Chapter 56

Emily.

“Pack your bags, we're going to the beach!” Eric exclaimed excitedly as he walked through the door.

“What?” I asked, confused. “What about the merger? There isn't a beach for miles!”

“Tyler and your brother have it handled. I checked over the details and it's a sound plan. They've given us the go-ahead.”

*Daniel? This is a surprising turnaround.* I hadn't expected him to be trusted so quickly, but I was glad he was proving himself useful. Seems he was serious about turning over a new leaf.

“Do I get to know anything else? Like how many days? I need to know how much to pack.. And what are we doing? Is this secretly a business trip? Do I even have a swimsuit?” Endless questions flooded my mind.

Eric held up one of his hands to stop me. That's when I noticed the other was hiding behind his back.

“That's why I got you this,” he said, pulling out a beautiful burgundy two-piece swimsuit from behind his back.

“Oh, Eric. You shouldn't have!” I said as I walked over and reached out to hold it. He handed it over, letting me inspect it.

The material was soft and I could tell it would be the most comfortable swimsuit I'd ever wear. The ruched top was simple, yet elegant with a spaghetti-strap halter. The bottoms were similar, but with laced-up sides.

“I can't wait to see it on you,” Eric said, snapping me out of my admiration. He pulled me in for a kiss and then quickly spun me around, smacking my butt, and said, “Now get to packing. We leave in thirty minutes.”

I ran up the stairs, with my new swimsuit clutched in my fist, and into my closet and panickedly searched my clothes. I suddenly lost all thought of what clothes one would wear to the beach. And I didn't even know where my suitcase was.

That's when Lily appeared, scaring the bejeebers out of me.

“What the fuck, Lily? You nearly killed me!” I laughed, my hand over my heart.

She chuckled. “Sorry. Thought I'd help.” She lifted up an empty suitcase and placed it open on the floor. She walked along the clothes hanging along the closet walls, lifting up pieces here and there, sometimes to inspect them, sometimes to ask my opinion.

Soon enough, we had my suitcase packed full of short-sleeved outfits, and of course, my new bikini. All I was missing was a ridiculously big sun hat and large sunglasses. I picked out a pair of cute sandals and placed them on top before zipping it up.

“Ready?” I heard Eric call from the bottom of the stairs.

“Just a sec!” I called to him, grabbing the handle so I could roll it behind me.

I walked down the stairs, carrying my suitcase.

“Let me carry that,” Eric said as I got to the bottom, reaching for my bag.

I pulled it away. “I'm very capable of carrying my own luggage, thank you very much.”

“I wasn't asking,” he replied, lunging for my suitcase and snatching it from my hand.

I tried to grab it back, but he easily kept it away, pecking me on the forehead before throwing me over his shoulder and carrying me outside with my suitcase. I couldn't help but laugh. “Put me down!” I giggled.

“As my lady wishes,” he said, placing me in the passenger seat of his car and buckling me in before gently closing the door and stowing my luggage in the trunk. He climbed into the driver's seat. “Ready, Missus Savelli?” he asked with a mischievous grin and a wiggle of his eyebrows.

“As ready as I'll ever be.”

He leaned over and kissed me and then turned the keys into the ignition. The car purred to life and I could feel the powerful vibration of the engine. I could see why Eric loved his sports cars so much.

We drove for hours, endlessly talking. Asking questions, answering them, learning more about each other - like all the dates we should have gone on mushed into only a few hours. We had more in common than I had expected.

Houses began appearing and Eric began to slow down. We got closer and closer to the beach until we arrived at a beautiful little baby-blue beach house. Eric pulled into the driveway and turned the car off. He walked around the car and opened my door, helping me out.

“Welcome to my home away from home,” he said, stretching out his arms and heading to the scene around me.

I couldn't not stare, my mouth hanging wide open. “This is yours?” I asked in awe, slowly spinning around to take it all in - the blue house, the white sand, the palm trees, the ocean breeze.

“Does this suit my lady Savelli?”

I nodded, no words to say other than “Uh-huh.”

“Come on! There's so much I want to show you,” he said with excitement, pulling on my arm.

I followed him with a smile, running after him to the wrap-around porch. He took me to the back first and I gasped. The view was amazing. It was like I could see the entire ocean. The sun's rays bounced off the water, creating a beautiful array of orange and purple.

He sidled up behind me and I leaned into his embrace, and his head rested on mine. “This is beautiful. Perfect, even,” I sighed.

I could feel him smile. “Good. I knew you'd like it.”

We stood there, watching the sunset until the stars twinkled in the sky.

“Ready to see the rest of the house?” Eric whispered in my ear.

I nodded, turning to face him. He looped his arm around my shoulders and led me inside.

“This is the sunroom. It also doubles as a dining room, mostly because I enjoy eating where I can see outside.”

I looked around at the quaint room. A sandy table with a seashell border, about three feet in diameter, was surrounded by four teal chairs.

The next room was the kitchen. It had the same color scheme as the dining room, but it was much bigger. There was a wraparound bar and multiple appliances. I gasped as I admired what just happened to be my dream kitchen.

Eric's grin grew as he watched me take it all in. “I'm glad you like it.” He let me explore a little before asking if I wanted to see the rest of the house.

He showed me all around, ending at the bedroom. It was beautiful. Different sea treasures littered the walls and hung from the ceiling. An open doorway led to a bathroom with a shell encrusted tub. My eyes teared up. The whole house was so beautiful. It almost exactly resembled my dream house.

I turned in a circle before flopping on the queen bed with a sigh. “It's amazing!”