The Secret (Billionaire's Beach Book 6)

by Christie Ridgway

  Hurrying across the rug to the master bedroom’s door, she’d almost escaped when a voice stalled her rushed retreat.

  “Charlie.” Ethan said, his voice low. Dark. “Charlotte.”

  Caught. More wetness gushed from between her thighs, and her pulse stuttered.

  “Not running away, are you?”

  Oh, God. She couldn’t help taking one quick peek over her shoulder. He stood, a shoulder against the jamb, wet droplets running down the golden skin of his chest to be caught at a low point on his hips where a towel was tucked tight.

  “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t embarrass you,” she babbled, her gaze jerking forward again. “I left as soon as I realized—”

  “You were standing there for quite some time.”

  She made a sound like a squeak. “You knew?”

  “I knew,” he said, his voice closer.

  He was crossing the carpet! Coming nearer!

  “Turn around, Charlie.”

  And she did, whirling to face him, because every girl on the beach knew it was better to keep an eye out for rogue waves. He was now an arm’s-length away, and she could smell fresh water and soap. His skin.

  Big hands reached for the stack of towels, and he tugged them from her. She let the items go, and he tossed them toward the bed then ran his gaze from her too-warm face, down her body and back again.

  “You look flushed, Charlie. Aroused even.”

  She wished she was wearing jeans instead of a skirt, something to contain the pulsing heat at the juncture of her thighs more than a pair of flimsy—and now damp—panties.

  “Because you…you know…it…”

  “I thought you didn’t see me as a sexual being.”

  You thought wrong. Except he knew differently, she could see it in the lazy gleam in his eyes. “I have to…” Her arm made a wild sweep toward the open door.

  “I’ll get it,” Ethan said, and stepped away to swing it shut. Turn the lock.

  Goose bumps rose all over her body, followed by a hot wave of sinful anticipation. “What are you doing?”

  “I think maybe you could use some relief,” Ethan said and pulled her up against his mostly naked body. His mouth pressed against the tender skin of her neck, his lips cool, his tongue hot as he licked her there. “That I should provide.”

  Charlie shivered. “Y-yes?” On its own, her head tilted to give him better access.

  “It only seems fair since I was thinking of you when I got mine,” he said, then moved upward to take her mouth in a dizzying kiss.

  Her head spun. Did he mean her name had been no accident? That he’d really been imagining her when he…when he…

  Clear thought abandoned her as he thrust his tongue deeply, sliding it against her own, mastering her with the demand in it. She moved in to him, melting against his body, and her hands slid up his back to the heavy muscle and bone of his shoulders. His hands moved the other way, palms cupping her ass and squeezing before moving lower to find the hem of her loose dress. In one movement, he yanked it over her head, causing her to drop her hold of him and step back.

  He stared at her, his breath moving roughly in his chest as she stood before him in the simple bra and panties. The fingers of the hand holding the dress loosened, and it fell to the rug with a soft plop.

  It rang in her ears all the same, awakening her to the fact that she was in Ethan’s bedroom, with hardly anything covering her. Nerves made her take a quick step back, but he prevented another by curling his forefinger around one of her bra straps and tugging her close again.

  The damp skin of his chest met the heat of hers. Then he bent his head to kiss her once more, and she felt him unfasten her bra. It fell between them, and then his palms cupped the slight weights, his thumbs rasping over the aching points.

  Charlie moaned against his mouth, and he made a soothing sound low in his throat then trailed his lips down her throat to latch on to one needy peak. Her hips bucked as he sucked and licked and soothed and teased.

  More goose bumps prickled her skin, and her stomach muscles twitched when his large palm skirted over them to slide into her panties.

  “Open your legs for me,” Ethan said, as he moved up toward her mouth again. “I want into your pussy.”

  The dirty word made her freeze.

  The man chuckled. “I told you I was a sexual being.”

  Then he laughed again as she hastily moved her thighs apart and his hand slid lower, to where she was swollen and aching.

  “Drenched,” he said, sounding beyond pleased, then plundered her mouth as two fingers slid deep into her core.

  On another moan, she lifted to her toes, her body uncertain of the sweet intrusion, but then her muscles softened, yielded to him, and she settled on her heels, sucking on his tongue.

  He grunted and broke the kiss to nuzzle her temple. “So good, baby. Hot and tight.”

  Leaning against him, she panted. Some part of her knew this was absolutely insane, but his body, his voice, his dominating touch made her giddy.

  “This is crazy,” she whispered, her voice hoarse.

  “You make me crazy.” His fingers fluttered inside her, and she arched her hips at the burst of pleasure. “I haven’t been inside a woman in more than four years.”

  What? She lifted her head to meet his gaze.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, kissing her cheek, her nose, then dipping to lick her neck. “I believe I remember how this goes.”

  His mouth moved up to hers, and his thumb brushed across her clit.

  Sensation shot through Charlie, and she clutched his biceps to stop from grinding shamelessly into his hand. He took the kiss deeper, his fingers pulling out and thrusting back in, and her body went electric, charged by pleasure that grew with each plunge and retreat. In another time she might be embarrassed by the obvious, liquid sounds of her arousal, but anticipation and need consumed her. Her body hummed and so did she, deep in her throat, and the pleasure was pooling in her womb, a heavy achiness that in any second would explode into the most—

  “Mommy!” From beyond the door and down the hall came Wells’ urgent voice. “Mommy!”

  Charlie stiffened and instantly tried breaking away from Ethan.

  The arm banded around her waist tightened even as Wells continued to cry out.

  “Just a second, baby.” Ethan said. “Give me a second to slide from you gently.”

  The instant he was free of her, she swooped to gather up her dress, and by the time she had it over her head, Ethan was already in an old pair of sweatpants and sprinting down hall. When Charlie made it to the boy’s room, Ethan already sat at his bedside, the small light on the night table glowing.

  In his arms, Wells sobbed, stammering out some details of a nightmare. “Then I w-wanted my m-mommy.”

  Ethan’s big hand caressed his son’s hair. “I know. Mommy wishes she could be here for you now.” His gaze flicked to Charlie, stalled in the doorway. “Charlie’s here. Would you like her to give you a hug?”

  Wells’ head lifted from its place on his father’s chest. He peered around, found Charlie, and his tear-streaked cheeks acted like a battering ram on the secure compartment that held her heart.

  He twisted and beckoned to her with his hand.

  She flew to the bed and took a place beside Ethan and closed her eyes as the small boy half-shifted onto her lap. Her arms enclosed him, and then Ethan gathered them both, so they were protected by his embrace. He began rocking them a little, the back-and-forth soothing. Charlie’s own heartbeat slowed, and she felt Wells unwind too. Looking down, she saw his face had relaxed into near-sleep.

  Ethan noticed the same and slowly shifted his son so he lay back on the pillows again. Charlie moved to the other side of the mattress to tuck the bedclothes tighter as Ethan did it as well. After a last look at the little boy, Charlie tiptoed from the room and headed for the staircase.

  Time to get back to her bungalow where, alone, she could sort out what had happened.

&nbs
p; “Charlie.”

  Her spine jerked straight. Argh. Caught halfway to freedom.

  On a resigned sigh, she allowed him to catch up with her.

  “I…I need to get some sleep,” she said, though thinking there likely wasn’t going to be a wink of it.

  “I understand,” he replied, nodding. “You okay?”

  “No!” She forced herself to lower her voice. “I don’t know what just happened. We were acting like irresponsible teenagers.”

  He gave a wry smile. “More like human beings.”

  What was wrong with the man? “Don’t you remember we were…we were doing that when Wells had a bad dream?”

  “So? What’s the disaster? I liked doing that. I think you liked doing that.”

  Heat crawled up her neck. He was teasing her, and nothing about this was funny.

  “We could have been caught.”

  “The door was locked to my room. We were in his within seconds.”

  “Ethan—”

  “Charlie. People engage in adult activities all the time in a family household.”

  “I suppose but—”

  “It’s a juggling act. Your needs and the needs of a child.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Shh.” Ethan stopped her protest by pressing a finger over her lips. “Give it up. And by the way, tonight’s little interlude as well as the inconvenient interruption? Get used to them. I guarantee both will happen again.”

  At her widening eyes, he drew his finger away from her lips in order to press them with a soft, short kiss.

  “Welcome to parenthood.”

  Nothing had cleared up for Charlie overnight. She’d awakened, heavy-eyed and sluggish, to accomplish her usual weekday morning chores which included dropping Wells off at school. He didn’t seem any worse for wear from his nightmare and chattered as usual through breakfast and the short ride to campus.

  But she thought things had changed when she pulled up to the designated line near the entrance and braked. Usually, he’d pop out of his booster in the back seat and jump from the car while affording her a careless pat on the top of her head—signaling a standard growing boy’s fondness for his caretaker. A token of his casual affection.

  Today, though, he paused instead of leaping from the car. Then he abruptly leaned over to wrap one skinny arm around her and kiss her cheek.

  He was out with the door slammed behind him before she could move. Her hand went up to cover the place of the kiss as if she could seal it in her skin.

  Wells, she thought, watching him skip away, his backpack on one shoulder and the sling supporting his injured wrist over the other, what am I going to do about you?

  As she ran through her errands the rest of the morning, her mind kept coming back to that brief moment. Plenty of the kids in his grade said goodbye in the mornings with kisses and hugs and did the same in the afternoons when they were picked up at school by their moms. But Wells didn’t have a mother anymore, and Charlie had been careful never to presume to take that place.

  But maybe she didn’t need to be quite so cautious. It would do him no harm to know she held him in great esteem. The imp already had to be aware of it, she decided, the way he could wheedle extra cookies and an extra bedtime story from her with such ease.

  That still left the matter of Ethan. Welcome to parenthood, he’d said, but not elaborated further. She supposed she could ask him what he meant by that tonight.

  On their date.

  Part of her wanted to track down Sara or Emmaline or Sara and Emmaline for some female-to-female advice, but there wasn’t time to get in girl talk, a trip to one of her favorite boutiques, and the grocery run before returning home. Ethan was slated to pick up his son today, but if their night out was truly a go, she’d need some primping time too.

  She ended up with a cotton-knit black-and-white striped dress with spaghetti straps, a racer back, and a wrap style skirt that flirted with her knees. The clerk had found her some adorable low-heeled, strappy black sandals and a filmy wrap in polka dots that would keep her warm.

  And was far and away from her usual plain-Jane cardigans that too many times Ethan had slipped over her shoulders or buttoned at her throat in that maddeningly avuncular manner he’d donned on many occasions. Though maybe, now that he’d had her naked, he would treat her like the grown female she was all of the time.

  I haven’t been inside a woman in more than four years.

  As she thought of his confession, her stomach tightened and her breath sped up. And he’d been right, he’d recalled what to do, well enough to send her to bed frustrated and twitchy. Just her luck, the batteries in her nightstand boyfriend had been dead, and she’d refused to sneak into the house on a mission to obtain replacements.

  What excuse would she have upon being caught?

  With her errands complete and the back seat of her car filled with groceries, she turned in to the driveway of the Archer house…home.

  She tried out the word in her head, causing her belly to flutter only slightly less than that phrase that kept her up at night.

  You should marry me.

  If Ethan was sincere, if it was an actual offer, might she risk that? Might she risk grabbing at the chance to become a permanent part of the Archer household while continuing to keep her secret confined in one of her sturdy emotional compartments?

  Carrying the groceries into the kitchen, she heard shouts coming from the direction of the beach. Ethan and Wells indulging in a little soccer? The boy had been disappointed to have to miss the season because of his broken wrist, but his father allowed him to kick the ball around on the sand for short periods.

  She pulled out a pitcher of lemonade. Soon they’d come in, hot, sweaty, and thirsty. With a smile, she headed toward the open sliding doors deciding she could spare a couple of minutes to watch their play.

  To her surprise, father and son weren’t alone. Wells was on his knees near the shoreline with a girl of his same size, a scattering of sand toys around them. Charlie shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun with her hand, and on second look recognized the dark-haired child as another of the students in Ms. Ramsey’s second-grade classroom.

  At the bottom of the steps leading to the beach, a woman—the girl’s mother, Charlie recognized her too—stood next to Ethan, her hand on his arm as she talked with great animation. She wore a pair of coral-colored cropped leggings that showed off tanned calves. A slouchy yoga top in the same shade covered the top of her, except for where the overlarge neck opening slipped to reveal the cap of her shoulder and the length of a bra strap.

  As Charlie watched, the other woman turned her face up to Ethan, her white smile brilliant and beguiling. With her free hand, she made a graceful gesture that included the kids and the adults, as if imagining grand possibilities for the four of them.

  A new family.

  The breeze turned cold, chilling Charlie, or maybe the culprit was the vision of the future that bloomed in front of her. Ethan with a wife, another child. Wells with a mother.

  The butler alone.

  Alone and forever outside their bubble, working on the periphery to keep their lives smooth and shiny and bright, but never truly part of their inner circle.

  Shaken by the prospect, Charlie retreated to the kitchen and her duties. She’d have to leave the household, that was certain. Watching another woman mothering that little boy and snuggling up with his father would be too hard to bear.

  Though she’d be glad for them, she told herself with staunch determination. A good butler only wanted what was best for the people she looked after. If Ethan found real happiness with that single mom standing on the sand, then Charlie would be all for it.

  Preoccupied with her thoughts, she didn’t register someone striding across the terrace from the beach until a voice growled at her. “Where the hell have you been?”

  With a start, she jerked her gaze to the glass doors to see Ethan stalking through them, his frown fierce. This morning, she’d managed to
duck out without seeing him, still embarrassed by the naked intimacy of the night before. But now he didn’t appear to recall anything about holding her or kissing her—in bare skin or otherwise.

  He looked like he wanted to murder Charlie.

  Her pulse stuttered. “What’s wrong?”

  “I feel like I’m being hunted.”

  Frowning, she tried peeking over his broad shoulders. “Are the seagulls dive-bombing again?”

  “No.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Margo Neal apparently followed us home from school this afternoon, her daughter Leah in tow. Something about ordering Girl Scout cookies.”

  Charlie’s brows drew together. “That’s odd. I don’t think it’s Girl Scout cookie season.”

  “It’s the season for single dads,” Ethan said, glowering.

  “Oh.” Her lips twitched. “Followed you home, you said?”

  “It isn’t funny.” He forked a hand through his hair. “That’s the boldest move yet, but it’s not the first time since the school year started I’ve felt like I’m in the cross-hairs.”

  As an eligible bachelor he’d been in the cross-hairs since becoming single again, but apparently he’d just begun to become aware of that.

  “You don’t find it…flattering?”

  “Hell, no. They don’t really know me.”

  “Maybe they only want a chance to get to know you,” she pointed out.

  “I’m not interested.” He drew closer until she was forced to press her spine against the edge of the granite countertop to put a breath of space between them. “You know I have someone else on my mind.”

  Charlie’s breath caught in her lungs as she felt his body heat wrap around her. “I…well…”

  He drew a scrap of fabric out of the front pocket of his jeans. She glanced down, and her skin flashed hot. The bra she’d left behind in his room the night before lay curled his palm.

  “You can have this back.”

  Swallowing hard, she snatched the garment away and balled it in her fist.

  He dropped his head so his mouth was close to her ear. “But your panties are under my pillow. You’ll get them later tonight.”

  Okay. It might have been a while for him, but he had moves that could make a woman burn from the inside out. Charlie shivered.