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“My team will review your proposal and I’m asking everyone to send me one last offer before I make my final decision.”
“That’s fine, just send Hollie—” I glance to my right where Hollie was standing a moment ago and see that she’s sunk back into the chair looking a bit like a ghost. I think I should stop giving this girl wine. Though she did only have one glass this evening. “Hollie, are you alright?”
I crouch down next to her chair so that I’m eye to eye with her. She nods her head slightly. “I’m fine, just a little dizzy. It’s probably the wine,” she practically whispers. I brush some strands of hair that have fallen on her forehead out of the way of her face. Her skin feels a little clammy.
“Oh, you poor dear,” Mrs. DuPont is on the other side of Hollie, her hand grasped between her own.
“I’m fine, you two. No need to worry about me.” She gives us a smile and raises out of her chair. If I didn’t study Hollie as closely as I do, I might have thought that smile was genuine. However, that smile is fake as shit.
“I’m calling a car,” I say while pulling my cell out of my coat pocket to make the call.
Mrs. DuPont pulls Hollie into what I can only describe as a bear hug. I’m a little worried that she might be squeezing Hollie too tightly, but let it go.
“You take care of your girl, Archer,” Mrs. DuPont says as she gets into a chauffeured car that’s pulled up to the curb at the restaurant entrance.
“Honestly, I’m fine now, Mrs. DuPont. It was so lovely meeting you.” I wrap my arm around Hollie and pull her close into my side. Something that Caroline DuPont said just feels right. She’s my girl. I need to take care of her.
As her car pulls away from the curb, Hollie turns to me. “You don’t have to call a car, Archer. I’m totally fine. It was just the wine and then standing up so quickly. I was a little dizzy, but we can walk back to the hotel.”
“Forget it, angel, the car is already on its way.” She gives a small harrumph and crosses her arms across her chest, letting me know she’s annoyed. However, she hasn’t extracted herself from my arm around her waist. Now that she doesn’t seem to be in any immediate danger of passing out, I take a moment to relish her plastered to my side. She’s so soft I want to rub my hand up and down her body, taking in the feel of her.
When the Town Car arrives, I open the door for Hollie, settling her into the seat and buckling the seat belt across her lap before I move to the other side of the car and slide in beside her. I give the driver the address of where we’re going and sit back. It should only take us a few minutes to get there. Luckily, in Santa Cruz, most things are close together.
Hollie looks at me questioningly. “Why are we going to The Village?” I’m not surprised that she has the address memorized. She worked hard on this project.
“I want to show you something.” We sit in a peaceful silence until the car pulls into a long drive and stops at the now deserted and gated property.
I grab her hand and pull her through a hole in the derelict fence, moving towards the beach where some of the original bungalows are located. “Hold on.” She laughs, pulling her hand out of mine. I have an urge to snatch it back, but I’m able to control myself. Barely.
Bending down, she shows me her delicious curvy ass in that white dress and removes her shoes before stepping into the sand.
We make our way across the sand towards one of the dark smudges on the beach. As we draw closer, you can see the outline of a bungalow. I don’t know exactly why I wanted to bring her here and show her this, I just did. I’m not going to think too much about it. She deserves to see what she’s working on.
I spent so much time here with my parents. Happy times that I’ll never forget. Telling her that my family used to stay here seems to have opened up a crack in my carefully constructed walls. I want to show her more. I want her to know me. Know Everything about me. I want to share this with her.
“Is this where you stayed when you were little? It’s beautiful. It looks like a kid would have so much fun here.”
Even though The Village officially closed down about six months ago, the buildings don’t appear too worse for wear.
“I remember sitting there with my mom, going through shells and sea glass I collected on the beach while my dad would grill dinner.” Talking about this with her doesn’t leave me with the hollow feeling in my chest I usually get when thinking about all the happy times with my parents, so I decide to keep going. “My parents met here when they attended UC Santa Cruz. Even though we lived in Seattle, we always came here at least once a year. This place was special to them, especially my mom. She always seemed lighter here.” I take a quick, steadying breath before I continue. “I didn’t want the magic of this place to be destroyed. Other families should be able to come here and make those kinds of memories I have. It would be a tragedy if a developer got the property and built some crappy commercial buildings here.”
Hollie stands next to me, both of us staring straight ahead at the darkened bungalow. I’m half expecting her to ask me why I don’t tell Caroline DuPont about my history here. It’s true that it would most likely give me a leg up in the bidding process, especially since she’s also sentimental about this place. Instead, her fingers tentatively curl around mine. This is the first time she’s gone out of her way to touch me. I want to scoop her up and kiss her breathless as a reward, but I’m almost afraid any movement will have her pulling away.
“I love it, Archer. Thank you so much for bringing me here and sharing this with me.” She didn’t ask, because she knows I would never use something that private as a business weapon. This is my secret. This is something that I keep close to me that is only mine.
She squeezes my hand and then drops it to step forward and get a closer look at the building. She runs her delicate fingers down the wood railings, walking gingerly on the porch like she’s worried she might fall through, and then sits on a small wooden bench before turning to smile at me. “This building doesn’t actually look so bad. Did you ever think of saving them instead of knocking them down? Maybe you could fix them up instead? This place is so charming. It would be a shame to lose it.”
That’s something I hadn’t considered. I’m so used to leveling everything I buy I haven’t thought about renovating. I turn in a small circle, observing the beach and the buildings scattered throughout before letting out a sigh. “We hadn’t considered that. Unfortunately, there’s no way I could get the board to approve it. The bungalows are low occupancy and scattered over too much space. It wouldn’t make fiscal sense. It’s a nice thought, though.”
I move and sit on the bench next to her, staring out at the ocean. The bench is so small that our thighs are flush against each other. A shiver runs through her body and I can see goosebumps along her naked flesh. I’m not sure if it’s from the desire that’s growing between us or if she’s simply cold. Just in case, I shrug out of my suit jacket and wrap it around her shoulders.
“I’m so happy that you got to spend time here with your parents,” she says softly. “We didn’t do vacations and if we did, it wouldn’t have been to a place like this.”
“Your parents never took you on a vacation?”
A pained laugh escapes her lips and then she goes quiet. There’s a steady silence between us and just when I figure she isn’t going to answer, she says, “It was only my mom. My dad didn’t want anything to do with me, emotionally or financially. I’ve only met him a few times over the years. Even if we had extra money to go on vacation, Mom would have been too high to take us. My sister and I were already taking jobs to cover our living expenses, even before we could legally work.”
What?I’m stunned for a moment. She’s never spoken about her childhood before. No father, a junkie mother, and zero childhood if she was already worried about covering bills. It makes the fact that Hollie is so sweet and caring a fucking miracle. Lesser people would not have gone to college, they wouldn’t have fought their way out, and they wouldn’t be the best assistant an asshole CEO ever had. “I’m so sorry, Hollie. I didn’t realize. Here I am talking about my happy family—”
