Page 70 of One Kind Hand

“You have no idea.”

“But I do have an idea,” she said. “I’m dying to see you too. You’re not opposed to other people being on this date for a bit, are you?”

He was, in fact, delighted if she wanted him to meet some of her friends. She’d met several of his friends at Wicked Gates. “Not at all.”

“Good. I promise it will be fun.”

If Charlie was going to be there, he had no doubt it would be.

****

Charlie angled one way then the other as she regarded herself in her bedroom mirror. Unfortunately cargo pants weren’t acceptable garb for Albero’s Restaurant where she was taking Austin tonight. She’d be back in her cargo pants, however, when she and her chopper made their movie debut. Even though she’d spent time with Austin on the set, it was still a little surreal that she’d be flying him around while cameras were rolling. She’d be able to go into a movie theater and watch her own chopper zip across the big screen.

Insane.

Dating a movie star was also insane, but she wasn’t about to stop. She’d thought about Austin all day, hoping filming was going well and that Cody wasn’t too upset about him being late. Watching Austin pop out of bed this morning and whip through getting ready had been almost comical. Like watching a child afraid of getting in trouble with a parent. She loved that Austin hadn’t tried to play it cool in front of her. He’d let her see him unravel a little and that made her feel closer to him.

She smoothed her hand down the silvery sweater she wore then brushed lint off a pair of black leggings. She’d made another trip to Cynthia’s Boutique between her flights today to pick up this outfit—and several others in hopes of more dates with Austin. Looking at her purchases hanging in her closet now, she expected to feel scorn for them. After all, shopping and fashion weren’t things often associated with Charlene Moyen. She generally ordered her cargo pants online and picked up her T-shirts at a small shop in Cheshire. She never tried anything on, always calling however things fit good enough for flying, rescuing, and hanging out. The woman in the mirror who stared back at her now, however, had taken the time to check sizes and think about what would look nice together.

What Austin might like.

She’d always believed she was immune to behaving like this. More unconcerned with what any man thought. Until she’d met this man. And she wasn’t necessarily dressing up for Austin. It was more like a self-improvement move. Something to make her feel good for herself. Isabel had once told her that a great pair of shoes could make a girl feel powerful. It made sense now.

The doorbell rang and Charlie closed her closet door. She put on her metal-studded leather cuff as she walked down the hallway, deeming it the right amount of Old School Charlie flair and nothing that would clash with New Order Charlie.

Opening the door, her shoulders sagged a bit to find Isabel and Jackson instead of Austin.

“Wow,” Jackson said. “Did you see that, Isabel?”

“The Look of Disappointment?” Isabel pursed her lips. “Yeah, I did. We’re at the bottom of the barrel, honey.”

Charlie clamped her hand on Isabel’s wrist and yanked her inside, taking Jackson with her because he was holding Isabel’s other hand. “You’re not at the bottom, guys.”

“Tell that to your shoulders,” Isabel said.

“Stop.” Charlie closed the door. “I don’t know why I thought it was going to be Austin anyway. He told me he was going to be late. He has to do some podcast interview.”

“Oh, the challenges of dating a movie star.” Jackson put his hand to his forehead.

Isabel did a little dance in the living room, her boot heels making a tap on the hardwood as she moved. “Our very own Charlie is dating a movie star! I’m still psyched about that.”

“I’m telling you right now,” Jackson said, “if you drool over this guy in front of me, I’m going to be deeply wounded.” He put his hand to his chest.

Isabel whirled around and threw herself into his arms. “I promise to only drool over you.”

“How about if no one drools over anybody so we don’t look like animals?” Charlie shrugged.

“Oh, look how cute!” Isabel clapped once. “Our Charlie doesn’t want us to be embarrassing in front of her movie star boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Is he? God, this thing between them had only been going on for a few days, but she did feel closer to Austin than she’d ever felt with any other guy she’d dated. She’d called other men boyfriends, but what she’d had with them paled in comparison to what she was currently experiencing with Austin.

“You’ve stayed overnight with him,” Isabel pointed out. “More than once. That fast-tracks him to boyfriend level.”

Jackson nodded as if that was common knowledge.

“Maybe.” Charlie chewed on her bottom lip. “This whole thing is crazy.”

“Don’t overthink it,” Isabel said. “You’re having fun, right?”