Page 21 of Only Time Will Tell

“Good morning, Thomas. What do you have lined up for us to sample?” she cooed.

“Charlie, bring out the samples we made,” he hollered over his shoulder.

“Charlie?” I questioned. Sweat beaded on my forehead, my stomach muscles tightening in anticipation. It couldn’t be him, could it?

There he was, emerging from the back room with the sample tray in hand. Our eyes met, and my face heated as the memories of what’d we’d shared came rushing back. Charlie’s face matched mine, a warm blush filled his cheeks. Why had I found that to be alluring?

Stop thinking about him like that. This is not the time or place.

Was there ever a time or place for impure thoughts of another man?

“Hello, Charlie,” Charlotte said. “We met the other night. I’m Alexander’s fiancée, Charlotte.” She wound her arm through mine, a clear sign of ownership. The light blush on his cheeks deepened as the anger at her bold move surfaced.

“Um, the samples. Tell us about them,” I said to Thomas, trying to diffuse the situation. Charlie and I had a lot of talking to do, but that meant I’d have to come up with a believable excuse to escape Charlotte’s overbearing clutches.

We tasted more samples than my stomach could handle. She, of course, chose the most expensive option, an angel-food cake with a decadent chocolate ganache filling and marzipan coating. She didn’t care, after all her father was paying for it.

Charlie’s every move didn’t go unnoticed by me. From the motion of his hip to the nervous way he bit his bottom lip when he caught me staring. There was no escaping the previous night’s memories, not when being this close to him had me in the same aroused state.

How do I resist the pull when I’d never experienced it with another? At least not that I recalled. I wanted suck on that bottom lip he’d abused with his teeth. If I was going to be damned to a life in hell, I might as well enjoy it while I could. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind we’d be condemned one way or another for our unholy actions. I’ll enjoy whatever this is one last time, then escape to Aberdeen before the wedding and start anew.

A sigh of relief escaped at having finally come up with a plan.

“Well, I think we’re done here. Thomas, please deliver it to the church before the start of the wedding next Saturday at four p.m. The reception is in the banquet hall. I trust you and your helper,” she said with great disdain, “will be able to set things up to my liking.”

“That won’t be a problem. We will be there, and it will be set up on time,” Thomas assured her.

Thomas and Charlie picked up the dishes we’d used and disappeared into the back room with them.

“Come, Alexander. Let’s go meet Mother and Father for lunch,” Charlotte ordered while putting her gloves on.

“I, um, I can’t,” I lied. “My father asked me to meet him at the shop. Something about inventory.”

“Well then, I will see you for dinner tonight.” She turned and left the bakery.

Seconds later, Charlie reemerged. He must have been listening, waiting for her to leave.

“We need to talk.” That came out a bit harsher than I’d intended. “Please.” He nodded and dried his hands on his apron. “What time do you get off?”

“Now. Thomas only had me come in to help out during your sampling. In case any other customers came in.” Nervously, he fidgeted with his apron strings.

“Okay, let’s take a walk, if that’s alright with you?” Suddenly I was the apprehensive one. Why was this starting to feel like an unchaperoned date?

“I know somewhere out of sight where we can be alone,” Charlie offered, hanging his apron on the hook.

“Lead the way.”

The walk was filled with silence, our hands buried deep in our pockets as though we were fighting the urge to touch one another. Ten minutes later, we were on the outskirts of town approaching an abandoned warehouse.

“This is where I planned to stay when I first came to town looking for you,” he told me.

“Looking for me? Why were you looking for me?” This just kept getting more confusing.

The thought crossed my mind as we entered through a broken lower-level window, that by breaking into this building I could potentially be walking right into trap. But in all honesty, Charlie didn’t make me feel unsafe. I couldn’t explain how I knew that, but I did. He wouldn’t hurt me.

I followed him into a room off to the side that must have been an old office, but even in the daylight it was still difficult to see in here. There was a makeshift bed on the floor with a crate for a table and a broken wooden chair turned into a stool beside it. This was probably where he slept. Out here alone, in the cold. For some reason, that thought didn’t sit well with me.

“Did you really sleep here?” I was both stunned and concerned about his well-being, which was a bit of a surprise.