Just as I turned to leave for the front register, Chuck took my hand. He laced his fingers with my own, as though to tie me down and stop me from moving forward.
“Lara, just wait a second,” he begged.
I took my hand back. It hurt me to pull away, but now wasn’t the time nor the place. “You should get back to Sandy,” I told him. “She’s probably waiting for you.”
“I– Wait, what? You saw us together?”
The woman at the cash register grumbled, “I’d get better service at Chapters.”
Chuck rolled his eyes and sighed. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his wallet, quickly pulling out a twenty-dollar bill. He flashed the money at her and said, “I’ll cover it. Can you please leave us alone now?”
She scoffed and turned to leave, muttering under her breath, “Rude.”
He ignored her, eyes completely focused on me. “Lara, I can explain.”
“Are you getting back together with her?” I asked, following Hannah’s advice. She was right. She always was. If I had questions, I needed to ask and hear the answers from no one else but Chuck. “Is that why you were at the café together?”
“God, no,” he breathed. “You have nothing to worry about, Lara. I was pretty sure Sandy wanted to get back together. I think she was even prepared to use our daughter as leverage, but I don’t want her. I want you.”
I blinked in disbelief, licking my bottom lip in deep thought. “Really?”
Chuck nodded. “Lara, I can’t remember the last time someone made me as happy as you make me. And I wanted to tell you that and assure you that Sandy and I, we’re done. We’ve been done for a very long time, and nothing is ever going to change that. I know my workshop ends in a couple of weeks, but I’d really like to see where this goes. You’re an amazing woman, Lara, and I really want to give us a try. I think I’m in love with you.”
A massive wave of relief washed over me, leaving the tips of my toes and fingers tingling with adrenaline. Hannah had been right not to jump to any conclusions. The smallest bit of guilt settled on my tongue. I knew Chuck wasn’t the kind of guy to sneak around behind my back. He was too good, too sweet for that kind of thing. That was when a warmth bloomed in my chest, an undeniable and barely containable happiness erupting from within me.
“You’re in love with me?” I giggled breathlessly.
He nodded again, entirely adamant. “I am.”
A huge smile spread itself across my lips. “I’m in love with you, too,” I admitted, so happy I was practically vibrating where I stood.
Chuck cupped my face and took a step forward, closing the gap between us. He kissed me hard, not caring that we were in the middle of my workplace in the middle of the day in the middle of several onlookers. I was pretty sure Alistair whistled in approval somewhere in the back corner of the store, but that very well could have been my imagination.
“Can you take the day off?” he asked me quickly before finding my lips again.
I hummed into his mouth, content. “I don’t think my boss would allow it.”
“I allow it!” I heard the old man shout from the back. “But just this once, you hear?”
All the heat in my body pooled into my cheeks, radiating out of the top of my head with the intensity of a bonfire. “Thanks, Alistair,” I shouted back. I took Chuck’s hand and dragged him out of the store as quickly as my feet could carry me, too embarrassed and too high to do anything but run.
We somehow managed to get back to our apartment complex. Since my apartment was closest to the elevators, Chuck and I wound up stumbling inside. He didn’t seem to care that my apartment was half the size of his, or that I hadn’t done the dishes yesterday evening, or that there was a pile of laundry lying in a heap on the bathroom floor. The only thing Chuck seemed to care about was kissing me and holding me as close as possible. I kicked the front door closed and practically ripped his jacket off of him, dropping it to the hallway floor as I struggled with the buttons of his shirt. Chuck pressed me up against the arm of the living room couch and didn’t stop, forcing my knees to buckle as we both fell backwards onto the cushions.
In between a flurry of heated kisses, I managed to pry Chuck’s shirt off and undo the front of his pants, pulling the waistband of his boxers down so that they rested just beneath his balls. He helped me slip out of my shirt and jeans, not even bothering to pull my underwear off before spreading my knees apart with demanding hands. I hooked my legs over his hips and closed my eyes, memorizing the taste of his mouth and the absolutely perfect pleasure-burn when Chuck pressed into me, pushing the fabric of my underwear to the side.
He hungrily kissed his way down my jaw and neck, squeezing my breasts as he thrust into me w
ith a steady rhythm. I moaned in his ear, hooking my hands around his neck to draw him in. Our tongues slid over one another, wrestling for dominance. I sucked hard on his bottom lip. When I came away, his mouth was red and swollen and fantastically hot. The couch springs creaked squeaked beneath us, and only grew in volume and frequency as Chuck picked up the pace, hitting me in just the right spot to have me seeing stars.
“Oh,” I groaned, tossing my head back. “Oh, God, just like that.”
“You like how I fuck you?” he growled against my ear.
“God, you feel amazing. You’re so damn big– fuck.”
Chuck scooped his arms beneath my head and neck and held me tight, cradling my body as he pounded into the couch. A tight coil of pleasure started to build deep inside of me, sparks of fire igniting my insides as I drew ever closer to climaxing. Our hot breaths bounced of each other’s faces, making for an intoxicating cloud of warmth. I breathed him in, noting the smell of his cologne and the way his mouth tasted of coffee and chocolate.
“I love you,” I gasped against his lips. “I love you, Chuck.”