Stranded For One Scandalous Week (Mills & Boon Modern) (Rebels, Brothers, Billionaires Book 1) Natalie Anderson (that summer book .txt) đ
- Author: Natalie Anderson
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âWhere are your grandparents now?â He didnât relent.
She sighed. âThree years after I went to live with them, my grandmother had a stroke. She became more difficult. It was a hard couple of years before she had another stroke that left my grandfather on his own with me. He was worn out from caring for her and it took me a while to realise his cognitive abilities were declining. In the end, I couldnât manage him on my own, not with needing to work as well to support us both. So he went into a facility. I sold the house, and everything else, to ensure he got good care. He passed away eight months ago.â
âThatâs why youâre between residences? You sold the house to cover his care costs?â
She nodded. âI only got this job because my boss at the records management company is pregnant and needed someone who could take a live-in job. I did an interview online with Leo. I was lucky and I need to do a good job here.â
A flash of guilt curdled her blood. What was she doing taking the week off work? Worseâspending it with Ash like this? Fraternising with her clientâs half-brother was surely a huge mistakeâthe most unprofessional thing sheâd done in her life.
âDonât panic.â He read her mind. âIâm gone at the end of the week, remember? There wonât be any repercussions. Youâll get the job done. Whatâs happened between us wonât have any impact on the future.â
Wouldnât it? That seemed impossible. She wasnât the same person she was yesterday, was she? Or perhaps this wanton lover had been inside her all along, just waiting for Merle to allow that part of herself to be unleashed. There was no locking her away again now.
âThatâs why Iâm not going to âburn the lotâ like you keep telling me to,â she said softly.
âThe only reason I havenât is out of respect for the volunteer firefighters.â He grimaced.
âYou donât want to keep any of it?â She didnât quite understand why. âYou have good memories here.â
âI have bad ones too.â
She hesitated but had to ask. âDid she die here?â
He nodded slowly. âBut I wasnât here at the time.â
He didnât want to talk about it. She recognised the reluctance because it mirrored her own. Digging too deep hurt. This week with him was only an interlude, an experience. One she had to handle lightly.
She threw the blanket off and stood up on the sand, shaking free of the melancholy that had briefly descended. âI think itâs time for another swim.â
CHAPTER EIGHT
ASH SAT ON the deck absorbing the morning sun and reading while waiting for her to wake. Heâd swum, then prepped a simple breakfast that was on the table beside him. Letting her rest was hard. The selfish part of him wanted to go in there and wake her. But she needed her sleep; theyâd shared yet another very late night.
He couldnât concentrate on his book. Memories stirred and impatience tightened his muscles. He hadnât holidayed in years. For all the nights out or weekends partying on a yacht, thereâd always been a laptop on the desk, a call to be made, business to be done. But he hadnât checked his emails in four daysâthe longest stretch ever. Time had slipped easily and deliciously like those plump oysters had slid down his throat two days ago. Hours could be lost in the simple pleasure of kissing Merle Jordan and long, sunny days had bled into long, hot nights. It was easy to forget why heâd come here in the first place and that heâd never intended to linger like this. He focused only on Merle. Together, theyâd discovered she had a penchant for skinny dipping and sheâd laughingly embraced her sensual, hedonistic side. She also had a hidden decadence that was dangerous to his peace of mind. They laughed, ate and drank and duelled over anything and everything light and simple. Drawing her out, engaging her, was rewarding. She was a quick learner and fiercely competitive and now she held nothing back. Her teasing smile alone sent anticipation rippling down his spine.
Sheâd blossomed before his eyes. But even though sheâd let him in, he was more curious than ever. Sheâd been lonely, her early life lacking in laughter. Heâd had to teach her the rules to the most common of board games. That was why sheâd been so quick to choose snakes and ladders the other night. It was the only game sheâd known how to play. He wanted her to experience more of the things sheâd missed out on. And he wanted her to experience them with him.
Half an hour later she joined him, her eyebrows lifting. âYou wear glasses.â
âI do.â
âSo thereâs something less than perfect about your body,â she teased.
âYou think the rest of my body is perfect?â He smirked.
âItâs not like you donât already know that.â
âStill, Iâm touched, given itâs you who thinks so.â
âMy opinion matters?â Half disbelieving, half flirt. Wholly gorgeous.
âVery much.â
She rolled her eyes and angled her head to read the spine of the book he was holding. âItâs an amazing library in there. Someone took time and effort to amass a good collection.â
âMy father bought someone elseâs lifetime effort. He didnât carefully select each item himself. It was an investment,â he said drily. âLike the art and the wine. It was for money, not love.â
âHe loved the actual collecting.â
âHe was avaricious. Not for love but for show. Thereâs a difference.â Merle, Ash suspected, would always collect things for love. Things that held meaning to her. âI still canât believe you donât have piles of dusty old things perfectly arranged in boxes with ridiculously detailed labels, keeping everything for ever and ever.â
She giggled and picked up the small bowl of fresh fruit heâd sliced for her. âYou think Iâm a future hoarder?â
âYes.â
She
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