Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (43 page)

Chapter
Forty-Three

Austin

When
she kissed my cheek I was tempted to turn and kiss her lips, but I held back,
knowing that if I wanted to win her affection, I'd have to let her come to me
not chase her all over the beach and make her feel like I was only using her
for her body. I smiled and nodded as I squeezed her hand tightly. She returned
my smile and then popped up off the sand and headed for the water.

"Let's swim!" she called as she
untied the sarong from around her waist and raced across the sand toward the
water's edge. It was a beautiful sunny day and the water was crystal clear as
she ran straight in and splashed around. "C'mon, Morning! Come swim!"

"Fine," I laughed as I took a
leisurely stroll to the water’s edge and waded in. She laughed and splashed me
with the cold water, so I dove under and upended her in a wave. She laughed
loudly and splashed me again.

"Nice, really nice," she
laughed. "Is that any way to treat your guest? Seriously, tossing me in
the water not even twenty minutes after we ate? I could get a cramp and
drown."

"I'd never let you drown," I
said seriously. "I'd do everything in my power to make sure you're never
hurt or in danger or even sad."

Emily looked up at me with a surprised
look on her face and then smiled as she turned and flipped herself into an
oncoming wave. I knew I'd probably made her a little uncomfortable, but I
wasn't even kidding. I wanted to make sure she was always happy and smiling and
never felt scared, worried, or sad. When she emerged from under the water, she
looked even lovelier than she had before she'd dived in. Her hair was dripping
water and her tan skin looked extraordinary in the string bikini she'd picked
out. I wanted to touch her, but I didn't dare.

"What's going on, Austin?" she
called as she frolicked in the waves. "Come play with me! Let's be
dolphins!"

"You're crazy. You know that, don't
you?" I called as I laughed and dove under the water joining in her game.
Over and over again, I dove underwater and swam between her legs before
standing up with her on my shoulders. Then, I'd bend slightly at the waist and
toss her forward into the deeper water as the waves rolled in. She'd pop up
calling, "Again! Again!" like a small child and I'd laugh and do it
again.

It was difficult for me to stay calm and
cool when I could feel her warm wet skin slippery beneath my hands and her legs
wrapped around my shoulders. I wanted to grab her and hold her against me and
kiss her, but I'd promised to stay neutral and so I played the dolphin game as
we laughed and splashed in the clear blue water. We lay on the beach for a long
time talking about where we went to school and who had been the “it kids” when
we were growing up. We both had a deep love of ’70s rock and were fascinated by
documentaries and how they were made. We played Truth or Dare as we got to know
each other better, and when we both tired of the game, I loaded up the skiff
and took us back to the yacht. The skiff’s motor propelled it rapidly from
beach to boat and soon I was helping Emily board the yacht before I handed up
the supplies and secured the skiff to the side of the boat for storage.

"Ready to see my house?" I asked
as we settled in on the front deck and prepared to cruise up the coast back
toward Sydney.

"I am, indeed," she laughed,
putting on her sunglasses and leaning back on the chaise next to me. I liked
the way she settled into my life so easily and comfortably. I smiled at her as
I intertwined my fingers with hers and returned to my role as tour guide.

"The Barrenjoey Lighthouse is
actually the most northern point in Sydney," I said as we approached Palm
Beach. "This is really a great place to have a summer home because the
surfing is fantastic and you can also do some rock climbing on the sandstone
boulders."

"I'm sold," she laughed.
"You're a very good travel guide. You know a lot about the areas you
visit."

"I like learning new things," I
shrugged, feeling a little self-conscious about sharing so much with her.
"And, it seems kind of disrespectful to be a part of a community that you
know nothing about, you know?"

"I know exactly what you mean!" she
said as she squeezed my hand and smiled up at me. "I always feel like it's
my responsibility to learn about the places I visit and become an informal
ambassador."

"Precisely," I said smiling back
at her, liking the feeling of her hand in mine. "Plus, if I'm doing
business in a place, it's much smarter to know the lay of the land and
understand the culture and traditions so that I don't seem like a self-absorbed
idiot."

"Do you think that's because you
didn't grow up with all this money and privilege?" she asked. It was a
blunt question, but one that I'd spent a lot of time thinking about.

"I think it's exactly that," I
replied. "I know I'm not an insider by birth, so I feel doubly burdened to
make sure that I do fit in and don't seem like a total outsider. Although, most
of the time, I stay quiet and just listen."

"But you're so talkative with
me!" she said laughing. "You don't seem hesitant or shy at all."

"That's what happens when I'm in the
company of someone I feel comfortable with," I said, smiling warmly and
feeling the intense heat passing between our hands. "I relax and just act
like myself."

"I'm so glad," she said quietly.
"I feel the same way. Like I don't have to be guarded or scared. I feel
like I could open up and talk to you about anything."

"Then, tell me what you're going to
do about your husband," I blurted out. I hadn't intended to be so blunt,
but I wanted to know how someone as lovely and wonderful could stay with a man
who would only drag her down.

"I...I...I don't know," she
said. When she pulled her hand away from mine and looked out over the water, I
knew I'd said the wrong thing.

"I'm sorry, Emily," I
apologized. "I wasn't trying to upset you. I just don't understand how a
guy like that gets so many chances. I have never understood it."

"I guess I feel like we've been
together so long that I kind of owe him the benefit of figuring out how to work
it out." She shrugged. "I don't know, honestly. There's a part of me
that thinks this is hopeless because he keeps screwing things up, but then
there is the part of me that remembers when we were young and happy and how
much we depended on each other for support. Plus, I don't want to let go of him
when he's struggling with the injury. I'm not like that. I don't just throw
people away."

"I understand," I said, nodding.
"But what happens if you can't turn it around?"

"I don't know," she sighed.
"I guess we'll divorce and sell the house and go our separate ways, but
that all seems like such a big decision to make. I’m not sure I’m ready to do
it."

"I can imagine," I said wanting
to reach out and take her hand again, but not daring to make such a move.
"I'm sorry that you have such a hard decision to make."

"Thank you, Austin," she said
with a half smile that didn't reach her eyes. She looked sad as she stared out
over the water, and I at that moment, all I wanted to do was find a way to make
her smile again.

"Alright, missy!" I said as I
mustered a cheerful tone. "When we get back to my house, we're going to
have a massage and then soak in the hot tub before we get dressed for
dinner!"

"Uh, Austin?" she said laughing
lightly. "I didn't bring any clothes for a dinner date. All I have is the
dress I wore on board and this bikini that you've so kindly lent me."

"Oh, that's yours to keep," I
said waving her off. "And I took the liberty of calling down to the shops
and having them bring up a selection of appropriate dinner dresses, shoes, and
accessories."

"What on earth do you do all
day?" she laughed. "It's like you don't have a real job, so you spend
your time calling the shops and arranging for clothing for me to wear!"

"I did have a little help," I
sheepishly admitted. "The concierge at the hotel is really good at taking
care of all of my personal needs."

"And mine, too, it would seem,"
she laughed. "You're a piece of work, Mr. Morning!"

I smiled as I reached out and slipped my
hand around hers again. When she didn't pull away, my smile grew wider. We sat
in companionable silence until the yacht pulled into the dock.

"Um, Austin?" she said as we
hopped off the boat. "I thought you said this was your house."

"It is," I said as I looked at
her confused.

"This is not a house, my
friend," she said in a low voice. "This is a mansion!"

"Oh!" I laughed. "I guess I
think of it as a summer house, but yeah, you're right. It's pretty big."

"Pretty big does not even begin to
describe it," she said, shaking her head.

We climbed the stairs and entered the
house from the back side. A few more steps inside and we were up on the main
level of the house where the floor-to-ceiling windows gave us a panoramic view
of the bay. Emily gasped as she looked around the room, and I tried to see it
through her eyes. The living room was done in a modern style with light blond
wood and white furniture that was low and had clean lines. I loved this room
because it was so functional and comfortable, but it didn't scream out to be
noticed. It was almost like the room disappeared into the water, and mornings
in this room were some of the most spectacular things I'd ever seen with the
sun rising up over the water casting a pinkish purple glow across the room
before reaching its peak and throwing light in all the corners. I loved to come
to this room in the early morning and drink my hot coffee while I watched the
day arrive.

We walked toward the front of the house
and past the large open kitchen where the chef had laid out a light snack of
fresh baguette, soft triple cream cheese and thinly sliced salami with some
fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables. A frosty cold ice bucket held a bottle of
crisp Shaw and Shaw Sauvignon Blanc. I pulled the cork and poured two glasses
and handed Emily one.

"Here's to new friends and fun
adventures," I said as I held my glass up. "May there be more of
both."

"Indeed," she smiled as she
clinked her glass against mine and then sipped. "Oh, this is
delicious!"

"Good, I'm glad you like it," I
said smiling. "Bring it with you and I'll finish the tour."

"I can't imagine what else there
could be," she laughed. "This all seems like a fairytale, if you ask
me."

"I know what you mean," I
replied. "I used to feel that way, too. It's fun to be able to see it all
again through fresh eyes."

I led her up the spiral staircase just
outside of the kitchen to the upper level. It was a hallway that ran the entire
length of the house with a lounging area overlooking the living room on one
side of the hall and bedrooms and bathrooms on the other side. I showed her
each of the rooms and she oohed and ached over them all. They’d all been
planned and executed by an interior designer here in Sydney and as a result
they reflected the beauty of the water and land. One room was blue and another
was deep forest green with matching accessories. I loved that the designer had
also matched the carpeting in each room to its particular color rather than
trying to run the same color through the house. It had been extremely expensive
to buy and install different carpeting in each room, but the effect was worth
it. At the end of the hallway was the master suite.

"Oh wow," Emily said as she looked
from the enormous king-sized bed in the middle of the room covered in a duvet
that looked like a cream-colored cloud to the sitting area that had four plump
chairs with footstools positioned in front of a fireplace to the door that led
to the massive master bath. It was done in cream-colored Italian tiles, the
same color as the duvet cover, and had a tub that was large enough to
accommodate a small army and a shower encased in glass that took up an entire
wall.

We walked out of the bathroom and across the
bedroom to the dressing area, a space almost as large as the bathroom with
beautiful custom-made cabinetry and a center island that doubled as a dress and
a dressing table. Emily's eyes were wide as she turned and looked at me in
disbelief.

"You actually live here?" she
whispered.

"No, I just visit," I admitted.
"I don't really have a reason to come here unless I've got guests in town,
so I usually only stay here when my mother travels with me."

"Or your lady friends?" she
teased.

"Honestly, no," I said very
seriously. "You're the first non-family member I've brought here. I mean,
sometimes I lend it out to my business associates and their families for
vacations, but I haven't really spent a lot of time here. I haven't had a
reason to."

She looked at me for a long time before
nodding and walking back out of the dressing area. I watched her standing
barefoot in her bikini wrapped in the sarong she'd devised out of a scarf and
thought I'd never seen anyone so beautiful in my entire life, but when she turned
and caught me staring at her, I shifted my gaze. "Are you hungry? Let's go
eat something!"