Page 82 of The Best Thing He Never Wanted

“I shouldn’t slap you because I react to it,” she explained.

“You don’t need to apologize for that. I enjoy it.” He enjoyed the slide of her body against his as she reached up and planted a kiss on his lips.

“I do too. I enjoy everything about being with you, Blane. But it hit me while I was working—we should go out.”

He frowned before he could stop himself, then quickly set his features back into a neutral expression. If she wanted to go out, he wasn’t going to put a damper on it just because he was enjoying all this domesticity.

“Where do you want to go?”

“I thought perhaps we could take a drive down to Plakias. There’s a beach down there and lots of little restaurants.”

He nodded slowly. It didn’t sound like anything he’d go out of his way for, but she must want to do it or she wouldn’t have brought it up.

“Okay, then. You want to go now, or…?”

The way she looked over at the plants made him think she’d rather stay here and carry on with what she was doing, but he must have been reading her wrong because she turned back to him with a bright smile.

“Yes, let’s go now. It’s a beautiful day. Not warm enough for swimming, but perhaps we can take our shoes off and walk in the water.”

“Sure, if that’s what you want to do.”

“I think we should give it a go. There’s so much you haven’t seen.”

He really wasn’t worried about seeing anything other than what he already had. Seeing Bea here in her new home, getting settled in, was everything as far as he was concerned. But he didn’t need to be a selfish bastard about it. She was building a new life here, and she didn’t need to stay cooped up at the house all the time just because he was happy there.

“I’ll grab the keys, then.”

He leaned in to kiss her, and what started out as nothing more than a touch of their lips soon turned into something deeper. He held her closer, loving the way she kissed him back. There was no shyness in it. She was open and eager, and it seemed she became more so with each day that passed, just like she did in the bedroom. When he finally lifted his head, her cheeks were flushed, and she fanned herself with one hand.

He chuckled. “Didn’t mean to distract us. Come on, let’s get going.”

He might not have intended to distract them, but if they hung around here much longer, there was a good chance the afternoon would take them upstairs instead of out to the beach.

Once they were on their way, it struck him that he’d gotten used to the little SUV. He’d finally managed to get the seat far enough back that he was comfortable, and he had to admit that it was a good fit for the narrow, steep, winding roads around the village. Even when they reached the main road that led south toward the beaches, it had enough power when he needed it.

“Did you get finished with your work?” he asked, realizing for the first time that he probably should have checked before they left.

“I did. There isn’t much on this week.”

“What exactly is it that you do again?”

She didn’t seem too enthusiastic about answering. “It’s just admin, really.”

He frowned. “You know that tells me nothing, right? What kind of admin, and who do you do it for? What kind of clients?”

She let out a short laugh. “Nothing interesting. My clients are all former colleagues of Simon’s. In the early days of his career, I took on a lot of his social calendar and networking and…” She waved a hand dismissively. “All the boring stuff. General life things, really. It made his life easier and left him free to focus on the business.”

She looked out through the windshield as she went on. “The rest of it started by accident, I suppose. We were at dinner with a group of friends one night and someone asked how Simon was always so organized. He revealed me as his secret weapon. One of his friends had recently divorced and was hopelessly struggling to keep up with everything. He joked—or at least I thought he was joking—that he’d pay me good money if I could do the same for him. Simon didn’t take it as a joke. He thought it was a good opportunity for me.”

Blane scowled. “Did you think it was a good opportunity?” He glanced over at her, but she immediately grabbed the door handle.

“Keep your eyes on the road, please, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

He chuckled. “You’re gonna have to get used to these roads, Bea. And I know it’s about the road, not me. You trust me to drive, right?”

She laughed. “Of course I do. I’m just nervous, that’s all. Sorry. And honestly, no, I didn’t think it was a good opportunity, but I did like the idea of making a little money of my own. Especially since, to me, it’s not really work. It’s just common sense. You organize a calendar, schedule appointments, keep notes about people’s likes and dislikes, birthdays, things like that.” She let out a breath. “I didn’t really enjoy doing it for Simon, but it made life easier.”

“If you didn’t enjoy doing it for him…” Blane pursed his lips, then nodded. “No, I can see why you’d do it as a job. If you wanted to earn your own money, that makes sense, but…” He glanced at her again before remembering himself and looking back at the road. “Do you still need the money?”