Page 12 of Of Course, Cutie
Charlie ended the call and slid her phone back into her pocket. “All right, I’m heading out. My best friend needs help shopping for his Halloween party. Thanks for the notebook!”
“Of course, cutie. Have a good one.” I hoped her male best friend was gay. It sounded like he was gay.
“You too.” Charlie tapped the bar with one hand and bit her lip. Then she flashed me her pretty smile and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Bye, Burke.”
Fuck, I liked the sound of my name on her lips. I watched her ass all the way to the front door but tore my eyes away when she stopped to hug her brother. Evan would not appreciate the way I was looking at his little sister, and I needed this job to stay close to Tess. I was here for Tess, not to chase tail that I had no business wanting.
Tess was my world now, and she was all I needed.
I watched Charlie pause and rest her hand on Evan’s arm. Then she sighed and tugged him toward a table near the stage. I didn’t mean to listen to their conversation, but I heard every word.
“Dude.” Charlie stared at her brother. “You seem crazy stressed. What’s going on?”
Evan gave her a weak smile. “I’m fine, kid.”
Charlie raised an eyebrow. “No, you’re not. Talk to me.”
“You don’t need to hear me complain, Charlie.”
“But I can. That’s what family is for, so spit it out.”
Evan sighed and leaned against the table. “Okay. Yeah, I’m stressed out of my fucking mind. Running a business is a lot, and I want to talk to dad about it. I want to hear what he thinks about all the decisions I’m making. And it’s not like I need constant validation or approval. He just had this way of letting me know if I was on the right track.” Evan glanced up to meet Charlie’s concerned gaze. “But I’m fine. Don’t try to carry this for me.” He smiled and messed up her hair.
This time, Charlie didn’t smack his hand away. “You’re on the right track, Evan. I’ve never seen you so focused and excited. You weren’t even like this about soccer.” Charlie leaned into her brother and gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m honestly inspired by how hard you work, and I hope I find something to get so excited about someday.”
Evan smiled and slid his arm around her shoulders. “Thanks, Charlie. And thanks for making me talk.”
Charlie laughed. “I’ll always make you talk. I can read you like a book, and I already knew what was wrong with you. You learn more when you say the words yourself, though.”
Evan laughed aloud now and shook his head. “You’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?”
“Yep. I’m amazing.” Charlie shrugged and grinned at her brother.
Yeah, she was amazing.
“K, I’m going to pick up Matteo, and you, sir, need to give yourself a break.” Charlie pointed at Evan’s face.
“All right, all right. Be safe. Have fun.”
“Always.” Charlie turned to walk out of the bar. When she reached the door, her gorgeous blue eyes flashed over and landed on me. She gave me a smile that was sweet and sexy at the same time.
It shouldn’t have made my heart rate increase. Hell, I shouldn’t have even thought the word “sexy” in conjunction with a nineteen-year-old. Something was wrong with my head.
Once Charlie was gone, I stepped into the backroom to stow my jacket. Before I placed it on the shelf, I lifted my jacket to my face and inhaled. Fuck. It smelled like mint and coconut.
6
Charlie
I tugged at my impossibly short black skirt. If I so much as shifted, my ass was going to hang out. “Mattie, there is no way in hell that I’m wearing this.”
Matteo rolled his eyes and smoothed his dark hair in front of my floor-length mirror. He practiced his smolder before turning to me. “Girl, you look like a snack in that dress! Don’t be a little bitch about the costume I picked out for you. I gave you plenty of chances to get one yourself.” He grabbed the high-heeled knee-length boots from the foot of my bed and pressed them into my arms. “Put these on, pretty kitty.” Next, he picked up the pair of black sequined cat ears from my dresser. “And these.”
“Ugh,” I groaned. “I look like a sex worker.”
Matteo snorted. “That’s the entire point of Halloween! If I could get every cock in the room to stand straight up the way you will by wearing that dress, I would trade you costumes in a hot second!” He adjusted his purple suit jacket, picked up his top hat, and smirked. “I mean, I’ll probably raise a few cocks in this. I’m the sexiest shadow man I’ve ever seen.”
I laughed as I zipped up a boot. “Yeah, Mattie. I bet Jonah’s cock will burst right through his pants when he sees you.”
