Loving David (27 page)

“I could have told you that much.”

“Yeah, but it was
her
admitting to it. I don’t know. Maybe this is the first step to her really turning her life around.”

“You were right, you know.”

“About what?”

“She does somehow always manage to land on her feet. She doesn’t need me to hand her the parachute. I guess she told you about her cosmetics gig and the like?”

“Yeah. Sounds fun.”

“And she’s somewhat right about me as well. On some level, part of me did feel as though I had to ‘rescue’ her. I’m a giver, and Olivia’s a taker, and the two should not meet.” David reached across the table for Charlotte’s hand. “I think that’s why you and I worked so well together. You didn’t need me to give you anything. You didn’t need me to save you from anything. You saved me.”

Charlotte shook her head, lost in thought. “No. You saved me from myself. The truth is, as much as I went around in the world like I didn’t need anything but my books and occasional glasses of wine to keep me company, I was lonely. And people aren’t meant to be alone. We’re meant to laugh and live and most of all love. We’re meant to love, and I’d managed to convince myself I didn’t need that.” Charlotte squeezed David’s hand. “
You
taught me to love.”

David looked down at his plate, and Charlotte realized it was because he was trying to keep himself from crying.

“Charlotte, I promise never again to let anyone or anything come between us. No more rescue missions or mystery trips or anything like that. Ever.”

“I can live with that.”

“I should hope so.”

“Okay, and I promise to lay off the age thing, lay off the weight thing, and not be such a jerk.”

“I can live with that.” David kissed her hand. “Do you mind if we skip dessert?”

“But I had strawberries!”

David stood up and motioned for Charlotte to do the same. He blew out the candles before he bent down and lifted her off her feet, which made Charlotte yelp with laughter.

“We’ll have them for breakfast,” he said as he kissed her nose and whisked her toward the bedroom.

#

“What’s that scar?”

“I tripped on the sidewalk and ripped a tiny little patch of skin off my foot.”

“Sounds ugly.”

“It was. I mean, look at the scar.”

“Okay, what about this one, over here on your thigh?”

Charlotte giggled. “Are we going to spend the morning playing, ‘Let’s dissect Charlotte’s various scraps and mishaps’?”

“Sure why not? I don’t have anything to do today.”

Charlotte laughed again as David continued tracing her nude body with his fingertips like an artist pushing his paintbrush across a blank canvas with light, sure strokes. They’d spent the better part of the morning examining each other’s assorted bruises and marks and telling the stories behind them. David’s best story had been about the scar on his knee that he received when a toddler in one of his movies had bitten him a little too hard in a scene.

“Oh,” Charlotte’s stomach fluttered as he grazed a nipple. “You’re not playing fair.”

“Feels like I am.”

“No, seriously---- you’re going to make it so I don’t want to get out of bed.”

“That is the general idea,” David said as he bent down to chew on Charlotte’s ear.

“Well, I want to get started on a new manuscript idea I have.”

David pulled back. “What’s this one about?”

“I’m trying something different.”

“I’m intrigued. Go on.”

Charlotte propped herself up on her shoulder. “I’ve loved my books. Each and every one of them, but I’ve been writing the same type of stuff for over twenty years. I’m ready to try something different.”

“What’d you have in mind?”

Charlotte licked her lips, her excitement mounting. “I’m going to try writing a suspense novel. It’ll still have romance elements, but less sex, more secrets, more lies, more murder.”

“Anyone in particular you’re trying to get some aggression out on?”

Charlotte laughed. “No, no, no. Nothing like that. It’s just time to try new things.”

“I’m proud of you for having the courage to step outside of yourself.”

“You want to know a terrible secret?”

“Oh dear.
You’re
a murderer?”

“Yes, that’s it exactly. No. I’ve been thinking about this for a long while. The last five years, if not longer. But I’ve never had the courage. My books have always done well, allowed me to make a nice living, so why rock the boat? Ironically, it was Olivia who gave me the push I needed.”

“Now you’re really confusing me.”

“I was watching her be interviewed about her new movie and how it’s totally different from anything she’s ever done, and it stuck with me. I just need to stop being afraid of life and just go for it.”

“Let me see if I’ve got this straight. My ex-girlfriend inspired you to take your career in a different direction.”

“Nuts, I know. However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in all these years of writing, it’s that you never know where inspiration will come from.”

“Indeed.”

“Anyway, I had a couple of ideas that I wanted to make sure to get down. I’ll need to talk to my publisher, see if they’re on-board. And I’ll need to finish the draft of my current manuscript. I need to get all my work done and fast.”

“What’s the rush?”

“I’m going to be on my honeymoon.”

David tilted his head to the side, a small crease between his eyes. “Finishing the draft of your current book and writing down some ideas will to take you a year?”

“No.”

“What are you getting at?”

“I changed my mind about waiting. Hell. Waiting for what? We love each other; we want to spend the rest our lives together. Well, I guess
I’ll
be spending the rest of
my
life with you----”

“Stop it,” David warned.

“Alright. I’ll shut up.”

“I thought you wanted a proper wedding this time around. You know, Karen standing next to you in a horrific aqua dress, a hundred doves being released into the air, a twelve-piece orchestra----”

“Cut that out! I never said I wanted any of that.”

“Okay, Okay,” David laughed. “So what kind of wedding would you like?”

“As long as it doesn’t involve City Hall and a honeymoon at Santa Monica Pier, I don’t care what kind of wedding it is. Just soon.”

David jumped up. “Today?”

Charlotte yanked David’s arm down. “No, silly. Of course not today.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Oh
jeez
. How about after the movie premiere?”

“You’re serious?”
Charlotte slid out of bed and dropped to one knee, the rough fibers of the carpet digging into her skin, threatening to give her a scar of her own.

“David King, will you do me the honor of marrying me sooner rather than later?”

David reached down and grabbed Charlotte’s hand, pulling her back into bed as he did so. “Where’s
my
ring?”

“
Mmm
… How about a strawberry?”

David’s eyes widened. “Strawberries. I’d almost forgotten.”

“Don’t ever forget the strawberries,” Charlotte said as she scrambled out of bed and darted toward the kitchen, David hot on her heels.

#

“Still can’t believe you’re going to be a missus again.”

“You and me both.”

“I don’t like that one. Makes you look ‘hippy’”

Charlotte screwed up her face as she looked in the mirror to examine the strapless white number that did indeed make her look like a wide load. “Where’s Evelyn when you need her?” Charlotte mumbled to herself as she stepped off the small wooden platform in the bridal shop she and Karen had wandered into. Karen had come down from San Francisco so they could go shopping and have a big lunch later. This was the first store they’d gone into, and Charlotte about had a heart attack as she drank in the monstrous white dresses looming in front of her. Charlotte was afraid she’d swallowed up by the countless rows of voluminous confections of tulle, taffeta, silk, satin, and chiffon only to be spit back out on her wedding day looking like she’d been smeared in lace and white frosting.

“Who says it has to be white? Who says it even has to be a wedding dress?”

“I told you, the one ‘wedding’ thing I want is to feel like a bride. And that means
dress.
”

Karen snorted and went back to appraising some of the dresses the sales clerk had brought out for their approval. The woman was busy digging up dresses for Karen to try on, but based on the current wedding dress selection no one was holding out hope. Karen pulled one down from the rack and held it up for Charlotte.

“What about this one? You may avoid looking like you belong on the top of a cake.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Can’t say I’m not doing my official diva of honor duties.”

“Alright, I’ll give you that. You are being a trooper.” Charlotte looked at the dress again and discarded it.

“Looks boxy.”

Karen shrugged, and Charlotte took her turn thumbing through the rack. She found one and disappeared into the dressing room. She emerged a few moments later for Karen’s inspection.

“
Eh
,” Karen replied.

Charlotte looked in the mirror. “What’s wrong with it? I think it looks nice.”

“Too plain. You went too far in the other direction. Maybe you won’t look like you belong on top of the cake, but people might think you’re supposed to serve it.”

“Ouch.”

Karen shrugged. “I call it like I see it.”

“Tell me about it.”

Charlotte tried on no less than ten more dresses but couldn’t find one she liked. She almost wished she could fly Evelyn in from Vancouver to help her. Karen didn’t fare much better, though it was mostly due to her own stubbornness. Even though Karen still had the same petite figure from her modeling days give or take five pounds, she insisted on wearing her clothes three sizes too big. They gave up on finding anything in this store and went to three other bridal shops, each one more dismal than the last.

Almost out of desperation they decided to try their luck in a department store. Amazingly, Nordstrom proved to be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow as they each found the perfect frocks: Karen settled on sophisticated, crinkled chiffon, knee-length cocktail dress with an embellished neckline in black, the only color she deemed acceptable for a diva of honor. Charlotte squealed when she put on
the
dress: it was tea length with an overlay of tulle on satin. It had a beaded empire waist and an A-line shape that made her look neither hippy nor too plain. The ladies couldn’t help themselves ---- they high-fived each other in the store and decided to stop into one of Charlotte’s favorite spots for margaritas, chips, and salsa.

They took a table outside, happy to lap up the waning sunlight of the early evening. Karen held up her margarita glass, the salt crystals around the rim glistening in the sun.

“To the future Mrs. Wonderful,” Karen said.

Charlotte rolled her eyes but nonetheless clinked her glass with Karen and took a sip of her margarita, closing her eyes in ecstasy as the liquid slid down her throat.

“
Mmm
, that’s a good margarita.” Charlotte set her glass down and looked at Karen. “I wanted to thank you for today. I know tromping around bridal stores is your least favorite thing to do.”

“About as much as pulling my fingernails off.”

“I know and I appreciate you taking the time to come down here and be a real diva of honor. Means a lot.”

Karen took a healthy gulp of her margarita. “Listen---- I know I can be opinionated and loud and raunchy, but I hope you know at the end of the day I just want what’s best for you. Sometimes that comes out…opinionated, loud, and raunchy, but I always have your best interests at heart.”

Charlotte smiled and grabbed Karen’s hand. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The waiter arrived with a sizzling skillet of beef fajitas for Karen and a massive chicken taco salad for Charlotte.

“Thank God,” Karen said. “For a minute I thought we were gonna have to sing ‘Kumbaya.’”

CHAPTER 14

“David! Over here!”

David turned on the red carpet and flashed a brilliant smile toward the innumerable cameras that were in action.

“Show us the ring!”

Charlotte held up her hand for inspection as an explosion of camera flashes went off in her face.

“When’s the big day?”

David wagged his finger. “Like we’d tell you. We’ll send you an invitation when it’s all over!”

The assembled mob laughed, and David and Charlotte posed for a few more pictures. Charlotte even allowed herself to bask a bit in the attention, smiling and cracking a few jokes. This premiere had necessitated another shopping trip, but this time around Charlotte couldn’t wait to treat herself to a glamorous dress and a trip to the day spa. She had to chuckle over how much she’d changed in just a few short months. David guided her inside where William was waiting with the flavor of the month, a redhead with alabaster skin, cherry-red lips, and orbs of green glass for eyes. William swallowed his martini, kissed Charlotte, and slapped David on the back.

“Hey, kids, this is Ivanka. Ivanka, David King and his fiancée, Charlotte Taylor.”

Ivanka gave them a bored, sullen nod as she picked up her just-arrived martini. “Yes, congratulations,” she drawled in a thick Russian accent before rolling her eyes and finishing the martini in two gulps and signaling the bartender for another. Charlotte and David stole a glance at each other, trying to bottle their laughter.

“My friends, the jungle drums are telling me the critics are in love and the test screenings are through the roof. We should open the weekend number one when this comes out next week and will probably stay there.”

“Well then, I should thank you for moving the script to the top of the pile.”

William winked. “I’ve been tellin’ you for years to stick with me, I’ll never steer you wrong.” He turned his attention to Charlotte. “What about you? You ready for the big day?”

“
Shhh
! Someone might hear you,” Charlotte joked.