Page 21 of One More Time

‘I’m going to be helping Dad out at his office.’ He offered Grace a sideways glance. ‘There’s a lot of money to be made in insurance.’

Grace nodded. ‘I see.’ Her drink arrived on the bar, and Grace clutched it and took a long sip.

Charlie grabbed his glass and did the same.

Rodger rocked back on his heels. ‘So how about you, Wilson. What’s on the cards for you?’

Charlie drew in a slow breath. ‘Not sure. That’s a little up in the air.’ It wasn’t. Not in the slightest. He had plans on how he was going to spend his savings and what he might like to do for work, but it all depended on what happened tonight.

‘Well, I hope everything pans out for you.’

Charlie raised his glass. ‘Cheers to that.’

A woman in a skin-tight miniskirt arrived at Rodger’s side. ‘Have you got my drink yet, babes?’ A little unsteady in her heels, she clutched his arm as if trying to remain upright.

Charlie had to fight from fist-punching the air – Rodger had a girlfriend, one who was vaguely familiar. If his memory served him right, she’d been a couple of grades below them at school. He looked to Grace to gauge her response just as she flashed the tipsy woman a bright smile – too bright for it to be genuine, but he also knew he could be reading into things that weren’t even there.

‘I’d best order our drinks, then,’ Rodger said before turning to Grace. ‘Nice to see you.’

‘Yes, you too.’ She turned her back to Rodger now, taking hold of Charlie’s hand. ‘Let’s finish these then head back to the dance floor.’

Charlie wasn’t about to destroy what had been a perfect night by asking her about Rodger – something told him it was a sore subject – so he nodded, and turned his focus back on what he was planning to do. There was always tomorrow to ask the hard questions, if he still felt the need, but for now he wasn’t going to let anything ruin this moment.

An hour later, the thump of the disco music echoed in the men’s bathroom. Charlie washed his hands and quickly checked his reflection in the mirror, cursing beneath his breath when he noticed one sideburn was a little longer than the other. It wasn’t like he could fix it now, though. And besides, he had a gorgeous woman to sweep off her feet before the night’s end. He’d promised Victor that he’d look after her. So back out he went, straight over to where he’d reluctantly left Grace boogying on the dance floor. The Bee Gees song was fast and he swung into it without missing a beat. Grace bopped around him, looking pretty as a picture, as always. He grabbed her hand, spun her under his arm and around him, bringing her hard up against him as he did. They remained like this for a few beats then, once again, they were jiving.

‘This is going to help us work off all that pizza and pasta we ate,’ Grace shouted over the music.

‘It sure is,’ he hollered back.

Charlie was smooth as he continued to twirl her, making sure to never let her hand go. Each time she spun back toward him, he’d either catch her with her back to him, so he could lower his head to her shoulder and hold her to him as they moved in time to the music, or he’d bring her back to face him, so he could connect with her through the sparkling windows of her eyes to her spirited soul. Then he’d release her again and she’d float as if on air, her head tilted back as she laughed, and her eyes filled with nothing but him. Never in his life had he felt so desired, so worthy, so loved. She was the reason for his reluctance to return to the only other thing that had ever given him purpose. She was the reason he’d chosen to stay. She was his reason. Somewhere between deliberately running into her at the café, to now, he’d fallen madly, deeply, unconditionally in love with her, and he couldn’t imagine a day without her by his side.

As the tempo slowed, he pulled her closer, possessively so. She inhaled a sharp breath and, with a wisp of a smile upon her glossy lips, moulded into him. Swaying her around the dance floor with her head pressed up against his chest, he made sure there was not an inch between them. Her hair smelt of wildflowers and her skin was silk beneath his fingertips. He wanted to stay like this for a lifetime, to never leave her side.

Nearing the end of the melody, he dipped her in one smooth motion then brought her back to him, bringing his lips to hers. Her kiss was as sweet as it always was. Reaching up on her tippy toes, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and deepened their kiss, their connection – it felt so good, so right. It was in this magical moment, beneath the sparkle of the disco ball, he realised the certain something that he had always felt was missing for all of his life had fluttered through his heart, landed and fallen into perfect place.

This dreamlike moment was the right one, so he took a breath and dropped to his knee.

Grace froze, then her hand came to cover her mouth.

People around them realised what was happening and stopped dancing. A circle began to form. Behind Grace, Rodger stepped from the gathering crowd, his arms folded and his brows deeply furrowed. If looks could kill, Charlie would have been dead. But he didn’t give two hoots what Rodger Burrows thought. Grace was his, and he was about to make it official. There’d be no way Rodger was ever going to steal his girl. He was going to make damn sure of it.

‘Grace Denver.’ Pulling the lilac velvet box from his back pocket, he flipped the top open, revealing the diamond ring his grandma had helped him choose. ‘Will you marry me?’

The tender look on her face caressed his shadowed soul.

Grace stared for a few breath-held seconds as tears sprang to her eyes, then threw her arms high. ‘Yes, Charlie Wilson, of course I’ll marry you.’ Her eyes wide, she squealed as she leapt on him, her arms and legs wrapping around him as they fell backward, with Charlie making sure to be the one to take the brunt of the fall. ‘I didn’t think this night could get any better,’ she said, right before kissing his cheek what felt like a hundred times.

Holding her close, Charlie felt like the luckiest man alive, and then some.

She sat up and he slipped the ring onto her finger. She held it up and admired the princess-cut diamond from every angle. ‘Oh my goodness, Charlie, this is absolutely beautiful.’ Straddling him, she beamed to the crowd gathered around them. ‘Hey, everyone! It looks like I’m going to be Mrs Charlie Wilson.’

All but one of the partygoers erupted in cheers. Wrapped up in the moment, Charlie hardly registered the wild look on Rodger Burrow’s face, and couldn’t make out the heated words growled beneath the man’s breath, but Charlie didn’t care. Consumed by the happiness written all over Grace’s pretty face, Charlie thought about what was to come next – her smile was going to be that little bit wider when he gave her the gift he was planning for their wedding day. As long as everything fell into place, he was going to make all of this amazing woman’s dreams come true.

CHAPTER

7

July 1976