Page 11 of Of Course, Cutie

She replied with a photo of my jacket next to a newspaper. Don’t ask for a phone call, or you risk never seeing it again.

Then she sent another. Also, why the hell do you still get a physical newspaper? There are apps for that, Burke. I had to dig around in my mom’s stack of papers to find this one.

I laughed out loud at her message and then spent way too long trying to figure out where my jacket was in the photo. It sure as hell wasn’t in the front seat of her car. Was it in her bed? My cock stiffened when I pictured Charlie all wrapped up in my jacket in bed. You are an asshole, Burke. She’s nineteen.

But I couldn’t help being attracted to her. Charlie was something special.

???

Monday afternoon, I brought Charlie’s notebook to the bar. I could have handed it to her brother, but I wanted an excuse to talk to her. I wanted to see her smile and her stunning blue eyes. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about them.

When she walked into the bar at 2:09 pm, the world stopped. Damn, she was beautiful. Charlie hugged her brother, who stood talking to Mason near the front door, then made her way to me. She had my jacket folded in her arms, and her smile made my heart race.

“Hey.” Charlie smiled at me. “How’s Tess?”

“Much better. Her fever was gone by Saturday night. I hope you didn’t catch anything from her.”

“I’ll be fine. I have an incredible immune system.”

“Good.” I rubbed my beard and gazed into her gorgeous eyes. “I see you have my jacket.”

Charlie nodded and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t see the notebook. Is this situation turning hostile?”

I smirked at her and pulled the notebook out from under the bar. “Right here, cutie.”

“Okay, I’ll put the jacket on the bar and back away. You put the notebook next to it, and we’ll make the exchange on the count of three.”

“I accept those terms.”

Charlie placed my jacket on the bar and took three steps backward, eyes never leaving mine. I set her notebook beside it and said, “On the count of three. One…”

“Two…”

“Three.”

We each grabbed our belongings, and then Charlie’s smile lit up her face. “Thanks. You didn’t open it, right?”

“Of course not. You can trust me.”

Her smile grew. “I know.”

“How do you know that, cutie?”

“You can tell from the eyes.”

I laughed out loud. “You can tell from my eyes?”

“Yeah. The eyes are the window to the soul, Burke.” Charlie laughed and shook her head, causing her pretty light brown hair to ripple around her shoulders. I had the sudden urge to run my fingers through it.

I pointed to the notebook she had clutched to her chest. “So what’s in there that you don’t want me to read? Is it like a diary or something?”

Charlie blinked at me like I was stupid. “I would never do something so pedestrian.” She slid the notebook into her backpack and ran her hands through her hair, just like I wanted to do.

I grinned at her. “Of course you wouldn’t, cutie.”

“It’s full of life observations, and yes, that’s different than a diary.” Charlie’s phone rang, and she pulled it from her back pocket. “Sorry.” She smiled and then turned away from me, leaning her back against the bar to answer her call. That did nothing to help my situation. Now her pretty hair was splayed across the shiny black marble in front of me, creating an even more tempting display.

“Hey, Mattie-boy!” Charlie laughed and then gasped. “He did? Shut up! I told you, you little spaz! He likes you.” She turned back around to face me, eyes cast downward. I took that moment to study every curve and angle of her face. When her eyes flashed back up to meet mine, I looked away and busied myself with wiping down the glasses that were fresh out of the dishwasher. “Okay. I’ll come and pick you up from work, boo. See you in twenty. Love you.”