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I pointed her toward a chair. “Come and sit down, let’s talk about the concert. Today isn’t about me, it’s about you, and your dream of having a concert here.”
“It doesn’t sound like you’re going to agree though, so what’s the point?” Charlie grumbled, adorably clueless to the fact that she could ask me for a kidney, and I’d be headed over to the hospital before she could finish speaking.
“Let’s not jump the gun. I told you it would be considered, with the right incentive. Have you been thinking up enticing offers?”
She rolled her eyes and watched Alfred come in with the coffee. He poured it, and Charlie subtly helped him, holding up the cups, and wiping the drips, all with a sweet smile. She was an angel fallen to the earth, nothing could convince me otherwise.
“What about calling the concert after you? Or having the local radio station do a special on your latest album?” Charlie suggested, making me chuckle.
“I don’t need more publicity, believe me. What else have you got?”
“What about naming a street after you in town?” she suggested.
I shook my head. “You’re barking up the wrong tree. I’m not interested in any of that.”
“Then what are you interested in?” she demanded, losing her cool.
“You.”
My simple, short answer stole her breath, and she blinked at me, stunned by my response.
“I’m interested in spending more time with you. Not just organizing the concert, that’s an extra.”
“I’m back to not understanding again,” Charlie admitted.
“Really? Do you not understand, or you don’t want to… I want three dates with you. Three dates and you can have the concert here, hell, I’ll even perform in it if you want.”
Charlie’s eyes widened, and I could see her ticking through the positives and negatives of my proposition. “Three dates doing what?”
“You can decide the first one… I’ll decide the second… the 3rdwill take care of itself.”
She was so close, I wanted to reach out and touch her silky hair, but she had the energy of someone about to bolt, and I needed to lock down my scandalous agreement first.
She swallowed hard, her slender throat moving with the force of it. “Do you think it’s a nice thing to do? Offer this beautiful house for the concert, only if you twist my arm into spending time with you? Are you making fun of me again?” Her soft question twisted something painfully inside me.
“No, of course not. I never made fun of you in the first place. I want to get to know you better. You, Charlie Winter. The woman who didn’t care who I was. Is that so hard to imagine?”
Charlie let out a long sigh. “Yeah, I don’t care if you’re famous or rich, I only date people I like and not because they forced me to.”
Those words only twisted that knife in my heart harder, but I forced a nonchalant grin to my lips. “Ouch, if you hate me, just think, you’re still getting your concert out of me, and I promise to be the perfect gentleman. Besides, maybe you’ll like me once you get to know me?” I was aiming for a casual tone, but it came out commanding
Charlie’s brittleness seemed to melt, and she rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t count on it, but it’s too good an offer to pass up. You have a deal, let’s shake on it.” She stuck her hand out, and I enclosed it in mine. It was like putting my finger in a socket, for the way the electricity of her touch lit me up. Energy thrummed through our joined hands, and I wanted nothing more than to tug her into me, kiss her soundly and make her take back her casually cutting words, and admit that this was nothing ordinary. However, in the very brief time I’d known this woman, it was clear that she was far from conventional, and I had no idea how to play to make sure I got what I wanted. So, instead, I shook her hand solemnly.
“The concert at Ivy House in exchange for three dates,” I intoned seriously.
“And a guest performance by you,” she reminded me. I nodded, grinning at her mercenary business savvy.
“And seeing as you’re a millionaire, it only seems fair you should front the costs of the concert, since as its being held here, for free,” she added and raised an eyebrow at me. The little minx. Sure, it was charity, and a good cause, even if I didn’t have good memories of Sunshine Home, and I could more than afford it.
My hand still holding hers, I leaned in, deciding to be wicked one more time. “If you’re going to push the terms then I want something else too.”
“What?”
“One kiss per date” The words left my mouth before I could stop them. I waited to see her reaction to my indecent request and yes, it was indecent. I was sure if her protective older brother heard those terms, he’d punch me square on the nose and I’d deserve it. “It can be as little or as big as you want it to be. Kiss me on the cheek, if you want.” I added, so as not to seem like a total monster. The truth was, there was hardly any rule I wouldn’t break to touch Charlie. Her breathing was high, her eyes wide, and her gaze strayed to my lips. A flush worked up her neck, and her eyes shied away. I knew it. She felt the same attraction I did. The same heat had plagued her as it had me since we met. I was just daring her to indulge in it. I waited to see if my little minx would agree.
“Fine. Three kisses, three dates, in exchange for all the concert, costs and performance obligations,” Charlie said primly, her chaste expression at war with the heat in her eyes.
“You have a deal, sugar,” I said, shaking her hand, her pulse thundering under my fingertips, racing almost as quickly as mine.
