Of Fate & Forbidden Desire: Book One: The Gatekeeper Duet by Brown Maggie

Author:Brown, Maggie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Browns Publishing
Published: 2024-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

When life gives you lemons and all that jazz. -Charleene

There were a couple of moments where neither of us spoke, me staring at the carpet and her presumably staring at the top of my head.

“Oh, sorry,” she said after what felt like an hour, but had probably only been a couple of seconds. Her tone changed in an instant, reminding me more of the kind, helpful woman I’d met previously instead of the grumpy bear she’d just been.

“It’s ok, it is early,” I mumbled at the floor. Taking a deep breath and finding the courage I used to wield in York as a waitress, I pulled my face up and met her eyes again, “I’m Charleene, we met in York briefly. Dina says you’re coming with us today?”

Instead of being the strong statement I’d wanted, my words sounded more like a question even to my own ears, making me blush as my lips turned up in a hesitant smile and I shuffled from foot to foot waiting for her to answer.

“I guess we are,” she responded smiling back, “is coffee still an option?”

Smiling wider, my head bobbed up and down, as I thrust the last cup at her.

“I didn’t know how you take it, so I brought milk and sugar.” Digging into the pockets of my coat, I didn’t even notice she’d moved from the door until she spoke again.

“Come in, Jace should arrive soon,” she explained kindly, before closing the door behind me.

“Yeah, he said as much when I gave him his cup,” I said, finding my cheeks heating as a deeper blush stained them. Why couldn’t I get my shit together around these two? I berated silently, mentally kicking myself for acting like a complete idiot.

“It’s ok you know, he has that effect on all women,” she says, offering me a conspiratorial smile, like it was a normal occurrence to have women blushing over her friend.

“It’s not that, I’m not...” I choked out in a squeak, before deciding just to let the subject drop as I walked over to join her at the sofa. Finally finding all the packets of sugar and milk I’d rammed into my pocket, I tipped them onto the low coffee table between the two sofas.

Her laugh surprised me and I found myself frowning over at her, wondering what I’d done that was so funny. “What did you do, steal all their condiments?” she said in explanation, making me snort a small laugh as I looked over the mountain of condiments.

“Maybe,” I agreed, slipping my coat off. Another burst of laughter came from the woman opposite me as she read the slogan on my shirt, ‘Fuck this life’ it read and summed up exactly how I’d felt this morning when getting ready. At least she has a sense of humour, I thought, wondering what to say next as the silence grew between us.

“Dina says your Fae?” I suddenly blurted, before slapping my hand over my mouth, as though the action could take back the words.

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