Temptation

[ldscott]

Great chapter, love charlie and brax at the end!

[Chax47]

Hello!!

I kept my promise....it's Monday and I have a new chapter!! I'm getting better at updating

Thank you again for all the comments and for just reading in general! You lot are amazing

Anyways, enjoy.....

Chapter 10

Brax strolled into the kitchen, rubbing at his eyes. After seeing Charlie the night before, they had decided on spending the night apart as Charlie had an early shift this morning. Brax had agreed, although now after a night of tossing and turning he realised that spending a night apart from her wasn't the best idea. Filling the kettle, he leant against the counter while he waited for it to boil.

He took out his phone and started to type out a message to the woman who was constantly on his mind.

I missed you last night, can't sleep without you... x

He pressed send, knowing how clingy he was acting but also knowing that Charlie would appreciate the sentiment.

He spun around as the kettle clicked and began making his coffee.

"Morning." A strange voice filled the kitchen behind him. Turning his head quickly, he came face to face with a tall brunette woamn, who was smiling brightly at him.

"Er...who are..."

"Morning!" Heath followed the woman into the kitchen and headed straight to the fridge. He buried his head in it as Brax stared between the two of them.

"Oh!"

The mystery woman paused in the doorway of the kitchen for a second before collecting her things. "I should probably get going..."

Heath shut the fridge and followed her to the front door. He returned a few seconds later as though nothing had happened.

"Are you working today?" He asked Brax, taking a seat at the kitchen table and flipping open the paper.

Brax took a seat opposite him. Leaning across the table, he shut the newspaper, forcing Heath to look at him. "Am I working today? That's all you have to say?"

Heath shrugged. "What?"

"What are you doing?" He gestured towards the front door. "What the hell happened to Bianca?"

"Nothing." Heath dismissed the question as he glanced down at the table.

"Don't do this Heath. She's one of the good ones..."

"Whatever. Let's go for a surf!" Heath stood up, not wanting to face up the reality of what he was getting in to.

"I can't. There's something I have to do..."

Brax threw a cautious look to his brother as he grabbed his keys and headed for the door.

-----

Bianca sat nursing a coffee as she waited for Charlie in the Diner. They had agreed that they would meet up for lunch, mainly for the purpose of discussing the latest love life developments, but also to distract Bianca from her love life disaster. She didn't have to wait long as Charlie soon came strolling in, dressed in her police uniform. She greeted Colleen on her way in, who panicked and hid in the back. Charlie couldn't help but supress her laughter as she made her way over to her friend.

"I'm sorry I'm a little late. I was stuck behind a mountain of paperwork!" She apologised as she hugged Bianca and took a seat next to her.

Leah rushed over to the table and took their order. They decided on another round of coffee and two fudge cakes.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Bianca started,getting straight to the point. Charlie blushed.

"You can talk...Heath?"

Bianca groaned and took a sip of her coffee. "Brax?"

Charlie shrugged as a smile took over her face. "He is perfect." She was fully aware that she was swooning but she no longer cared. She had the man she loved and she wanted the world to know. "Everything has just been amazing..."

Leah brought their order over, before rushing back over to the kitchen.

"Well everything except Hayley." Charlie picked at her cake as she continued. "She seems pretty hellbent on doing whatever she can to break us up again."

"Well you need to make sure she knows that he is off limits. Don't let her get to you." Bianca gave Charlie's arm a comforting squeeze before tucking into her own cake.

"So...enough about me. Give me the dirty details...." Charlie teased, her left eyebrow arched. Bianca's face failed to return a smile.

Bianca shrugged, a blank look on her face. "There's nothing to tell."

"What? How can there be nothing to tell?"

"I was just another notch on his bedpost...he's already moved on to his next conquest." Saying the words out loud brought a whole new feeling of emotion to Bianca. She had tried to deny it but now it was out there she would have to face it.

Charlie placed down her fork and leaned forward towards her friend. She gave her a concerned look.

"What do you mean he's moved on? That was pretty fast..."

"It was my fault." She paused. "You know what, no it wasn't. It was Liam's fault." Although technically my fault for listening to him...

Charlie was growing confused. "Liam? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Liam saw me and Heath together. He came to see me yesterday and I guess he just made me see things a little...differently...so I started to ignore Heath..."

Charlie didn't like what she was hearing although she identified with it. "Look Bianca, whatever Liam has said to you...it is not his place. It should be him you are ignoring. If you like Heath, which for the record we all know you do, and you think you see something good in him, then you don't give that up for anybody." Now it was Charlie's turn to offer the comforting gestures.

"It's obvious he likes you." She continued which brought a small smile to Bianca's face. "Yeah, ignoring him probably wasn't the best option, but..." She trailed off as Heath walked into the Diner. He paused for a moment as he saw them, his eyes making contact with Bianca's. Charlie looked nervously at her friend who looked down at the table. Looking back at Heath, Charlie watched as he hovered in the doorway before sighing and storming out.

Bianca, feeling frustrated, threw her head in her hands as she let out a loud groan.

-----

Brax walked along the small corridor, watching as the numbers on the doors descended. His strides were evenly placed as he tried to keep himself calm. The conversation had been played over in his mind on the drive over, but he knew that if he didn't control himself this could play out differently to how he had planned.

He eventually reached number nine and pounded his fist on the door. It was a matter of seconds before the door was opened and Hayley stood in front of him with a surprised expression on her face. It lasted a second before she started smiling at him.

"Darryl! What a lovely surprise." She was dressed simply in a black dressing gown which was tied at her waist. She leant against the doorway as she gazed at him, her hand moving up to loosen her gown slightly.

"We need to talk." He replied bluntly.

"Yes we do. Finally decided that the cop wasn't enough of a woman for you, have you?" She took a step towards him, reaching her hands out to touch his chest.

He knocked her hands down and glared at her. "Get inside."

She smirked as he pushed past her into the hotel room. "I do love a man who gets straight to the point..."

Brax ignored her comment as he took a deep breath, trying to calm his anger. "I've come to tell you to stop whatever game it is you think you are playing. Messing with Charlie....trying to hurt her. It stops now." He warned her, but the smile never left her face.

"Darryl...I think you'll find I've only just begun." She laughed to herself but the laughter quickly faded as he took a step towards her, pushing her back against the wall. His hands remained tightly on her arms.

"You're taking this whole woman scorned role a little too far. You do anything which so much as makes Charlie uncomfortable, I won't be responsible for what happens...." He threatened, pausing in front of her for a second before letting her go and storming out of the room. The door slammed shut after him.

-----

After her lunch gossiping with Bianca, Charlie reluctantly returned to the station to finish the rest of her shift. She checked her phone before going in and sighed as she had no other messages from Brax. She knew she was probably overthinking it but she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was going on. Dismissing the thoughts, she entered the station and collected her messages at the front desk.

She read over the post-it notes as the interview door opened and out walked Hayley, followed closely by her client and a police constable. Hayley grinned as she said goodbye to her client and watched as he was led away by the officer. Charlie avoided meeting her gaze as she collected some paperwork from the front desk and made her way to her office.

She only managed a couple of seconds of refuge in her office before the door was opened and Hayley invited herself into the room.

"We should really stop meeting like this, Sergeant." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Charlie looked up from her desk and glared back at her.

"Have you not heard of knocking?"

"I just wanted you to pass on a message for me. I forgot to tell Darryl how much of a nice time I had this morning. Please, make sure he knows that if he ever needs anything again..." She trailed off, winking slightly at Charlie. "He knows exactly where my hotel room is."

Charlie felt her stomach drop as a burning sensation nestled in the back of her throat. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to throw up or punch something, but either way the feeling was far from welcome.

"What...did you say?" She barely managed how to speak. She could see that Hayley was enjoying every minute of her pain.

"I've outstayed my welcome. See you around the station, Buckton." Hayley quickly made her exit, leaving Charlie to wallow in what she had just said.

----

Charlie paced the living room, her mind somewhat of a mess. She had managed to cover the end of her shift but was still waiting for Brax to arrive. He had mentioned something about trying to find someone to cover for him on the phone, although he still had no idea what it was he was walking in to.

Going over the conversation in her mind, Charlie tried to make sense of it. But the more she tried the more anger she felt. She had hardly spoken to him all day so she had no idea what was going on or where he had been. The majority of her hoped that what she truely felt was real; Brax would never be anywhere near a hotel room with that woman. He knew how he felt about the Hayley situtation; would he really do that to her all over again?

She didn't have long to dwell on her thoughts as a knock on the back door soon alerted her to his arrival.

He smiled at her as she opened the door although her face remained straight.

Ignoring it, he moved towards her. "I'm glad you called. I've been thinking about you all day." He reached out to take her in his arms but she stepped aside and gestured into the house.

"We need to talk..."

The smile dropped off his face as he stepped into the house and waited for her to join him in the living room. He took a seat on the arm of the couch and looked at her.

"You're starting to scare me now. What's the matter?"

"I want the truth Brax. Did you sleep with her?" She stood in front of him with her hands on her hips, her eyes starting to glaze over as she waited for his answer.

"Sleep with who?" He stared back clueless at her.

"Hayley. Did you sleep with her this morning?" She emphasised every word so that he would understand what she was saying.

"No!" He laughed as he answered, although after seeing the look on her face his laughter quickly faded. "Where has this come from?"

"She said you visited her in her hotel room this morning. Did you?"

Brax paused for a moment as he stared down at his hands. He twisted the ring around his finger as he tried to figure out how to tell her the truth. "Yes I went to see her. But it is not what you think..."

She walked away from him, her arms waving about in front of her before resting on her head. "I can't believe we are back here again! You promised me, you promised that there would be no more of this. Yet here we are. Again!" She yelled at him as the tears started running down her face.

He moved from the couch and turned her to face him. "Don't make this into something which it isn't, Charlie. I went to see her to warn her to stay away from you. Nothing else happened." He tried to wipe away the tears on her cheeks but she pushed him away.

"This is too hard, Brax. Just when I think that everything is going ok....we end up back here." She couldn't look him in the eyes as she spoke. Her stomach flipped as she said the words but she knew that had to be said.

"Charlie...I did this for you. I didn't want her to keep hurting you the way she has. Please don't punish me for doing what I can to stop you being hurt..." He pleaded with her but she continued to back away from him.

"I can't do this now, Brax. I have to get back to work." She wiped at her eyes as she backed away towards the door.

"What? You're shift finished like ten minutes ago?" He questioned, knowing instantly that she was lying to him.

"Fine!" She screamed. "I have to get away from you!" She turned and fled the house, crashing into Ruby in the doorway.

"Woah!" Ruby was taken aback as Charlie continued past her. Brax appeared in the living room doorway, a beaten look on his face. "Is everything ok?" She looked at him, concern all over her face.

----

Eeeek!! Please don't hate me..... thoughts?!

Lianne x

[Inactive User]

Great chapter

Whoa at the ending! Hope Chax will soon work it out. Wondering if Brax is gonna tell Ruby what is going on.

More soon please xx

[Sazzle]

Bless Brax! He's just trying to look after his lady the way he knows how but gets himself into more trouble... His text at beginning was so nice

Felt sorry for Charlie...she's obviously still afraid that she'll be hurt again...

Heath needs to step up for Bianca and she needs to just ignore numpty boy!!

Come on Chax!! Work together please...communicate! They totally love and need eachother

Well done! Love it!! Thanks

[Danni02]

oh no Chax! Poor Charlie is just scared to be hurt again, but she should trust Brax, he loves her so much!

Update soon

[soph1303]

Great chapter,

Woah, just when I think that i can't hate Hayley anymore, she goes and does that!!

I feel sorry for both Charlie and Brax !! Charlie because she got hurt through all of this!! And Brax because the only reason he went over was to tell Hayley to stay away from Charlie, not to cheat!!

More soon please

[Chax47]

Hello!!

Here's the next chapter, sorry it's taken me a while to post it Hopefully it will be worth the wait

Thank you all for reading!! And thanks to ~JarlieFanEver~, Sazzle, Danni02 and Soph1303 for the lovely reviews!

Anyways, enjoy...

Chapter 11

Brax took a seat at the table, his head resting in his hands. He could hear Ruby moving around the kitchen, preparing a coffee for them both. It had been just over ten minutes since Charlie had stormed out and Brax felt sick to his stomach as he went over the argument in his head. He had wanted to go after her, to make her listen to his side of the story but Ruby had told him to take a seat. So for once, he did as he was told and waited for Ruby to join him.

A couple of minutes later, Ruby walked into the living room and placed a cup of coffee down in front of Brax. Sitting down opposite him with her own cup, she gave him a comforting smile.

"So, what was that all about?"

Brax paused. "Should I really be talking to you about this?"

"Charlie won't know. And besides, if she finds out we'll just pretend I forced it out of you." Brax chuckled slightly at this which made Ruby smile. "So..." She smiled at him, encouraging him to continue.

Brax took a sip of his drink before starting. Where to start? "I don't know if Charlie has told you much about Hayley?" Ruby nodded. "Well...when me and Charlie were broken up, I guess you could say me and Hayley were spending some time together."

Ruby listened intently. It took Brax a few moments to get over the awkwardness of the situation but before he knew it the words were flying out of his mouth. It felt good to finally be getting everything off his chest.

"I'm not proud of it. But not being with Charlie....I just did whatever I could to try and make myself forget the pain I really felt..."

"That's understandable."

"Anyway, when I broke things up with Hayley she kinda took it really badly. She is going out of her way to do whatever she can to hurt me...and even worse hurt Charlie. And now that she is working on the same case as Charlie, she is doing whatever she can to make things difficult."

"Is that why Charlie is so upset?"

"Sort of. I went to see Hayley this morning. At her hotel room." Ruby's eyes widened as she heard this. "She knows that the only way to get back at me is through Charlie. So I warned her to stay away from Charlie or she would pay. That's all that happened, I left after that. Hayley has gone out of her way today to make Charlie think that something else happened. And what you witnessed before was Charlie believing her."

Ruby sat quietly for a minute, going over Brax's words in her head. The dispair was visible on his face and she knew that wherever Charlie was, hers would be the same. She wasn't too sure how she could help the situation but she knew she had to try.

"Brax, look....I'll be honest with you. Charlie has serious issues with trust. With everything that has happened in the past, you can't really blame her." She noticed his face fall slightly as he picked up his coffee cup and sighed. "But Brax, you are one of the good guys, we can all see that and despite Charlie's behaviour today, she knows that too."

Brax's smile slowly started to return to his face. "I'd do anything for her, Ruby."

Ruby mirrored his smile. "I know, and so does Charle. She's yours Brax; just wait for her to calm down and she'll come back to you." She reached over the table and gave his hand a comforting squeeze before finishing off her coffee and leaving Brax to think over what she had said.

-----

After what she would consider to be one of the worst days in school, Bianca met April at home time and headed towards the Diner. The more she told herself not to think about him, Bianca found herself thinking of him. Heath Braxton occupied her every thought and after the way he was acting, she was beginning to hate it.

"Are you even listening to me?" April quizzed, throwing her a skeptical look.

Bianca shook her head, coming out of her latest daze. "Of course I am; you were telling me all about Dex!" Bianca lied as she placed an arm around her sister, pulling her in for a hug.

"No I wasn't. I was talking to you about school work....what were you thinking about?"

Bianca's cheeks flushed as she glanced away from the stare of her little sister. April tried to not to laugh.

"Could it be a member of the opposite sex?" She teased, elbowing Bianca lightly in the ribs. "Is it Liam? Are you guys getting back together? I did see him leaving your classroom the other day..." She trailed off hoping that Bianca would fill in the blanks but Bianca ignored her as she led her into the Diner.

"Do you want to get a table and I'll order some coffee?" Bianca dismissed April's previous comments as she ushered her sister towards a table while she stood at the counter and ordered two coffees.

"Coffee please." The voice she had come to know appeared beside her. She paused for a moment as she tried to compose herself before turning around to look at him. He kept his eyes fixed in front of him so to avoid her stare.

"Er...can you not even say hello now?" She asked, a mixture of anger and hurt settling in the pit of her stomach.

He briefly glanced at her. "Hi." His voice was cold and distant as he tore his gaze away from her again.

"Hi? That's all I get?"

"I thought we were ignoring each other now, isn't that what you wanted?" He replied sarcastically as he paid for his coffee.

She turned to face him, trying to keep her voice as low as possible as she spotted Colleen walking out of the kitchen. The last thing she needed was Colleen starting anothee rumour. "What is your problem? I would have thought you were too busy with your other 'lady' friends to even notice.."

Heath could see the anger in her eyes as she looked at him and knew that he was the sole cause of it. Part of him was screaming inside to just apologise to her and confess to her what his problem was. However, the other part of him, the part which was controlled by his pride and ego, took over and responded the only way he knew how.

"Exactly. It was just sex, get over it, Bianca." His voice was cold and nonchalant as he picked up his coffee and left the Diner.

Her jaw dropped as she watched him leave, resisting the urge to pick up her coffee and throw them at the walking away figure. Instead, she picked up the drinks and took them over to April, slamming them down on the table. April stared down at the spilt coffee and then back at her sister.

"What was that all about? Is everything ok?" She asked. She had watched the exchange between the two and couldn't help but feel concerned. Whatever they were discussing was certainly heated and neither of them looked amused.

"Just drink your coffee, April." She snapped, her eyes avoiding any sort of contact.

-----

Brax stood behind the bar at Angelo's, pouring wine into two glasses. A waiter picked them up as he left the kitchen, taking them over to the nearest table. The restaurant had been slammed for the past two hours and Brax was thankful of not just the profits but also for the distraction. He hadn't heard from Charlie since she had ran off this afternoon and although part of him was worried, the other part told him that he had to listen to Ruby and give her time. Thankfully that time was clearly up as Charlie slowly appeared in the doorway of the restaurant.

Brax hadn't noticed her at first as he continued serving the drinks and sending them on their way to their designated tables. She stood quietly in the doorway for a moment, observing him as a smile formed on her lips.

She had spent most of afternoon driving along the coast, stopping every now and then to try and clear her mind. It hadn't worked and now all she wanted to do was apologise to him and wrap herself up in his arms.

Sighing, Brax glanced up from the drinks and his eyes fell on Charlie. He paused as their eyes met and then slowly he smiled at her. Feeling a sense of relief wash over her, she made her way through the crowded restaurant to the bar.

"Hey."

"Hi Charlie."

She smiled nervously as she looked at him. "It's pretty busy in here..." She commented, glancing around the restaurant. He followed her gaze before their eyes locked again.

"Yeah, it's been like this for most of the night."

He watched her cautiously from the other side of the bar. Dressed simply in jeans and a silky vest top, Brax couldn't help but think she looked beautiful. She felt the intensity of his stare and immediately felt her cheeks warm up.

"I...I erm....I'm really sorry about this afternoon." She started, knowing that as soon as she was done they could hopefully go back to being the loved up couple they had been that morning.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing; I didn't mean to hurt you the way I did..." He had prepared a big speech but now that she was here stood in front of him, any previous thoughts had quickly disappeared.

"I over-reacted. I'm sorry." She threw him a half smile and he grinned back at her. "I hate not talking to you, I missed you."

She spoke softly as she rested on the bar, trying to close the gap between them. Brax followed her lead and leant in towards her; their faces were now mearly inches apart.

"I missed you too."

"Come home with me?" She whispered, her breath catching his lips which sent shivers across his skin.

He closed the gap between them, his lips instantly finding hers. She responded to his touch, momentarily forgetting their location as the kiss intensified and their tongues interlocked.

"So is that a yes?" Charlie smiled as he broke the kiss.

"I can't leave for another hour..." He groaned. As much as he wanted to take her away there and then, he knew that they were already short staffed and wouldn't cope with him leaving early.

Brax watched in silence for a moment as Charlie sighed and took a seat at the bar.

"Well in that case....a glass of your house red please." She gave him a small wink as he grinned at her and poured her a drink.

"I'll finish as fast as I can." He leant over the counter and placed a kiss on her lips before continuing to work while she lovingly watched his every move.

----

Two glasses of wine later, Brax was almost ready to finish his shift. Charlie was slightly tipsy as she finished the last few drops of her drink before placing the glass gently on the counter. Brax finished up his conversation with one of his employees before picking up his jacket and heading round to the other side of the counter. Charlie hadn't noticed.

He wrapped his arms around her waist which made her jump slightly but she quickly smiled as the scent of the familiar aftershave filled her nose.

"What is a beautiful lady like yourself doing sat alone in a bar?" He teased as he kissed her cheek.

She laughed slightly and spun around in the chair to face him, her arms snaking around his waist pulling him closer to her.

"I'm waiting for my boyfriend to take me home so that we can have the long awaited make up sex!" She stated matter-of-factly. Now it was Brax's turn to laugh as he leant forward and kissed her again.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" He stepped out of her embrace and offered out his hand to her which she immediately took.

Linking their fingers together, they walked hand in hand out of the restaurant and out into the cool air of the night. Charlie shivered slightly and Brax took his jacket, wrapped it around her shoulders. She thanked him before reaching out for his hand yet again. They walked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Charlie cleared her throat and began speaking again.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can, ask me whatever you want." He gave her hand a a comforting squeeze as he ran his fingers over the back of her hand.

"What's the deal with Heath?"

"Heath?"

"Was she just another conquest to him?" She had received an angry phone call from Bianca that afternoon, where Bianca had ranted for a good half an hour about the certain Braxton. Charlie had sympathised as best as she could before deciding that she would do whatever she could to help her best friend.

"Oh Bianca..." Brax sighed, he knew that eventually this would come up in conversation. "No, she is not just another conquest. He knows I'd kill him if that's how he was to treat her."

Charlie smiled to herself as she let go of his hand and wrapped her arm around his waist. He responded by placing his arm around her shoulders.

"She might not admit it, but she really does like him. But he's been acting like a complete idiot."

Brax nodded. "I know. The thing with Heath is...he doesn't deal too well with real, human feelings. He is so intent of maintaining this bad-boy rap he's made for himself that when someone comes along who pierces through that he panics." He kissed the top of her head before continuing. "When it comes to Bianca, Heath feels vunerable. Bianca pulling back from him has just worsened his vunerability. As wrong as it is, he is just dealing with it the only way he knows..."

"Yeah..."

"If you ask me, they just need their heads banging together." Brax chuckled slightly to himself. Charlie stopped walking and turned to stand in front of him, a huge smile on her face.

"Exactly! I can't believe we didn't think of it before." Her grin grew as she went over the idea in her head.

"What? You want to hurt them?" He asked, a confused look on his face. She rolled her eyes at him as she moved back into his embrace, her head resting lightly on his chest.

"No! But...I do have a plan!" She pulled back from him as she took his hand and continued their walk home.

Brax groaned as he followed her. "Why do I get the subtle feeling that this plan is somehow going to get in the way of all the make up sex you have promised?" He half joked as he felt the grip on his hand tighten. Looking at her face, he saw that she was grinning to herself.

"The night is young, Braxton! Come on..."

----

Hope it was ok I'll try and have the next one up before Christmas

Let me know what you think!

Lianne x

[Arielxo]

Awesome chapter!

Glad Charlie and Brax are back to being happy and all loved-up

Woah, Heath was not nice at all.

Haha, can't wait to see Charlie scheming with Brax to get Heath and Bee back together.

Looking forward to more

[Inactive User]

Awesome update Looking forwards to the next one xx

[Danni02]

Awesome update

Sooo glad Chax made up.

Update soon