For the next several minutes, the two lay still in the blissful silence. Eventually, Derek spoke up again.
“I know this is all still new, but have you given any thought to what you want to do now that you’re single again?”
Charlie turned toward him more fully. With a teasing glimpse, she reached down and grabbed his ass.
“You mean besides this?”
He brushed his fingers down her side before pressing them against her ribs, making her giggle. “No, smart ass,” he spoke a little louder so she could hear him over her own laughter. “I mean—”
“I know what you meant,” she chuckled breathlessly, sighing in relief when he stopped tickling her. “And as a matter of fact, I was thinking about that while I was in the shower earlier.”
“Oh.” He purposefully sounded disappointed.
“What?”
“Nothin’” He shrugged. “I just figured, the way you came in here tryin’ to seduce me, that you were thinkin’ ofmewhile you were in the shower.”
Charlie laughed, just as he’d hoped. She needed as much laughter in her life as he could give her.
“First of all...” She raised a brow. “There really wasn’t muchtryingto it. Second, I thought about a lot of things while I was in there.” She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. “And yes, you were included in those thoughts.”
“Good to know.” He smiled back lazily.
Charlie settled her head back onto the dip between his outstretched arm and his chest. They fit perfectly together, in every way imaginable.
Being with Charlie felt more right than anything in his life. He was comfortable with her, as though it had been just the two of them all along.
It should have been.
As past regrets fought to invade his contentment, Derek noticed the light in Charlie’s eyes had begun to dim, as well.
“Hey, now.” He cupped her cheek. “None of that.”
She blinked. “What?”
“Whatever you were thinkin’ just now. Those thoughts have no place here. Not anymore. You need to be looking forward, thinking of what kind of future you want to have. Not wasting time on a past you can’t change.”
It would do him good to take his own advice.
“You’re right. Sorry.” She sighed. “Okay, so back to what I was saying. I was thinking earlier that I’d like to open up my own business.”
“Yeah?” Derek grinned.
Charlie nodded. “I’d like to become a professional event organizer.”
His brows scrunched together. “That’s a thing?”
“Yes, Derek.” She laughed. “That’s a thing.” She propped herself up on one elbow. “I could plan weddings, anniversary parties, fundraisers. That sort of thing.”
He couldn’t help but love the excitement in her voice.“You have experience in that?”
“God, yes.” She rolled her beautiful eyes. “Well, not weddings and not professionally. But I’ve organized tons of dinner parties and charity events. Basically, people would come to me, tell me what event they’re hosting and what they envision for it, and they’d pay me to set it all up. I’d find the florist, the venues, the caterers.”
Pride swelled inside his chest. “I think that sounds amazing.”
“You do?”
“For you? Sure. Personally, I’d rather someone take me out back and beat the hell out of me than make me plan a fuckin’ dinner party. But if you enjoy it, I’ll support you one hundred percent.”
