“Oh good. You had me worried for a sec.” Harper tried for a casual smile but wasn’t sure she succeeded. “In that case, can I get you another?”
The woman pursed her lips again as she tilted her head side to side. “Yeah, why not?”
Charlie leaned back on the stool and watched the bartender, whose name she’d missed but who was far too attractive to be safe. The woman spun a bottle of gin in her palm before making a showy pour into a cocktail shaker as she spoke to a guy farther down the bar. For a moment, that distracted Charlie from the reason she’d come into the bar in the first place. Was she really thinking of living, for any length of time, in Key West, of all places?
She clearly was since she’d impulsively signed up for yoga teacher training, placing a hefty deposit on it, barely more than an hour ago. It wasn’t like shecouldn’tafford to throw the money away, but just before she’d signed up, she’d also vowed to live more simply rather than as though she never had to work another day in her life.
And it wasn’t like she had anything to go back to in New York. She sighed, indecision permeating her breath, but the clink of a glass being placed in front of her caught her attention. “Thanks,” she said, trying to ignore the ornery smile flashed her way again.
“Let me know if you need anything else, okay? In case you forgot, my name is Harper.” That cheeky smile grew bigger, and Charlie was torn about what she wanted to do. She’d come into the bar looking for something, but did she really want to be this close to such an attractive and flirty bartender?
As Harper turned, Charlie squeezed her hand into a fist and took the plunge. “Hey, Harper, do you know who the owner here is?”
“You’re looking at her. What can I do for you?”
“Oh, great.” Charlie wasn’t surprised. Harper seemed bathed in boss energy. She reached into her bag of dirty yoga clothesand pulled out a PennySaver paper. “I saw in here that you might have an apartment for rent?”
Harper’s brows went up before furrowing, creating a tiny wrinkle. “You’re looking for someplace to live?”
“For now, yeah.” Charlie shrugged, not sure what else to say. She didn’t want to get into her story.
Harper looked uncomfortable as she swallowed hard and stared at the bar. “Well, I’m looking for at least a twelve-month lease. Are you open to that long of a term?”
Charlie didn’t know what her plans were, but she wanted to find someplace, and this seemed as good as any. And if she needed to, she could buy herself out of the lease. “Yeah, that’s not a problem. I’m looking to move here for the foreseeable future, and I’ll guarantee you a year.”
Harper cleared her throat. “I don’t know how to ask this, but do you have a job?”
Charlie couldn’t stop her laugh. “Not exactly, but I promise, I can pay the rent. I, uh, got a generous severance package from my previous employer.” Thatwastrue, though not the whole truth, but the specifics really didn’t matter here.
Harper finally made the eye contact Charlie didn’t realize she’d been missing, and her chest warmed. “You don’t even know what the rent is.”
“Okay, how much is it?” Charlie tried hard to suppress her laugh when Harper told her. “Despite these tacky clothes, I can pay.”
Harper stared, looking a lot less relaxed. “No offense, but I can’t afford to accept a promise. I’m running a business, and that apartment upstairs is part of it. No proof of income, no lease.” Harper’s eyes flicked to her wrist, and Charlie was confident that Harper knew she wasn’t as poor as she looked in the tacky tourist clothes.
Part of her wished she’d remembered not to flash herridiculous watch around. She wanted a clean break from her past, but she also wouldn’t have expected anyone to recognize that it was a real Rolex. “How about we go take a look at it? If it works for me, I’ll take it right away and will pay a six-month security deposit. I’ll still pay every month, and if I stop, I’m sure you could evict me in less than six months, so you’ll be made whole if I’m lying, which I don’t thinkyouthink I am.”
Charlie really didn’t want to give a six-month security deposit because it went against some of her earlier resolutions, but if Harper ran her credit, she wouldn’t be able to fly under the radar as she’d been planning. She crossed her fingers under the bar and hoped for the best.
Harper sighed. “I guess that’ll work.”
Hours later, as she sat on her hotel balcony, Charlie still wasn’t sure what to make of Harper’s change in demeanor from happy bartender to reluctant landlord. Hopefully, the uptight side would disappear once Charlie moved in. Regardless, she was happy that she was going to move out of this ridiculously opulent hotel in a few days once her certified check from her bank arrived.
Chapter Four
Charlie needed to figure out what to do with her car. Parking was often difficult to come by, and the ad for Harper’s apartment specifically said it didn’t provide any. She didn’t want to sell it and be completely without a car. She knew she’d need it again eventually, even though Key West was small enough that she didn’t need to drive regularly. At some point, she was going to visit her parents. She was certain of it. Well, almost certain.
She tipped her balcony chair back on two legs when she caught herself sighing as Harper popped into her thoughts. Her easy flirting had felt good, but Charlie hadn’t been able to summon the energy to flirt back. And Charlie was sure Harper’s flirting was just something she did naturally to everyone who came into the bar. Regardless, she needed simplicity, not complications. Which was also why flirting was a no-go, even if Harper was beautiful and a little charming. Especially since she was the owner. And even more so given how Harper had clammed up when Charlie had asked about the apartment. Which was weird because if she didn’t want to rent the place, why had she listed it?
Regardless, she and Harper had come to terms, so she needed to figure out what to do with her damn car. She slipped into an old habit and, using the cordless phone from the room she’d brought out earlier, called her former assistant, Ashley. That was about the only number she had memorized, other than her parents’ and one or two others from her way distant, nearly prehistoric past. Weird how things like that stuck sometimes.
“This is Ashley,” her bubbly voice said after the second ring. Only she could sound that bouncy after they’d both been so mercilessly fired.
“Hey, Ash, it’s Charlotte.”
“I was wondering when I’d hear from you. I knew you wouldn’t forget me.”
It had only been two days, but Charlotte really should have reached out before now. She’d taken good care of Ashley financially, but Ash hadn’t made nearly as much as Charlie had. “I could never forget you. I’m sorry it took me a couple of days to check in. I’ve been…I don’t know…” She caught herself before she confessed how she’d been running and hiding like a scared child. “How are you doing? You’re okay, right?”
