Page 27 of My Bestie's Billionaire Brother

“Sooo…Charlie...He’s quite the catch. And you two have known each other for years. Has there ever been anything romantic between you in the past?” Ariel inquires, glancing quickly over at Charlie.

“No. I mean, I’ve always found him attractive. Look at the man…” I say glancing in his direction. We both look over at Charlie who’s chatting with a couple and their young daughter. “But, of course, he’s Jane’s brother and she and I have been best friends since middle school.”

“He is gorgeous. I shouldn’t say that since he’s my boss, but it’s true,” Ariel looks at me wide-eyed and giggles. “He’s also a really good guy, too. Working for him this past year, I’ve been super impressed with how he treats people. He’s a great boss and he treats his baristas just as well as he treats his top-level management.”

I smile at her, liking what I’m hearing.

"Like this one guy, Matthew," Ariel leans in, lowering her voice slightly. "He was one of our baristas downtown, working full time while taking engineering classes at UW. Super smart, always on time, customers loved him."

"What happened?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"He caught some nasty bug last year—ended up in the hospital for almost two weeks. The poor guy had no health insurance and was living paycheck to paycheck. When he missed work, he couldn't make rent." Ariel's expression grows serious.

I glance over at Charlie, who's now crouched down to eye level with the little girl, listening intently to whatever story she's telling him.

"Charlie got wind of the situation somehow," Ariel continues. "He didn't make a big show of it or anything. He just quietly paid Matthew's rent—for three months forward, actually—and covered all his hospital bills. Even arranged for meal deliveries until he was back on his feet."

"Wow," I breathe, warmth spreading through my chest. "Did Matthew know it was him?"

"Charlie tried to keep it anonymous, but Matthew figured it out. When he came back to work, he tried to set up a payment plan to pay Charlie back." Ariel smiles, shaking her head. "Charlie refused. Just said something like, 'Good people deserve good things' and asked Matthew to focus on getting better.”

"He promoted Matthew to assistant manager after he recovered," Ariel adds, her eyes bright. "Said his organizational skills were too good to waste on just making lattes."

Something shifts inside me. I've been fighting this attraction to Charlie. But hearing this story—this quiet, private kindness with no audience or recognition—it resonates with something deeper than physical attraction.

"That's..." I pause, searching for the right words, "that's really touching."

Ariel nods. "Charlie doesn't advertise the good stuff. Which is weird for a CEO, right? Most would turn it into some PR moment."

I smile and nod, continuing to watch him with the family. The little girl is giggling and pointing to something on her adorable pink butterfly dress.

Ariel continues on. “I don’t think he’s seriously dated anyone since Vanessa. I’m glad the two of you decided to take a chance. You make quite the stunning couple. Two tall, gorgeous people.” Ariel is on the shorter side even in her nude sky-high heels.

“Thanks,” I say, touching her arm. I feel a warmth in my chest, and I know it’s not just from the wine. This day has been incredible so far. It’s the kind of gorgeous Pacific Northwest summer day that has people moving to this area in droves. Then they go through their first endlessly gray, dreary winter and wonder how they’ll ever get through it.

Everyone has been so welcoming and delightful today. It’s not like the stuffy events I’ve been to in the past. Mr. and Mrs. Astor were so sweet, going on about how happy they are that Charlie and I are together.

And that kiss…oh my God. I’ve never had a first kiss like that in my life. Our lips fit together perfectly. It was like every cliché I'd ever read about in romance novels suddenly made sense. Sparks flew, fireworks exploded, the world faded away until there was nothing but the two of us.

I think Charlie was shocked when I suggested we kiss. I shocked the hell out of myself. Sometimes, you gotta go for what you want though…

I must be crazy having thoughts like this about Charlie. But I don’t care. I just want more of what I’m feeling right now.

I watch Charlie and the little girl walk to the dance floor. When they get there Charlie reaches out his hands for hers. She smiles broadly and grabs them. They begin to sway to the music. It’s awkward because he’s so much taller than her. And it’s honestly one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.

The girl is trying to get her steps right—she’s obviously had some training in dance. Charlie is looking down at her intently and smiling. She guides him into something that resembles a salsa move. He attempts to keep up and they both end up laughing uproariously.

The music ends and Charlie bows. The girl returns the bow with a curtsy of her own. She excitedly bounds back to her parents and Charlie looks over to me. He reaches out a hand, silently asking for another dance and I’m more than happy to oblige.

I walk to the dance floor and he scoops me in his arms and we melt together, moving with the slow music.

“Should I be jealous?” I tease.

“Definitely. I’ve seen her naked more than once.”

It turns out that the little girl whose name is Belle belongs to his longtime friend, Peter. Charlie has spent lots of time with Peter, his wife Lily and Belle over the years, starting when Belle was just a baby.

“I came over one weekend when Belle was probably just a month old. Lily had to be out of town for work and Peter was freaking out. It was the first time he was point guard on taking care of Belle. I helped him give a very fussy Belle a bath. Between the two of us, we got it done but I’m not sure if he could have managed it without me.”

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