Free Sinful Chocolate by Adrianne Byrd

met.”
    Gisella nodded and remembered the covetous glances women made toward the handsome Derrick Knight at the party. She also remembered how he only had eyes for his wife. “You’re a lucky woman.”
    â€œI am,” Isabella agreed, blushing. “There’s not a morning I don’t wake up and pinch myself.”
    Gisella relished finding another hopeless romantic. “My sister seems to think there aren’t any good single men out here anymore. She’s given up.”
    Isabella cocked her head. “What about you?”
    â€œMe?” Gisella echoed.
    â€œYeah, you. Has your ex turned you off to finding true love?”
    â€œ Tell her ,” Fantasy Charlie whispered against her ear.
    â€œNo.” Gisella cleared her throat. “Of course not.”
    Fantasy Charlie chuckled and brushed a kiss against the back of her neck.
    â€œGood,” Isabella said. “I’m glad to hear it. I truly believe that if I could find true love, then surely someone as beautiful as you should have no problem.”
    Gisella frowned at the odd comment.
    â€œAnd don’t let the rumors about Charlie dissuade you.”
    â€œ You should listen to the girl. ” Fantasy Charlie moved next to Isabella and folded his arms.
    â€œCharlie is like a big kid. A lot of the women he’s dated act like little girls. They just keep putting his favorite toys in front of him and then act shocked when someone with newer or bigger toys lures him away.”
    â€œShe has an interesting way of putting things,” Charlie said.
    Gisella giggled.
    Isabella smiled. “What I mean is, Charlie will act more like a man when he meets a real woman. Does that make sense?”
    Fantasy Charlie shook his head. “ No. ”
    â€œIt makes perfect sense,” Gisella answered and then gave Isabella another departing hug. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
    After Isabella left the apartment, Gisella closed the door and slumped back against it.
    â€œ I thought she would never leave, ” Fantasy Charlie said, easing up to her and brushing a kiss along her neck. “ What do you say we go back to the bedroom and have a little fun? ”
    Gisella glanced up at him, thinking over Isabella’s words about the real Charlie being a big kid. “Not tonight. I have a headache.”
    Â 
    â€œDo you know anyone who’d want to do this to you, sir?” Officer Todd asked, with his notepad and pen in hand.
    â€œNot off the top of my head,” Charlie grumbled and massaged his throbbing temples. He took another hard look around his ransacked apartment and felt the blood boil in his veins.
    â€œYou said that you filed another police report yesterday about your car being vandalized?”
    Charlie nodded and couldn’t help but feel he’d been cast into some pathetic B-movie horror flick.
    Officer Todd frowned. “Are you sure you can’t think of anyone, sir? Perhaps an ex-wife or old girlfriend…or boyfriend?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œSorry—but we never know. Since nothing was stolen, clearly this was a crime of passion.”
    Charlie flashed the man an irritated glare. “I’m not gay, and I’ve never been married.”
    â€œAnd your old girlfriends?” the officer asked undaunted.
    â€œThat’s obviously a different matter,” Charlie said, exhaling a long breath, racing through a list in his mind. When no woman stood out in his mind, a painful throbbing at his temples began to hammer double time. “I’ll have to get back to you on that one.”
    â€œAll right.” Officer Todd scribbled a few more notes on his notepad and then handed Charlie a card. “Just give us a call if you’re able to think of anything else.”
    â€œSure thing.” Charlie slid the card into his pocket and then held the door open while the officer and his partner made their exit. Once they were gone, he shut the