The Grand Duel (The Grand Men #4)

Chapter 39

THIRTY-NINE

Charlie

I park my car on a side street and walk to The Nightingale, standing on the opposite side of the road as I wait for Lissie.

I never thought I’d lose the need to walk inside of those doors and indulge in mindless sex.

The fact I’ve only realised how little I’ve thought about the club until standing in front of it now says a lot.

I’ve not missed it.

Mostly because Lissie hasn’t given me a chance to.

I’ve not been able to stop thinking about the way she touched me on the porch. How it made me feel and how there wasn’t a second of hesitation in my mind that it was what I wanted.

It’s more than that, though. It’s how she went about touching me. Testing my boundaries so carefully in a way I despise and yet appreciate. Knowing it’s new and not pushing, despite how much I wish she would—how badly I need her to push me further.

I never knew I’d want or need to change the way I lived my life, the idea of it a month ago would have felt impossible, but now?

It feels easy.

And not because it’s not new and terrifying and I have no idea how to navigate a relationship, but because of her. My Lissie girl. Who will stand in front of me naked from a shower with not one single expectation, just a hand held out. Who will pen the notes that fall from her brilliant mind with the only goal to make my day run smoother. And it’s that. That lack of reasoning or knowledge of how much she’s changing me without even meaning or wanting to.

I put off telling Lissie about our night at the club because I wasn’t ready to share that part of my life with anyone, but also, if I let myself truly think about it, I think I wanted her to know me . Not the man who was with her in the club, or even the man I’m standing here pretending to be now, but the man lost beneath it all.

I was wrong and stupid not to give her the opportunity to try to understand it all.

To understand me.

Because ironically, I think she might.

She appears from the club with her head down, her focus on her phone. I wonder what it is that has her attention, but then her head lifts, and she looks right at me.

She tries for a smile, but it dies somewhere on her lips.

Her steps don’t falter as she makes her way towards me, crossing the road with what I think might be urgency.

When she reaches me, she steps straight into my chest and wraps her arms around my waist. “Tired, Lissie girl?”

She nods.

Which would be fine if she wasn’t the most talkative woman I’ve ever met.

I swallow back the aching worry rising in my throat and take hold of her chin, tilting her head up. “You called earlier than I expected. What’s wrong?”

Her eyes shine, a gleam in them that I’m almost certain wasn’t there when she crossed the road.

She swallows, the yellow flecks in her brown eyes glittering, making them glow. I frown. “Who made you sad, Lis?”

“Can we go home?”

My body stiffens as a spear of heat is blasted throughout my chest. “Is it someone in the club?” I take a step back, ready to walk around her and cross the road.

“No. No, it’s nothing to do with the club. I just want to go home.” She puts her hand on my chest. “Or with you. I just want to be with you right now.”

I run my hand up her arm and cover her hand, entangling her cold fingers with mine. “Did someone hurt you?”

She shakes her head quickly, and the knot in my gut loosens, but then she swallows again, forcing a smile. “Not physically,” she says, as if trying to pacify me.

As if the fact she hasn’t been physically hurt makes it okay.

“Do I need to beat the shit out of someone right now, Lissie?” I ask, pulling her into me. “Is it me? Do I need to beat the shit out of myself?” I point to my chest, and she grabs my hand.

“No,” she says with a smile, a real one, falling into me again. “Take me home, Charles, please.”

I look down at her, trying to figure it out, wondering if I look hard enough, I’ll find whatever it is that’s wrong.

I’ve not known her long enough to know all the answers, but I want to. I want to know and to make it better and to make sure it’s never going to happen again.

I nod and reach for her bag, taking it from her.

She steps back and out of my hold, walking to the passenger side. I catch up to her at the door and open it. Once she’s sitting inside the car, I quickly pull my phone out and fire off a text.

When I get back in the car, I reach into the back seat and grab the blanket I brought with me from home. “Here. Your heated seat is on, but it’s always freezing outside after leaving the club.”

The place is like a sauna on the upper levels.

She puts the blanket over her legs, tucking it under her thighs, and leans back in the seat. “You’re an actual angel, Charles.” She looks up at me, the corners of her mouth lifting. “Thank you.”

My phone pings, but I ignore it, just watching her as she looks down, a frown following and marring her brow.

I follow her gaze to my car’s touch screen and read the message displayed.

Nina

Probably carby food, wine, and a hot bath. Is Lissie okay?

“I…uh…” Crap . “I wasn’t sure what would make you feel better so I…I?—”

“You texted Nina?”

“Sorry, Lissie. This is all new for me. I know I should be able to figure it out.” I point at the screen. “Doesn’t seem as complex as I expected either.”

Her lip twitches. “It’s surprisingly simple actually, Charles.” She leans over the car and kisses my cheek. “You’re better at this than you think, you know.”

“I am?”

She nods. “Perfectly so.” Sitting back in her seat, she sighs, as if letting go of a weight. “Tell me about your evening. Are you feeling better now after everything with Lance today?”

My brows lift as I contemplate it. “I don’t know how I feel about it if I’m being honest, but I know that this is the right thing for Scarlet. What she needs to move forward.”

“I think it’s the right thing, too,” she says. “For you all.”

I smile despite the way my chest grows heavy, and then try to change the subject. “I went out to the cottage tonight. They’ve finished the main bathroom, and the bedroom is ready to paint.”

“Already? They’ve finished the bathroom?”

I look across at her and nod, loving how excited she gets about the place. “I’ll take you out to see it on the weekend. They delivered the new mattress, but the furniture is being delivered on?—”

“Take me now,” she cuts me off. “Please. Can we get the girls and go tonight? I want to see.”

“It’s late, Lis.” I look at the clock. “Do you not want to get to bed?”

“No. I want to see the house. I want to see what you’re doing with the place.” Her lips twist. “I want carbs and wine and a steaming hot bath.”

I look across at her and give her a look. “You want to christen my bath before me?”

She bites her lip, taming her smile. “We could christen it together.”

I feel my face burn up and look out of the window, already knowing I’m going to take her there.

“We’ll have to get the dogs.” I consider leaving them at home until we get back, but it could be a while, and I hate leaving them. “And towels. You’ll need a towel and your girly stuff if you’re going to use the bath. I don’t have anything yet?—”

“It’s fine, Charles,” she tells me, and I know she’s smiling without looking over at her. “I have an overnight bag with my things.”

I look over at her anyway.

“They’ve started work on the kitchen?”

“I asked them to get all structural work done. Nothing is quite finished, bar the bathroom today, but at least this way I can start painting at the weekends.”

Her eyes spark with her excitement. “I’m so excited for you. It’s going to be perfect. I already love what you’ve done.” She looks up at me. “You’re making it your own.”

“I’m trying.”

Daisy and Luna paw at the back door, and I cross the room and let them out, a sense of pride sitting on my chest at the fact she likes what I’m doing with the house.

Most of it, if not all, is her ideas.

I walk to where she’s standing and smile down at her, knowing the agonising few hours I spent waiting for her shift to finish were well worth it just to have her here with me now. “Do you want your pizza now or after your bath?” I ask, my stare lost.

She pulls me closer by my T-shirt. “Is there an option to have it in the bath?”

“You can have it whenever wherever you like.” I wrap her in my arms. “But the tub is huge and will probably take a while to fill.”

“Well then, let’s take it with us. You can show me what they’ve done upstairs whilst we wait.”

I reluctantly let her out of my grasp and follow her up the stairs, the smell of her barbecue chicken pizza making my mouth water despite the ungodly hour.

She pushes open the door to the bathroom and stops short.

I can’t help my grin.

“Charles.”

“Looks good, doesn’t it?”

“Good?” She walks across the wooden floors, her eyes catching on different parts of the room. “It’s beautiful. Opening up the window was perfect, that view is going to be incredible in the daytime.”

I nod, my gaze not leaving her. “It is incredible.”

She turns to face me, her smile full of emotion. “Are you happy? Can you see yourself here? I can. It’s you. It’s so, so you, Charles.”

Her excitement makes my gut twist up, and it’s because of it that I don’t manage an answer.

She places the pizza on the towel cabinet and crosses the room to where I stand. The second she’s close enough, I pull her into me again.

“I love it,” I finally manage.

She grins up at me from the hold I have on her. “You know, when I told Mason that I wanted to do this and buy the house for you like he did the penthouse, I was so worried you’d be too angry at me to see it for what it is.” She bites her lip, as if a little flustered. “I knew you wouldn’t hate it. I was sure, and Mason confirmed that, but I didn’t know if you’d let yourself have something solely for you.”

“I guess you chose well,” I tell her. “That and the fact there seems to be something about you that makes it impossible to say no.”

“My pretty face?” She chuckles.

“No, although it is perfect.”

“Is this your way of telling me I officially have you by the balls?”

I snigger, and she wraps her arms around my back, smiling into my chest.

God, this feels too good.

“Mason said something to me when we first came to look around. He said that the house would be perfect for you because it needs love. That it’s what you’re good at.” She looks up at the beams, the lights hanging from the vaulted ceiling. “I’m so glad you let yourself have this, Charlie. You deserve it, and in time, the love it’s going to give back to you.”

I roll my lips, wetting them in the hope the distraction will slow my heart as it thumps in my chest.

I want to kiss her.

I want to love her and for her to love me back.

“You know, the world would be a devastating place without you in it, Lis.” I push a lock of her hair back off her face, tucking it behind her ear. “What you said in Italy that night, about your mum and dad having you when they shouldn’t have.” I shake my head slightly, my frown low. “I want you to know that, fine, maybe the world wouldn’t know any better to the loss, but I would. My life would be nothing had Lissie Elton not walked into it.” I swallow, searching her eyes as my gut twists. “And I want you to be mine. I want you to make this place a home with me. I know we’ve not figured this thing out between us, but it’s not taking much effort. I’m falling for you, and it’s like nothing I expected. I can’t explain it other than to call it easy—which is ridiculous, I know, but I thought it would be impossible, and it’s not. Not at all. Not with you.” I swipe the tear that falls from her eye with my thumb. “Will you be my girlfriend, Lissie?”

Her eyes widen, and then she nods, as if not being able to speak.

Fuck .

I smile, my face splitting in two. “Don’t go quiet on me now, baby.”

“You shocked me.”

“This wasn’t planned.” I run my hands over her waist and down to her hips. “But I can’t go another day not having you know how I feel.”

She stares up at me, happiness shining in her eyes. “Can I kiss you? I really want to kiss you right now.”

I shake my head. “My girl doesn’t ask to kiss me. If she wants me, I’m hers. And if I want her…” I lift my hand and run my thumb over her jaw, tilting her head as I bury my hand in her hair. “Then she’s mine.”

Lissie doesn’t lean in or move as I lower my head and tentatively take her mouth with my own.

I frown as our lips meet, hers softer than I ever imagined they’d feel, and instantly, I need more of them. Of her. I deepen the kiss, groaning into her mouth as she kisses me back, her hands running up my chest and into my hair. When her lips part, I dip inside, brushing my tongue along hers. My legs sway, the beat of my heart probably not all that right.

But this is right.

Me and her.

This.

I’d like to think I’m a gentleman, but as Lissie pulls back, I chase her, her lips curling against my mouth when I demand more.

She places short, quick kisses to my lips, and I let her. God, I let her. There’s an ache that starts at the centre of my chest and ends at my fingertips, and it belongs to her. It’s there because of her.

“I—” Kiss. “Don’t know—” Kiss. “Why—” Kiss. “I waited so long to?—”

She chuckles as I trail off and swipe my tongue through her mouth again, loving how it feels. How she feels. Wet and warm. Soft and sweet. Perfect. “You’re perfect.”

I lift her, her legs wrapping around my waist as I place her between the sinks. We don’t break the kiss for even a second, and we stay like that for a long time, until I’m breathless and lost and painfully hard.

My eyes search hers then drop to her swollen lips.

I’m so fucking lost to this woman.

Not being able to resist, I kiss her again, long and hard, our lips dragging away as I nudge her nose with mine, our brows meeting.

“Wasn’t so bad,” she rasps. “Was it?”

“It’s catastrophic, Lissie girl.”

She frowns up at me. “Why?”

“Because I’m never going to be able to stop. Because the idea of kissing these lips whenever I want to, especially when I’m deep inside of you—” I kiss her. “Makes me a dangerous man.”

She shakes her head. “Well then, I’m waving my white flag. I surrender.”

“Your white flag?” I ask, a smile taking over my face.

“Why’s that funny?”

“I just presumed it would be cream.” I smirk as I lean in.

She laughs against my mouth, our kiss barely that but something.

It’s something.