AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My stomach growled in response to his question. “Starving.”
Laughing, Beau led me back to that magnificent kitchen. “Why don’t you have a seat at the island, and I’ll grab some sandwich material out of the fridge? I would offer you some fish but don’t have any fresh on hand. I left what I caught today on the boat since I was supposed to meet my friend at the bar.”
Sitting down on a barstool, I bit back the question about who his friend was. As far as I knew, it was a guy based on what he said at the bar, but then, that was none of my business. “So you’re in real estate?” I asked him as he took various types of cheese and meat out of the refrigerator.
“Yeah, that’s right.” He set those items down on the island, which was made of white quartz, as best I could tell. Beau turned back to the refrigerator to pull out some vegetables and condiments before grabbing the bread box as well.
I’d thought he was a fisherman, but unless he was the man who caught Jaws, that wouldn’t ever line up with this house. “What do you do in real estate?”
He offered me the loaf of bread while he turned to the cabinet for some plates. I got the impression that he didn’t really want to tell me about his work, but he said, “I own a few properties around the world. Some of them are short-term rentals. Others, I rent out long-term.”
“That’s amazing.” I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to own homes around the world. “Are they all as nice as this one?”
He was facing me now, making his own sandwich, as I squirted mustard onto turkey and cheese. “Not all of them. Some of them are better.”
Shocked, I accidentally squeezed too hard, and a big blob of mustard came out. We both laughed. Grabbing a knife, I spread the condiment around. “I can’t imagine anything even remotely nicer than this.”
“This house is nice,” he said, looking around. “But I really love my place in Hawaii. It’s right on the beach. You’d love it, I think.”
I couldn’t help but smile just thinking about it. “That sounds amazing.”
“Yeah, and I have a home in the south of France, and every time I go there, I find it very hard to leave.” He had a far-off look in his eyes that told me just how much he loved that particular home.
“Why do you?” I asked, taking a bite of my sandwich. The mustard was far too strong, but I was so hungry, I wouldn’t let it deter me from continuing to shove it down my throat.
“Sitka is my home.” He put it in simple terms. “My life is here.”
“But you could work from anywhere?” I asked before taking another bite. He nodded. After I swallowed, I said, “So you could work from there.”
“Sure, I guess so. Anyway, that’s what I do. What do you do?” He took a bite of his sandwich, which was similar to mine except he hadn’t added any pickles.
“I’m a virtual personal assistant.” I could hear the pride in my voice, even though what I did was nothing compared to his job.
Still, he looked impressed. “Really? That sounds interesting. So you have several clients that you help with different tasks from home?”
I smiled, glad that he was at least pretending to find interest in what I did. “That’s right. Of course, my laptop is on the boat.” I rolled my eyes. I’d be unable to work for the next couple of days. Mrs. Clarkson was going to be pissed.
“You were working while you were on vacation?” Beau lifted a napkin to wipe his mouth. “That’s dedication.”
“Well, I didn’t know I was going to take this trip until the last second, so I didn’t have a chance to finish everything before then,” I explained.
He nodded. “That makes sense. It’s cool that you’ve found a way to work from anywhere in the world. I suppose I do that, too, but most of the time, if I’m traveling, I don’t get much work done except for with the property that I’m traveling to, of course.”
Everything he said sounded so ideal to me. As much as I loved working from home, I couldn’t imagine if I had homes all over the world to choose from. I couldn’t help but smile. “It must be so cool to travel the world but always get to sleep in your own bed.”
A rich chuckle escaped his lips. “That’s one way to look at it, I suppose.”
Finished with my sandwich, I wiped my mouth and placed the napkin on my plate. I had no idea what time it was, but I was exhausted. Though I tried not to let it out, a yawn escaped my lips.
“I’m sorry,” Beau said, gathering up items to put them back in the refrigerator. “You must be tired.”
“I am,” I admitted, standing up to help him. “But thank you for dinner.” He smiled at me, and then, together, we cleared the island, and Beau placed our dishes into the dishwasher.
Once the kitchen was cleared, he said, “By the way, I’m going fishing tomorrow, if you want to come.”
I stared at him for a second, blinked a few times, and said, “I’ll have to check my schedule.”
Beau laughed. I couldn’t get tired of that sound. “If you’re free.”
