Chapter Twenty-Six
“Ocean - the entire body of salt water that covers more than seventy percent of the earth's surface.”
Frankie
I tried not to gape at the clean lines, large glass windows, and tropical landscaping.
I admit it had always been my hope to snag a rich doctor and have a nice lifestyle, but not even I could fathom Charming’s world.
It was overfull with crazy expensive cars, private planes, houses on the beach…
and that was just the stuff I knew about.
But he was alone. He didn’t have anyone to enjoy it with. I don’t think all the money in the world could make up for that.
He parked in the garage next to a fancy-looking motorcycle and climbed out. I yanked my bag from where I jammed it beneath my feet and slung it over my shoulder while he gathered his bags (I thought it was amusing that I was the girl, but he had more bags than me).
I knew the inside was going to be spectacular. But when we walked in, I barely saw any of the walls, the furnishings, or the type of countertops in the kitchen because my eyes went straight to the view.
The entire back of the house was glass. The bag thudded to my feet as the view sucked me closer, beckoning me like a fresh donut hot out of the fryer.
It was the most breathtaking sight I’d ever seen.
Nothing could compare to the way the ocean, an endless deep blue, stretched out for miles and miles.
There were no trees, no buildings, nothing to block the sight.
I stopped just short of the thick window, resisting the urge to put my hand on the glass so as not to leave a print behind to get in the way of such perfection.
The waves never stopped, rising up and rolling in, crashing over one another and then hurrying up onto the shoreline, which was nothing but billions and billions of tiny grains of sand.
“It’s a lot better than looking at snow, isn’t it?”
I wanted to argue and tell him that Alaska, my home, was better, but that would be a lie. To me, this view was more beautiful than any view I’d seen in Alaska.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.” I glanced at him. “Can I go outside?”
“You can do whatever you want here.”
I stepped through the glass door and onto a wide deck that ran the entire length of the house.
There was no overhang, no columns, nothing but a railing also made of glass.
The wind immediately pulled at my hair, sending it this way and that way.
The air smelled like the sea, salty and thick.
There wasn’t a single cloud in the perfectly blue sky.
I don’t know how long I stood at the railing, just gazing out at it all, but eventually I pulled up one of the lounge chairs as close to the edge as I could get and sat down.
The sun was much higher in the sky and it was getting hot when a plate appeared under my nose. It was filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, and ruby-red strawberries.
“Please tell me you have a chef inside,” I said, taking the plate and staring down at the food. If he told me he cooked, I might fling myself off the side of the balcony. Really. Being rich, good-looking, and sexy as hell wasn’t enough for him?
“That’s the thing about eating. It required learning how to cook.”
I groaned and stuck a piece of bacon in my mouth. It was really good. I put my plans for taking a dive off the balcony on hold.
“I’m surprised you aren’t already down there,” he said, hitching his chin toward the beach.
“I can get down there from here?”
“Steps are over there.” He pointed.
I started to get up, to abandon the food, but he reached out and pushed me back down. “Eat first. The water isn’t going anywhere.”
I felt like I was seven again and my mother told me I had to eat all my vegetables before I could go outside to play. I wanted to shove them all into my mouth and then rush out the door. I scowled at him.
“You slept the entire flight. When’s the last time you ate?”
“Lunch. Yesterday.”
He shook his head like my answer made him angry. I inhaled the food, which, dammit, was really good, and then picked up my plate to carry it in the house.
He’d already finished his plate as well, so I followed him inside where we abandoned the dishes in the sink. I looked for my bag, but I didn’t see it anywhere.
“I put it upstairs in your room,” he said, seeing me search. “First door on the right.”
I wandered up the wide-open staircase, stumbling because I still couldn’t tear my eyes away from the view, and then took the door he instructed.
Of course the room was gorgeous. It was all white—white walls, white bed, white canopy, white curtains billowing in the breeze because the sliding glass doors were open letting in the sound of the waves.
The only color was from the dark hardwood floors and the view.
I peaked briefly into the bathroom, which was all white marble and chrome fixtures.
Not wanting to waste another minute, I dumped the contents of my bag onto the bed, scattering the clothes all around, and found a pair of loose white linen shorts and a fitted black T-shirt.
I changed quickly, only pausing for a second when I pulled off Charming’s shirt to replace it with mine, and then I left the room barefoot, padding down the hall to another bedroom, the master, and pushed open the partially closed door.
The room was almost all white too, but his bed was much bigger and the trim on his bedding was black. I didn’t bother to snoop around, I just tossed his shirt onto the bed and then hightailed it back downstairs so I could get outside.
Charming was standing by the back door, a new pair of jeans riding his hips and making his ass look like he should be an underwear model. Apparently it wasn’t just one pair of jeans he looked good in, but all jeans.
He turned when I stopped behind him. He was wearing a Lucky Brand T-shirt the same vibrant green as his eyes. A pair of aviator sunglasses were pushed up on his head and he was rocking a five o’clock shadow.
His eyes started at my toes and raked up, lingering on my legs and then settling on my face. “Where are your sunglasses?”
“I guess my butler didn’t grab them.” I sighed. “Good help is so hard to find.”
He rolled his eyes and pulled the aviators off his head and handed them over. “Here, you’re going to go blind in that sun.”
“What will you wear?”
“I have more than one pair of sunglasses.”
Well, of course he did.
“Thank you,” I said, taking the glasses. I barely knew how to act when he behaved so, so… nice. If I wasn’t careful, I would fool myself into thinking he was someone other than exactly who he was.
“I have to go out. I have stuff to do,” he said, watching me closely.
Well, there went my previous thoughts. “I have stuff to do” was code for “I’m going off to murder someone.” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.
“I don’t know when I’ll be back. Make yourself at home. I’ll leave the keys to the convertible on the counter.”
“You’d let me drive your car?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
I shrugged. He didn’t really seem like the kind of guy who liked to share.
“If you wreck it, you owe me a million dollars,” he said, winking.
I wasn’t charmed. I wasn’t.
“Don’t turn into a lobster while I’m gone.” He stepped away from the back door.
The reason he was leaving crashed over me all over again. Sharp pains cut through my middle. “As long as no one comes to murder me, I’ll be just fine,” I snapped coldly.
He stopped in his path but didn’t turn around. I saw him flex his hands at his sides. “I wouldn’t worry about that. All you’d have to do is open your mouth and anyone coming near you would run away as fast as they could.”
He started walking again, but I didn’t stand there to see if he looked back.
I went out the back door, slamming it behind me.
I wasn’t going to think about him. I wasn’t going to think about what he could be doing.
I was going to take advantage of this beautiful place and not think at all.
With any luck, the waves would carry away every single thought I had.