Chapter 3
The Invitation
“My father was a stubborn man. I think he was sorry but he didn’t know how to say it. He didn’t want to admit that he might have been wrong. At any rate, it’s done now.” Charlene said quietly but the fire in her eyes and her rigid, determined stance belied her soft words.
There was something in those green depths, something so wounded, so frightened and a spark of hopeful longing that gave Clayton the courage he needed to ask his next question.
“Have you ever been to Santa Cruz?” He could tell that he’d startled Charlene. It took her a few long moments to answer.
“California,” she breathed out. “No,” she finally said. “I don’t believe I have.” She started walking again and Clayton fell in easily and far too naturally beside her.
“Would you like to?” He asked after a couple paces.
Charlene whirled, pausing again. One hand went to her hip and her eyes flashed fire. Clayton couldn’t help but admire the angry stance. “Maybe this walk was a mistake. Maybe you’re right. You shouldn’t have come. If all you’re going to do is play games”
She turned angrily but Clayton reached out and caught her arm. The heat of her skin burned up his arm. Clayton felt the shock waves in every single part of his body. He relaxed his grip, astonished at the effect she had on him. She was half his age, the daughter of a man who had once been his best friend. He should just go and leave well enough alone. Slowly, he dropped his hand back to his side and she eyed him warily.
“I’m not playing games Charlene. I have a home in Santa Cruz. I would like you to see it. I just didn’t know how to ask you. It’s hardly the right time or place I know that. I just think, well, if you could use some time away from the house, a few quiet weeks to sort out your thoughts then I’m offering you my home.”
One blonde brow arched as Charlene studied him. A jogger dressed in tight, neon green spandex shorts and a matching shirt, ran by. Clayton made a mental note never to take up the sport. He seriously doubted he would look any less ridiculous dressed like that than the guy who had just passed by did.
“You’re offering your home?” Charlene questioned incredulously. “Just like that? You show up here after ten years and offer to whisk me away like some conquering hero on a white horse? What do you even know of me? And what would you expect in return?” Her eyes flashed like she already had him figured out and Clayton winced. His heart hammered because she hit far too close to the truth for even his liking. He’d always been so careful to control all his emotions. The only time he’d ever been free was in his fantasies.
“Not what you’re thinking. I have a house on a private beach. It’s very secluded and beautiful. I’ve heard it said that there’s no better place for reflection… or escape.”
“Escape? Is that what you think I need?”
“I have no idea what you need Charlene.” Why was this escalating so out of control? Where the hell was his normally unflappable composure? “I’m just offering you a few weeks to decompress. I know your father’s last few months couldn’t have been easy.”
“Watching people die never is.” Her voice was soft and contained no trace of bitterness. Her eyes also softened and her face lost the hard planes of anger.
“I’d heard you had become a nurse. I can imagine it as you’ve always been so caring, so tender and kind.”
“I have a hardness too. A determination that you never got the chance to see.”
“You’re wrong there. I’ve always known that you had an unbreakable spirit.”
Charlene studied him, her gaze raking over him intently for a few seconds. What did she see when she looked at him? Someone twice her age or a man, still fit, still handsome, hardly changed from the time she had known him last?
“I have no money to get there,” she finally confessed on a long exhale. “I quit my job to care for my father and I used up almost all of my savings to pay for the funeral expenses. Until the will is settled in a few weeks… I’m afraid that I’m hardly even going to be able to make the mortgage payments on the house.”
Clayton smiled softly. “Don’t worry about the money. I can take care of that. I’ll lend you some if you need it to cover the payments and the bills until you come into your own. Your father didn’t have life insurance?”
“No. It was always so expensive. We just never got around to it. No one expects to die when they’re middle age.” Her voice was sad, her eyes deep pools of sorrow.
“Say you’ll come,” Clayton almost begged. “I’ll take care of everything. You’ve been so strong. It’s time to let someone else shoulder the burden.”
Shaking her head furiously, a small smile turned up Charlene’s full lips. “That’s a stupid thing to say.” Her voice was soft and her words weren’t harsh.
“Charlene… just for a week. Come just for one week. At the very least it will get you out of the house. I can’t imagine you want to stay there by yourself now. Not at first.”
Her delicate shoulders slumped in defeat. “You’re right. I don’t.” She eyed him for another long minute and Clayton stood rigidly, breath caught somewhere between his lungs and his too tight throat. He thought she was going to deny him despite her obvious reluctance to be alone. He was shocked when she stepped forward and leaned into him.
All her lush curves hit his hard planes, her seductive, womanly body pressing into him with the sweet innocence of full trust. Clayton closed his eyes and willed himself to keep his shit together. He exhaled slowly, trying to focus his mind anywhere but on what Charlene was doing to his body.
Slowly, carefully, Clayton wrapped his strong arms around her slight shoulders. He dipped his head and inhaled the floral scent of her shampoo or hairspray, he wasn’t sure which. He kept telling himself she saw him as an old friend. Someone to comfort her when she was alone in the world. It was nothing more than that. It could never be more than that. He could never allow himself to take advantage of her.
Charlene pulled back and Clayton reluctantly let her go. His pulse spiked, his heart hammering furiously in his chest. He waited for her answer though he knew by the softness on her face that she was not going to deny him.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I’ll come for a week. On one condition.”
“What is that?” Clayton asked, hardly daring to hope.
“That we keep it strictly professional. How my father would have wanted.”
Her father wouldn’t have wanted Clayton anywhere near her. Wasn’t that the reason he had spent the past ten years hearing about his old friend through mutual connections? He’d missed Charles terribly. Her innocent sixteen year old crush had been the death of their friendship. It stung Clayton, even now, that Charles had thought he wouldn’t have composed himself nobly. How could he have thought that Clayton would do anything to encourage Charlene?
“Of course,” Clayton responded smoothly. He kept his face perfectly neutral, searching for and finding his usual composure.
Was it his imagination or did Charlene almost look disappointed? He almost threw in the caveat that it was her decision if their relationship should ever be anything more but he remained silent. There was no way in hell he was going to utter such foolish words.
“When should I be ready to leave?”
“In two days.”
She arched a brow and shot him an accusing look. “I thought you said you were in town for a little while?”
Clayton grinned, feeling suddenly very much like his old charming self again. “I was planning on it but now I don’t have to be. I’ll arrange everything. Can you be ready?”
Charlene nodded, her features tightening though it was hard to decide whether it was from anxiety or anticipation.
Two days. He had two days to prepare for Charlene’s arrival. He wondered how many days it would take her to change her mind about keeping him at bay. Clayton almost hoped she remained steadfast in her resolution. Charlene Penticton was the only woman on earth who had ever shaken him. She was the only woman on earth who could never be his.