Forbidden Heat novel Chapter 343

“You have to cut Natalia some slack from now on. The girl just landed a fulltime job!” Queen told Jamie.

“Oh, really? Congratulations! Drinks on the house!” Jamie roared.

I wasn’t sure if he was drunk or if that was just the way he was when he drank with old friends. The three of us spent time chatting about random things but I found it to be a good way to relax. Since I could tell that Queen was tipsy and still drinking, I held back on drinking. Guess who will have to drive us back?

Kat came to our table to serve more drinks that Queen had ordered. I wondered if she would get roaring drunk with the pace that she was drinking but then maybe she has good tolerance for alcohol.

“Your man is here…by the way…” Kat whispered into my ear.

Charles is here?

“He’s not my man…” I quickly corrected.

“Yeah…whatever…” Kat teased before walking away.

I turned and spotted Charles. Unlike the other nights that he was here, tonight Charles wasn’t here alone. He was with some other guys who were probably his friends. I let out a soft sigh of relief thinking that that probably worked for the best. It might be weird to spend time with him when I’m with Queen. She might get the wrong idea…

Just when that thought finished running through my head, I felt a presence behind me. Don’t tell me…

“You’re here as a customer tonight?” a slightly amused voice asked from behind me.

He’s here…

Great, did he just ditch his friends?

“Hey, Charles…that’s right,” I replied with a small smile after turning around in my seat to face him.

While I was struggling to think of something else to say to him, Queen’s loud voice cut right into our conversation.

“Charles? Is that you…wow…come join us!” Queen shouted in Charles’ direction.

“Oh. Queen, you’re here with Natalia?” Charles asked before smiling in her direction.

These two…they know each other?

I knew that this island wasn’t big, and the population wasn’t large but still…small world, huh?

Charles grabbed a chair and sat down right next to me at our table. He smiled at me, and I returned the favor while I wondered how tonight was going to playout for all of us.

“Natalia is my special guest. You better be nice to her too,” Queen teased.

“I’m always nice to her. Aren’t I?” Charles said before turning to look at me.

“Umm…that’s right…” I replied a little shyly.

Charles and Queen started chatting and catching up while I began to wonder how these two knew each other. They seemed to know each other well enough but since they were catching up, it was clear that it had been quite a while since they last connected.

“Let me buy you a drink,” Charles offered as he whispered close to my ear.

“You don’t need to…” I whispered back.

“I insist,” Charles said as he waved down a waitress.

“I’m trying to hold back on my drinks because Queen isn’t holding hers. I need to drive her back,” I whispered.

“I know where she lives. If you can’t drive, I’ll drive you girls back,” Charles replied unfazed.