Wilde Magic (Wilde Women Book 3) (42 page)

Brynn leaving Charlie in charge at Wilde House was something of a joke. Jonas and his crew were a well-managed team thanks to Jax so all she really had to do was get the hell out of their way each day. And the bakery? Yeah, whatever. Amy was so damn efficient and on top of every little thing that there was quite literally, nothing for Charlie to do.

So here she sat. Playing with her crystals in the big house while much to her ever-loving chagrin, Ty moved into the studio loft.

Jeez-Louise
, she shook her head and rolled her eyes for the thousandth time. And then she went back to observing the driveway activity.

He was bent over, reaching into the back of the SUV, leaving Charlie to stare at his ass. Grinding her jaw she couldn’t help but sigh. The suave devil she knew in Rome had transformed into … what? She struggled to put in words the changes she saw in him.

Instead of Italian leather shoes, he sported work boots. The tailored slacks were gone, too. Replaced by jeans that fit him so well she was sure they were illegal. The soft cashmere sweaters, button down shirt and sexy vests? Also gone. From out of nowhere he had a wardrobe of flannel shirts and long-sleeved tees that clung to his muscled body like a second skin.

Oh. And the leather jacket? Come on. That was so unfair. How the hell was she supposed to keep her cool and ignore his ass when right before her eyes he was morphing into her version of a modern Prince Charming? What made it all worse? He wasn’t shaving or concerned about his hair.

That’s right
, she scolded her laughing inner voice.
I’m a friggin’ voyeur now.

She watched with the crystal clutched to her chest. A huge black bag got tossed on the snow-cleared driveway, followed by two smaller ones. Slamming the back lift gate shut, he went around to the side of the car she couldn’t see and opened a door. When he walked back to the stack of bags, he had another bag that he slung across his chest by a long strap.

In that paltry second, before he picked up his bags as he bent over to get them, he looked up. Straight at the window where she sat.
Crap
. She was practically pressed against it and licking the glass.

Charlie froze. So did he. And then his expression shuttered and he went back to dragging his stuff into the garage.

Dismissed.

Or was his reaction something else?

She knew perfectly well he was furious with her for the kamikaze blowjob mission. Having taken extraordinary steps to ensure that they were never even remotely close to being alone together after that didn’t mean she was unaware of the expression on his face whenever she was around. Charlie didn’t know a jaw could take such abuse, ‘cause his was constantly clenched tight.

And he scowled. She didn’t care for the scowl, I mean after all—what the fuck did he have to be mad about? She wasn’t the one caught being a lying cheating bastard. That was all on him.

Carefully putting the crystal down on the windowsill next to the other one, she turned from the window and slid off the bench seat. Could this be any more messed up? She thought.

When she came home, determined to put Ty and their Roman affair firmly in the past, the last thing she expected was to find herself living just a couple of yards from him.

Making matters worse, dammit if Nana wasn’t acting like Ty, or Caleb as everyone else called him, was her best friend. Next to Jax. Nobody quite shone as much as he did in her grandmother’s opinion.

When she discovered Ty was taking up residence in the studio, she bitched him out for it right to his face. His reply? He didn’t care what she thought. He was doing a nice old lady a proper and if she didn’t like it, he had a hat she could shit in.

At least one Merrill brother almost died at that moment. She was so mad, it was a wonder her anger hadn’t melted him like dollar store wax.

Since then, she’d kept her distance. From everybody. Jonas made a point to speak to her every day. He was a nice guy. Pleasant enough. And closer to her age than that snarling asshole setting up camp in the garage.

He tried to flirt with her but she shut him down pretty quick. Had to, and not just because he was a good guy. He could parade around naked wearing nothing but work boots and a tool belt and she wouldn’t care.

Enough was enough, though. This hiding away in the bedroom was plain silly. Maybe she’d pull on some boots and wander down to the bakery. Grab a muffin or something. Charlie knew she wasn’t needed down there. Amy would text or call if something was up.

Text or call. That’s right folks. Over her belligerent objections, the newly married couple confiscated her ancient cell phone after Rhi declared it a relic from the dark ages. Forcing a brand new iPhone on her, she endured being walked through all the bells and whistles and even on on-line tutorial. Seriously. It was a phone. Not a jet airplane. What was the big deal?

She discovered pretty quickly what an annoying big deal it was when Brynn gleefully entered Ty’s contact info along with an admonishment to call on him for anything. Anything at all.

“I really don’t understand why you two didn’t hit it off,” her sister muttered as Jax stared a hole through Charlie. It was a wildly disconcerting moment. Her brother-in-law studying her like a bug under a microscope and Brynn blathering on and on about what a great guy Caleb is. She must have shown off the necklace he gifted her a dozen times.

The necklace was nearly a deal breaker for Charlie after Brynn,
and Jax
, went into excruciating detail about the egg charm, the turquoise stone and what it all meant. Praising Caleb’s enlightened outlook was Brynn’s new obsession. The irony of it all was far from lost on her.

Adjusting the thermostat on the wall, Cal knocked the temp back a few degrees. It was cold, that’s for sure, but he didn’t want to roast.

It was easy to like the converted garage. Whoever did the actual renovation did a damn good job. It wasn’t his brother. He knew that at first glance. Jax had a flair for redesign he didn’t see in the final layout. But the space was well thought out and functional. Staying here was going to be easy. As long as there was at least half a kitchen, a decent shower and a place to crash—he was good.

Going to the galley kitchen, he yanked open the full-size refrigerator and immediately arched an eyebrow. For lack of a better way to put it, the frig was full of chick food. Yogurt, hummus, bottles of coconut water, stacked containers filled with cut veggies and about six different kinds of salad dressing. He found two cans of whipped cream, a baggie filled with wrapped chocolates, a jar of homemade jam with a Baron’s Tea Room label and fat-free half-and-half.

Fat-free. Definitely a chick.

There were also two bottles of Pinot and another of Moscato. Cal’s eyes swung to the condiments on the door shelves. Right in the middle were two opened jars of Trader Joe’s olives. The big ones. His hand went to the freezer door and hesitated. He wasn’t sure why he was nervous. It was a combination of things, really.

Cracking open the freezer door, he peeked inside and scanned the contents. Two containers of ice cream were the first things he saw. And then, there it was. A bottle of Grey Goose vodka.

His throat immediately shut. He tried swallowing to lessen the tension. In slow motion, he shut the freezer and turned around. Frightened by how much he needed to see one more thing, Cal’s eyes searched the room. Tucked out-of-the-way in a space beneath the stairs to the loft, was a bar cart. The usual stuff cluttered the top tray. An ice bucket. A shaker. Bunch of wine glasses. But there, on the bottom shelf—next to some Kahlua was the distinctive green bottle of his favorite Vermouth. Noilly Prat. No way was the classic French Vermouth easy to get out here in the boonies. ‘tessa had to make a real effort.

Either the universe rippled or his vision went momentarily wonky.

Shaking himself—he had no idea how long he’d been frozen in the same spot—Cal struggled with what it all meant. Thoughts ticked off one-by-one. The best he came up with offered a hopeful opening. Maybe she wasn’t as closed off to him as she appeared. Had to be a good thing, right?

Then what the fuck was all that stubborn dominance about the other night? It didn’t matter what the outcome was, she’d been an angry bitch and made sure he got that part of the act. In retrospect, he concluded that’s exactly what she’d been doing. Acting. All that big, bad ‘You will come in my mouth’ bluster wasn’t her at all.

When he saw her blissed out and moaning on his cock—that was the woman behind the act.

God dammit. She had him so tied up in knots he could barely walk.

Having a sudden urge for a lungful of frosty air, he went to the door and pulled it open at the exact second ‘tessa’s shadow moved in his field of vision. She was moving slowly along the path leading to the back of the bakery. Tempted to follow, Cal hemmed and hawed until she slid from sight. He didn’t trust himself at the moment. Not with her when they’d be around other people.

This predicament called for some finesse. ‘tessa was a beautiful, sexy high-end sports car not a demolition derby junker. She required special handling and needed a wide berth to allow for spontaneous maneuvering. Running after her was a desperation move—one she’d use to kick him in the teeth.

No. What he needed was an actual plan. And that plan had to begin with a face-to-face conversation. Until that happened, he was pissing in the wind.

“A
RE YOU SERIOUS? FOR REAL?
What does that mean exactly?” Charlie wiped some crumbs off her black sweater and pushed the last morsel of a to-die-for cinnamon crumb muffin into her mouth.

Amy, Brynn’s intrepid right hand was calmly stowing baskets of goodies into a glass display case. She chuckled at Charlie’s distress. “It’s just snow. But this storm is going to hang on. That’s why I’m warning you. Be prepared to be snowed in for a day. Maybe two. They take their time plowing the main roads but the guy we use to do the parking lot and driveway up to the house is pretty good about showing up once the white stuff stops falling.”

Charlie laughed. “Yeah. I’m going to murder Brynn for getting married in the dead of winter. Soon as I saw the shovels up at the house, I knew I was doomed.”

“There’s a snow blower in the shed but unless you know what you’re doing I wouldn’t suggest trying to use it.”

“What about you, Amy? And this,” she waved a hand around. “The business. Do you try to open in bad weather?”

“No. People around here know the drill. The convenience store at the Lucky Mart will stay open and the diner at the crossroads. They’re the only twenty-four businesses out here. The locals will be cool for a day and when the roads are snow covered there’s little chance of tourists.”

“Well, hell. That’s a relief.”

“The kids’ll be furious that they’re missing out on a snow day! It’s winter break and they’re not in school anyway.”

“Aw, man. That sucks,” Charlie giggled. “I remember snow days! Best part of living here.”

“Word,” Amy sniggered.

“Well, I better get into town then and grab some supplies. I’m over all the wedding leftovers, y’know?”

“Brynn keeps the chest freezer stocked. Long as we don’t lose power, you’re good. I’d have Cal move a pile of logs onto the porch, though. Jax fixed the chimney and fireplace and it’s good to go. We drag the kids into the living room and have a snow camp out in front of ours when a big one hits. Brynn showed me how to load a crockpot full of hot chocolate and keep it topped off. Best mom-hack ever!”