Page 24 of About That Pact

After Will’s friend had made it clear he’d wanted a chance to talk to Charlotte, Rafe hadn’t been happy. The idea of anyone else being with her made him irrational—irrational enough to tell the guy Charlotte was his girlfriend.

“She obviously hasn’t heard the phrase snitches get stitches.” Rafe kept his fingers crossed humor would alleviate some of the annoyance steaming off Charlotte.

“Rafe, I’m being serious. What is that all about?”

He dragged a hand down his face in frustration. She wasn’t going to be thrilled with why he had acted like a caveman. “I said it because some prick was interested in you and he isn’t good enough.”

Charlotte was silent, which was either really good or really bad.

She pushed her sunglasses up, settling them on her head. “I appreciate you looking out for me. In the future, let me make the decision, okay?”

Just when he thought he had Charlie figured out, she threw him a curve ball. He’d been expecting her to give him shit, ask him to take her home, or ignore him the rest of the day. Hell, he deserved all of it for acting like an immature kid. Instead, she was letting it go.

“I’ll do my best.”

It was all he could give her. If another person wanted to be with her, he would do the same thing again, just not in ear shot of Melanie. Semantics, really.

“I do have a question, though. Was it the guy wearing argyle shorts and the matching argyle shirt? His outfit is way too much. I’m even giving you allowance to veto any man who wears argyle on argyle,” she whispered like they were conspiring a plan.

It wasn’t that guy. Unfortunately for Rafe, it was a man who seemed mildly appealing and decent looking.

“Wait! Was it the guy in sweats? You can also veto men in sweats at an outside summer party.”

“You’re such a snob.”

She waved him off as if her dismissing men based on their clothes wasn’t snobby at all. “A snob, huh? That is no way to talk to your girlfriend. Oh, by the way, I told Mel how you cried when you got stung by a bee.”

“That’s fine.” He let out a breath of relief. Any man in her life, past or present, was not a conversation he ever wanted to have. “I told her how you didn’t want to miss a math league tournament when you had chicken pox, so you used your mom’s makeup to cover the spots. You only put the makeup on your face, so everyone saw the spots all over your arms. You couldn’t stop scratching and got grounded on top of being sick.”

Charlotte rested her head on his shoulder. “I let her know you went a whole summer not eating sweets.”

“I can’t believe you remember that.” Rafe grinned.

“Steel trap,” she said, pointing to her head. “I also let her know you don’t watch movies until you read the book. Look who’s the snob now.”

“I’m going to tell her you never thought Hermione and Ron should have ended up together.”

“I’ll tell her you didn’t cry when Snape died. Monster.”

He didn’t miss a beat, and they went back and forth with random dirt on each other. These moments with her, when they were joking and enjoying each other, were only enforcing what he already thought: he and Charlotte worked.

Chapter 9

ALARMS WERE BY far the worst invention ever made when used on the weekend. Today, it was brutal for the constant noise to be alerting her it was six-thirty in the morning. If she woke up now, she would be able to get all her tasks done before brunch. Why she planned a brunch date with Rachel and Jada for eleven on a Sunday morning was beyond her. She hit snooze and dragged the blankets over her head.

Not that the additional darkness helped.

This was what she got for staying up late last night with Rafe.

There was minimal time to check everything off her to-do list. This list included working on a project for employee relations, going on a run, finishing laundry, grocery shopping, and then getting ready and being at brunch on time.

She had no choice but to get up, even if she gave her alarm clock the middle finger in disgust.

Charlotte made a strong cup of coffee and settled into her home office. Catch Me desperately needed an update on their employee handbook, especially with the expectations for employees when they worked from home. It was unbelievable how many employees thought they could use the company’s computer and internet to watch movies. Worse, it wasn’t like he’d used the computer after hours. This specific employee had watched the entire Lord of the Rings series on company time. It was outrageous, but to his defense, nowhere in the employee handbook did it state he wasn’t allowed to use the computer for personal use during work hours.

She set a reminder in her Outlook calendar to stop working at nine a.m. Then, it was running time. If there was one thing she was meticulous about, it was her schedule.

JUST BEFORE ELEVEN, Charlotte walked into Plain Jane, one of the best brunch spots in San Francisco, at least to her. She was the first one to arrive and ordered a mimosa pitcher while she waited. She pulled her cellphone out of her purse and texted Rafe a picture of her drink.