Chapter 12

If you had asked either of them if they thought they’d end up where they were, they both would’ve said no. Jeremy was married and Charlotte, up until that morning, had a boyfriend.

So when Jeremy led Charlotte up to a room of the hotel they decided to only sit in to talk, she was freaking out, surprised, concerned and a whole range of other emotions all at the same time.

Her concern was that she didn’t think that Jeremy could, or ever would, cheat on anyone. That just wasn’t in him, she thought. But at the same time, she was surprised at how okay with that she was, which surprised her even more.

Jeremy, on the other hand, was freaking out inside. He couldn’t believe that he’d already went further with Charlotte than he intended to, but now he was leading her to their own private hotel room. He realized that he was on autopilot and that his heart wasn’t responding to what his mind was telling him anymore. He felt that if he was going to make any moves outside of his marriage, he wanted it to be with Charlotte. His want and need for her was well worth the risk, he told himself.

He just hoped that she felt the same way.

“After you, Madame,” Jeremy said as he held the door open for Charlotte.

“Why, thank you, my good man,” she responded.

She couldn’t believe that they were being so cool about everything. She was all over the place on the inside. But as she entered the room, excitement took over. She wasn’t sure what was about to happen, but she knew that she couldn’t wait to do whatever that was.

“Charlotte, I need to be straight up and honest with you and get this off my chest before anything else happens,” Jeremy said. Then he took a deep breath.

“I meant everything I said earlier, when I told you that all I want is a little bit of time to spend with you. I didn’t bring you up here to sleep with you,” he blushed, “but believe me when I say that the things I’ve already done to you in my head… how flexible are you…”

He stopped and looked at her sheepishly.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to come out that way.”

Charlotte couldn’t hide the smile that lit up her face. She thought he was so cute when he was rambling on, especially when he was rambling about embarrassing things.

“Okay, let me start over. Like I said earlier, I just need some time with you. I don’t care if you don’t say a word, I just really feel strongly about having to be around you right now. I need to make up for lost time. And if something happens in the time that we get to spend together, then so be it. I just hope that you feel the same way.”

For a minute, Charlotte didn’t say anything. She was searching for the right way to tell him that she felt the same way. She just wanted some time.

But she wouldn’t be upset if something more happened. And she wanted him to know that.

“I agree.” That was all she said, and it immediately brought a huge smile to his face.

“Cool, cool. Okay,” he said, clamping his hands together, “let’s check out the room service menu. I’m getting hungry again. Oh, and we can order some wine or something, set the mood and talk. I mean, that’s what we’re here for, right.”

She smirked at him. He was one of the few guys that got her personality and that could challenge her wit. That was another thing she loved about him. He always kept her on her toes.

“No, that’s not what we’re here for. You’ll find out soon enough, though. Mark my words on that one, buddy,” she said teasingly.

So they looked over the menu and ordered light dinners. Jeremy opted to order a bottle of champagne, for them to celebrate finally telling each other about their feelings for each other. When the food arrived, they sat down at the small table in the suite and ate together. They talked about everything except what they were doing in the hotel, his wife and Damien.

After they finished their meal, they moved over to the bed, Jeremy laying across it on his back and Charlotte sitting at the head of the bed hugging a pillow.

This was the moment of truth.
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Robin and Greg sat at a small corner table in the restaurant of the fancy New York hotel. She loved going there because they didn’t have to sneak and hide their relationship, plus, they’d been there so many times that the hotel staff knew them by name.

“Baby, don’t worry about it. Maybe this is the push you need to finally up and leave and come be with me, where you belong. I don’t see this as a problem. I see it as that push you need, that we both need,” Greg told Robin.

She was telling him about how she felt earlier and her thoughts on why. She was freaking out, again, and he was sitting across from her all happy. He wanted to be with her, to marry her, but she kept giving him excuses as to why she couldn’t leave Jeremy “just yet”. He saw this as a good thing for him because now she could be with him and the added bonus was a little Robin or Greg running around. He was ecstatic.

“I can’t do this, Greg. What if the baby is Jeremy’s? What will you do then? I knew it was a bad idea to start this thing up with you again. I should’ve followed my first mind.”

She was doing more talking to herself than him, really. He didn’t care though. Either way, this could be the nail in the coffin to get what he wanted.

“Okay, babe. Let’s really look at this whole thing. You feel sick, nauseous, right? Well, maybe it could be something you ate, or even just the plane ride. You’ve been working really hard lately and eating food that’s not really good for you. You don’t even know if you’re pregnant. You could be jumping the gun on this,” he said, trying to comfort her.

But he didn’t believe a word of it.

“I know,” she sighed.

“I mean, I haven’t even missed a period yet… wait, I’m not sure,” she said, trying to think back. “I need to check my calendar. But Greg,” she said while putting her hands in her lap and leaning across the table, “what if I am pregnant? What then?”

The pleading look in her eyes made him reach out across the table. She took his hand and he soothingly ran his thumb across the back of her hand.

“Baby, I can assure you that whatever situation may come, we’ll get through it the best way we can. Together. I’ll make sure that everything work out for the both of us. I promise.

Robin smiled across the table at Greg, hoping that what he said was true and things did work out, whatever was going to happen.
_______________________________________________________________

Jeremy rolled over onto his stomach and leaned his chin on the heels of his hands and stared at Charlotte.

She was leaning with her back against the headboard of the bed with her eyes closed. He thought she looked beautiful. He still couldn’t believe that he was here with her, after all this time.

“Lady, you okay?” he asked?

Her eyes fluttered open as she looked over at him.

“Yeah, I’m okay, just sitting here thinking and listening,” she said, referring to the soft music playing in the background.

He moved to sit like her, with his back to the headboard. She immediately placed the pillow she was hugging in his lap and laid her head on it. He took that moment to touch her hair. It was still as soft as he could remember. He used to always sit at the head of his bed and she would lay across his lap when they would hang out in his room. She was one of the few females that his mother would allow in his room. Her motto always was: No babies in this house with the same last name as me. Both her and Jeremy’s father were the only children in their respective households, so that would only leave Jeremy to father a baby with their last name. His mom wanted to do everything in her power to make sure that didn’t happen before he graduated high school.

She raised him well, though. And he wished that he listened to her more often. She was the one that always teased him and Charlotte saying that they would end up together, but the two of them always laughed it off, saying that they were just best friends. Boy, would she be happy now.

But Jeremy didn’t know how to tell her without Robin finding out.

Robin. How would he explain Charlotte to him. He didn’t want to disrespect either of the women by making anyone uncomfortable.

He sighed out loud and Charlotte sat up and looked at him.

“I wish things were different,” Charlotte said. “Because I just don’t know how we would be able to see each other on a friendly basis after this without her,” she spat, “having something to say. Look at me,” she said, laughing to herself, “I haven’t even met her and I already don’t like her.”

Jeremy didn’t say anything. He laid down on the bed and then reached for Charlotte. She let him pull her down next to him and wrap his arms around her.

There was really nothing left to be said. They were both getting what they wanted, even if for just one night.

Chapter 11

After the second kiss, Jeremy was feeling really bad. Although he was enjoying the time he was spending with Charlotte, he felt bad because he didn’t feel bad about his action towards her. He thought he should be feeling guilty, to say the least, but he was perfectly fine with what he was doing.

Charlotte, on the other hand, was having a really hard time dealing with her feelings. She tried to put Robin out of sight and out of mind, but it wasn’t a total success.

They decided they needed a change of scenery, somewhere where there were lots of people moving about and intimacy would be hard to achieve. So they walked across the street to the Hilton and decided to sit in the lobby. It was still early in the evening, so they figured it would be okay.

They sat on the sofa across from the front window of the hotel. Charlotte tried not to think about how much she enjoyed his kisses and Jeremy tried not to think about how right she felt in his arms.

They talked about what they did for a living and about how, when they were younger and in school, they both wanted to be owners of their own businesses, and the fact that it came true. Jeremy talked about the struggles of trying to get his company off the ground and how his mom was his biggest supporter and Charlotte told him about how nervous she was when she planned her very wedding on her own.

They talked about getting together with all their old friends, but then decided against it. Charlotte didn’t want to meet Jeremy’s wife, and she told him that. She didn’t want to have a face to put with a name. “Out of sight, out of mind,” she’d told him. He didn’t completely believe her, though. He just wasn’t all that comfortable with Robin meeting Charlotte. Hell, he already knew he was in hot water with his mom. Now that she’d made contact with Charlotte, she was bound to throw it in Robin’s face any chance she got.

But that would just have to be something he dealt with when it happened. Now that Charlotte was back in his life he couldn’t very well let her slip away again. Robin would just have to understand and he figured he would have to find a way to present Charlotte as a friend, a sister even. He just wasn’t sure how he’d be able to pull that off.

“What’s going on over there in that head of yours,” Charlotte asked Jeremy. “You’ve been quiet and in and out for the past few minutes. I’m starting to think I’m just talking to myself.”

He laughed. One thing he could never do to Charlotte was ignore her.

“I’m just thinking about how crazy this all is. I mean, I have my best friend back, but at the same time…” he trails off.

Charlotte looks at him eagerly, waiting for him to finish his sentence. She wanted so badly to get inside his head. She knew that when he was deep in thought, he was quiet and that when he finally did speak up, he meant every word he said.

“I’m so married,” he said as he dropped his head against the back of the sofa. “Going any further with you would be so wrong, so very wrong, but yet, that’s all I can think about. Not the consequences, but how right is sounds, and is.”

He leans back again. Expressing himself in this manner was not what he wanted to do. He wanted to start over, to go back to yesterday when none of this had come up. It was just easier that way. He wouldn’t be confused and he definitely wouldn’t be contemplating getting a room. But he was, on both accounts. He couldn’t help it. He just wanted to kiss her all night, they didn’t even have to do anything else.

And to be quite honest, Charlotte was thinking the same thing. She just wanted time with him, just to be near him. She felt like, after all they’d confessed to each other, they deserved it. So what if he had a wife. He was going to go home to her. For pete’s sake, he married her. She just wanted, no NEEDED, a little time alone with him. Just for once and then she would be satisfied. No. She knew that was a lie. But she knew that if she got that time she could remember it and him forever.

Charlotte shook out of her daydream when Jeremy got up from the sofa.

“I’ll be right back,” he told her.

She took that moment to send a quick text message to her sister.

Hey sis! Guess who I’m out with? Jeremy Johnson! Yes, that Jeremy. I’m turning my phone off for a while and will talk to you when I make it home. Love you!

She’d just turned the phone off when she was startled by a presence standing over her. She looked up just as Jeremy reached his hand out to her. She looked at it and then back up at him. She knew what he was asking without even having to say the words.

“Charlotte, I want us to be the most truthful we’ve ever been in our entire lives right now. I would really regret not asking you this if we left from here right now. You know that the decision is completely yours to make, whatever you decide to do. But please know that all I’m asking for is extra time. You can just sit and stare at the wall for all I care. I’m just not ready to let you go yet.”

He stood there with his hand outstretched to her for what seemed like an eternity. Neither of them ever let the other one’s gave fall from sight.

Charlotte sat with her hands folded in her lap for only a second before she reached out to take his hand. Once he felt that contact, he gripped her hand as though he was holding on for dear life. She smiled at him as he placed his other hand on the small of her back and guided her over to the elevators.