The Redemption (Charlotte Bloom Book 2) (4 page)

I slowly got out, adjusting my dress. I now regretted wearing such a tight dress. I could still feel Charlie’s eyes on me as we walked up the stairs to the street. If it had been Alec looking at me that way, I would’ve melted clear into a puddle of goo on the sidewalk. With Charlie, it felt invasive and rude. I wondered what the difference was. Charlie was just as good looking as Alec. And Alec had certainly been a jerk when I first met him.

He leaned down close to me, whispering in my ear.

“As a gentleman, I ought to let you know that your shirt was see-through today.”

“What?” I felt my cheeks flush. I had shivers all over my body, either from knowing what he'd seen, or his warm breath in my ear.

“I could see your…”

“Yeah. Got it.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest instinctively. I didn’t know what else to say. He’d basically admitted to seeing my nipples through my shirt. And I wasn’t sure how it made me feel. My body was deceiving me. I could feel my heart start to speed up.

He pulled away, grinning at me. My heart stopped. His grin was adorable and sexy. That was a grin that could get me into a lot of trouble.

“It could be worse.”

“Oh yeah? How’s that?” I was looking at him with daggers in my eyes.

“You’re easy to look at,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Umm…” I said, rather eloquently. “I don’t think that’s very gentlemanly of you to say,” I muttered. What was wrong with me?

“You asked me how it could be worse. I’m just saying, I don’t think anyone wouldn’t enjoy it.”

“Did you enjoy it?” I looked at him defiantly.

“I can’t tell you that. It wouldn’t be very gentlemanly of me,” he whispered, coming in closer. So close, that I could smell the soap he’d used to shower. And I liked it. My breath caught in my throat. He turned serious, looking at me hypnotically. “But if you must know the honest truth, then yes.”

“You’re an ass,” I said, pulling away.

“Hey, you asked me,” he said, laughing as he walked away.

Charlie and I made small talk as we crossed the street and as we waited for a table. I heard all about his ex-wife, the children she had wanted but he hadn't, and the alimony payments he would never have to make.

“Thank God,” he exclaimed, pumping his fists in victory. “I sure dodged a bullet.”

“Will you excuse me? I have to use the restroom.”

Before he could respond, I walked quickly towards the bathroom, fuming. Amara would not have set me up with such a jerk if she’d known. I ducked into the smallest stall, pulled the toilet seat down, and sat to call Amara. She picked up on the first ring.

“Aren’t you supposed to be out with Charlie?”

“He’s awful,” I hissed, making sure to stay as quiet as possible.

“What? Oh no! He seemed so nice! Char, I’m so sorry. You never know with actors. I assumed that since he was married before he might actually be a nice one. It’s either/or with actors. I guess there’s a reason he’s divorced.”

“Mar, how do I get out of this? There’s no way I can stand him for another two hours,” I moaned.

“Feign illness?”

“Too cliché.”

“Be honest?”

“No. He’s the kind of guy that would go off on me and embarrass me in front of the entire restaurant.”

“Ummmm…”

I sat on the phone in silence.

“Whatever. This is what I get anyways. Maybe it’ll help me get over Alec.”

“Yeah. Well, call me any time. I’m just home alone, waiting for Sam to get here. Text me some gold,” she requested. I promised to send her all of his terrible one-liners.

“He said he liked slutty,” I explained, right before we hung up.

“Ugh. Terrible.”

We hung up and I braced myself.

Here goes nothing.

***

I sat through most of dinner with the same fake, plastered-on smile, pretending to laugh at the outrageous things he was saying. I’d hoped tonight would go well, if for no other reason than to have a buffer between Alec and I. But sadly, this guy was just a jerk. We briefly talked about work, dating, and the single life, skimming the surface on all subjects. I was quiet, but playing it smooth, trying to get myself out as quickly as possible. Maybe if he thought he had a chance with me, he’d rush through dinner. Luckily, he was dumber than he seemed because, with the help of some pseudo-flirting, we were off shortly after my second hazelnut macaron.

“Tonight was fun,” he said, moving his hand up my thigh. I ground my teeth together and forced myself not to punch him hard in the groin. We were parked outside of my apartment building.

“Yeah. Totally.” I twirled my hair, and thought of what I could say to get the hell out of this car as quickly as possible. “I just don’t know if I’m ready to date again.”

“I understand.” Hmmm. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. “We don’t have to date. We can do… other things,” he said, staring at me with his upper lip curled into a snarl. Hmmm… or maybe he was worse than I had thought.

“Look… you seem like a really nice guy. It’s just that I’m not ready to… you know.”

“Ok. Look, I’m not going to force you. But can I come up and use your restroom really quick?”

“Oh, um, sure,” I said reluctantly, unsure of what his intentions might actually be.

We walked up the stairs and I grabbed my keys out of my purse. As I unlocked the door, I felt his hands slip around my waist. Oh, boy.

I turned around and before I could stop him, Charlie was gripping me tightly against his body as he bent down to kiss me. It was not a welcome kiss—surely, he knew that. He had to know that. I felt his wet, cold lips touch mine, and I tried to squirm away. He only held on tighter, his tongue jammed down my throat. I pushed him away from me, but he was so much bigger, so much stronger. Our lips broke apart, and I took the opportunity to express my disdain.

“Get off me!” I said slowly, too quietly. It was almost a whisper. I tried wiggling away from him but he pushed me against the wall and kissed me again.

This time he was a little rougher. My back ached where he had slammed me against the hard, stucco wall. I felt him pin me completely and I started to panic. His mouth was locked on mine and I tried with all of my might to push him off so I could at least kick him. This wasn’t happening. How could he think this was OK?

“Please… leave me alone,” I begged, as he slid one of his hands up my dress. He couldn’t possibly be doing what I think he was doing. “Don’t. Just go,” I whispered.

Out of nowhere, I saw a flurry of movement and in one swift swoop, Charlie was crumpled on the ground, his face in his hands. I looked up, and there, right in front of me, was Alec. He was massaging his right hand—the hand that had just punched Charlie square in the jaw.

***

It took me a good thirty seconds of panting and eyeing Alec up and down to ascertain that he was actually here, right in front of me. I thought I might be hallucinating. Was he really here? What was he doing here? Had he come for me? If so, how had he known where I lived? How had he gotten into the building? How long had he been waiting? And then…
how much had he seen?

Charlie writhed on the floor. Alec stared at me from across the hallway, his hands on his hips. He brushed his mouth with his hand and looked down, and then at Charlie. He was retreating. I couldn’t read his expression. He was good at keeping his face blank until the very last moment—the moment he would let you know how he truly felt. His left hand held a fresh bouquet of lilies. My favorite.

My heart dropped as I took in his outfit. He was wearing a white button-up, and he’d combed his hair back. His dark beard was groomed, and I could smell his scent from ten feet away, the soapy smell that drove me bonkers. My legs got weak at just the one slight whiff. He was here for me. He had come here for
me
. I couldn’t wrap my mind around that. I asked the only question that popped into my head.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m not so sure anymore,” he said quietly, disappointment marring his features.

His Irish accent was so incredibly sexy. I’d forgotten how much I missed it. I guess it had been easy to try and move on once I'd forgotten the reality of the tall, brooding, chiseled Irishman who was now standing in front of me. I was standing very still, taking everything about him in. His dark eyes hadn’t left mine since I looked up, and now they pierced me with invisible shards of glass. He was hurt. He’d come for me and had found me kissing some guy. From where he stood, it had looked like Charlie and I were about to… I couldn’t even think it.

“That was,” I said slowly, gesturing to Charlie, “not what you think.”

“Whatever, Charlotte. You don’t have to explain anything. I should go.”

He began to walk past me, but I stepped in front of him, blocking his exit.

“Answer my question. What are you doing here?”

“Isn’t it fucking obvious?” He dropped the lilies on the ground. “I was stupid for thinking this could work. Clearly, I’m too late.”

“You can’t just…” I didn’t know what to say. “You can’t just show up out of the blue, with lilies, and punch my date.”

I’d started crying. I leaned against the wall. How could this be happening?

Charlie was checking his face using his phone's camera. I saw him glance up at us. Alec took a step closer to him, and Charlie scrambled away faster than I would have thought possible. I supposed Alec was not a person to be trifled with. From a stranger’s point of view, Alec was quite a sight—a handsome, muscular sight.

“This was a mistake. Goodbye, Charlotte.”

“You’re leaving?”

He walked past me, down the hall. Rage filled my entire being to the brim.

“You came all this way to what—to fight for me? And now you’re walking away? You’re a coward, Alec,” I hissed, hoping it would spur him on.

He was here. I couldn’t let him go now.

He had stopped mid-step as I was speaking. Now he turned and took a step closer, and slowly another, and another, until he was right in front of me. I felt myself gravitate towards him, but he just stood there, unrelenting, keeping just enough distance between us.

“Yeah. Something like that,” he said roughly. “You haven’t returned any of my calls, texts, letters… what else was I supposed to do?”

“I just… I can’t…”

My thoughts weren't processing. Everything became hazy, cloudy. I wanted to scream at myself.

“I know I made a mistake leaving you. I live with that every day. And your messages… it was too hard. This is all happening so fast.”

I covered my face with my hands. I saw Alec take a step back, shaking his head.

“For fuck’s sake, Charlotte! What else do I have to do? What else do I have to say? I told you I loved you, and we made love. Twice! I’ve never been in love, do you understand that? No one in my life—past, present, or future—will ever compare to you. I wanted you, Charlotte. I wanted all of you. I wanted everything, every laugh, every cry, every promise… everything. From the moment I met you. Now try and wrap your mind around how I felt when you chose to leave me. You walked away from everything… from me, from Mary, from Helen and George.
You
are the coward. Don’t you dare call me a coward. I waited for you to come back. I prayed every night that you would change your mind. I texted you. I called you. I wrote you fucking letters. Every damn day, I waited for you. I waited for the day you’d write me back or answer my calls. Nothing. I had
nothing
to go on. Every goddamn day for the last three months. My life has been a pile of shit since you left. You are the sun, Charlotte Bloom. You’re my fucking sun.”

His head drooped and I saw his face scrunch up in pain.

I’d started sobbing, and I reached out to him. He backed away down the hall.

“Alec, please stay,” I sobbed.

I walked to him, but he only retreated further. I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I was still in shock. He was
here.
He was in Los Angeles. He’d come for
me.
Why wasn’t I running after him? Before I realized what was happening, he was gone.

I fell onto the floor of my hallway, sobbing hysterically. Everything I’d ever wanted, every ounce of happiness I’d ever felt, had just walked out the door, probably forever. I buried my face in my hands and cried.

“Alec! Please come back,” I wailed, snot dripping out of my nose.

But I knew. He was gone. I took my shoes off and ran downstairs, hoping to find him getting into a car or a taxi. He was nowhere to be seen. I ran down the block, looking for his white shirt. Nothing.

I sat down on the curb and cried for what felt like hours. It had gotten extremely cold, so I wrapped my arms around my knees. Before I knew what was happening, I saw Amara pull up in her car.

“Charlotte? Oh my god, are you OK?” She parked right in front of me, hopped out of the driver’s side, and pulled me to my feet.