I hadn't been able to eat anything all morning. My stomach was made of knots and snakes, and the snakes weren't happy about the knots.I stood in front of the main table in the empty meeting room and tugged on the non-existent wrinkles of my suit jacket. I'd been tugging on it all morning to the point where I was afraid the shoulder seams might give out. It was just nerves. I'd been in hundreds of important meetings, but this one was different. This wasn't just money on the line. This was Leo. I was nervous. Crazy nervous.I just had to stick to the plan.I took a deep breath and went over to the coffee station on the side of the room. A big pot of fresh coffee was already sitting and waiting. I took one of the mugs and poured the dark liquid along with my requisite two creams and sugars. Maybe some caffeine would help me settle.“Hi, Charlotte,” Toby greeted me. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I hadn't heard him come in. Luckily, my coffee was sitting on the counter so I could stir i
I never thought this day would come.I look down at my white dress and giggle. It feels so surreal. I have to be dreaming, and this has to be the best dream of my life.I'm going to marry Leo Westbrook.I've dreamed of this day since I was thirteen years old, and now, finally, it's coming true.“You ready, Char?” Chloe, my childhood best friend asks. She's grinning at me, looking gorgeous as usual. The same dark hair she shares with her brother is curled into perfect waves. “Everyone's waiting.”I take one last look in the mirror and then I nod.I was born ready.Just outside the door, Bastian is waiting. He's leaning against the wall, pretending to be calm and collected, but I know better. He's nervous. The tick in his jaw and the way the little scar above his eye is pulsing show me that he's nervous.He smiles and his face softens as he sees me. “Wow,” he whispers. “You look so beautiful.”I grin. “You don't look so bad yourself,” I tell him. He stands up a little straighter and puf
“Do I know you?”I looked up from the event table I was desperately trying to organize. A man wearing a salmon pink polo shirt with khaki shorts that were just a little too short stood in front of me. He reminded me of a plastic Ken doll with his bleached hair that was gelled into submission and what looked like a fashion shoot pose.“Excuse me?” I asked. There was a massive gala tonight to showcase the items available for auction tomorrow, and this table needed to be set up and fixed. The auction of this multi-million dollar Caribbean estate was very important to me and really, everything needed to be perfect, but I was focusing on this table for the moment.The man grinned. “Do I know you? Because I'm having a hard time recognizing you with your clothes on.”I stared at him, dumbfounded. There was no way he could be serious.“That's seriously what you're going with?” I asked after a moment. I was way too busy for crappy pick up lines. “You're at a million dollar event hosted by a b
“YOU CAME BACK!” I yelled, running down the steps toward Ava. My hair spread out behind me in the tropical heat. I jumped the last step, being careful of my heels before taking off at a run. Bastian never understood how I could do it, but I'd been wearing heels for work long enough to know how to run in them.I wrapped her up in a giant hug. The last time I had seen her was a little over a week ago. We had become friends just before I had left to go work on the phone app for our company. That was right around the time she and Bastian realized they were perfect for each other and were giving the most obvious love-filled glances in the kitchen. I had been glad to get out of the house and give them some alone time.To be honest, I was surprised when I came back to work on the auction and found out that she had gone back home, leaving my brother broken-hearted. Bastian claimed she said she just didn't fit his world, but that made no sense to me. They were so perfect together that I was h
10 Years Earlier...I sat carefully on the old wooden chair in Bastian's dorm room, looking around the room in awe.So, this is what college looks like, I thought to myself. I had imagined it to look a little less like a boy's gym bag and more like an academic library, but I wasn't going to complain.How many thirteen-year-olds got to go to college anyway? Or at least, got to visit their older brother in college and play pretend for the weekend.I checked my watch. I still had another fifteen minutes before Bastian would come back from his “project.” I rolled my eyes. Project- yeah right. It was obvious he was doing some cool college-y thing that he didn't want his little sister participating in. He just told me he had a group assignment he had to work on. Sure, Bastian. Sure.The room was a small square with two twin beds on opposite sides, two desks and a small TV perched on a mini-fridge in the center. Per Bastian's instructions, I had the door open and the resident assistant had a
I stood in front of the mirror, holding my dress up to see how the ensemble would come together. My dark hair was curled and pulled back in a half-up style that was soft and feminine. I loved my makeup- not too much, but enough that my brown eyes looked big and my lashes could start a small windstorm. I felt pretty, and with my hair and makeup done, I just needed to get dressed, but I wanted a sneak peek of the final product.“Not too shabby, Char,” I said quietly. “Not too shabby.”Even on the hanger, the dress was beautiful. It was an off-the shoulder gown of royal blue and cut to hug the top half of my body before ending in a subtle mermaid tail at the bottom. The color was my favorite part, as well as the secret pocket where I could keep my phone without having to carry a purse all evening.Ava's dress was perfect for her and this one was perfect for me.I stared at the woman looking back at me for a moment. Sure, she had the same dark hair and dark eyes, short stature and same cu
After putting on my dress and shoes, I glanced in the mirror one last time and smiled at my reflection. This was definitely one of my favorite dresses so far and, as silly as it was, I hoped Leo thought so too. It irritated me how much his opinion mattered to me, especially considering that we weren't anywhere near being a couple. Someday, I would stop caring. Someday, I would find someone else to love and I would finally put these feelings for Leo aside. Someday, I would be smart and let him go. Just not today.As it was, I suspected he would just tell me to put on a jacket, too.With a shrug, I tossed my hair over my shoulder and went into the adjoining room to find Ava. She was standing in front of the mirror, mesmerized by her appearance.“Holy crap. I do good work,” I said, taking her in. Stunning didn't even come close to describing her. The dress was even better with her dark hair freshly curled and pulled back with a golden comb.“You look gorgeous, Charlotte,” Ava replied, he
I realized I was still holding Leo's hand as we came to the glass door leading out to the porch, and I quickly dropped my hand from his as we positioned ourselves to peek out on the couple. I was trying hard to keep my distance and not touch him. Touching Leo only let my heart hope for things it couldn't have.The night was dark and the porch unlit, but there was still enough light for us to be able to watch. I pulled on the curtain, hiding us further from their sight.We huddled together in the dark, peeking through the small space available to see, and I couldn't help but notice how he was pressed into me. Or was I pressed into him? Either way, we were touching and it was making it hard to think. I took a deep breath to try and center myself, but succeeded only in taking in his scent instead. Pure, clean and male. My heart skipped several beats before I could force it to start again.“What's going on?” Leo asked again, a chuckle in his voice. His muscled arm was strong under his sui