The next morning

Liza stirred slowly the next morning, blinking away the sleep from her eyes. It took her a moment to realize where she was when she opened her eyes and saw, not the brick wall of Maggie's loft, but blue-gray walls and white curtains framing a wall of windows. Charles, she thought, smiling and registering the heavy arm that was draped across her hip. She turned her head slightly to take a closer look at his sleeping face. His head lay on the pillow behind her, resting on his other arm. Their legs were intertwined, and Liza could feel the heat radiating off of his body, like her own personal heater.

She pushed herself up a little bit to take a look around. She had never been in his bedroom before and had been a little too preoccupied to take in her surroundings last night. Directly across from the king-sized bed was a large white brick fireplace with a rustic wooden mantle that matched the headboard of the bed. A pair of brown leather wingback chairs were angled in front of the wall of windows, just within reach of a wooden bookcase that was jampacked with novels of all shapes and sizes. Liza smirked as she caught sight of her bra flung over the arm of one of the chairs. A small desk was stationed near the door with a closed laptop on top of it. It was a simple room, but welcoming and well furnished.

As Liza rested her head back on the pillow and turned towards Charles, she felt him stir. Reaching up, she gently ran her hand through his mussed hair. He looked completely at peace and so totally relaxed, and Liza thought to herself that she could never tire of seeing him like this.

Charles opened his eyes slowly, blinking his eyes a few times to adjust to the light. Liza was curled up next to him, her hand gently resting on the side of his face, her fingers running through his hair. He leaned down to kiss her gently and laid his head back on the pillow.

"Good Morning, beautiful."

"Good Morning, handsome. How'd you sleep?"

"Better than I have in months. Years." He answered honestly. He had had a lot of sleepless nights since he met Liza, tossing and turning as she had consumed his thoughts, his dreams. And before that, he had spent his nights staring at the ceiling, obsessing over his failed marriage. Hopefully, he thought, as he brushed a strand of hair out of Liza's face, those days were long behind him. He wasn't sure how he had gotten so lucky as to have Liza fall into his life, but he didn't intend on letting go anytime soon. Liza smiled and shifted under the sheets so that she was curled into the crook of his arm, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Me too. I think I could stay in this bed all day."

"Oh, really?" Charles said suggestively.

"Yeah, this mattress is amazing! So much better than the one I have at the loft."

Charles laughed and rolled over on top of her, his arms braced on either side of her. He paused and looked at her for a moment. Never had he seen anyone so beautiful. Her eyes were full of laughter and affection, and he loved the way her one eyebrow was always slightly higher than the other – it made her always look a little amused. He loved the way her eyes crinkled when she laughed, and how she smiled with her whole face. He loved her, with everything he had.

"I love you, Charles." She said the words before she could stop herself. He made her want to be honest with him, completely. She had loved him for a long time and was falling deeper and deeper in love with him every day.

Charles felt a jolt of electricity flow through his body as she said those 4 words. They were so in sync; they were even thinking the same thing at the same time. "I love you too, Liza. I've been in love with you for a long time. I don't want to waste anymore time not being with you." He lowered himself down to kiss her, slowly, passionately, trying to intimate to her the level of the feelings he had for her. She met his lips with equal passion, and they lost themselves in each other once again.

They finally made their way out of bed about an hour and a half later at 8:30 A.M. The light was pouring in the windows and the sounds of the city were getting louder and harder to ignore. Neither had any plans for the day, so they took their time getting ready. Charles persuaded her to join him in the shower, to "save water", even though they didn't get out until the water ran cold. Charles felt a little thrill when he saw Liza take her toiletries out of her overnight bag and spread them across the second sink in the bathroom. It had been cleared of Pauline's belongings for about two years now, and he loved seeing her set out her toothbrush and hair products.

A half out later, they made their way down to the kitchen. Liza followed Charles down the staircase, admiring how his body looked dressed down in jeans and a t-shirt. She had rarely seen him in anything other than a tailored suit, and she took pleasure in knowing what lay underneath those designer suits now. She hadn't thought it possible, but she though he looked even sexier dressed down for a casual Saturday.

Charles insisted on Liza sitting and relaxing while he pulled together a breakfast of scrambled eggs and pancakes. His forte, he declared, was making breakfast for dinner for Bianca and Nicole. The one meal he was actually good at cooking, he had said, smiling. Liza on the other hand, was enamored with this domestic side of Charles. The more time she spent with him, the more she realized that there was a lot to discover about the enigmatic Charles Brooks.

Liza's heart swelled when she listened to Charles talk about his kids. His whole face lit up and she could tell how much the two of them meant to him. She had a lot of questions about their mom, but she was still hesitant to ask them. Truth takes time, she thought, as he slid a cup of coffee across the island to her. Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out of her jeans pocket to see a new text from Kelsey.

How was your date with Charles?

She smiled and texted a quick text back: Excellent! I'm still on it

You go girl! I can't wait for details.

"Who's texting you this early?"

Liza set the phone back down. "Kelsey. She wanted to know how our date was. You know, the details." She smirked at Charles as his face reddened.

"Oh god. I won't be able to look her in the face for a month."

Liza laughed. "You have nothing to worry about. Liza Ann Miller does not kiss and tell. Except to Maggie." She shrugged. "Sorry, babe, but she knows every little detail. I can't wait for you to meet her."

"I actually wanted to talk to you about that. I was going to propose that we have dinner with her tonight, if she's free. Here, or at the loft, wherever."

"I'd love that. I'd love for you to come see the loft. And knowing Maggie, she'd love to put on a feast and interrogate you. Let me text her."

Charles plated their breakfast as Liza exchanged a few texts with Maggie. "She's on board. How about 7:00?"

"Works for me."

"I told her I'd come help get things ready, so I should be back there a few hours before. So, Mr. Brooks, what would you like to do until then?"

"Oh, I'm sure I could think of a few things to occupy our time. But," he said, a little hesitantly, "I'd really love to see a little more of your world. We spend so much time at work, I don't really know what your life is like outside of the office. I thought maybe we could go to Brooklyn. You could show me your world."

"I'd like that. I'd really like that, Charles." She leaned over and kissed him.

They set off for Brooklyn an hour later. Liza insisted he get the full experience and take the subway. They got off on the stop a few blocks from her apartment and for the next two hours she led him around. She showed him her favorite coffee shop, the community garden that she and Maggie worked in and the hole in the wall book store that had become one of her favorite spots. He insisted they go inside, and they perused the shelves, quickly accumulating a stack of books to purchase and sneaking kisses whenever the owner wasn't looking.

A half hour later they spilled back out onto the street, Liza's armed hooked in Charles', and each carrying a small bag of books. Charles had called an Uber as they checked out, and they made their way down the block to the waiting car that would take him back home before coming back in the evening for dinner. Charles leaned down to kiss her goodbye.

"I'll see you later."

"I can't wait. I love you." Liza whispered the last three words to him. Words he would never tire of hearing.

He gave her one last, gentle kiss. "I love you, too. I'll see you tonight."

Liza watched him climb in the car and merge into traffic before heading the two blocks back to her apartment. But as she rounded the corner to her block and looked up towards the apartment, she stopped in her tracks. Sitting on her porch stoop was a brown haired, heavily tattooed 20 something. Josh.