Page 4 of Charm

He shoots me a brilliant smile before he crosses the lush green lawn as he heads toward the sprawling grounds next door.

“Maybe I’ll run out of sugar, neighbor,” I whisper as he disappears from view. “Scratch the maybe. I will run out of sugar.”

CHAPTER THREE

Holden

“Put Morgan on the phone,”I demand of my younger brother.

“To do what?” He chuckles. “Drool all over it?”

I stifle a laugh. “To hear my voice, Jameson. You know how much he loves his Uncle Holden’s voice.”

My nephew is barely three months old, but the little guy has a penchant for smiling whenever I talk to him. I admit it’s become an ego booster for me. If work feels like hell, I’ll play one of the many video clips I have on my phone of baby Morgan.

I can’t help but favor the ones where he’s listening to me talk to him.

“He loves your face,” he corrects me. “I have no fucking idea why.”

“You bastard.” I laugh. “When you grow up, you’ll realize how great-looking I am.”

“I’m twenty-six, old man,” he tosses out his preferred nickname for me, even though I’m only seven years his senior.“You’re a five out of a ten on a good day. I, on the other hand…I’m a ten every day.”

I won’t argue his ranking for himself, but I have a few things to say about where I land on that scale. “I’m so good-looking the woman staying next door couldn’t take her eyes off of me just now.”

I don’t add that I was nude when the woman spotted me in the pool. If Jameson got wind of that, he’d never let me live it down.

“Mrs. Frye has to be raking in a bundle renting out her house all summer,” he comments. “You must be making new friends since you’re there every other weekend.”

I come here often because this house holds a lot of memories for me. It belonged to my late grandparents before it was willed to me. The deed may be in my name, but I’ve made it clear to my brother and his wife, Sinclair, that they’re welcome any time they please. The same is true for my best friends. Declan Wells and Rook Thorsen know they will always have a place they can call home in East Hampton. Since Declan and his wife are expecting their first baby, they’ve taken a couple of weekend ‘babymoons’ here. Rook, his fiancée, Carrie, and their daughter have only made one trip so far this year, but they have more planned.

I didn’t make the trip this weekend just to catch some sun and enjoy the view. I have an ulterior motive, but I’ll share that with my brother in due time.

“I’ve met a few people,” I tell him. “None as memorable as the one I met an hour ago.”

“That’s the woman you said couldn’t take her eyes off of you?” He chuckles. “She needs glasses, doesn’t she?”

Smiling, I shake my head. “Go to hell.”

“What’s so memorable about her?”

Where do I start?

Long curly red hair, curves in all the right places, and a fearlessness that set me on fire are what come to mind first when I think about the woman next door.

Suddenly, my nephew’s cries fill the air. It’s loud enough that I know Jameson is holding his son.

“It’s okay, Morgan,” he whispers. “Daddy’s got you.”

My heart swells with that because I’m damn proud of my brother. He has grown into a remarkable man over the past few years. I’m honored to call him not only my sibling, but also my friend.

It hasn’t always been easy between us, but we’ve repaired the fractures in our relationship. We went from not speaking to one another to him asking me to be his best man when he got married a few weeks ago.

It was one of the greatest honors of my life to stand beside him as he vowed to love his wife forever while she cradled their son in her arms.

“I have to go, Holden,” he says. “Enjoy the time away, but don’t stay gone too long. I need you at the office.”

I may be the CEO of our grandparents’ candy company, but Jameson is right there with me in his role as COO. I never worry when I leave Carden Confectionaries in his very capable hands.