WALKING INTO THE office, I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face if I wanted to. Marge sat at her desk, and on the other side of the room was Lacy Stark.
“Good morning, ladies.”
Marge lifted her gaze and eyed me with caution.
“Good morning, Ms. Monroe.”
“When we are up here, Lacy, it’s Charlie. Everywhere outside of here or in front of other employees, it’s Ms. Monroe.”
I stopped at my door and let out a chuckle before turning and saying. “Actually, it’s now Mrs. Middleton.”
Marge nodded, not really paying attention to what I said.
“Robert Hapner and Lynn from HR are in your office like you asked, and wait a minute, what did you say?”
Lacy jumped up. “What did you do on your half-day of hooky?”
Marge looked at her surprised, and then she swung her gaze back to me.
“I got married, but I’ll tell you both about it when I take you to lunch later. For now, I have someone’s ass to chew out.”
“There’s the Charlie I know and love,” Marge stated. “Also, those tests results came back early. I’m not sure how much you paid them, but they put a rush on the rush.”
Winking, I took in a deep breath and let it out. I wasn’t the least bit worried. “Thanks, Marge. Come into my office in exactly three minutes.”
“Only three, huh? Took your father six.”
“This won’t take long, trust me.”
Opening the door to my office, a gentleman a few years older than me jumped up.
“Ms. Monroe, what do I owe this pleasure of meeting with you about?”
He went to sit as I rounded my desk.
“Don’t bother sitting down, Hapner. This is going to be quick. I’m sure you heard by now that Ms. Stark is now one of my executive assistants.”
He adjusted his tie. “Yes, I’m not going to lie; I wasn’t aware she was looking to move within the company.”
Lacy’s employee file sat on my desk. I glanced over to Lynn, who was sitting at the conference table. Focusing back on the file, I flipped it open and went through the papers quickly.
“How is that possible when she has put in for four promotions in the last … let’s see, two years?”
Hapner’s face went white.
“Ms. Stark wasn’t ready for those types of assignments.”
“Really?”
“I disagree with you. I think the reason she didn’t get the promotions was because you liked looking at her ass too much.”
“Excuse me?”
Standing, I placed my hands on my desk and leaned forward.
“I will not stand for this type of behavior in my company. If I so much as hear someone whisper that you’re looking at them the wrong way, I’ll have you out on your ass so fast you won’t know what hit you.”
“Ms. Monroe, there must be some sort of misunderstanding. I respect Ms. Stark very much and would never treat her that way.”
“Good. Then you’ll feel the same way about your new administrative assistant.”
Turning back to Lynn, I raised a brow and she nodded.
“Right. Looks like he will be starting this afternoon.”
Hapner cleared his throat. “He?”
Lifting my eyes to meet his, I asked, “Is there a problem with that?”
After clearing his throat more times than needed, he shook his head. “No. No, of course not. It’s just I figured I’d be picking my own secretary … I mean … administrative assistant.”
Leaning back in my chair, I smiled. “I’m sure you will be very happy with who HR hired to fill Ms. Stark’s position.”
The door to my office opened, and instead of Marge standing there, it was Lacy.
Well played, Marge. Well played.
“Mrs. Middleton, your meeting is in ten minutes.”
With a smile plastered on my face, I reached my hand across my desk. “Was great meeting you, Mr. Hapner. We’ll be talking soon, I’m sure.”
The poor bastard. It was sort of painful watching him look between Lacy and me. He finally snapped out of it and shook my hand before turning on the heels of his dress shoes and walking out of my door. Lynn stood, gave me a knowing smile, and followed Hapner out the door.
“Thank you, Lacy,” I said as I sat down. When she closed the door, I grinned like the Cheshire cat.
“I think I may actually miss this job.”
Six months later
“OPEN YOUR EYES.”
The sound of Tucker’s voice against my ear made my body shiver.
“I’m nervous!” I squealed as he chuckled.
“Just open them.”
A rush of air left my lungs as I stood and looked at our finished house.
Turning, I jumped into Tucker’s arms as Nash let out a relieved-sounding laugh.
“You like it?” he asked as Tucker spun me around and then put me on the ground.
“Like it? Nash, it’s beautiful. I can’t believe y’all got it built in four months.”
Tucker wrapped his arm around my waist. “Perks of having him for a best friend.”
I stood and stared at the two-story house in front of me. It was perfect. It was simple yet filled with all the fun things I wanted. Some I didn’t need but still wanted.
“It’s fucking huge!” Tucker croaked out.
My face heated. It was a big house. Nine-thousand-square-feet huge.
“I needed an office,” I stated.
“Okay, what about the other five bedrooms?” Tucker asked as we walked toward the house. We hadn’t been out in a month and totally left the finishing touches to Nash. He didn’t disappoint.
“One is ours, one is a guest room, and the other three are for little Tuckers.”
My husband’s eyes lit up.
I ran my fingers over the wood pillars on the front porch. “I love that you used the same wood and finish that’s in Sedotto.”
“Yeah, I do too,” Nash said.
We walked into the house and did a quick tour of it before the three of us ended up on the giant covered patio outside. A bottle of champagne sat in ice, and I turned to Nash.
“You do this?”
He nodded. “We do with all our finished homes.”
After popping open the bottle, Nash poured us each a glass.
“To new beginnings,” Nash said with a grin.
“New beginnings,” Tucker and I echoed.
Lifting the glass to my lips, I paused and focused my eyes on the sign hanging up over the outside bar.
Under the title was a list of rules on how to seduce the one you wanted.
My hands went to my hips, and I turned to face both men.
“Who put up that sign?”
Tucker and Nash exchanged looks and then started laughing.
“What better of a housewarming gift than a sign that reminds y’all of how you finally came together.”
Hitting Nash on the arm, I faced Tucker.
“We all know who the master of seduction is. I don’t need any rules.”
With a quirk of his brow, Tucker replied, “Really? If I’m not mistaken, I’m pretty sure I turned the tables around on you in that department.”
“Maybe you should actually go and read the sign, sweetheart. You might learn a thing or two.”
Nash couldn’t contain his smile as Tucker let out a gruff laugh.
“Please. There is nothing on this sign that I don’t already know.”
I watched as Tucker got closer to the sign. Nash moved to my side and bumped my shoulder.
“Congratulations, Charlie.”
My stomach fluttered and I replied, “Thank you, Nash.”
Feeling a warmth rush through my body, I closed my eyes and thought back to the day I opened the letters from my parents, not long after Tucker and I got married.
To my dearest Charleston,
If you’re reading this, something has happened to me. My sweet girl, my dream for you is to find happiness. True happiness. Follow your heart, Charleston, even if it leads you down an unmarked road.
Love you sweetheart!
Love, Mom
As I sit here, I’m watching you play on the living room floor. My sweet little ten-year-old mini me. It was your mother’s idea to write you these letters, and I admit I’ve been staring at my page for an hour now. I want you to know how much I love you. I know you will grow up to be an amazing woman, and I know I’ll most likely be hard on you. Please know one thing, I only want you to be happy. I want you to follow your heart, even if at times it doesn’t seem like that’s what I want.
I know you’ll make both your mother and me proud, and if you’re reading this, that means we won’t be there for you when you need us, not physically at least. We will, however, always be with your Charlie. Always. Never forget that.
I love you with all my heart.
Daddy
OPENING MY EYES, I looked up at the sky and smiled before focusing back on my husband.
Tucker started to read the sign. “Seduce my mind and you can have my body. Find my soul and I’m yours forever.”—Anonymous
“What’s this envelope taped on here?” Tucker asked, taking it off and opening it. He stood frozen for the longest time before turning and meeting my gaze.
The picture of the sonogram was in his hand as he read the letter I had written him.
Tucker,
The last time I wrote you a note, I didn’t mean a single thing I wrote down. This time, I have no regrets about anything in my life. In fact, you’ve made me the happiest woman on Earth. Thank you for loving me and being the amazing husband you are. I hope you’re ready for the next phase.
Parenthood. This is going to be fun! Mr. Pootie is going to flip out when he finds out he’s going to be a big brother!
Charleston
“Are you serious?”
I nodded with tears in my eyes knowing Tucker would be just as happy as I was.
“No fucking way!” he exclaimed. “We just started!”
“Looks like you’ve got some powerful swimmers there, buddy,” Nash called out as I hit him in the stomach.
The moment Tucker started my way, I started his. We met in the middle, and I threw myself at him.
“Charlie, we’re having a baby?” he asked, his voice cracking from emotion.
“Yes. We’re having a baby.”
He spun me around and cried out, “Best fucking day of my life!”
When he finally put me down, I took his hand and placed it on my stomach.
Our eyes met, and I was taken aback once again by how much I loved this man.
“You and me forever.”
Leaning down, he softly kissed me and whispered, “Forever.”
The End.