The Carol Wyatt Collection Read online

  The Carol Wyatt Collection

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including scanning, photocopying, or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Copyright © 2018

  Table of Contents

  Chasing Love

  Reckless Love

  City Nights

  Chasing Love

  by Carol Wyatt

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including scanning, photocopying, or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Copyright © 2017

  Chapter 1

  Charlie Murray watched her father spread out the floor plans of a building they were trying to secure a contract for across the dinner table.

  They were at The Mezz, their usual place to have lunch or a few drinks while they discussed business.

  It was an upscale bar and restaurant but that never stopped her father from clearing their table of the glasses, plates and cutlery and stacking them on the empty table beside them.

  They got a few strange looks from another table, but it didn't seem to bother him. Richard Murray was one of the best real estate agents in New York City, along with his business partner who sat beside him, Jules Winters.

  Charlie's eyes followed her father’s index finger as he pointed out the proposed units, their square footage and which were two bedrooms, which were three, and the two massive penthouses that would command the highest price.

  Charlie loved real estate as much as her father did but, how couldn't she?

  She'd grown up with it. Some of her earliest memories were sitting in on meetings, her little legs dangling off office chairs as she swung them back and forth, listening to her father give a presentation.

  "Diamond Plaza. Twenty-one units with amazing views of Central Park," her father said. "We need this building. This is exactly the type of project we want to be involved in from now on. This is where it's at. Selling buildings out before they're even built."

  Charlie found his energy infectious and she knew that this deal meant a lot to him. He had big plans for Murray Real Estate and Charlie had every intention of helping him carry them out.

  "So, when's the pitch?" Charlie asked him.

  "Tomorrow, nine o’clock. We're all going to meet the developer, on site. She's had a lot of success already. I'm sure you've heard of her Charlie. Lara Woods."

  Charlie nodded. "Let's make sure we get this deal," she said confidently, glancing over at Jules who looked equally as enthusiastic.

  It had always been just Charlie and her dad for as long as she remembered. She knew that her parents had gotten a divorce when she was nine, but any memories of her mother were hazy.

  They used to see each other once or twice a year after they split up but then her mother started traveling and Charlie couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her.

  She didn't mind though. She had a great relationship with her father. They spent hours together every day even if it was always at work.

  Charlie had fantastic memories growing up of going to Yankees games together and exploring apartments with him when he was holding open houses.

  They were close but not in an affectionate, emotional way. He'd never told her anything very personal or filled her in on the women he was dating, and she did the same. He didn't even know that she was gay.

  Charlie knew that he treated her like the son he never had, and it never bothered her. She was a tomboy anyway growing up and when it came to business, she loved being treated like one of the guys, even though her appearance would lead you to believe the exact opposite.

  She was always well dressed, usually in pencil skirts or dresses that clung to her athletic figure, her blond hair falling below her shoulders in glossy waves or left straight.

  "Let's hope we'll be back here tomorrow night to celebrate," Richard said as he lifted his glass of water and clinked it off Charlie's and Jules's glasses.

  "To Diamond Plaza," Charlie said as she held her glass up.

  "To Diamond Plaza," Jules echoed.

  They were quietly confident that they would secure this deal but that didn't mean that all three of them weren't going to go home tonight and memorize all of those figures: the square footage of all the apartments, the prices that they would expect to get.

  Charlie knew that this scared off a lot of the inexperienced agents at their company, the pitch.

  They could be great at selling apartments to buyers but trying to convince the seller that they should choose them over another realtor or real estate company seemed to be a whole other thing.

  Maybe Charlie felt like that too when she started but now, she loved it.

  She almost had trouble sleeping the night before an important pitch like this and she knew that her dad was the same. He lived for these kinds of meetings and closing the big deals.

  There was already a fluttering in Charlie’s stomach. She couldn't wait to meet Lara Woods in person and get this partnership started.

  Chapter 2

  Erica Bradford held up one of the wine glasses she was polishing and inspected it for any fingerprints or lipstick stains. This was how she kept herself busy when there were no tables to wait on or food to be served.

  She'd been working at The Mezz for a little over three years, first washing dishes and now as a waitress. The days were long, and she was usually exhausted when she walked the six blocks back home but The Mezz was an upscale bar and restaurant so at least the tips were always substantial.

  Erica usually got the same shifts as her best friend Jenny. As soon as Erica was over her first day jitters, they quickly became friends and they'd been sharing an apartment with another roommate for the last three years.

  Erica was loving life right now. She never really thought she'd be able to survive life in New York City. When she moved here she didn't know anyone and three years later, she had an amazing social life and a job that she was good at.

  She didn't know if she should have expected more from herself by the time she was twenty-five years old, but she thought she was still young enough to be figuring her life out.

  Erica picked up another glass and wiped the black cloth she was holding around the edges, making sure to collect every speck of dust. She stood on her toes to place the glass on the shelf above her head and as she reached for the next one her eyes fell on the blond woman that always caught her eye anytime she was here.

  She came in here several times a week, usually with a group of equally well-dressed people, and had a long lunch or a drink after work.

  Erica always had to tear her eyes away from her. She was always immaculately dressed, her long blond hair usually left down, either in waves or straightened, and she exuded confidence.

  Erica only waited on their table a few times and thankfully she hadn't made a fool of herself in her presence which could very easily have happened.

  Erica felt a jab in her ribs and turned to see Jenny standing beside her with her elbow still a little too close to Erica's side.

  "I always know when the Murrays are here," Jenny said as she stood beside her. "You can never take your eyes off her."

  "Can you blame me?"

  "No. Not really," Jenny said, placing two tumblers on a tray. "Get these drinks out before the boss sees you taking it easy."

  "No problem."

  Erica was hardworking, but that woman was incredibly distracting. Erica did her best to ignore her for the rest of the afternoon, but she still glanced over a few times.

  She brought out the tray of drinks to a table over by the window and kept herself busy by finishing off the rest of the glasses she'd been polishing.
r />   Erica chanced one more look over at the blond and the two men that she was with. They were going over some huge piece of paper that was rolled out across the table.

  She often came to The Mezz with the man that was sitting across from her and Erica had to guess that they were most likely father and daughter. They were probably too many years apart to be siblings but they both had the same golden blond hair and piercing blue eyes.

  Erica heard the bell being hit behind her, signaling that a food order was ready to be sent out, and she was thankful for the distraction. One of these days she was going to get caught staring.

  Chapter 3

  Charlie Murray had a morning routine that she swore by. She woke up at five and put on her work out clothes to hit the gym for an hour, doing a mixture of strength training and running on the treadmill.

  She came back up to her penthouse at six and took a long, hot shower before getting ready for the day.

  At seven, she was sitting down for breakfast and going over her schedule before leaving to head into the office at seven-thirty.

  Today she sat at the breakfast bar with a bowl of fruit, her blond hair straight, flowing a few inches below her shoulders.

  She was anxious to get down to the construction site and have Lara Woods show them around before they made their pitch.

  Her phone vibrated on the marble counter and Charlie swiped the screen to answer.

  "Morning, Max," she said in a cheerful voice. Max had been her father's driver for years, since Charlie could remember. She wasn't surprised to get a call from him. Their meeting might have been pushed back by a few minutes if traffic was bad.

  "Hi, Charlie."

  She could immediately hear the panic in his voice. "What's wrong?"

  "Your Dad... I called an ambulance. I... He was..."

  Charlie felt her pulse quicken and her breathing become shallow, but she maintained her composure to try and keep Max calm.

  "Max, take a deep breath. What happened?"

  "I think he had a heart attack... Or maybe a stroke..."

  Charlie’s heart was hammering in her ears and she was having trouble focusing on what Max was saying.

  "Is he okay?" Charlie asked, holding her breath while she waited for him to reply.

  "No... Charlie... I'm so sorry... He's gone."

  Charlie heard his words, but she knew that she wasn't processing them properly. If she was, tears would be flooding from her eyes.

  The mug that she'd been holding fell from her fingers and smashed on the white tiles beneath her.

  She just gripped the counter with her now free hand, keeping herself upright on the bar stool while her mind ran through their conversation again, wondering how this could possibly be happening.

  "Charlie?"

  "Yeah. I'm here," she answered in a shaky voice that she didn't recognize.

  " I'm sorry that I couldn't do anything else. You should probably get down to the hospital… That’s where…"

  Charlie sat as still as a statue, her jaw clenched as she tried to focus on Max's words, but he couldn’t finish what he was saying.

  "You did everything you could. Thank you... Take the rest of the day off... There's a lot to do but you must be in shock... Take as long as you need. Don't worry about Jules. I'll sort it out."

  "Thanks, Charlie. Take care of yourself. Let me know if you need anything."

  "Okay. I will," Charlie said as she hung up, wondering what she could possibly need that Max would be able to help her with.

  She wished she wasn't so cynical. That's just want people said when someone died, that they'd be happy to do anything.

  Someone died.

  My dad is dead.

  Charlie glanced down at the mug that had shattered into dozens of pieces at her feet. Luckily, she already had her black heels on and her feet weren't cut.

  She couldn't bring herself to clean up the mess. She almost grabbed her bag and left her apartment, ready to get to the meeting, running on autopilot, until she realized that none of that mattered anymore.

  She had phone calls to make. She needed to contact her father's relatives, not that he'd been close to any of them, but she still had to let them know.

  She had to call his secretary. She'd know how to handle all of this. Stacy was another person that had been working for her Dad for longer than Charlie could remember.

  He'd always been good to his staff.

  Oh, God. I'm going to have to write a eulogy. There's no one else. I'm an only child.

  Charlie held onto her phone and made her way over to the couch, almost in a daze, sinking down into it, trying to figure out the order in which things needed to be done.

  She should probably call Stacy first and then talk to the hospital. Charlie ran a hand through her hair, thinking about what she’d say.

  Her dad seemed perfectly fine yesterday but Max had said that he thought it was a heart attack.

  He was probably stressed about this meeting but they all were. That was normal. They all ran on that adrenaline.

  He’s just been doing it for a lot longer than me.

  Charlie stared at her phone, willing herself to dial his secretary and give her the terrible news.

  Why aren’t I crying? Why does this seem like just another business call?

  Charlie kicked off her heels and crossed her feet on top of the glass coffee table, her eyes taking in the view she had of the rest of SoHo through the floor to ceiling windows.

  I better just get this over with…

  Chapter 4

  Five Days Later

  They had a quiet ceremony for Charlie’s father, mostly attended by people who had worked with him over the years, both buyers and realtors, and a few family friends.

  Charlie had managed to keep it together throughout the service but when she got back to her apartment last night, she finally broke down.

  She put on her pajamas and sat with a glass of wine, huddled in the corner of her bedroom, not really sure how she got there, crying.

  What set her off was that as soon as she got home that day, she wanted to call her Dad and tell him how awful her day had been.

  The reality of the situation finally hit her, and she spent hours sipping wine with tears rolling down her face.

  She was back at work the next day though as if nothing had happened. Charlie felt like last night’s crying session had gotten it out of her system. Now it was back to business.

  Somehow their meeting with Lara Woods had been rescheduled. She assumed Stacy took care of it and that Lara had been nice enough to give them a few days to get their pitch together after everything that had happened.

  When she arrived into work that morning, Charlie was hoping that the meeting would be scheduled for later that day, but Stacy told her that Ms. Woods didn’t want to have the meeting so soon. She wanted them to take their time getting back to work.

  She let it go, knowing that she’d have to find Jules later and see how they wanted to approach it. Should they just let a few more days go by and let Lara dictate when the meeting would be, or should they say that they were back to business as normal and that they were ready to meet her whenever she was available?

  Charlie wasn’t sure, but she knew that Jules would talk it through with her and they’d come to a decision together.

  The one meeting that she knew was definitely happening today was with their family lawyer, Todd Morris.

  He arrived into her office at exactly nine to go over her father’s will.

  “Hello, Todd,” Charlie said when he walked in.

  He sat down across from her and Charlie had to wonder if he would ever age. He was probably in his early sixties, but he still looked forty, with his hair dyed black and with minimal lines around his eyes.

  “Hi Charlie. I wish that we didn’t have to meet under these circumstances…”

  “I know but we might as well get down to it. I assume it’s a straightforward will? My Dad always had everything organized. He probably started pl
anning it all out the day I was born.”

  Charlie was expecting to inherit everything. She was her father’s only child and she was also the obvious choice to take over the company. Jules would be retiring in a few years. He was in his mid-sixties.

  She would consider going into a fifty-fifty partnership with him until he was ready to retire. She wasn’t unreasonable, and she knew that he’d been working with her father for years. They were almost like brothers.