Page 8 of Charm

I like that he’s asking, not assuming that I partake. “Red, please.”

His right hand jumps up. I sense he’s about to touch my face, but it drops back to his side in a fist as if he’s fighting the temptation. “Midnight can’t come soon enough.”

I can’t come soon enough, but I’ll forgo my planned bubble bath orgasm and save it for him.

He arches a brow. “Is there anything else I can bring for you, Summer?”

I haven’t had sex with a stranger in…well,never, so I don’t know the protocol if there is one, but I ask for what I want because it’s too important not to. “Protection. You’ll bring a condom, right? I’m on birth control, but condoms are a must for me.”

“And for me,” he adds. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“No, thank you.” His voice lowers a little. “You came out of nowhere to make this night one I won’t soon forget.”

“This weekend,” I say boldly. “I’m here until Sunday.”

It’s presumptuous to assume he’ll want more of me after tonight, but I toss that out there because I already know I’ll want more of him.

His eyes close briefly before they hone in on mine. “Whoever you are and wherever you came from, I’m so fucking glad you ended up here.”

“Me too,” I whisper. “I’m glad I’m here, too.”

I ache to be kissed by him, but he doesn’t give me that. Instead, he rakes me from head to toe like he wants nothing more than to devour me before he turns and walks out of the house.

CHAPTER SIX

Holden

Fillingthe time since I walked out of Mrs. Frye’s home hasn’t been easy.

I thought I could focus on work since there’s never a shortage of things that require my attention. As the CEO of Carden Confectionaries, I’m the guy who makes the last call on almost everything that matters. I take my brother’s opinion into consideration, but at the end of the day, I have to decide what is best for the company that mattered so much to my grandparents.

Carden began as a shared dream for them and has since morphed into a billion dollar empire.

The weight of that is always on my shoulders, but I’ll never complain about it. I consider it an honor to sit at the helm of the company, even when I’m faced with the task of working out deals to take over enterprises that are struggling or those that have an owner who has checked out of the business.

That happens more often than most people realize. The idea of launching a candy company can seem like an easy route to riches, but it’s a damn hard climb even to get noticed.

Such is the case with a few businesses based in New York that my brother has recently reached out to . Jameson makes the initial contact, and then I swoop in to work on the finer details of a deal that will expand Carden’s empire.

That’s what our grandmother wanted before her death, so Jameson and I are intent on following through on her wishes.

I glance down when my phone indicates an incoming video call. It’s almost eleven. That should narrow the options of who is calling, but it doesn’t. My brother, my sister-in-law, and my friends all know that I’m available for them twenty-four seven. If at all possible, I’m never out of reach, although I plan on leaving my phone behind when I go to see Summer in just over an hour.

“Declan,” I greet my friend as the call connects. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

I know the answer to that question, but I ask it anyway. Like Jameson and me, Declan and his brother run a business whose sales rival those of Carden’s. They’re not in the candy business, though. Wells, their brand, is all about underwear.

His hair is a mess, and he’s sporting a light growth of beard. Impending fatherhood looks good on my old friend, but I don’t tell him that. He owns a mirror, so he’s well aware of what he looks like at the moment.

“I can’t sleep,” he says before he yawns. “How hard do you think fatherhood is?”

“Your brother is the guy to ask that question to,” I point out, since Declan’s brother, Sean, is already a dad. I add on our shared best friend as a great resource, “Rook has been doing the dad thing for five years, Declan. Call him.”

“So he can tease me about how fucking scared I am?” He chuckles. “No way. You’ve been watching Jameson navigate fatherhood. Does it look easy or hard?”

“Both,” I answer as I settle into a spot on the sectional in the living room. I prop my bare feet up on the coffee table. “As with anything worth having in life, some bad always comes with the good.”