Sunrise Kisses (The Kisses 8)

“Amazing, right?” Charlotte asked, licking her lips. Somehow, the petite girl had managed to stuff almost the entire patty into her mouth.

“Mm hmm,” I responded, not wanting to talk. All I wanted to do was shovel more food into my mouth, with possible breaks for more drink.

“So, anyway,” Charlotte continued after a moment of chewing. “Bastian.”

“Do I really want to know this?” I asked, pausing to take a sip of my drink.

“The last time he got close to someone, she ripped his heart out and stomped on it with cleats. He had fallen hard for her, but she was just stringing him along.” She shrugged. “It was before he got rich, but he's the kind of guy that's good to have around so she led him on a leash. The two of them had very different goals. He wanted a family and she wanted fun.”

“He wants a family?” My stomach did a little happy dance. I wanted a family. I had always wanted a family. Maybe a little bit of travel before having kids, but I wanted the white picket fence and everything that came with it. I wanted it, but my heart was still to fresh from being stomped on to believe I would ever get it.

“Yes, and from the stupid happy look on your face, you do too, so that's good.” Charlotte took a big sip of her drink. “Anyway, the girl was sleeping around on him. Everyone saw it coming but him. It was a big part of how Kindling Dating was started.”

“I thought you said he just did the logistics?” I stared down at my empty plate and wished I had more. That had been absolutely fantastic.

“Leo and Gabriel had the original idea, but he was the one who turned it into reality,” Charlotte explained. I liked that she used her hands to talk. It made her easy to read. “He wanted to make sure that people found the people they were looking for instead of just randomly hoping to run into someone compatible.”

“Does he use the service himself? I mean, if that was his goal...”

“Honestly, he's too busy,” Charlotte replied. “We both are. And, since he deals with the inner workings of it all, he's rather jaded on the whole thing. It's lost a lot of i

t's magic for him.”

“I could see how that could happen,” I replied, licking my fingers. “He would see all the failures and why people didn't work out. It probably helps him make the whole thing work better.”

“It does, but at a price,” Charlotte admitted. “Honestly, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see him look at a female and smile.”

I rather liked him smiling at me, too. I took a sip of my drink, feeling a happy burn deep down in the pit of my stomach. “Enough about Bastian for now. Tell me about this Leo person.” I waggled my eyebrows at her, ready to find out more about her secret crush.

Charlotte's face paled and her eyes went wide as she looked into the bar behind me.

“Are you okay?” I set my drink down, thinking I had made a serious error. I wanted her to be my friend. “You don't have to talk about him if you don't want to.”

“No, no...” she whispered, shaking her head but staring past me. “He's here.”

“What?” I turned to see an attractive man in nice khaki's and a polo shirt walking up to the bar and greeting Elijah. He was tall, but well built with untamed hair and big eyes. He was definitely a looker.

“Oh, he's cute,” I murmured appreciatively.

“He's mine,” Charlotte growled. As soon as she said the words, her eyes went wider and she clapped two hands over her mouth.

“Relax, tiger.” I giggled, a little loopy from the alcohol in my drink. “I'm still gun shy and he's not my type.”

Charlotte dropped her hands. “Oh, god. He's coming this way...”

I giggled again. For being a spitfire billionaire's assistant who seemed like she could handle anything, a cute guy walking in her direction sure had her vexed.

“Hello ladies,” said the man, coming up to our table. Charlotte looked like she might throw up. “May I join you? I don't want to intrude, but it's a busy night at the bar.”

I looked around to see that every table had a patron. Considering how good my drink was, I wasn't surprised.

“You're not intruding at all,” I replied smoothly. Charlotte's eyes were about ready to pop out of their sockets. “Please join us.”

I heard a metallic ping and Charlotte's lips thinned. I tried not to giggle, but I realized she had meant to kick me and had kicked the table instead. Served her right.

“Are you okay, Charlotte?” Leo asked, pulling out a chair and siting down.

“Fine,” she replied, her voice just a little too squeaky as she glared daggers in my direction. “I just bit my tongue.”