A Charm Like You

Book 5: Charmed in Texas

by Sharla Lovelace

Genres: Women's Fiction

Synopsis

Even in a quirky small town like Charmed, Texas, there’s always room for love to take you by surprise . . .
 
Gabi Graham might have hit the proverbial rock in rock-bottom. Hitting the single scene after ten years is hard enough. Finding out that her cheating ex-husband and his new barely-legal fiancée are expecting—that’s enough to drive Gabi over the edge and into a neighboring town’s divorce support group. It’s not really her thing to listen to anonymous strangers bash their exes, but at least there are cookies. And a sexy fellow newcomer who ignites her long-dormant libido. Spending a few lustful, post-meeting moments in Hot Guy’s truck can’t hurt. Unless, of course, Hot Guy turns out to be Thatcher Roman—her best friend’s brother and Gabi’s silent business partner.
 
Thatcher had no idea that the wildflower farm owner he’s been doing business with over email is the nameless woman who’s barreled into his life and his fantasies. He and Gabi have a new venture to run, a sister and best friend in the middle, and enough sparks between them to light up the entire town of Charmed. Given her past, it’s no wonder smart, gorgeous Gabi has trust issues. But maybe what they’ve found is more than just coincidence and chemistry. It might even be the beginning of one sweet, amazing second chance . . .

Release date: December 25, 2018

Publisher: Lyrical Press

Print pages: 240

Sample

CHAPTER ONE

I made a cursory sweep through the parking lot, then escaped out the side exit to circle the block so it wouldn’t look like I needed to be there.

I didn’t need it.

I just needed to not murder my ex-husband, and this was a means to that end—according to my mother.

Divorce.

A word so diabolical that it has group meetings to keep nice, normal people like me from becoming homicidal. Or at least that was my reason. I couldn’t imagine why else anyone would want to spend a Thursday night listening to strangers whine about their lives. As I peered at the office building in front of me, windows glowing with warm light, that’s what I pictured inside. Sad, depressed, bitter, whiny people.

That wasn’t me.

There’d better be cookies.

“Well, this should be fun,” I said under my breath as I turned off the ignition.

I dropped my keys into a big shoulder bag large enough to dive into or fake-pull important things out of if things got too hairy, and opened the door to the damp, chilly, January air. Was it my imagination, or was it colder here in Denning?

My little town of Charmed, Texas, may only be fifteen minutes down the highway, but it sure felt chillier here. Open. Exposed. Also, anonymous. I could have probably found a group there at home if I’d looked hard enough, but I’d much rather not sit around airing my dirty laundry to people I went to kindergarten with. Or customers from my family’s business, Graham’s Florist. Or friends of my sister, or friends of the butcher’s neighbor’s first cousin twice removed. Charmed was gossip-heavy enough without adding my extracurricular activities.

I pulled my hoodie tighter around me and zipped it up, listening to the squeak of my sneakers on the wet pavement.

Yeah, I’d gone all out for this escapade. A T-shirt, jeans, a purple hoodie jacket I’d stolen from my sister because I loved the color, and sneakers that had probably seen better days since I started wearing them to cultivate my new wildflower field. I figured meeting up with bitter people required comfort, and besides, I wanted to blend. Like—into the furniture if I could at all help it.

There was a large darkish truck parked right at the building’s entrance, still running with someone sitting at the wheel. Probably someone who came early to score a good parking spot, but knew he could wait till the last possible second and still score a cookie.

Just as I made it past his bumper, however, the engine cut and the driver door opened, blocking my path and sending a momentary shot of panic through my chest. Time slowed down and my steps halted as my eyes darted around in the dark for a graceful reroute. Lifetime movies and after-school specials ran through my mind on fast-forward. What kind of responsible female walked right up beside a stranger’s vehicle like that? What was I thinking?

Over six feet of black boots, dark jeans, and a black leather jacket stepped out then, the man wearing them stopping at the sight of me twitching in indecision.

“Sorry,” he said, glancing from the door to me. He moved out of the way quickly and shut his door so I could pass.

“No problem,” I said, trying not to do a double-take as I gave him a polite smile on my way by.

Good God, if he had been out to kill me, I would have been easy prey, smiling like a smitten girl instead of keeping my guard up, or—hey, how about going another direction.

The man was hot, in that unassuming way some people have when they have no idea just how hot they are. Short brown hair and sharp, kind eyes registered with me in the few seconds we looked at each other, as well as the slight aroma of something woodsy. Like he’d sprayed one spritz of it that morning and it was still barely there. Or it was just soap and I was fantasizing way too much into it.

I fantasized a lot lately, since after ten years of marriage, six of which I spent with my legs in the air trying to conceive before we found out we couldn’t—or that I couldn’t—my now-ex-husband left me for the twenty-one-year-old he was screwing at the office. A girl I’d babysat for when I was fifteen and she was a toddler. Missing signs like that clearly signified that my judgment was too flawed and damaged to trust myself with real people.

I scooted past Hot Guy, shaking my head. Get a grip, Gabi. I stepped up onto the wooden walkway, and headed toward the door that sported Aspen Aldridge, Orthodontic Surgeon emblazoned on a sign. I felt his boots hit the wood a few steps behind me, and I refused to turn around and look paranoid. Keep moving. The door opened for me when I reached for the knob, as a stunning woman with short dark hair and a loose sexy pink sweater over perky braless boobs gave her apologies with a smile and a bigger one for my new shadow.

“Hi!” she said, casting her gaze past me to the golden boy back there. She dipped her head with a tilt and a husky chuckle. Seductress 101. Her big blue eyes shifted to me then as she probably realized the lump in front of him was breathing. “Hello!” she said, holding out a hand. “I’m Aspen! Welcome!”

“You’re the doctor?” I asked, pointing at the sign.

“Guilty,” she said, rolling her eyes and grinning.

“How are you tonight?” Hot Guy said from behind me, the deep rumble of his voice surprising me.

“I’m wonderful,” she said, laying a hand against the swell of her breasts as if he’d just offered her the moon. My orthodontist never looked like her. Mine had pock marks on his face and chronic halitosis. I could imagine teenage boys all over Denning begging for braces and popping bands on purpose just to have the good doctor leaning in close and putting her fingers in their mouths.

“Hi,” I said, holding out my hand. “I’m—”

“Nope,” she said, Gabi Graham sticking in my throat as she stopped me with a hand up like a traffic cop. “No real names here.”

I felt my eyebrows raise. “No—what?”

Aspen pointed to a table a few feet away where an elderly lady with a long white side-ponytail was arranging things. “Adelaide will show you. There are name tags and colored markers. We use pretend names to protect the innocent.” She laughed at her own joke. “Seriously, it’s just a way to be whoever you want for the night, so have fun with it.”

I pointed to her nameplate on the door. “You don’t play?”

She shrugged endearingly. “I used to, but once I started hosting…well, it’s hard to be anonymous when you’re hosting in your own office.” She winked and laid a hand on Hot Guy’s arm as she moved on. “Will you excuse me? I need to get something from my car.”

I knew that was really flirt code for hey big boy, can you come help me with your big strong muscles, but he didn’t seem to pick up on it. His expression said that he’d probably had a long day and wasn’t in the mood to be a packhorse. I gave him a quick once-over when he turned his head, and I had to agree. He was too shiny to be a packhorse. In fact, as I glanced around the room at the three other men and possibly a dozen women—all looking like they were going out on the town afterward—I suddenly felt like a street urchin. Thank God I’d at least put on a face and didn’t go with the hair-up-in-a-hat idea I’d originally planned.

“Um, I just remembered I have a thing,” I said, turning back for the door.

“I don’t think so,” Hot Guy said, looping a finger in the hood of my hoodie.

“What the—”

“Don’t leave me here with the vultures,” he said under his breath, giving the material a gentle tug. “The newbie spotlight isn’t as hot if it’s spread out.”

I blinked up at him. Was Hot Guy flirting with me? “You seem pretty able to hold your own. I think Dentist Barbie back there would probably hold your hand if you got scared.”

“Hey, you two,” said a loud, gruff voice suddenly at my right, making me jump.

“Shit,” I muttered.

“Sorry,” the sweet-looking white-ponytailed lady said, patting my arm as she worked at peeling a nametag sticker from its backing. “I have that effect. Welcome to life after signing I don’t. We’re a pretty friendly group, but a few really like to talk and they can get annoying. Are you big talkers?”

Both of us shook our heads as if on command.

“Now, you’re welcome to share anything you want, or just listen, that’s good too,” she said. “I wish some people would just listen now and then.” She cut her eyes toward a cluster of women probably in their forties who were dressed like they were twenty-one and club-hopping. “Aspen hosts us now, and she likes us to make up silly names instead of using our own.” She slapped hers onto her shirt, patting it a couple of times. It said CHER.

“I thought she said you were Adelaide,” I said.

“Not tonight,” she said. “Tonight, I’m Cher.”

I nodded. “Cool, can I be Madonna?”

Cher just looked at me. “No.” Her eyes took me in, head to toe. “Lois Lane.”

I coughed. “What? Do I look like a Lois Lane to you?”

“No, you look like you need a little boost,” she said, turning around to grab a couple of tags and a marker. “And you?” she said, eyeing Hot Guy and scribbling onto another nametag. She peeled mine off and patted it onto my jacket, doing the same with his.

In all caps, his read Clark Kent.

“Really?” I said.

“All that perfection, but he’s at a divorce group,” she said. “So, pick your mask, but he’s hiding something.”

“He’s—right here,” Hot Guy—er—Clark said, holding up a finger. “Then again,” he added, peeling the tag off his jacket. “He’s not.”

“Oh, no no no,” I said softly, looping my arm through his as he turned on his heel, momentum pulling me with him a step as he headed for the door. “Vultures. Spotlights. Remember those?”

“You were leaving two seconds ago,” he said.

“And now it’s kind of a challenge, Superman,” I said. “Come on, if I can be told I’m so homely I need a boost, then you can handle a little criticism.”

“No criticism,” Cher said. “I’m just saying if anyone says they wouldn’t like to see GQ Superman here with a little scruff, shirt sleeves up, and faded jeans, they’re lying.”

There were no words as Superman and I stood there gaping at her.

“Anyway, there’s cookies if you hurry,” Cher said in a loud whisper, backhanding me in the arm.

I spurred back into movement, holding up a hand. “And there’s cookies.”

“But you have to hurry,” she repeated. “I brought them, but people are going to scavenge them quickly. Aspen only brings healthy shit.”

“Seriously?” I said. “To a divorce group crowd? Shouldn’t it be like brownies and ice cream and—”

“An ice cream bar,” Superman said. “With glasses and root beer so people can make—”

“Oh my God, ice cream floats,” I said. “My best friend makes me one every time I’m having a horrible day. Can you imagine how mellow everyone would be at this if they got to slurp on an ice cream float while they sit there?”

A low, rumbling laugh made his eyes crinkle at the corners, and the sight made my insides go all warm. In the light of the room, he had morphed from just simply hot to drop dead scorching. Short, no-nonsense hair, eyes that flickered between light brown and hazel. Chiseled everything and clean shaven, not one wrinkle in the black button-down shirt he wore when he slid the jacket off, evidently giving in to stay. I felt the group sigh of every woman in the room, and on that point, I was actually on their side. Whoever he was, he was beautiful.

“Does sound like a good idea,” Cher said. “When Aspen took over hosting a couple of months ago, it went from donuts and cookies to fruit and vegetable trays.”

I turned to see Aspen come back in toting a large fresh fruit tray, stunning in all the vibrant colors. The fruit, not Aspen, although she ran a close second.

“That’s awful,” I mumbled under my breath. “I mean, it’s pretty, but you can’t eat pretty.”

“That needs to be on a bumper sticker,” he said, attempting to reapply the nametag to his shirt.

“No,” I said, pulling it off. “It’s all mangled. Let’s do a new one.” I grabbed a blank tag. “Are you sure you want to stick with Clark?”

“It wasn’t my idea,” he said. “Kathy Bates over there nailed it on me with her hidden mallet.”

I laughed and covered my mouth. “She is scary.”

“You have a better idea?” he asked. “Go for it.”

“Elmer Fudd?”

“Really?”

“Popeye?”

He gave a slow grin. “Only if you’re Olive.”

Little tingles shot to my belly.

Nope. There would be no tingles tonight. I may be off men for the next ten years, but I wasn’t off sex, and I didn’t need to be tingling toward anything naked with a man from a divorce group meeting that I might have to face again. That was not only baggage meeting baggage, but the Titanic meeting the iceberg.

“Oh, I’m nobody’s Olive,” I said. “I’m not even crazy about being anyone’s Lois. I’d rather be a Jane Doe and be on my own.”

“Please,” he said. “You’re about as Jane Doe as I am.” His gaze slid over me quickly. “And she called me out for hiding. You should have gone for Wonder Woman.”

I frowned. “You think I’m hiding? Dude, you don’t even know me.”

Two palms went up. “No, I don’t. So, let’s just go back to where this was easy. Make me Clark Kent again, and let’s eat.”

“Works for me,” I said, feeling some of the flirty fun fizzle away as I wrote up the new tag.

Hiding, my ass.

I slapped it against his chest, and patted it for good measure, completely ignoring the heat coming through the fabric.

He looked down and then at me. “You okay?”

“I’m awesome,” I said, flashing a smile that felt about as genuine as most of the boobs in this room.

“Did you completely miss the Wonder Woman comment?” he asked.

I blinked up at him. Yeah, I kinda had.

Still.

“Come on. Lois needs a cookie.”

He sighed heavily and walked to the cookie tray that four other people had already descended upon, ignoring the brightly colored fruit, and scooped up four. Pressing a chocolate chip cookie into my hand, he shoved a snickerdoodle one into my mouth.

“Let’s sit down before we get trampled,” he said, heading to a fold-out chair.

Nothing makes you feel hotter than being left standing there with a cookie hanging out of your mouth. I bit it off and held the rest as I followed him, slowing my steps. Irritation sat on my skin like something sour, and that front door still called to me. Hot Guy sat, leaning forward on his knees, eating a cookie absently as if his mind was already somewhere else. I could walk right out that door before he even had a chance to get up and stop me. If he even really cared to.

It was now or never.

CHAPTER TWO

“So, you stayed?”

My sister, Drew, and my best friend and business partner, Micah Roman, were in the shop with me, as we pored over seed catalogs for the spring inventory and watched the clock crawl. January wasn’t a happening month for florists, as a general rule. Parties, business events, and funerals were pretty much the only bread and butter during the winter months. Now, however, after two months of excavation, aerating, fertilizing, and churning high nutrition and minerals into the new wildflower field Micah and I had started down the pond in a joint venture business called Wild Things with her family’s flower farm, even trying some winter seeding to see what would populate, we had a whole new outlook on potential profits.

Or I was trying to have a new outlook on potential profits. One mention of the group meeting I might go to that night—that I’d sort of gone to last week, however, had turned them into squirrels that would not let it go until I told them details. Especially about Hot Guy, aka Clark Kent.

I rolled my neck and stood up straight to stretch. Hazel eyes smiled at me in my head for the hundredth time, but it was completely different bringing him to life out loud. Suddenly, his voice was in my ears and those eyes had my stomach doing twitchy things. It had to just be my guilty conscience. Which was ridiculous. I owed him nothing, and it was dumb to still be giving any head space to a guy who had only pissed me off.

“Hell, no,” I said. “I was halfway down the street before he probably even realized I’d never sat down.”

“Did you take the cookies?” Drew asked.

“Of course.”

“Oh my God, it’s like you stood him up!” Micah said, standing upright.

I squinted at her. “From the cookie tray to the chair? That’s not a date.”

“But that was a blow off,” Drew said. “Damn, you’re heartless.”

“Are you kidding me right now?”

They probably were, but truth be known, I’d felt like a friggin’ shrew ever since.

Why? Why? Why?

And why did I want to go back tonight? When I was driving away, I swore to never set foot in there again. To never try anything new again. What did I need new for? I had the town of Charmed and its insanity to keep me entertained for the next millennium. I didn’t have a particular need to go hear all those women wax on about their horrible exes. I had one of my own. I also didn’t feel compelled to tell the world that mine didn’t want me anymore. That he’d traded me in for a younger, less flawed model. That was never a fun fact.

Okay, maybe Cher had a small point about needing a boost.

So, what was with this crazy urge I had ever since I woke up this morning, a week later, knowing it was Thursday? I refused to think it was because of Hot Guy…aka Clark Kent…aka Superman. Because—just because. Besides, if I were him and I’d been stood up between the cookie tray and the chair, I’d never show my face in there again, so he shouldn’t even be a consideration.

“Whatever,” I said, giving a hand flip to show just how okay I was with it. And I was. Totally. I wasn’t feeling guilty anymore. “All’s good.”

“Uh-huh,” Micah said, peering back at the catalog like the snakeroot seeds were too fascinating to pass up.

“What was that, Obi-wan?” I asked.

“Just saying,” Micah said, not looking up from the intrigue that was now Texas Thistle.

“Saying what?” I asked.

She looked up at me and snickered. “Uh-huh.”

“I’m off men,” I said defensively.

“Not off sex.”

“I can’t have sex with a guy from group,” I said.

“Yeah, that would be kinda—” Drew began, making a face.

“Cliché,” I finished.

“I was about to say sad,” she said with a head tilt.

“Really? And who have you hooked up with recently?” I asked.

“I don’t kiss and tell,” Drew said, reaching under the counter for a bag of Oreos.

The chick could eat her weight and mine in cookies and never gain an ounce. It wasn’t right. She got our dad’s good hair (when he had hair) and his metabolism.

“You don’t do anything and tell,” I said, grabbing a cookie out of the pack after Micah snatched two. “You didn’t even tell Mom and Dad you sold your house.”

“Wasn’t about them,” she said simply.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Micah said. “Most people want to move out of a trailer park. You went there on purpose.”

Drew could not only eat everything and have the good silky dark hair, she also had the unheard of confidence to do whatever she wanted, and follow whatever whim drifted in front of her. To a point, anyway. She’d bought a house a few years ago, decided it was too grounding for her, and sold it to live in a trailer on the other side of town. So she could pull up roots and leave, I suspected, although the shop kept us both pretty rooted.

“I didn’t need all that space,” Drew said. “It was too domestic for me. And it wasn’t a secret, I just didn’t want to hear all the drama.”

“Only you can get away with that,” I said, shaking my head.

“That’s because I’m the oldest and they gave up on expecting things from me a long time ago,” she said with a smirk. “Your life has been much more interesting.”

There was a sadness in that statement, whether she meant it or not. Drew was always the one with the most talent, and the worst choices. In life, in school, in men. She was a straight A student, and skipped her graduation. Blew off her free ride to college to hit the road with the love of her life, only to return six months later, alone and sullen, unwilling to talk about it. My gorgeous older sister was now thirty-six and never married, dated no one long enough for family to meet, and completely marched to her own drum. Things still managed to fall into place just fine for her.

I, on the other hand, did everything in the right order. College, boyfriend, husband, respectable house in a nice neighborhood, tried for family—tried to make all the right choices—and everything was crumbling around me.

“Yay, me.”

“So, you were going to bang this guy?” Micah asked, bringing us back.

“No, I said I can’t hook up with guys from group,” I said.

“And then got defensive when Drew said it was sad,” Micah said.

I closed my eyes. “Y’all make me tired.”

“Oh, what would it hurt?” Drew said. “You said yourself they use fake names, and. . .