Page 28 of Take Two

“I have no manners when I see you, Ms. Violet,” he says with a much thicker accent. “I do declare that pussy is like liquid gold.”

Chapter 15

Charlie

Lettie: My boyfriend stays undefeated.

Right above her text is the empty container that held the parfait I left in her fridge this morning. That was our first text today. Thefirst of many.

I’ve seen her every day since Sunday. That Monday morning, after she came out of the shower and found me in her kitchen preparing breakfast, I finally kissed her senseless. She melted into my arms and I felt her body against mine.

I’ve kissed her every day and every night since. If we’re not together, we’re texting or talking on the phone. Every day, Colt and Vickie try to get me to give them more details about her, but Vickie is satisfied knowing that she will meet her in another week. Colt still doesn’t believe she’s real, and there’s a part of me that thinks he doesn’t want her to exist.

What Colt and Vickie don’t know is that my girlfriend is under their roof right now. She’s giving Vickie her Friday evening personal training session. She’s been here for almost an hour, and I know the session is due to end soon.

When she came in, our eyes locked, but I think we both did a good job of acting cool. I couldn’t touch her like I wanted, but I got to watch her walk down the hall in a one-piece outfit with a cutout back.

“Uncle Charlie,” Evan says as he runs into the kitchen. Johnny is in the living room with a friend of his. It’s the little girl I saw in the park two weeks ago, and she’s the daughter of one of Colt’s teammates. They live in the building and she’s best friends with Johnny. They’re both sitting on Colt, who is lying on the couch. “I’m hungry. Mom says you’re making dinner.”

“Yeah, because your dad can’t boil water,” I say as I look at my brother, who is now holding Jasmine over him and making airplane sounds.

“I can hear you,” he yells.

“I don’t care,” I yell back.

I busy Evan with helping me set the table. I have my back turned and I'm pulling a dish out of the oven when I hear footsteps and soft feminine voices.

“I convinced Violet to join us for dinner,” Vickie announces. I almost drop the dish when I hear those words, but I manage to pull myself together.

“I really don’t want to impose,” I hear Violet say.

“No imposition at all,” Vickie says.

I turn to Violet, whose eyes are now lit up with mischief. She now has a white shirt covering her bodysuit. Her hair is in two French braids, and I realize that I like that look on her. If the circumstances were different, I’d kiss her while pulling on one of her braids.

“No!” Johnny says from the living room, and Violet giggles.

“He’s going to have to learn to love me one day,” she says. “Yes!” she says back to Johnny. She turns to me and says, “Can I help with anything? Dinner smells great.” She grins at me when she says it.

“He’s a great cook,” Vickie says. She gestures for Violet to sit at the kitchen island and gets her a bottled water. “Give me about ten minutes.” She kisses Evan’s cheek and goes to the back of the house, probably to shower and change.

Colt finally leaves the couch with one child in each arm and joins us in the kitchen. Instead of having the kids sit at the big table with us, he sets the kids' table for them. I can only imagine the mess Jasmine and Johnny are going to leave once dinner is over.

“Your name is Charlie, right?” Violet teases. She called my name twice last night and once this morning. I’m positive she knows it.

“Right,” I tell her, elongating the word. “I hope you like swordfish.” I know she does. I know everything she likes. “I made chicken for the kids if you prefer that,” I throw in.

“Nothing you’ve mentioned so far will activate my gag reflex,” she says while looking at me directly in the eye. She goes so far as to run her hand along the length of her neck.

I tilt my head to the side and do my best to hide my grin.

“I’d prefer if you don’t gag at the table,” I say. “At least not this one,” I whisper.

“I’ll try and stop myself, but from the smell of your dinner, you seem to be a man of many talents,” she practically purrs. She bites her bottom lip while she lowers her eyes and looks at my mouth. I know she’s not counting my cooking skills as one of my talents. She’s probably thinking of when I have my head between her legs or when I’m giving her the slow, deep strokes that make her moan loud enough to let her entire building know what we’re doing.

“I try my best,” I say with a wink.

When Vickie comes back freshly showered, she goes to the kids' table where my brother takes her into his arms and gives her a kiss far too indecent for a family dinner.

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