Page 22 of Brazen
I pressed my hand to my heart under a pretense to make his family to believe us. “You’re proposing, Charlie?”
“I… I already ran it by you, and you said yes. We’ll just make it official later, sweetheart.”
We needed to sell this, since we were in the middle of the room. I shrugged. “I wasn’t sure you were serious, but you spoke to your dad.”
“He did, and we’re fine.” Then he said, “He’s happy he made the right call about your company.”
My eyes widened, and my feet felt like I was walking on clouds. I even believed him or wanted to. Family wasn’t something I was ever in. I’d always had a vision of rich men being super greedy and more interested in the space race than the rest of humanity. I sighed. “That’s really nice of you to say.”
Parvis then told Charlie, “I should go, but Maman and I are excited to see the ring when we throw you both a party.”
I trembled, though Charlie held me. I hadn’t asked my question about the interview. I supposed I would ask later, but I let it go. Part of me wished I was part of a family like this, where caring about one another was natural. “I… You were right—you have a great family.”
Charlie handed me a champagne. “He made a fortune on backing those he believed have brilliant ideas and avoiding anyone who didn’t live up to their values.”
From my experience, most people chased getting the deal more than keeping their values. I sighed as another one of his brothers passed him. “Charlie, you are the luckiest guy I've ever met.”
He clinked glasses with me. “Luck isn’t a thing, but I like how your eyes had that gleam right now.”
The bride and groom were set to dance. His family waved for us to head to the dance floor to watch their first dance. As we walked over, I said, “We’ll talk about luck later. It seems it’s time to join the others.”
I wasn’t sure what would happen next, but I liked being with Charlie and his family.
Chapter Nine
Charlie
* * *
I wanted to recreate Paris. Holding her and being seen in public was fueling my desire. And best of all, her nearness was making me believe I fit in with my family and wasn’t entirely hopeless.
The party was winding down. The married couples were mostly gone, and my younger brothers were starting a poker game with the family penny jar that had traveled with us all my life. Pedar and Maman hated real gambling, so we all started with pennies from the jar, and once the game ended, we redeposited the winnings for the next game.
I walked out to the balcony overlooking the swimming pool. We leaned over the balcony, and asking if she wanted to go swimming was on the tip of my tongue.
However, Maman rubbed both our backs. We turned around, and she said, “Charlie, Hope, I’m having a room prepared for you.”
I straightened. Hope might have forgiven me for not mentioning the wedding, but we’d made a deal for when we were alone. I nodded. “We were going to fly back tonight, Maman.”
She waved for us to join her, and we walked as she said, “The weather is predicting a storm. We’re all safer if we wait it out.”
We took the first step, and Hope said, “It’s okay, Charlie. I’m sure we can have our own rooms.”
Maman shook her head and met my gaze. “Don’t worry, Hope. I’m not expecting you to want separate rooms.”
I rubbed the back of my head. I wasn’t looking for my mother to push. “Isn’t that more appropriate?”
We made it to the top as she asked, “Aren’t you living together in Manhattan now? Why would sharing be a problem?”
“My grandfather was traditional, and we kept to ourselves,” Hope said. “I’m almost moved in, but this is a family thing. So I’m unsure what to do.”
“If you don’t want to stay with Charlie here, I’ll be more surprised.”
“Right, no, that’s not it. It’s… I grew up with boundaries.”
“So you want to share?”
“Yes. Of course.”
