Page 5 of Tempting Fate

Beau

It takesme a couple of hours to get the floodlights installed around her building. When I come in to tell her I’m finished, she’s standing in the back with bags of sandwiches and chips. She looks up when she hears me walk in the room, then goes back to what she’s doing. “I get lunch for everyone on Saturdays so they don’t have to leave for a lunch break if they don’t want to. This way we work and take breaks when we can. Here, I got you this.” She hands me a sandwich and a bottle of water.

“What is this?” I ask her as I take them from her.

She shrugs her shoulders and smiles easily. “It’s an ultimate twelve inch sub. I thought you might be hungry after you were finished. I also wanted to say thank you for doing this for me.”

“Darlin’, this was as much for your safety as it was for my sanity, but thank you for lunch, I’m starved. Do you have time to sit and eat with me?”

She looks back out at the salon and I follow her gaze. The place is still packed with people waiting to get their hair done. “I can see that you’re busy.”

“Sorry Beau, like I said last night, Saturdays are my busiest day of the week.”

“No worries. What time will I see you tonight?”

“You’re not keen on asking women if they want to go out with you, are you? Do you just tell them when and where and they listen?”

“There haven’t been any women in my life, besides my momma, for a very long time. Let’s just say I’m a little rusty.”

Her lips twitch with a smile. “I’ll get out of here around six tonight. Turns out Hannah was able to make it in.”

I push an escaped curl behind her ear. “Then I’ll be here at five forty-five.”

“Why don’t I just meet you somewhere in town? I’ll still need to shower and change after my shift.”

“Call it me being old fashioned, but would it be too forward of me to follow you back to your place, that way I can drive us to dinner?”

She thinks for a moment. “Yes.”

“Yes, it’s too forward, or yes I can follow you home?”

She laughs. “Both, but I’ll let it slide. Seeing as how my uncle is your boss, I feel confident that you won’t do anything that might get you fired.”

I hold my hands up in the air, palms facing her. “You’re safe with me Charlotte. I won’t let anything happen to you and I swear I won’t put you in a position you don’t want to be in.”

“You’re a good guy Beau, I can see that. To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve been out on a date with anyone.” The bell chimes above the door stealing my woman’s attention from me. After seeing another customer step into her salon, Charlotte looks back to me, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. “Shit, Beau I need to get back out there. See you around six?”

I hold my sandwich and water up. “Thank you for lunch. I’ll take these to go and see you here before six.”

“Sounds good,” she says looking relieved.

I go out the back door, not wanting to draw any more attention than I already have and get back into my truck. When I get home and walk in the door Thor is laying on his back staring at me.

“I brought lunch.” I say holding up the sandwich. He immediately rolls to his side before jumping off the couch and following me to the kitchen, tail wagging back and forth. I open the sandwich to find it’s already cut into two pieces and packed with meat, cheese, and veggies. “She’s a keeper Thor. Not only is she beautiful, funny, and sweet, but she can order a sandwich big enough to fill me up.”

Thor sits still, looking up at me with his big brown eyes, waiting patiently for me to give him a bite. I cut one of the halves in half and hand it to Thor who practically swallows it whole. I laugh and do the same with mine. Damn that was a good sandwich. You can’t beat subs from the town’s deli. They’ve been open since I was a kid. We would stop there to pick up sandwiches before heading out for a day on the lake in my dad’s boat.

I spend the next couple of hours painting my spare room. I had picked out a soft blue because I figured it was a neutral color for anyone who stayed over, but now my mind is working in overdrive. I can already picture a dark stained crib against one wall with a rocking chair to match in the corner. Charlotte would bust my balls about the color of the room and make me paint it another color. The room is across from the master and would be perfect for a nursery. The longer I think about it, the more I start to imagine my life with Charlotte and how perfect she fits. I only know the few things my captain has mentioned about her, but after meeting Charlotte and getting a taste of her sweet lips, I’m addicted. I know with every fiber of my being that she’s the woman I’m meant to be with for the rest of my life. Now all I need to do is make her believe it too.

* * *

I haven’t beenable to keep my eyes off Charlotte all night. She’s so fucking beautiful with her curly hair hanging loosely down her back and just a hint of make up on her beautiful face. It’s refreshing to see a woman who doesn’t feel the need to spend hours getting ready to go out. She’s wearing a jean skirt over her plump ass and a black blouse showing more cleavage than I’d like for anyone else but me to see. The moment she walked out of her bedroom, my breath caught in my chest. Since then she’s had me caught in her spell.

“Why do you keep staring at me? I feel like there’s something on my face.” Charlotte says and wipes at her mouth.

Grabbing her hand away from her face, I hold it on the table and continue to stare. “You’re flawless, don’t worry.” I laugh. “I’ve never seen a more beautiful woman Charlotte. I never knew what my ideal woman was, but now I know.” I tell her sincerely, but she rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

“You don’t have to pour on the charm Beau, you’ve already got me out on a date.”

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