The Scandal (Billionaire's Beach Book 4) by Christie Ridgway

Author:Christie Ridgway [Ridgway, Christie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Christie Ridgway
Published: 2016-08-24T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

The morning following the butler’s day off, Lulu and RJ left Nueva Vida for their own homes, and Joaquin found the new quiet less soothing than he’d supposed when he’d waved off the pair of teenagers. The two remaining females in his life were nowhere to be seen. He wandered from his bedroom to the kitchen to the deck, his gaze catching on the sweep of the ocean in front of him.

That sight—though still awesome—wasn’t soothing, either.

His conscience nagged at him.

He decided a sweaty beach run might clear his mind.

He’d barely dampened his T-shirt when he caught sight of a familiar figure. Down the sand, Sara’s friend and fellow butler, Charlie Emerson, puttered about on a weathered deck that led from the beach and into a covered outdoor living space.

Upon seeing him she paused, and he put on the brakes to do the cordial thing and say hello. “Morning!”

Charlie smiled and smoothed hair that had been rolled into a composed knot of shining brown. “Good morning to you as well. Can I offer you something…water?”

Suddenly his throat felt parched.

“You can,” he said, and by the time he’d mounted the short flight of steps from the sand she had an icy glass in hand.

He swallowed half down. “Good.”

She glanced up as the sky. “It’s going to be warm today.”

“I’m a native, but I’ve been out of the area for a while. I forgot just how warm.” The sun beamed down like every summer song, though the breeze off the ocean kept the temperature pleasant. He looked past Charlie into the house. “Is my favorite charity runner Wells at school today?”

She nodded. “Last few weeks before the end of the year.”

“Cute kid.”

At that, Charlie’s countenance changed. A moment before she’d been serenely lovely. But the compliment aimed at the boy made her usual smile warm, and her new expression divulged a much more lively beauty than before.

“Yes. Though come September, we’ll be glad to see a new year of pencils and crayons arrive, I suspect.”

He laughed. “I don’t envy you keeping a six-year-old busy for the summer.”

“He has a nanny for that,” Charlie put in, then changed the subject. “Your household? How is everyone? I understand you’re hosting your sister.”

“I’m not sure sixteen is any easier to entertain than six. She had some friends at the house, but they’ve gone home this morning.”

Thinking about Essie made him uneasy again. Yesterday, with RJ and Lulu underfoot, he’d not had to do much but pull out the food Sara had prepared. But his half-sister was without her peers now, and he couldn’t stop thinking of her last text to him. I love you.

How could she? Hadn’t he been an absent, lousy brother all her life?

Charlie tilted her head. “We could have you guys over for dinner,” she said slowly. “Mr. Archer is on a business trip which makes our world quieter, too.”

He hesitated. “I don’t want to impose.”

“No imposition.” She waved that off. “Tomorrow night. You bring the residents and staff of Nueva Vida over around six.

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