Chapter 5
Entering A New World
Charlene’s eyes widened when the car that had taken her from the San Jose airport to Santa Cruz pulled up at what could only be Clayton’s house. She gasped when she’d first set eyes on the sprawling mansion with the private beachfront. The house had that ultramodern design that she wasn’t quite sure if she’d ever been a fan of but she had to admit it was impressive. It was done all in white and looked like five squares of varying height all joined together.
There was a pool in the back even though it was right on the ocean. Charlene couldn’t see it but she was willing to bet money that it was there. A three tier fountain with an angel on top spouted water in the front yard. The grass that ran past the driveway and into the front yard was lush and green and immaculately cared for. Perfectly trimmed shrubs bracketed the house and lined the walkway.
The driver, a younger man who always kept his eyes focused on her face as though awaiting instruction, came to open her door for her. Charlene was ready. She purposely didn’t look around her like a lost puppy. As she walked up the long driveway towards the front door, the driver right behind her, wheeling her small bag. She couldn’t help but pause for a second and stare out past the house to the endless blue expanse of ocean.
The beach was beautiful. It wasn’t the white sand variety but it didn’t need to be in order to be breathtaking. She could imagine putting on her bikini in the heat of the day, rushing across the hot sand and diving into the cool ocean waters.
Her thoughts helped distract her until the driver reached past her and knocked gently on the ornate front door. It was wood and rose likely eight feet tall. Glass partitions stood out beside the door but it was impossible to see into them as the glass was fogged for privacy.
The door opened and Charlene almost expected a butler but it was Clayton. He smiled when he saw her and it transformed his face from serious and hard into one that looked at least twenty years younger. He was dressed much more casually than the last time she’d seen him. He was wearing dark wash jeans and a tight fitting black t-shirt that outlined his muscular chest and arms. Unbelievably enough his feet were bare, as though he’d just come from the beach or outside.
Good lord, Clayton was likely in better shape than she was. Was it any wonder that the sixteen year old version of herself had been madly in love with him?
What about the twenty-six year old version?
Charlene swallowed hard. Clayton thanked the driver and the man turned, doffed his hat and left. She was alone, on Clayton’s doorstep, wondering for the millionth time if it was crazy that she had agreed to come.
“Charlene,” Clayton finally said, breaking the awkward silence. “Come in. Please.”
“Thank you.” She stepped through the entrance and couldn’t help but emit a strange, strangled, impressed sound when she looked around. “This is amazing,” she finally said, because she had to say something.
Clayton’s face remained impassive. If he was pleased that she liked his house, he didn’t say so. She had a thousand questions but she kept them to herself.
“I can show you where your room will be. You could put your bag in there and then you could tell me what you want to do.”
“No itineraries?” Charlene joked. Clayton had the kind of house that told her he was a scheduled type of person. She tried hard to keep her eyes away from him but they kept straying back.
As impressive as the house was with its massive staircase made of wood planks and glass railings, the huge, spacious living rooms with the hardwood floors, and the even more impressive kitchen… it couldn’t hold a candle next to Clayton himself. How the hell was he so fit?
She knew he was divorced. She’d been devastated to learn about his marriage though she was careful to hide her sorrow. When she found out through mutual friends that he was getting a divorce, ironically enough she’d been sad. She didn’t like to hear of broken marriages or people getting hurt.
“No itineraries,” Clayton confirmed, grinning to reveal perfectly straight, white teeth. Charlene starred when she noticed that the front two were no longer slightly crooked. How could she have missed that when she’d first seen him again? Did she even know Clayton at all anymore? “I thought you might like to see the beach though. The tide goes out right away and there’s a little cave just around the corner that we could go to. It’s pretty neat if you’ve never been inside of one.”
“That would be fun.” Charlene cursed herself for sounding like an overwhelmed child but if Clayton noticed he didn’t pay any attention.
His dark eyes never strayed from her face and finally he turned and she followed him up that impressive staircase to her room. He dropped her bag on the king sized bed. The room itself was sparsely but expensively furnished.
The king sized bed had black velvet upholstered headboard and foot board. There was an overstuffed chair off to the side and a huge, carved armor off to the other side. Beyond that was a huge desk with an ornate chair perched in front of it.
“There’s a bathroom over here,” Clayton said. He walked over and Charlene noticed the door. She was surprised that it slid into the wall instead of opening in or out.
She quickly walked over to take a look inside. The bathroom was massive, likely larger than her living room at home and had a glass shower, huge jet tub and a double vanity.
“Jeez, if your guest bedroom looks like this I can only imagine what your bedroom looks like,” Charlene said. She immediately regretted her words and felt a hot blush settle on her face.
Clayton laughed but his dark eyes held something deep and undefined and Charlene had to look away. “It might look pretty much the same, just larger.” Clayton assured her with his light tone. “If you want to change I can meet you downstairs.”
“Sure,” Charlene whispered. As soon as Clayton left she flopped down on the bed and covered her face with her hands. “Oh my god,” she whispered. “This cannot be real.”
When she opened her eyes everything was still there. Clayton really did own a mansion and she really was there. She closed her eyes again and imagined Clayton in beach attire which included no shirt and a whole lot of muscular, bare chest. Her entire body tensed painfully at imagining him, half naked, in that cave with her.
“Get a grip Charlene,” she told herself angrily, sliding off the bed. She unzipped her suitcase much more forcefully than was necessary and hunted around until she found the plain black bikini she’d brought. Seeing Clayton’s house she wished she’d had something fancier. A four hundred dollar swim suit instead of a twenty dollar one.
Charlene slipped out of her maxi dress and into the bikini. She walked into the bathroom, the white marble floors cool on the undersides of her feet, and studied herself in the massive mirror.
Not bad. Though she hadn’t had time to do anything but yoga in the past few months and even then, just to relieve stress, Charlene was still quite fit. Perhaps never having time to eat a proper meal helped.
She inspected herself from the side, feeling ridiculous. Her breasts had never been on the large side but they looked good in the bikini top. Her stomach was flat, her hips gently tapered and her legs long and shapely.
What would Clayton think when he saw her in a bikini?
Frowning, Charlene pushed that thought out of her mind. God, he probably wouldn’t even notice. He had never given her any sign that he returned her feelings. When she’d been sixteen he saw her as a daughter. Why should he think of her any differently now?
Charlene’s determination to stop thinking about Clayton faltered the second she saw him downstairs. If he’d looked good in clothes he looked phenomenal without them. She’d been right about him having the body of a man twenty years younger.
His powerful shoulders were broad and well-muscled. His abdomen was chiseled and he definitely had a defined six pack. His skin was bronzed from hours spent in the sun. His shorts ended just below his knees and the rest of his exposed leg was thick with corded muscle.
Charlene could hardly tear her eyes off of his body but forced herself to look only at his face. Which was in itself a pleasure. She’d always had a thing for older men. To her, men just got better with age. Clayton’s dark hair was cut short on the sides and left longer on the top. There were streaks of gray at the temples but his hair was cut so short it was hard to see it there. Not that she would have minded. A strong brow, which shadowed dark eyes, leveled into a straight nose and a square jaw that was always clean shaven. His lips were strong, not narrow or thin like some men’s.
“Are you ready?” Clayton’s gaze swept over her body and Charlene felt herself blush again.
She nodded. “I think so.”
Clayton grinned. “Come on then. I’ll race you down to the beach.” He took off running through the back of the house and Charlene stood, planted to the floor, feet frozen in shock.
Had he really just said race you? She heard a door bang shut on the other end of the house and figured Clayton meant it.
With a little cry of excitement she took off running. She found the back sliding glass door and let herself out and then she was chasing him as he strode powerfully and effortlessly to the sand that lay below.
The wind tangled in her hair, the sand was warm and soft under her feet. Charlene raised her hands to the air and laughed. She couldn’t recall the last time she had ever felt so free.