AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I thought I might die of mortification when Darci’s higher voice alerted Charlie to our presence. He whipped around, hair following in a silky arc over his shoulders. He wore only a tight white undershirt that barely reached the low waistband of his jeans, and I caught a flash of pale bare skin over one of his hips as he turned. He had old battered sheepskin slippers on his feet, and part of me melted at the realization he felt completely at home in my grandparents’ kitchen.
Charlie took in Darci’s tall frame. She was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt but had grabbed one of my new fleece hoodies for the walk from the cabin to the farmhouse. Charlie’s eyes took in the familiar Fig and Bramble logo and widened a bit before shifting to me. I thought I detected disappointment or hurt in his gaze, but I wondered if that was some kind of sick wishful thinking on my part. And if so, what kind of selfish idiot wished jealousy on someone? I was an ass.
“Uh, hi,” I said, as if we hadn’t spent ten hours together already that day.
“Cheers,” he muttered before putting the spoon down on the counter and wiping his hands on his thighs. He reached out a hand to Darci and flashed the fakest smile I’d ever seen. “Charlie Murray, pleased to meet you.”
Darci was all smiles and charm as usual. “Darci Ames. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Charlie’s quick glance at me betrayed his confusion.
I cleared my throat. “I told her what a great job you’ve been doing at the pub.”
He pursed his lips together and nodded. “Yes. The pub. Hopefully your father will be happy,” he said to her.
His emphasis on the term “your” brought my head up. Was his own father aware of what was happening with Fig and Bramble’s franchise agreement with Ames? Was he upset about it? And why hadn’t I thought to ask Charlie about it before now?
Because you avoid personal conversations with him like the plague.
Darci continued to gush about how exciting it was to have an Irish pub opening in Hobie. I knew she was trying to be her usual friendly self, but I also knew her chipper chattiness was the last thing Charlie wanted to listen to right now.
“Would you like a drink?” I asked her.
“Sure. Wine if there’s some open.” She smiled at me before moving over to give Grandpa and Doc hugs hello.
I made my way to the fridge, not realizing until I got there I hadn’t offered Charlie anything. I turned back to him. “Sorry, would you like something?”
“Yep, but I’m quite sure you don’t have it to give,” he said softly with a wink before turning back around and busying himself with Doc’s little dog Sweets.
As his words sunk in, my heart dropped. He’d said it with a teasing voice, but the lightness hadn’t reached his eyes. He was clearly disappointed in me, and who could blame him? I was acting like the freaked-out straight guy he’d probably pegged me as.
I poured a glass of white wine before grabbing a beer for myself. After handing over the wine to Darci, I took a seat around the large wooden table in the center of the large kitchen and living room area. Darci propped her hip on the table next to me but angled herself toward Charlie, who stood at the kitchen counter picking his way through a bowl of mixed nuts.
“So, Charlie, my dad has told me how charming your family holdings are in Ireland. What was it like growing up in a historic pub?”
I closed my eyes for a second, knowing how he’d take her inquiry.
He scraped his lip with his teeth before answering. “Well, I didn’t know any different, did I? It was good and bad, I suppose. Boring for a little tyke living on the cliffs, but more exciting when I was old enough to nick a pint behind my dad’s back.”
Darci smiled. I knew she was genuinely interested in him and his family’s business, but I also knew her Southern manners would come off as condescending to someone like Charlie.
“Are your parents missing you? You have a sister too, I believe.”
Charlie’s eyes flicked to mine before looking back at Darci with the same fake smile from before. “My parents aren’t there. My mom took off when I was younger to pursue her career in the city. My dad recently met someone and moved with her to Brazil. That left my uncle in charge. My sister, Cait, and I help out where we can.”
Darci opened her mouth to ask more questions, but I cut her off in a desperate attempt to save her from igniting the Irish temper in the room.
“How did your date with Stevie go?” I blurted.
You could have heard a pin drop. My grandfathers gawped at me, Darci turned to me with a questioning eyebrow, and Charlie’s eyes widened.
