MissManaged

Chapter Five

Charlotte

“Charlie, let me know when you’ve got time in your schedule to work on my website,” Kenny said as she filled up a plate with a piece of an Italian sub, a few mozzarella sticks, and some fried ravioli. “I’m just about ready to open the goat-yoga studio.”

I froze for a moment, then replied, trying to seem casual. “Sure thing, Kenny. I’m in the middle of a project and super busy right now, but I’ll let you know as soon as I have time.”

She nodded after studying me for a second. I hated lying to my friends, but my irrational fears were difficult to overcome. As much as I needed the business and even though I definitely had time, working with someone I considered a close friend scared the shit out of me. The fear of failure and disappointing someone I cared about ran deep after years of being told by my father that I wasn’t good enough. Luckily, Kenny dropped it, but I wasn’t safe from the spotlight for long.

“How did things go with Farmer Tobin last week, Charlie?” Grace asked from across the room, then informed everyone, “That’s her current project.”

We were sprawled out in Mellie’s great room for our bi-weekly Monday night book club, though it really should be called Monday night drink and vent club where we sort of talked about books. We were six women, all independent business owners of some sort, who enjoyed reading steamy romance novels and drinking cocktails. Some of us liked when the steam was more scalding than pleasantly warm, so some of our books drifted straight into hardcore erotica and kink. I usually stuck to the more low-key reads, but even I wasn’t immune to enjoying reading about a dominant man telling his woman what to do in bed.

“It was fine. I went over for a tour last Monday and took a bunch of pictures and then he insisted I come back on Thursday to go through them with him,” I grumbled.

“Oh, poor you, having to spend time with a hot man who’s clearly interested in you,” Grace fake whined, annoying the crap out of me.

“Grace, you know that’s not happening now. Not after what happened,” I snapped and immediately regretted it.

I’d planned to avoid this topic tonight for a few reasons. The first was just that I didn’t want to rehash it again. I knew what Grace would say, and even Mellie to a lesser extent. But the second was that I didn’t want Raquel, Kenny, and Layla giving me their opinions. They’d all grown up in Walker’s Grove and probably knew Tobin Daniels very well. The town only had one combined middle and high school that everyone attended.

“What’s this?” Raquel asked. “What happened?”

I groaned and banged my head on the back of the couch. Raquel was a lawyer, a good one, but that made her nosey as hell sometimes. She needed all the information, every last detail, and wouldn’t stop interrogating you until she had it.

Of course, Grace was more than happy to fill her in. At least it saved me from having to retell my sad tale.

“Charlie’s been working with Tobin Daniels on a marketing campaign and website redesign for the family farm. They had their first in-person meeting the weekend before last, and Charlie here got all snotty and judgmental, and, can you believe it, rude!” Everyone looked over at me to confirm Grace’s story. I ignored them and took a sip of wine instead. “Farmer Toby didn’t like her attitude much and tried to spank her! Can you believe that? Well, then Charlie lost her shit and told him she wouldn’t work with him, stormed out, and returned the deposit he’d paid her.”

Gasps came from the three who hadn’t been at brunch the other day while Mellie rolled her eyes at Grace’s dramatic storytelling.

“The next morning, he showed up on her doorstep, begging for forgiveness and promising to keep everything strictly professional if she agreed to take him back on as a client. So, Charlie thought it over, while getting smashed at brunch last Sunday, and agreed.”

Grace sat back when she finished, a satisfied smirk on her face.

“You’re a brat,” I said without any heat.

“I know.” She winked at me and grinned. “But you love me, anyway.”

The things we put up with from our friends.

“One of these days, you’re going to meet a man who doesn’t find your brattiness cute,” Kenny warned before taking a huge bite of her sub sandwich.

“I can’t wait,” Grace shot back with a smile.

I chuckled, picturing the first time a hot guy she was interested in calling her on her shit. I had a feeling it wouldn’t go the way Grace thought it would.

“Back to Charlie and Tobin Daniels,” Raquel said, steering the conversation back around to me like I knew she would. “So, he really just thought he could punish you during a business meeting?”

“That’s why I was so upset,” I cried. “It wasn’t hot or sexy. It was embarrassing and inappropriate.”

“He was always a bit of an asshole in high school, but I figured he would have grown out of it by now,” Layla said.

“How was he an asshole?” Grace asked. “Was he mean? Did he have a temper?”

For some reason I didn’t want to investigate, her questions put me on edge. Why did she care about Tobin’s behavior?

“No, he was just cocky and thought he was better than everyone else because his family is one of the founders of the town.” Layla sipped her soda before continuing, “He also was hot and knew he was hot. Always hitting on girls in our class, even if he was a few years younger than us. I haven’t seen him in a while, though. Is he still hot, Charlie?”

Her pointed question, and everyone’s stares, made my cheeks burn and the tips of my ears turn red. Damn fair skin.

“He’s hot,” Mellie said. “And Charlie thinks he’s hot, too. Part of the reason she got so mad was she was hoping they might have more than just a business relationship.”

“Hey!” I threw a wadded-up napkin in her direction. “I thought you were on my side here.”

“I’m just giving everyone the full picture,” Mellie replied. “But you never answered the initial question—how did it go seeing him again?”

“It was fine. He was professional.” I couldn’t hide the note of disappointment in my tone, making everyone laugh at me. “He loved the pictures I took, and I met his parents, who also loved them.”

“You don’t sound happy about that,” Layla said. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

I sighed and decided to just come clean.

“What I wanted was for him not to be a domineering asshole who thinks it’s his right to spank women. Clearly, that’s something he’s going to expect and it’s not something I’m willing to do. So, I’m disappointed that we seemed to click over the phone, and I’m attracted to him, but nothing will ever happen.” Admitting it out loud to my friends felt good.

“Why can’t anything ever happen?” Mellie asked without judgment.

I paused for a moment to choose my words carefully. “It’s just not something I would ever agree to, Mellie. You told me you went into the relationship with Dixon fully consenting to the whole discipline thing you guys have going on, and that’s great for you. I guess. I still don’t really understand it. But I grew up with a father who demanded he be in charge and in control of every little thing in my life, even telling me what degree I had to pursue in college. And he wasn’t nice about it. It wasn’t until I graduated, cut ties with my family, and moved here that I felt like I had ownership of my own life. And I’m not willing to give that up.”

The ladies all sat silently, taking in what I’d said. I’d kept my past pretty vague, just saying I wasn’t close to my family, and moved to Walker’s Grove to start over. Which was the truth.

“Well, maybe Tobin isn’t the kind of man who wants to control you?” Mellie suggested, searching for a way to make this work for me. Now that she was in love, she wanted all her friends to join her in coupled bliss.

“If he tried to punish her the first time they met and they weren’t even dating, I wouldn’t put money on that,” Kenny said, ever the realist. She didn’t mince words or sugarcoat things.

“I can’t say much about how Tobin is now, but I know his father isn’t the type of man who controls his family with an iron fist. He was always respected and treated his wife well,” Layla added hopefully. “I guess you’ll just have to see how it goes.”

I shook my head. “There’s no seeing how it goes. I’m doing the job he’s hired me to do, and that’s it. Now let’s talk about this book.” I set down my glass and picked up my e-reader, hoping the rest of the group would follow my lead.

I couldn’t dissect Tobin’s intentions and actions any longer.

It didn’t matter what he wanted or what he did. He’d already showed me who he really was, and it was too much for me.