‘Miss Chloe,’ she calls up the stairs. ‘I do your ironing tonight, no?’
No is the only word for it.
Chloe went upstairs five minutes ago with the excuse of putting on a swimsuit, leaving me to work on getting rid of the only person she’d need to wear one around. I take five hundred dollars from my wallet and hand it to Naveesha.
‘We have some very important business to do here for the next couple of days. We need a little privacy.’
She pushes the money back towards me even as her eyes widen at the sight of the crisp notes. ‘Sir, I cannot take this.’
‘Naveesha, please, take the money.’ I’ll do Chloe’s damn ironing myself, if necessary. There’s no way I’m having a chaperone here tonight, or tomorrow, for that matter. Not when I’m so close to nailing the most elusive conquest of my life. My dick’s been pulsing at the prospect all day.
‘Miss Chloe wants you to take a few days off. Three, actually.’
Naveesha’s earnest expression searches mine. She points to the terrace. ‘What about the flowers? Miss Chloe always forget to water the flowers.’
Ushering her towards the front door, I add another hundred-dollar bill to the wad of cash. ‘I’ll water the flowers. You have my word.’
‘What about dinner?’ Naveesha’s gaze returns to the kitchen doorway and her voice drops to a whisper. ‘Miss Chloe burns everything.’
I suppress my snort. ‘I’ll take her for dinner. Trust me, she won’t go hungry.’
Naveesha pats her black, thinning hair as her head bobs from side to side in contemplation. Before she can decide, Chloe emerges from her bedroom, gracefully sauntering down the stairs wearing nothing but a tiny black bikini.
I nearly trip over my dick, ushering Naveesha to the front door.
‘Miss Chloe, you want me to come back tomorrow?’
‘The day after will be fine, thank you. I’ll pay you for both, of course.’
‘No need.’ Naveesha’s trembling hands hold up the bundle of cash in wonder.
‘That’s a tip. Wages as usual.’
No one’s more surprised than me when Naveesha throws her tiny frame at me, wrapping her arms around my body in what I can only assume is gratitude. I sidestep so she awkwardly cradles my ribs. The poor woman would be traumatised if she accidentally brushed me full frontal at this precise second.
‘You are very generous, sir.’
Hardly. Impatient is more like it. Though I can’t deny the warmth that surges through my bones from making Naveesha’s day. If only all the problems of the world could be solved as easily. I pat her arm in a weird side-hug.
Chloe rubs Naveesha’s back as they walk to the door, giggling and whispering in hushed voices. I get the impression I’m not the only one to have maternal thoughts about the housekeeper.
The door closes and finally we’re alone.
‘You’re overdressed.’ I focus in on the dark triangles of Chloe’s itsy-bitsy bikini, which do little to hide the beauty beneath.
Arousal thrums between us, growing with every passing second.
‘I agreed to swim naked, not permanently walk around starkers for your entertainment.’ Her lips roll in an amused smile and my chest swells almost as rapidly as my pants. It’s the first genuine smile she’s ever given me, and it possesses an unnerving ability to bring me to my knees.
That doesn’t mean I’m not going to enjoy rearranging those lips into a parted O of pleasure.
Chloe grabs a bottle of champagne from the fridge and two flutes from a cupboard before strutting confidently to the terrace, her peachy ass cheeks ripe for grabbing. ‘Are you coming, or what? Let’s get this over with.’
She’s fooling no one. Desire smoulders in the air between us. The question is, tonight, will she give into it?
I follow her onto the terrace, unbuttoning my shirt as I walk, discarding it on the couch as I pass. By the time I’m outside, I’m down to my boxers.
Chloe puts the champagne and glasses on a tiny table between two sun loungers and strolls to the deeper end of the pool. With the sun setting rapidly behind her, her curvaceous silhouette is bathed in a majestic golden sheen.
