Chapter 16

Charlie

This trip L had brought me on was absolutely incredible. I’d never seen water so clear and had no idea seafood could taste this fresh or outstanding without massive amounts of seasoning. Sure, Miami had good seafood, but it was covered in butters, sauces and seasonings. All you can eat buffets trickled along the coastline, boasting of mediocre seafood they could pump into you by the pound for fifty bucks a plate.

But the decadent foods I was having here would forever taint the meals I ate in Miami.

L had been the perfect gentleman, which made things better yet more difficult. Things were better because we could unabashedly be ourselves. If I wanted to put my hand on his knee, I could. If he wanted to slap my ass, he could. If he wanted to climb into the shower with me and then walk naked with me into the hot tub, he could. He had planned this perfect weekend just so I didn’t have the fear of being caught looming over me, and I could tell he was more relaxed as well.

But, L being a gentleman also kept raising my standards for men. I mean, if he was a dick and said a few shitty things every now and again, I could justify eventually leaving him. But, not only was the man good in bed, but he kept surprising me with all these incredible things around every corner.

And, each time he did it, there was a soft expression behind his eyes. One that genuinely was spoiling me just to watch me react.

Fuck, I was in a lot of trouble.

For the past couple of days, it had just been the two of us. Our first night here was spent lounging around in the hot tub and holding each other while we drank champagne and watched the sunset. We took a shower together and washed each other down, then we fell into bed and just talked. We talked about his business and how he wanted to train me, I talked to him about my dreams and aspirations for the company I eventually wanted to build.

We fell asleep in each other’s arms to the sounds of the ocean waves lapping against the bungalow.

He woke me up with his tongue between my legs, and the first sensation I was aware of was the feeling of my orgasm building and crashing over me. He licked and sucked, guzzled and slurped, and by the time my body came down from its second orgasm I could feel him smiling into my pussy. Things could not have gotten any better for this weekend getaway he had planned.

Until dinner rolled around.

When I stepped out of the shower with my towel wrapped around me, L was setting up dinner on the terrace of the bungalow. The sun was setting, casting beautiful colors off our crystal champagne glasses, and he was in a breezy button-down shirt and a pair of faded jeans. He looked absolutely breathtaking, and I put on the only sundress I owned before I joined him for dinner.

“You look spectacular,” he said, smiling.

“So do you, L. Now, what gives? You haven’t thrown me down on the bed or covered me in chocolate sauce. You haven’t pounded me into the mattress or thrown me against the wall in the shower. What gives?”

“I figured we could actually spend some time together,” he said, shrugging.

“Uh-huh. So, our sordid affair has turned into a secret, delicate courtship?” I asked.

“Do you want it to be one?”

His question stopped me in my tracks with my champagne glass poised at my lips. I peered over the rim to see his reaction, and looked for any signs of him joking.

But, he wasn’t.

“L?” I asked.

“Charlie?”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You sounded pretty serious with that courtship nonsense.”

“If it’s nonsense, then forget about it,” he said.

“L, cut the shit. What’s going on?” I asked.

“Would you like some fruit?” he asked, dumping grapes onto my plate.

“L, what is running through your head?” I asked.

“What about some sliced steak? It’s fabulous here,” he said, spearing some onto a fork.

“L, damn it, why won’t you—”

“I care about you, Charlie.”

I furrowed my brow as he dropped the speared meat onto my plate. I had to have heard him wrong. Ellison James didn’t give a shit about anyone but himself.

“What?” I asked.

“I care for you, Charlie,” he said, a bit softer this time.

I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. Ellison James, the most powerful man in the real estate development world, had feelings for me. A lowly management woman with thighs that rubbed together, tits that fell out of her shirt, and a stomach that was anything but flat. A woman who lived in a small, dingy apartment with no one but her cat, and no one to call a friend but her weird college ex who wouldn’t stop coming around.

“You what?” I asked.

“I know this makes things difficult, because I know you want to end it because of your—”

“Wait, I thought you wanted to end it,” I said.

“And I did. I mean, it’s easier that way. There are rules I enforce and issues that arise if I don’t enforce them, and I have my reputation to consider. The life of my company, the breadth of my international reach, not to mention the lawsuits I’d have to settle out of court.”

“Sorry for being confused, L. Are you talking yourself out of this or into this?” I asked.

“What I’m saying is, it will be difficult. Trying to have a real relationship between the two of us while we also work together is going to take work. Work and secrecy until we’re tired of the secrecy, and then I don’t know what comes after. I’ve never done anything like this before, but I’ve also never felt like this before,” he said.

“So, we’re not just hooking up?” I asked.

“That’s why I haven’t—as you so eloquently put it—thrown you against the mattress,” he said. “Because—well, at least now, for me—it’s no longer just about sex.”

My entire chest was screaming at me to respond. My gut was yelling at me to shove this table off to the side, jump into his lap, and make love to him right on the deck. My body was telling me to take every single part of him he had to give and never let go, because there would never be another man like him. There would never be another Ellison James to come in, scoop my heart out of my chest, and promise to keep it safe so long as he was near.

But, my mind. My mind was telling me this was a bad idea. Everything I’d ever worked for was already in jeopardy every single time I let his dick anywhere near me. Every single time his tongue parted my lips, the threat of my entire career—my life really—crumbling to the floor was a possibility. If one wrong person saw us holding hands, it was all over.

My entire future would be history.

I gazed into L’s eyes and saw a desperation. He wanted to cry out, to shake me from my trance just so he could jostle my answer out of me. But, he was being reserved. A gentleman. Even though I could see that his eyes screaming at me.

But, there was one rational thought in my mind, over and over I heard it. One small echo in the dark recesses of my mind, that didn’t care about my future or my career and didn’t give a fig about what anyone else thought.

It was telling me it was too late. That I’d already lost my heart to Ellison James anyway.

“Good,” I said. “Because it’s not just sex for me anymore, either.”

Breaking our trance, I picked up a grape. I popped it in my mouth and cast my gaze out to the ocean, and as I chewed it up I thought about what had just occurred. This man—this strong, intelligent billionaire with eyes of cobalt steel that reflected the depth of the ocean itself—had just admitted to being as taken by me as I was with him.

His fingertips danced along my jawline, turning my head to his before he captured my lips in a kiss.

I threaded my arms around his neck and pulled him close to me. His body was vibrating, shaking against my skin as his hands cloaked my back. The taste of the grape upon my lips forced his tongue to slide all along my mouth, collecting as much sweetness as he could while he slowly stood up with me.

“You are a captivating woman, Charlie,” he said, murmuring into my lips.

“Have your way with me, L.”

Pressing his lips against mine once more, he slowly turned me around and backed me into the bungalow. The backs of my legs hit the bed, forcing me to sit down upon the beautiful satin sheets, and the sheer curtains that donned the double doors to the terrace blew back with the force of the ocean. Mother Earth was cheering us on, clattering the waves against the bungalow in her own symphony as L pulled his breezy white shirt from his body.

Slowly, I slid my fingertips down the ripples of his muscles while his fingers slid the straps of my dress off my shoulders.