Chapter3
On Friday morning when she got up and went downstairs to the kitchen with Abbie, she was relieved knowing that she wouldn’t see him right away. She was surprised when she found a note that told her he would be gone for a few days on business.
Elaine would be by to pick Abbie up that afternoon, and it meant that Charlotte would be alone in the house until either Abbie came back on Sunday at midday, or Brady came back from his business trip. He hadn’t been clear about when that would be.
She let the little girl distract her for most of the day, and she was grateful for the fun, lighthearted joy that they shared in their time together, but when Elaine picked Abbie up and they left, Charlotte found that the whole house was much too quiet. She walked around the home a little, and then went out for a swim in the afternoon sun. When she got out of the pool, she walked almost inadvertently to the pillar where he had kissed her and touched her. She lifted her hand and let her fingers trail slowly down the smooth, cool stone, remembering the fire that blazed between them, and wishing that it hadn’t stopped, or that it had never started. She felt as if she was in limbo, caught in a desire she could never fulfill and either being near it and never having it, or leaving it all together. It left her miserable.
Charlotte dressed and drove into the city, meeting up with Rita for dinner and drinks out on the town. It was a huge relief to see her best friend, and get a good hug from her. Rita was a full figured girl with a big smile, short curled hair, and a flamboyant and bright personality that she wore on the outside as it showed from within. Her skin was a few shades darker than Charlotte’s, and her eyes were just as dark brown, shining, and pretty.
“You look like you’re a hot mess!” Rita frowned slightly, taking in a good look as Charlotte stood before her. “I mean, you’re gorgeous of course, but you don’t look like you’re doing too well.”
“I’m not.” Charlotte answered desolately.
Rita ordered drinks and when the waiter had left with their order for dinner as well, Rita pressed for more details. “Okay, spill. What’s got you so torn up? It’s not the dad still, is it?”
Charlotte nodded slowly. “In so many ways.”
Rita’s brow furrowed. “You can’t keep going on like this. Look at you! I’ve never seen you look so gloomy!”
Charlotte dropped her face into her hands and then lowered her hands to her lap as she leaned toward her best friend. “I’ve never felt this bad. It isn’t just that I can’t stop thinking about him. Something happened.”
Rita perked up a little and a smile formed at the corner of her mouth. “What? What happened?”
“He kissed me.”
With a happy squeal, Rita clapped her hands together. “Well that’s great! That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”
Charlotte bit at her lower lip and tried to hold back the tears that began to sting her eyes. “Yes, and no. I mean, I did want it, and I still do, but… it isn’t going to happen.”
“Why not?” Rita narrowed her eyes. “What did I miss?”
“I was out swimming late, and I thought I was alone, but then when I got out of the pool, I saw him standing there near the house, kind of in a shadow. I don’t know how long he was there.” Charlotte could see it in her mind and feel it inside her as she spoke about it.
“Watching you from the shadows? Creepy or hot?” Rita asked, taking her drink from the waiter and diving right into it.
“Hot. Very hot.” Charlotte answered wistfully.
“Right. It’s only creepy if you don’t like the guy.” Rita raised a brow pointedly.
“He’s so… bold and… and fearless. He asked me right there why he affects me so much. Here I thought I was doing alright keeping it to myself, and he knew all along. That was embarrassing. I told him I didn’t know and he just started kissing me. It was… it got… pretty steamy, and I thought that we would… I thought that we were going to…” She trailed off dejectedly.
“Wake up together?” Rita smiled coyly at her.
“Yes.” Charlotte stirred her little red straw around in her drink. “But then he stopped. He backed off and said it shouldn’t have happened, and he said he was sorry and then he left. I haven’t seen him since, and I’ve been miserable.”
Rita frowned. “Well. That’s pretty anticlimactic. That’s it huh? He kissed you and walked away and that’s all there is?”
“Yes.” Charlotte continued to poke her straw at her drink.
“Well, I said it when we talked about this, and I’ll say it again. You need to find a boy to distract you. Seriously. They’re all over the place here. Find one and go home with him and he’ll take your mind off of this Brady guy.” Rita was sure that she was right.
Charlotte shook her head. “That’s not going to work. Not now. Not since he kissed me.”
“You could quit your job and find another job.” Rita suggested, sucking down a good portion of her drink and waving at the waiter for another one.
“No. I couldn’t afford it. I’d never find another job where I make this much money. Plus, I just love Abbie to pieces. She’s the sweetest little girl ever. I just have this raging crush on her dad and I’ve got to get over it. Fast.” Charlotte took a long pull off of her drink.
“Find. Another. Guy.” Rita repeated in staccato. “You find some other guy and he’ll be on your mind and you won’t be all hung up on your boss. Best cure. I promise.”
“Well, here’s to wishing me luck with that endeavor.” Charlotte held her drink up and they toasted. She turned the conversation to other things, and though she laughed and had fun and her mind was mostly distracted from Brady, he hovered at the edge of her thoughts, and she was never fully free of him while she was out with Rita.
She spent Friday and Saturday night in Rita’s guest room and was relieved with the time away from the Douglas mansion. She went back early on Sunday morning determined to make a go of it with her job there, and to focus all of her attention on little Abbie. She promised herself that whenever she was around Brady, she would think of other things, and not give as much of her headspace to him.
Abbie came home midday, and Elaine stayed and had lunch with them, talking about a variety of things before she left with a big smile and a friendly wave. Charlotte liked her, and was glad that there was someone so positive in Abbie’s life.
She thought briefly about asking Elaine where Abbie’s mother was, but they never got to a point in the conversation, especially with Abbie right there, where it seemed like it would be a good time to ask.
Charlotte didn’t see Brady, but she knew that he had come home sometime late Sunday night, because when she got up with Abbie on Monday morning, there was a note there for them. He said he’d see them that afternoon.
She told herself that she was going to be able to handle it, that it would be possible for things to be normal between them. She didn’t think about how Brady would be with her. When he got home that evening, he was just the same as he had always been with her, and it felt after the first few awkward moments, at least on her end, as if it had never happened at all.
He had the same cool ease about himself, playing with Abbie and cooking, talking about his day and theirs, and the only difference that Charlotte could detect was that he didn’t look at her as much as he had been before the kiss.
She went along with it, wondering how he could do it, and reminding herself to keep her thoughts on anything else. It seemed as though everything was going to be alright, and as she lay in her bed that night, going over it all in her mind, she began to wonder if it was all just some strange fluke. She wondered if he’d been curious and kissed her and then meant what he said about not going there with her, because on that day, and on every day of the week that followed, it was as if there had been no kiss, no fire, and no heat between them. While it was a relief to her, it was still a challenge to her to keep her mind and her eyes off him, and on anything else.
The days passed and it seemed as though it would be business as usual for them. On Friday morning when she woke up, she was surprised to find him in the kitchen when she and Abbie went down for breakfast.
Abbie was thrilled, running to him and hugging him. “Daddy!”
He hugged her tight and kissed her cheek. “I missed you so much that I had to stay for breakfast!” He exclaimed, helping her get settled at the table for a morning meal. As he situated her and served them the breakfast that he had prepared, he talked to Charlotte.
“I have to go on a business trip to the Caribbean this evening, and I’ll be there the whole weekend. As sorry as I am to deprive my mother of her time with her baby girl, I want you and Abbie to come with me.” He set plates of eggs, bacon, and fresh cut fruit down before them all.
Charlotte was stunned. “The Caribbean? So soon? Wow. Okay, well, I’ll go up and pack for us after breakfast.”
“Have you been to the Caribbean before?” He asked, giving her a small smile.
She shook her head. “No, but I’ve wanted to go. This is pretty exciting, isn’t it Abbie?” She asked, turning her attention away from Brady and toward his daughter instead. “We can go swim in the ocean!”
“I love the ocean!” Abbie exclaimed, clapping her hands together brightly. “I want to go with Charlie! I want to go to the beach!”
“Me too, little one.” Brady replied, leaning over and kissing the top of her head.
They finished breakfast and Brady went upstairs with them both, packing for Abbie and having a grand time doing it as he let her help pick out what she wanted to take, while Charlotte packed for herself.
She and Abbie swam in the pool while Brady packed, and Charlotte wondered how it would be between them on the trip. She wondered if ignoring all of the desires in her would be the new normal, and she wondered if she would get used to it, get over it, or suffer as it ate away at her.
They readied, and late that afternoon, following an early dinner, they went to a small airport and boarded Brady’s private plane. Charlotte was amazed.
“You have your own airplane?” she asked in wonder as they walked across the tarmac to it. He shrugged, carrying Abbie in his arms.
“It makes long distance travel much easier.” He gave her a smile and then strapped his daughter into her seat.
Charlotte reached into her bag and pulled out a little baby doll and handed it to Abbie.
“Lula!” The little girl squealed happily, taking the doll and hugging it.
“We can’t go anywhere without her!” Charlotte grinned at her and touched her cheek tenderly.
“Thank you, Charlie.” Abbie beamed at her as she began to tuck her baby doll under the seatbelt with her.
There was one short row of two seats on one side of the plane, and another row with one seat on the other side. Brady sat in the row with two seats, facing the cockpit, while Abbie sat in the single seat opposite him, facing the same way. Charlotte took a seat facing the rear of the plane, and also facing Brady, though she was on the aisle and he was beside the window.
A flight attendant brought them drinks, and gave Abbie a snack. She made sure that they were prepared for takeoff, and minutes later, the plane taxied down the runway and lifted into the air. Abbie raised her little hands up in the air and cried out, “Wheeeee!”
Then, once they were airborne, she settled into her seat, playing with her doll, and short minutes later, she fell asleep.
“You’re really good with her.” Brady said quietly, looking from Abbie to Charlotte. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that and how much it means to me.”
“It’s easy. She’s a little angel. It’s a lot more fun than work, taking care of her.” Charlotte answered with a smile, meeting his eyes for a moment and then looking away.
“We’re lucky to have you.” He replied, and then turned his attention to his electronic tablet.
Charlotte tried to distract herself with a book, and had a challenging time doing it. He was too close to her. She could’ve chosen a seat in one of the other two rows, but that would have seemed awkward for her to exclude herself from them. She could have sat next to him, but that would only have made it worse. Sitting diagonally from him was as far away from him as she could get without being in a different row, and it left far too much a view of him right before her.
The skies outside began to grow darker and she put her book down and leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes and willing herself to sleep. It only loosed her mind to picture him, to imagine him closer, to remember the feel of his hands and his mouth on her body, and to want him even more.
Sighing despondently, she opened her eyes and discovered that he was staring at her. Not in an offhanded way; his eyes were locked with intensity on her legs, her hips, and then her breasts. As his gaze reached her lips and eyes, she felt her breath catch in her chest. He didn’t look away, he only continued to stare at her for a long and heated moment. Her heart began to pound and he opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but then he turned toward the window and covered his mouth with his hand, looking out into the night, and the earth far below them.
She looked over at Abbie, facing the other way, and closed her eyes, wrestling the question in her mind of whether she had misread his hard and fiery stare, or if he had really been looking at her that way. She tried not to think of it, but the haunted expression in his eyes stayed at the forefront of her mind and she fell asleep focused on it.
The flight attendant woke them just before they were going to land, and Charlotte could see that it was almost dawn outside. They’d flown all night. The blackness at the edge of the eastern sky had given way to hues of cobalt blue and pale white.
Charlotte kept her attention on Abbie, and her eyes diverted from the little girl’s father. They left the plane and got into a car that was waiting for them. Brady drove them away from the airport and through a small town, but then turned the car away from the town and headed down a winding coastal road that boasted incredible views of a pristine turquoise and aquamarine sea, topped with rolling white waves and framed by luscious plant and vegetation life, while palm trees danced and swayed overhead.
“This is paradise!” Charlotte cried out with the window down and the ocean breeze rushing past her face and toying with her loose wavy hair. “How have I never been here before?”
Brady only grinned and chuckled as he drove them a bit further and then finally turned down a driveway that was blocked by an electric gate. The gate swung open when he keyed in the code, and he pulled the car through a canopy of flowering jungle, turning and winding until they reached a beautiful two story tall stucco beach house.
He took Abbie out of her seat and asked her to go in with Charlotte, while he collected the bags and carried them in.
“I missed it here!” Abbie cried out as she hurried for the door and bounced in place, waiting for her dad to get there with the key.
Charlotte looked from the little girl to Brady in surprise. “Wait… you didn’t rent this place? Is this your place?”
He gave his head a shake. “It’s a Douglas residence.” He said, pushing the door open and walking in. Abbie jumped and ran over the Spanish tile floors to the short flight of stairs that led up to the second level; her doll in one hand and a grin on her face.
Charlotte mused at how lucky it was that Brady was conducting his business on an island where he already had a home. She had thought they’d be at a hotel or in a rented house.
“Your room is this way.” He said evenly as he headed up the stairs behind his daughter. Charlotte followed him.
It was a wide-open space on the main floor; a kitchen, dining room, and a sitting room all connected to one another, with windows and glass doors all along the far wall that led out to the beach just behind the house. She saw that there was fresh fruit in a bowl on the island in the big kitchen and a big bouquet of tropical flowers not far from it.
“Did you tell anyone you were going to be here?” she asked curiously, rounding the top step and going down the hall a few steps in his shadow.
“Yes, there are housekeepers who look after this place while I’m away. I always let them know when I’m coming in so they have the place ready for me.” He told her as he turned and walked into a room that was walled in white.
The flooring all over the upper level was light wood, as was the furniture. A beautiful bed stood against one wall while the matching dresser, wardrobe, nightstand, and desk were set about the room with space between them. A set of glass double doors opened to a deck that overlooked the jungle beach and the ocean beyond it.
“Wow.” She said with wide eyes, looking around. She saw a doorway leading into another room. “Is this Abbie’s room then?” She stepped through the doorway and stopped short. There was nothing about it that hinted at it belonging to a little girl.
“No, that’s my room. Abbie likes the room across the hall. She says she can see the flowers and the trees better.” He set his bags down on the massive bed in his room and walked across the hallway to through the open door to the nursery there. Abbie was already playing with the toys she kept at the house. He set her bag down and patted her head.
“Well, she’s busy.” He paused a moment and then turned to face Charlotte. “That’s good. I’d like to talk with you in my office.”
Charlotte’s heart began to pick up speed and she wondered if everything was alright with her job. She wondered for a moment if he was going to let her go because of what had happened between them, but then she realized that he wouldn’t have brought her all the way to a tropical island in the Caribbean if he was going to fire her.
They headed downstairs and he walked into a sunny and spotless looking office, waiting for her to enter, and then he closed the door behind her. Charlotte stood before his desk and waited, her mind going in a million directions as he walked slowly to the window and slid one hand into his jean pocket. She glanced at the back of him, her eyes following the curve of his body, and she felt her cheeks warm. She looked away, staring down at his desk.
“I want to talk with you about what happened at the pool.” He said in a quiet voice.
She drew in a long slow breath. She had wondered if they would ever need to discuss it. Memories of it flashed through her mind and she closed her eyes, willing herself to forget how intense it was; how hot, and how much it made her want him.
“I have done all I can to push it from my mind, but I just can’t stop thinking about it,” he admitted, looking down and then turning to face her. Her heart raced. She kept her eyes forward, not sure what was happening.
“It puts me in a quandary.” He took a few steps toward her, facing the side of her. “You see, I can’t let you go, you’re much too good around the house and with Abbie. I meant it when I said that we were lucky to have you there. We are, and I know it. However, at the same time,” he took another couple of steps, closing the gap between them and standing just behind her shoulder. He lifted his hand and traced his finger slowly down her arm. “I have to wrestle with this… growing desire for you. This… need.” His voice dropped a little, becoming husky and he placed his hand on her hip, speaking over her shoulder into her ear. She closed her eyes and drew in a sharp breath.
“I want you, Charlotte. I can’t deny it. I know you feel it too; I see it on your face and in your eyes when you look at me.” He hesitated a moment, taking a breath as he curled his fingers firmly into the flesh on her hip. “We have to do something about this. We can’t go on pretending like nothing’s happening, because there’s definitely something happening. I want to renegotiate our contract.” His voice was soft, like velvet, and she felt almost as if she would swoon, feeling him so close and hearing the words he was telling her. She wanted so much to lean back into him and feel his body against hers.
“I just can’t stop thinking about kissing you, and the more I try to ignore it, the more it haunts me. Being around you so much, it’s driving me crazy. I want you, Charlotte. I need you, and I don’t need anything. I can’t seem to talk myself out of you.” He leaned a little closer and she gasped, her heart pounding against her chest.
“I want to make a proposition to you.” He continued, his other hand reaching up to move through the waves in her hair as he spoke. “I’ll offer you another five thousand a month if you will agree to an… intimate arrangement with me.”
Her eyes flew open and she turned slightly, looking over her shoulder at him.
“I want you as a business lover. No romance, no relationship, no love, just the sex. The intimacy. Whenever I need you. No questions, no entanglements or misunderstandings. I just need to have you, and I’ll pay you for it. That, and caring for Abbie.” He drew close, his lips brushing against her ear, his hand firm on her hip, pulling her to him a bit. “Will you do it?” He asked huskily.
She felt like she was outside of her body, staring down at herself from above, wondering how in the world she had ever gotten into the situation that she was in, and fighting with herself about what she thought might be right. She wanted to make the best decision, but it felt like everything in her was in chaos; everything in her was catching fire just at the close presence of him and his touch on her body.
He pulled her against him and moved his lips over her neck and her ear. She could hear his breath short and swift. “Say yes, Charlotte. I know you want this too.”
“Yes.” She said quietly, barely believing that the word had come out of her mouth. “Yes.” She repeated a little louder as his lips touched her neck softly.
He held her a moment longer, his fingers tight on her, before letting her go. He pulled a folded paper from his jacket pocket and laid it out on the desk before her. “This is a contract binding us in this agreement. You get the money. We get each other. Nothing more.” He handed a pen to her. “Sign it.”
With trembling fingers and no small shadow of doubt in her mind about what she was doing, she took the pen from him and signed her name on the line at the bottom.
She heard him sigh with relief. “Good. The business is done. Let’s go play a bit and I’ll make breakfast for all of us.”
Charlotte blinked in stunned amazement. “Wait… this was the business you came down here to do?”
He winked at her and gave her a half smile. “It is. Very important business.” He turned her then and cupped her face in his hands, lowering his mouth to hers and kissing her hard and deep before letting her go, breathless and heated.
She blinked in surprise at him when he dropped his hands away from her and turned to walk out of the office. With a shake of her head, she followed him, feeling as if she was Alice and she had just fallen down the rabbit’s hole. She had agreed to have sex with her boss. No relationship, no love, no romance, just sex, for money. In her mind that made her a prostitute, though the word felt wrong to her. The money was a convenience. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her, and she’d have been with him without the money, but she wasn’t about to turn it down, either. She’d be making ten thousand dollars a month and having the intimacy with him that she so desperately craved. It didn’t matter to her how it happened, just that it was happening.
The day went by in a sort of surreal blur. They ate breakfast together and it felt normal. He didn’t pay any more attention to her than he ever did around Abbie, and she understood. They weren’t going to show any affection to each other in front of his daughter. They played on the beach and built sand castles, they swam in the water and looked at fish and turtles and dolphins off a short way from where they were.
They ate a picnic lunch on the beach and then napped; Abbie sleeping curled up against her dad in his bed, while Charlotte slept in her bed. They rose and showered, bathed Abbie, and Brady made a delicious tropical fish and fruit dinner for them.
They put Abbie to bed together, reading her a couple of stories before she passed out. All the while, all day long, there wasn’t a look, there wasn’t a touch, there was no out of place indication at all that would have hinted at the conversation that they had had together early that morning.
Charlotte began to wonder when things would change between them and how. She wondered what it would be like once the intimacy began. She feared that she may be getting in over her head, and she ached to feel his touch on her body, finally letting herself imagine much more than just his kisses on her skin.
An hour after Abbie had gone to sleep, she was sitting up in her bed reading, though she hadn’t turned the page in an hour, and she hadn’t seen a single word before her in all that time. The door between her room and his had been closed, and it had remained that way. She wondered if she should go to him, or if he would come to her when he wanted her. He had seemed so anxious for her that morning, and she had expected it to happen right away, yet everything remained as it had been.
Sighing with frustration and confusion, she finally gave up on her book and set it on the bedside table, reaching over and switching off the lamp. Sliding down under her duvet, she turned and looked out of the windows and double doors at the side of the room. The doors were open to the balcony outside, and the cool ocean breeze that blew in.
A doorknob twisted and she sat up in bed. The door between their rooms opened, and he stood there in the doorway, wearing his snug fitting jeans and a button up shirt that was open all the way, revealing the dark circles of hair on his chest and the trail of it down past his belly.