Читать книгу Ms. Taken - Jo Leigh - Страница 11

IT WASN’T AS IF SHE HAD a choice. He was so delicious, and she’d loved him for so long. Adorable, stuffy Charley. Sweet, tender Charley. Holly leaned that last inch, her eyes fluttered closed and her lips touched his.

The same jolt of awareness, the same surge of emotion washed through her, scary and oh, so wonderful. She wished she wasn’t in such an awkward position. What she wanted was to be in his arms, in his bed. She couldn’t wait for the wedding. But maybe she didn’t have to.

She stood up, leaving Charley agape, his startled expression cute as a button. “I have some things being delivered,” she said, “but they won’t be here for a little while. In the meantime, I thought we might talk about the wedding. I’ve found the perfect place, if they have a room.” She shook her head. “You didn’t give me much notice, Charley.”

“Didn’t what?”

David coughed. “He meant for the date to be a surprise. So how did you figure it out, you clever girl? Were you doing a little snooping?”

She shook her head. She hadn’t. At least, she didn’t think she had. So how did she know? Love, that was it. She loved him, and that gave her special insight. “I know everything about Charley. I know he likes to come into the office early, so that he can get a jump on his day. He clears his throat whenever he needs to regroup, or find just the right word.”

She turned to Charles and looked into his beautiful face. “Sometimes, when he thinks no one’s looking, he takes his shoes off behind his desk. And sometimes, when he’s alone, he talks to his father.”

Charley’s eyes widened until she thought he might hurt himself. And his color was none too good, either.

“Now, why are you so surprised, silly? When two people love each other like we do, it’s only natural that we know each other’s secrets. I bet you know all of mine.”

He looked from her to David, then back again. The tops of his ears reddened. He was shy. Oh, God, it was so darling. So Charley.

David moved to Charley’s side. “He knows you like to sew. And how much you love those Stephen Sondheim musicals.”

Holly’s insides melted. “Oh, Charley, it’s true. We are meant for each other. Even time and distance couldn’t pull us apart.” She leaned toward him again, but a knock on the door interrupted. “Wait till you see what I got.”

She ended up giving him a quick kiss on the chin, then she rushed to the door. The doorman was there along with two other gentlemen. All three were loaded down with packages.

“Come this way,” she said, waving them in. She crossed the living room, then paused for a moment. Funny, she couldn’t remember which way to turn. She must be overexcited, that’s all.

She held up a finger to stop the parade. “One sec.” The first door on her right was a bathroom. The second door was the bedroom. “Back here!”

The room was very large, big enough to make the king-size bed seem small. But the colors were all wrong. Dark browns, hunter green, black. Ugh. Depressing. She’d have to do something about that, and quick.

The closet was gigantic, with three walls of perfectly spaced clothes, mostly suits, shirts, dress slacks, all color coordinated. But there was one pair of jeans and three pairs of khakis. The poor dear didn’t have the first clue about having fun. But then, that was her job, wasn’t it?

The men arrived, spurring her into action. She pushed a whole rod of suits together, then started transferring the clothes to the middle wall.

“In here.”

The doorman ushered in the other two men.

“Just put the boxes on the floor,” she said. “I’ll take it from here.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The doorman deposited his stack first, then kept an eye on the others as they did the same. He ushered them out with a touch of his cap.

“Mr. Warren will see to the tip,” she said, then she faced the clothes racks once more. She’d definitely need more space for shoes. And where in heaven’s name was she supposed to put her hats?

DAVID COUGHED. When that didn’t work, he gave Charles an elbow to the ribs. “They’re waiting for a tip,” he whispered.