“I d-don’t know,” I stuttered over myself as I tried to gather everything together. All of this was messed up, and if I could just gather myself together for maybe five minutes, I might feel better.
“You know what I think?” I glanced up to find Charlie watching me with a look I had never seen before. His brown eyes were soft and kind, making me want to curl up against him. “We should go make something to eat. You can call Mr. Richardson, then we’ll go for a swim.” He tucked a wayward curl behind my ear.
I nodded. “That sounds nice.” My stomach growled in agreement.
“We can swim in the pool, so we can be alone, since the beach will be packed, and then I don’t have to share you.” Charlie nuzzled my neck before pressing a kiss against my skin. “God, Bashful, you’re so sweet. I’m not going to want to leave. I hope you realize that. You’re so fucking perfect.”
That made me feel a little better. “Do you promise to call me every day?”
“Cross my heart.”
“And text me?”
Charlie nodded before he tickled my sides. “You’ll get so sick of me, you’ll be begging me to leave you alone. ‘Charlie, why are you so obsessed with me?’ ‘Charlie, another present?’ ‘Charlie, did you really send me a dildo mold of your cock?’
I blushed at the last one, but he only tickled me harder, his fingers digging into my skin until I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt. Then he pushed me onto my back and stareddown at me.
“I don’t think I could ever get sick of you, Charlie,” I whispered.
He smiled at me, his eyes twinkling and dancing with happiness. “Me neither.”
***
Charlie banished me from the kitchen while he was cooking us something to eat. He told me to call Mr. Richardson and set up a meeting with him. Which is how I found myself standing outside in the warm sun, holding my phone in one hand and the business card Mr. Richardson had given me in the other, sweating like a whore in church.
Oh, that was bad. I shouldn’t think something like that.
“Come on, Bashful. Be brave like I know you can.”Charlie’s words echoed in my ears, and I found myself dialing the number, my fingers shaking slightly as I did.
“Richardson Motorsports, Callie speaking. How may I help you?” A quirky, friendly voice answered on the first ring, and I nearly dropped my cell.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Um, hello, I was asked to call and schedule a meeting with Mr. Richardson.” I closed my eyes at how naïve I sounded.
“Sure, wonderful. May I have your name?” Callie’s voice was cheerful. I could hear her typing into her computer in the background.
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. “Sure, it’s Jones Matthews.”
More typing before she spoke again.
“I see that Mr. Richardson has put your name into the computer already, so that’s a good sign.” Callie giggled. “Don’t tell anyone, but we get a lot of people that call here saying he wanted them call and schedule something when he really didn’t. Okay. Mr. Richardson is available this Wednesday at ten o’clock. Would that work for you?”
Sweat broke out on my skin. “This Wednesday?” That was hardly time to prepare myself for a meeting with one of the biggest racecar owners in NASCAR.
“Well, he has something on”—Callie stopped for a moment—“the thirtieth, but that’s a couple of weeks off. But if you wanted to wait...”
“No!” I exclaimed. “I mean, no. I can do Wednesday.”
Charlotte was a heck of a drive from here, but if Mama let me borrow her car, I could probably make it. My beat-up old Ford was in no shape to drive that far.
More typing. “Wonderful. I have you scheduled to meet with Mr. Richardson this Wednesday at ten o’clock. We’ll see you then, and if something should come up, if you can’t make it, or you need to reschedule, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.”
“Thank you. Thank you so very much.” I hung up and turned around to find Charlie standing on the porch watching me.
He smiled. “Jonesy, I’m so fucking proud of you. Wait. Why do you look like that?”
“I just... This is a lot. I don’t know if Mama’s car will make that long of a drive, because mine certainly can’t. I don’t even know if I have something nice enough to wear, and what if I mess this up? What if I say the wrong thing or do the wrongthing? I shouldn’t... I should cancel.” I started to hit redial on my phone.
Charlie reached for my hand to stop me. “Take a deep breath. You can borrow my Jeep, so that solves the vehicle problem, and I’ll take you shopping to find the perfect suit.”
