hand affixed to her left hip, his right was able to reach in front between her thighs, and the combination of his finger and the pressure between her legs was too much for Emma. She bit her lip and tried to hold in the scream as the orgasm rolled through her body, starting between her legs, and radiating through her body. Her thighs quivered and then all of the strength seemed to disappear from her body. Charlie slipped his arm around her chest, her white T-shirt bunching under his arm as he held her upright. She leaned her head back against Charlie’s chest, her chest heaving up and down as she recovered from the best orgasm that she’d ever had. Charlie’s breath tickled against her ear. She reached her hand around to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. “That was amazing.” Charlie’s hips rocked slowly, and Emma realized that he was still inside her, she swore she could feel his cock pulsing inside of her, his breaths were hot on her neck. “It’s your turn,” she whispered.

  “Go back to where you were,” he whispered and pushed her forward again. She arched her back and Charlie moaned when she gave him a little rotation with her hips. Knowing that there were men on the other side of the wall, working, while she was getting fucked by her hot as hell boyfriend turned Emma on like she’d never been turned on before. Every inch of her body was hypersensitive. One touch from Charlie on a place as benign as her bicep would send chills through her body. Charlie had both hands on her hips, and she held onto the shelves as he thrust hard, his moans and grunts only making her more turned on. She slipped one hand from the shelf to back between her legs and within seconds was on the brink of a second orgasm. Charlie pulled out suddenly and she felt the warmth on her back as he gasped, his thighs shuddering behind her at the same time as the second wave of pleasure rushed through her body.

  The room was hazy, but the construction sounds soon became louder and the carnage from their session came into view. They had shaken all of the paint rollers and green tape onto the floor and some of the smaller cans teetered on the edge of the shelf.

  “I thought you were a good girl,” Charlie whispered.

  “I was until I met you,” she said quietly.

  “Stay there.” Charlie patted her ass and she heard him pull up his pants and then felt a towel on her back. “You’re going to need a shower, flower girl.” He pulled her T-shirt down over her back and pulled up her overalls.

  She turned around and clipped the overalls back in place. “I want you on my body all day long.”

  He smiled and pulled her in tightly to kiss her again.

  “I’ve got to go to work. Your place looks great.”

  “See you later? Maybe we can go for a hike or something?”

  “Or something?” he smiled wryly and reached for the storage room door.

  “Charlie?” Emma’s voice was a little louder, a little more frantic than she intended.

  “Yeah?” he turned, his hand on the door.

  “Nothing.” She smiled. “I’ll see you later.”

  Emma waited in the back, reorganizing the storage room. Her brazen act was catching up with her, along with the embarrassment of facing her work crew. As she picked up the paint rollers, she saw Charlie’s wool hat underneath one of the shelves. She brushed it off and slipped it on her head.