Begin Again: A Charlotte Bloom Short Story Read Free Page A

her scent.
    "As a gentleman, I ought to let you know that your shirt was see-through today," I said smoothly, giving her my best lopsided smile. I’d been told it was a trademark of mine. I felt a wave of pleasure watching her cheeks flush, and I imagined making her cheeks flush in my bed.
    "What?"
    "I could see your…"
    "Yeah. Got it." She stood taller, crossing her arms tighter, but she was still smiling. In fact, the longer we stood there, the more I realized the effect I had on her. I made her nervous too. This would be fun.
    "It could be worse,” I explained, pulling away. I grinned devilishly.
    "Oh yeah? How’s that?" She was looking at me with a wee little pout. She was feigning anger, but she was still smiling. She liked this. She liked me.
    "You’re easy to look at," I said, waiting for her reaction. I shrugged my shoulders. I wanted it to seem casual. But the truth was, I fucking loved looking at her, and I wished I could look at her every second of every damn day.
    "Umm… I don’t think that’s very gentleman-ly of you to say," she said quietly, and I could feel the warmth coming from her body.
    "You asked me how it could be worse. I’m just saying, I don’t think anyone wouldn’t enjoy it,” I said, matter-of-factly.
    "Did you enjoy it?" she asked. She did not just ask that. My totally erect penis was throbbing beneath my pants. Of course I enjoyed it. I enjoyed everything about her.
    "I can’t tell you that. It wouldn’t be very gentleman-ly of me," I whispered into her ear, flirtatiously. She sucked in a small breath – at my words, or the feeling of my breath on her neck – I wasn’t sure. "But if you must know the honest truth, then yes."
    "You’re an ass," she said, pulling away. But that smile – it deceived her.
    "Hey, you asked me," I said, laughing. I walked away before I did anything stupid. And I would do something stupid.
    I kept walking past the check-in desk and through the front door. I had to get some air. I walked around the house to the back, to my old pickup truck. Before I knew what I was doing, I turned the engine on, and I was off. I backed down the driveway and got onto the main road. I kept driving until I saw a small liquor store about five miles down. I stopped in quickly. Parc-Le-Bouveret had all kinds of wine, and we usually kept our beer supply stocked for the guests. I had whiskey in my room that I liked to drink on occasion. But now it was 7:20 p.m. – and I would be late for dinner – for the first time ever. I needed a good alibi.
    I grabbed a pack of Welsh ale, thinking I would hand it out to all of the guests tonight. Some of them were leaving tomorrow. It would be seen as a nice goodbye gesture. I quickly drove back and the entire time, I was thinking of Charlotte and how fucking bad I wanted her. I was tempted to pull over and jerk it, but I was sure it wouldn’t be as good as the real thing, so I didn’t even bother.
    When I walked back into dinner, Charlotte was chatting animatedly to Helen and my heart swelled. I could tell Helen and George were fond of her. Who wouldn’t be – she was perfect. I passed around some beers to the guests, and to my delight, Charlotte took one and thanked me. A woman who rode horses, drank beer, and knew how to flirt – I was in trouble. I saw Henry look at me sideways, and I looked away. He knew. I was never late. I’d never gone out and gotten beer for dinner before. And I’d certainly never felt this way about a woman before.
    As dinner finished, I grabbed my fourth beer and walked out to the front porch. I was pretty drunk by this point. I should definitely not be around Charlotte right now. It was still warm out. I sat on the steps drinking, trying to push all thoughts of Charlotte out of my head. Maybe I just needed to fuck her and get it out of my system. I contemplated this, and though I was sure my cock would oblige, I knew deep down that she meant more to me than that.
    I heard the front door open, and to my