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“Relax there, sweetheart,” Quinn says to her.
“I’m on vacation. Sitting with my son and my husband. I can’t be safer.” She looks at me. “I’ll have another, please.”
I smile at her. “You got it.” I walk over and take a glass down and fill it halfway. I add a big cube of ice before making my way back and putting it down in front of her. “Happy vacation.” I glance over at Quinn, who is looking at his wife with a glare, but you can see he doesn’t mean it. “Are you guys going to try the food?” I ask, looking at Charlie. “I had the burger and it was so good.”
“I’ll take that,” Charlie says, handing me the menu.
“I’ll take that also,” Willow agrees, as does Quinn, who also orders a glass of the new whiskey.
I walk into the kitchen, seeing the chef going back and forth. “How is it going?” I ask and he smiles.
“So good,” he confirms. “I haven’t stopped a second and I’m loving every single minute of it.”
“Great,” I say. “I’ll take three cheeseburgers with fries.”
“Coming up in about ten,” he replies, dropping fries in the fryer. I walk out to see Brady seating two more people before walking to another table to take an order.
“It’ll be ten minutes,” I tell them, and Willow smiles at me.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” she says. I can see her cheeks are a bit pink, and I wonder if the whiskey is already working. “So tell us what you’ve been up to.”
“Um,” I start nervously, “not much, really. I was working for a bar up north.” Charlie’s eyebrows rise at that news. “Came home to help out. Not sure how long I’m going to be here.”
“Maybe you’ll change your mind and stay put,” Quinn states. “Home is where the heart is.”
“So they say.” I smile at him. “I don’t have any plans to leave for now.” I avoid looking at Charlie but I can feel his stare.
Quinn looks around. “I forgot how nice it was in here,” he says, picking up his glass. “What else have you done?”
“She’s done so much,” Brady breaks into the conversation. “She doesn’t stop coming up with ideas.”
“Excuse me,” I say, turning and walking around the bar and heading toward the distillery part of the room. The darkened hallway is lit up by the small circle coming from the swinging door. I’m about to step through it to get my nerves under control, when I feel a hand around my wrist. I look over my shoulder as he turns me and pushes me against the corner of the door. “Charlie.” I barely have his name out of my mouth before his lips fall onto mine. His tongue slips in to play with mine. My eyes close as he kisses me, my head screaming at me that someone could see. My hands go to his sides, and instead of pushing him away, I squeeze him to stay where he is. He puts one hand over my head, while the other wraps around my waist and pulls me to him.
The kiss is soft yet intense, and when he lets go of my lips, I want to pull him back. “Hi,” he says softly.
“Hi,” I whisper.
“How is your day?” I blink, trying to get my bearings.
“Good. You?”
“Good,” he replies, “my parents are in town.” As if I didn’t see him come in with them. “So I’ll be coming to your house.”
“Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say, and all he does is grin before coming back down and kissing me.
“I’ll see you out there.” He gives me one more kiss before walking away from me. I hear the bell ring from the kitchen and walk back out, seeing that more people have arrived.
I grab the three plates of burgers before walking out and placing it down in front of Charlie and his family. “This looks so good,” Willow notes, picking up the burger. “So tell me, Autumn, are you dating anyone?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Charlie
I pick up my burger to take a bite, my lips still tingling from kissing her, when my mother says, “So tell me, Autumn, are you dating anyone?” I swear I stop mid bite to look up at Autumn to see her face. And I don’t think I am the only one who looks at her. I’m pretty sure my father does also, but all I can do is watch her face. “Does the silence mean you are or you aren’t?”
She smiles. “Um…”
“Why don’t we not put her on the spot?” my father suggests, taking a bite of his burger.
