Easy Kisses (The Boudreaux Series Book 4) (3 page)

She’s petite. Much shorter than my six foot three, and she looks like I could pick her up with one hand. Her dark hair is long and straight, framing a gorgeous face with golden-hazel eyes.

Without giving it much thought, I cut the engine and guide the boat to the dock. Charly opens her eyes and watches as I approach.

“You have a boat?” she asks in greeting.

“I rent it when I’m here,” I reply with a smile. “Do you like boats?”

She smirks. “I grew up on boats.”

Interesting.
“Hop on. I’ll show you the other side of the lake.”

She seems to hesitate for a moment, but then she climbs aboard and I push away from the dock, start the engine, and set off down the lake. She’s sitting in the bow, her face in the wind, eyes closed and hair whirling, and just enjoys the ride. We’re not going terribly fast, but fast enough that we couldn’t have a conversation without shouting, and I think we’re both too tired for that.

When I slow down and cut the engine, she looks back at me and grins. “That was nice.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” I reply and join her in the bow, sitting across from her. “How are you after today?”

“I’m fine,” she replies immediately and crosses her arms, but she’s not fooling me. Her eyes are sad.

I sit forward and brace my forearms on my knees. “Really?”

She looks back out on the water and swallows hard. “It surprised me.”

Here we go.

“How so?”

“I wasn’t expecting it to be so personal.” She shrugs and looks back at me. Her eyes travel over my face, and I want to scoop her up and cuddle her, but I stay where I am.

“What were you expecting?”

“You don’t want to know,” she replies with a laugh and shakes her head.

“Try me,” I reply.

“Okay,” she says and crosses her legs. “I thought it would be a lot of frou-frou
you can do it
nonsense. I don’t know, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so deep.”

“I’m rarely
frou-frou
, darling,” I smirk.

“Well, one thing is for sure, it reminded me that Savannah is not ready for this. I don’t think she would have survived today. She’s a strong woman and everyone thinks that she’s doing great, but she’s struggling.”

“Is that the sister you mentioned before?” I ask, enjoying the way the South sounds on her voice.

“Yes.”

“What happened to her?”

Charly sighs and shrugs. “Let’s just say that evil takes on many forms, and sometimes it worms its way into your family.”

A man.

“Is she your only sibling?”

“God, no.” My skin tingles when she giggles. “There are six of us. Three brothers and three sisters.”

“That’s a large family.”

“You’re telling me,” she says with a grin. “But I love it. We’re close.”

“Do they all live in New Orleans?”

“They do,” she says with a nod. “My daddy built ships, just like his daddy before him and so on. My brothers Eli and Beau and Savannah run the business now.”

“They build ships?” She’s more fascinating the longer I talk to her.

“Not with their own two hands,” she says. “But they run things now.”

“That’s incredible.”

“They’re somethin’,” she says with a smile. “My daddy would have loved this.” She looks back out over the water and to the mountains. “He loved being on the water just about anywhere, but he would have sat here with me and said something profound that I would have rolled my eyes at but appreciated later.”

“He’s gone then?”

“Three years,” she says with a nod. “Too long.”

She swallows hard and her eyes are washed in tears, but they don’t escape her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Charly.”

“Me, too,” she says and offers me a small smile. “You’re easier to talk to than I expected. I’ve said more than I usually do.”

“And I feel like you’ve only scratched the surface.”

“The surface is scratched all the same, and that doesn’t happen often,” she says and runs her fingers through her hair, watching me. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Tell me about your family.”

“Ah.” I sit back and scrub my fingers over my mouth. “I’m an only child.”

“Where did you go to college?” she asks, her eyes holding mine. I like that she maintains eye contact during conversation.

“Oxford.”

“I called it,” she says and leans back with satisfaction.

“You did?”

“I pegged you for an Ivy-Leaguer.”

“Where did
you
go to college?” I counter.

“Duke,” she replies with a wide smile. “Takes one to know one.”

“What did you major in?”

“Philosophy,” she says with a laugh. “And I sell shoes for a living.”

“I bet it’s a bit more than that,” I reply, enjoying her. “What are your favorite shoes in the world?”

“My pink stilettos. They’re Louboutin. I’ve had them for five years and if the heel ever breaks on them I’ll cry for a week.”

“That sounds serious.”

“I’m always serious about shoes,” she says. “What’s your favorite thing?”

This makes me pause and run my finger over my lips, thinking. “I don’t know if I have a favorite thing.”

“Oh, come on,” she says and rolls her eyes. “There has to be something.”

This. With you.

“I have an affection for my car.”

“What kind of car do you have?” she asks with a raised brow.

“The fast kind,” I reply with a grin.

“I have a new car,” she replies. “It ranks up there with favorite things.”

Before I can reply, she shivers, and I realize that the sun has just dipped behind a mountain, making the air colder. I reach under the seat for a blanket and wrap it around her shoulders, my face inches from hers. All I’d have to do is turn my head and my lips would be on hers.

Instead, I drag a knuckle down her cheek and tuck her hair behind her ear.

“This is the first time my professionalism has ever been tested,” I whisper, surprised that the words are spoken aloud.

“What do you mean?” she asks. She licks her lips as she stares at mine, and I feel my blood flow directly to my cock.

Bloody fantastic.

“We should get back.” Before I can move, she grips my forearm with her hand, keeping me still.

“What do you mean?” she asks again.

I shake my head, but not answering her is simply disrespectful. So, I clear my throat and cup her cheek in my hand as I look into her eyes.

“You’re special, Charly, and I’m quite attracted to you. But you’re a client. So I have to keep this strictly business between us.”

She narrows her eyes. “Are you telling me that you take women on your boat, alone, often, and keep it business?”

“No,” I reply and sigh. “I’m never alone with clients.”

“Breaking rules,” she says in that slow Southern drawl of hers that makes me want to kiss the fuck out of her. “But I should remind you that I never said that I wanted you back.”

I don’t bother to reply; I simply smile and walk away, start the boat engine, and take us back to the resort.

***

“We need to go over some things,” Todd says the next morning after I answer my door to him.

“Then you’ll need to go for a run with me,” I reply shortly. I slept like shit. I couldn’t get Charly out of my head, and when I did sleep she was in my dreams.

Naked.

Fucking hell, maybe I just need to get laid.

“We don’t have time for a run,” Todd says with a scowl.

“You just hate to run,” I reply and tie my shoes. “I need it today.”

I need to burn off this sexual tension.

“Fine.” Todd sighs in resignation.

“Let’s go.”

We walk through the lobby and out the back door toward the trail that winds around the whole lake. I break out into a slow jog.

Just as we turn a corner, I see Charly walking up ahead toward the clearing where I saw her the other day. I immediately turn the other way.

“Let’s go this way.”

Todd joins me, but looks over his shoulder toward Charly.

“That brunette, Charly, is a pretty girl.”

“Is she?” I ask.
She’s not pretty, she’s fucking gorgeous.

“You’ve noticed,” Todd replies. He’s already breathing hard and we’ve barely started.

“You need to run more,” I inform him, hoping to change the subject, but without success.

“Did I see you come in from the lake with Charly last night?” Todd asks.

“So?”

“So, I’m just saying, you’ve noticed that she’s pretty.”

“Where are you going with this, Todd?”

“Okay, I’m just going to be honest because I can’t breathe and don’t have the lung capacity to beat around the bush.”

“Fantastic.”

“I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you look at her. Even Amy.”

“We don’t say that name,” I remind him, and wonder just how I’m looking at her.

“It’s true,” he continues. “And Charly is a beautiful woman, Simon. You
should
notice. I’d worry if you didn’t.”

“I’m so relieved that you’re not worrying.”

“You should take her to dinner or something.”

“She’s a client,” I remind him. “This is work.”

“Come on, you’re a human being, Simon. If you wanted to pursue a beautiful woman, no one would fault you for it.”

It’s starting to piss me off that he keeps referring to Charly as beautiful. Not because it’s inaccurate, but because he’s obviously taken more than a passing notice.

“Yes, they would,” I remind him. “I’m a public figure. Everything I do is under scrutiny. These
Lift
retreats are successful because we all maintain our professionalism. This is a safe place for the women who attend. I don’t fuck with that, and I’ll bust your arse if I ever find out that you do.”

“I get it,” Todd says and holds his hands up in surrender. “But there’s nothing that says you can’t call her when this is over.”

He smiles smugly and I punch him in the shoulder, just for the hell of it.

“Ow! Bugger it.”

“Can we talk about the reason we’re here now?”

“Fine.”

Todd begins talking about seating arrangements and plans for the cocktail party at the end of the retreat. I’m listening with only half an ear.

Starting up something—physical or otherwise—with Charly is impossible, no matter how attracted to her I am. It would be career suicide. And how can I ask the other women here to trust and listen to me, if I’m carrying on with one of their peers?

I’m supposed to be here teaching them. Leading them. Helping them.

Not fucking them into the mattress.

Which is what I want to do with Charly, and only Charly, repeatedly.

“Are you listening?” Todd asks as we approach the lodge.

“No,” I reply truthfully. “I’m hitting the shower. I’ll see you in an hour.”

“You’re a pain in my arse!” he calls after me, but I ignore him and march straight to the elevator.

And there she is, already waiting for one. The universe keeps throwing her my way, and I’m not complaining in the least.

“Good morning,” I say, panting from the run. My shirt is soaked with sweat, and I can only imagine how I must smell.

“Good mornin’,” she says with a smile. “Did you have a good run?”

“No,” I reply with a laugh. “Todd insisted on coming with me and he talked incessantly.”

Charly laughs and leads the way into the elevator when it arrives. “Which floor?”

“Four.”

“Me, too,” she says and pushes the button. “Thanks again for the boat ride yesterday. It was nice.”

It was bloody amazing.

“You’re welcome,” I reply and lean on the wall opposite from her, willing myself to keep my hands to myself.

“Is it going to be another long day?” she asks as she leans against the wall, mimicking my stance.

“No. We’ll be done by early afternoon.”

“Oh, great.” She grins. “I told Savannah all about yesterday.”

“Really? Did she tell you to pack your things and run as quickly as possible?”

“No. She said it was good for me, but she was glad it was me and not her. So much for sisterly love.”

I smile and curse silently when we reach our floor. When the door opens, three women are waiting for the elevator. Their eyes widen when they see me, and I want to roll my eyes.

Many women are not coy when they see a man they find attractive. We’ll be discussing this next week.

When they’re in the lift and the doors are closed, I glance down at Charly and smile. “Do you have time for me to show you something?”

“We have to be in the conference room in an hour,” she replies, but I can see the curiosity in her eyes.

“It’ll be quick. It’s the perfect time of day.”

“Okay.”

I lead her to my room, at the end of the hallway.

“Hey, if you think you can just lead me to your room—”

I turn to her and cut her off. “I said this would be quick, darling. Trust me, if I were bringing you to my room to seduce you, it wouldn’t be quick. I’d be exploring you all day and night.”

She doesn’t act shocked at all. She simply raises a brow and smirks, like she did the first morning we were here. She’s all but saying, “Sure. I don’t buy it.”

So I lean in and press my lips to her ear. “Don’t press me, darling, or I’ll drag you in here and prove it to you.”

When I pull away, the smirk is gone, but the laughter is still in her eyes and I can’t help but wonder what I would have to do to truly surprise her.

I open the door and lead her into my room, then grab my binoculars and step out onto my balcony. “I just found them yesterday.”

“Found what?”

“Look.” I hand her the binoculars. “Look into that tree there, where we saw the bald eagle just the other day.”

She raises them to her eyes and is silent while she looks, then gasps.

“Oh my God! She’s a mama!”

“She is,” I confirm with a grin. “Are they sticking their heads up?”

“They are. Good Lord, they’re tiny little things.”

“And bald,” I reply and have to catch my breath when she looks up at me in wonder, her hazel eyes wide and happy.

This
is what surprises her? Not sexual innuendos, baby eagles.